From in a Funk to Life Feeling Funky

by Ernie McCray

I’m usually chill
but let me tell you,
it’s been a bitch
having to deal with
the shit
that went down
when ICE’s hoods
disturbed the peace
in my beloved old neighborhood.
Talking about people who are absolutely
up to no good.

But as I was going through
taped shows on my TV,
Bonnie Raitt, one of my all-time
Favorite musicians,
suddenly
came to my rescue
as I stumbled upon
a show, I had forgotten,
that she put on
for Austin City Limits
and for about 50 some minutes
my cares and woes
were tended to
nicely,
as Bonnie,
as she’s wont to do,
laid out those sounds
of hers
that seem to embrace
a range of genres
at the same time,
a little country here,
a little jazz there,
a gospel touch,
shades of an Irish jig,
an R&B lick or two,
blues infused
through and through,
music tight and energetic and sweet,
undergirded with beats
that stir around
and git down
in the hollows
of one’s soul.

Oh, she took the funk
that had been weighing on me
and made life funky.