Det er ikke mange ukene siden Jack White og resten av The Raconteurs gjorde Hovefestivalens beste konsert, men akkurat nå er det poesien som gjelder for Jack. White forlot nemlig Detroit til fordel for Nashville for et par år siden, og mener at mange har misforstått hans egentlige følelser for hjembyen. Han mener å tro at folk tror at han rett og slett har et horn i siden til Detroit, eller skitt au – at han hater byen. Dermed har han skrevet et dikt, for å uttrykke sine følelser for byen han forlot.

Om han blir møtt av ballonger, champagne og hornorkester neste gang han tar turen tilbake, er ikke godt å vite. Det som er helt klart er at han ikke er en minimalistisk poet. Her er diktet, via Free Press:

«Courageous Dream’s Concern»

I have driven slow,
three miles an hour or so,
through Highland Park, Heidelberg, and the
Cass Corridor.
I’ve hopped on the Michigan,
and transferred to the Woodward,
and heard the good word blaring from an
a.m. radio.
I love the worn-through tracks of trolley
trains breaking through their
concrete vaults,
As I ride the Fort Street or the Baker,
just making my way home.

I sneak through an iron gate, and fish
rock bass out of the strait,
watching the mail boat with
its tugboat gait,
hauling words I’ll never know.
The water letter carrier,
bringing prose to lonely sailors,
treading the big lakes with their trailers,
floats in blue green chopping waters,
above long-lost sunken failures,
awaiting exhumation iron whalers,
holding gold we’ll never know.

I’ve slid on Belle Isle,
and rowed inside of it for miles.
Seeing white deer running alongside
While I glide, in a canoe.
I’ve walked down Caniff holding a glass
Atlas root beer bottle in my hands
And I’ve entered closets of coney islands
early in the morning too.
I’ve taken malt from Stroh’s and Sanders,
felt the black powder of abandoned
embers,
And smelled the sawdust from wood cut
to rehabilitate the fallen edifice.
I’ve walked to the rhythm of mariachis,
down junctions and back alleys,
Breathing fresh-baked fumes of culture
nurtured of the Latin and the
Middle East.
I’ve fallen down on public ice,
and skated in my own delight,
and slid again on metal crutches
into trafficked avenues.

Three motors moved us forward,
Leaving smaller engines to wither,
the aluminum, and torpedo,
Monuments to unclaimed dreaming.
Foundry’s piston tempest captured,
Forward pushing workers raptured,
Frescoed families strife fractured,
Encased by factory’s glass ceiling.

Detroit, you hold what one’s been seeking,
Holding off the coward-armies weakling,
Always rising from the ashes
not returning to the earth.

I so love your heart that burns
That in your people’s body yearns
To perpetuate,
and permeate,
the lonely dream that does encapsulate,
Your spirit, that God insulates,
With courageous dream’s concern.

Jack White

Tags: Detroit, Dikt, Free Press, hove08, Jack White, nashville, Raconteurs, The White Stripes