Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland, OH

I wish I could share all that I saw and learned, but the Hall of Fame prohibits the use of cameras. The first level is easily the best. Here, you will find the costumes and clothes worn by rock superstars. You will find their hand decorated guitars and jackets, obviously done individually or with a friend of the star. But, we spent time in Graceland two years ago and found this collection below the heights achieved by the Elvis curators. What I enjoyed experiencing most were the hand-written lyrics, found on notebook paper, hotel pads, and cocktail napkins. For all of the years when I was a dedicated writer of poetry, I did exactly the same things: crossing out words or lines; scribbling notes and reminders in the margins; and, most importantly, saving the original vessel of these words of poetic inspiration. I have so many of my notes, rough drafts, and final copies of poems bound up and stored in boxes or on bookshelves . . . I wonder when I will look through them again, and perhaps remember who I was then.