Shelter From The Storm
For obvious reasons
The Dylan song “Shelter From the Storm” floated into my consciousness today.
Took a listen — it had been a while.
The verses show colorful picture
After troubled picture.
Steel eyed death… poisoned by bushes
Burnt out from exhaustion… etc etc.
And every time it all resolves magically
Brilliantly rhythmic and slyly rhymed
With the sticky line…
If you’ve heard it once
You can hear it in your mind’s ear forever.
“Come in,” she said “I’ll give you shelter from the storm.”
Some people argue the song is a Christian allegory
Some, an autobiographical divorce drama.
And I mean, probably both, right?
But no matter what….
There she is.
Welcoming. Helping. Healing.
Sheltering.
Don’t we all want her to shelter us?
And even more so
Those of us that are her?
And maybe it hit harder today.
All those unsheltered girls.
Their eyes unredacted.
Used as shelter.
Right now - painted with the most optimistic brush
The shadow is exposed.
Shelter is the opposite of a shadow.
It’s a structure.
Where shadows are vague - elusive and unknowable
Shelters are supportive.
It took until now typing the word shelter
Over and over
That I even see it.
She is the root of shelter,
I’ve always tried to create a kind of sheltered space with UnCabaret.
And it’s sometimes surprising even to me
She who has built it - to see that it actually works.
To witness what shelter does for the creative spark.
For the souls that come to gather around the vibrancy of that spark.
And some days
When I take my troubles to the mirror
I see her in that frame.
And if I give her a listen —
“Come in,” she says, “I’ll give you shelter from the storm.”
All love,
Beth
Friday night at El Cid I build that shelter with Alex Edelman, Alec Mapa, Greg Behrendt, Laurie Kilmartin, James Adomian and Joey Soloway.
It would be our pleasure to share it with you.
