Ben Arthur's "Deadbeat (Dyslexic Hearts)"

It turns out our annual Inspiration Issue inspires more than writing. Singer-songwriter and novelist Ben Arthur (benarthur.com), who wrote and recorded a song inspired by Frank Bures's article "The Secret Lives of Stories: Rewriting Our Personal Narratives” (January/February 2013), has turned his musical talents to another article published in the magazine.

In "The Miracle of Mentors: From the Hard Life to the Writing Life" (January/February 2014), Jay Baron Nicorvo writes about how, after years of personal struggles that included drug abuse and run-ins with the law, a number of mentors helped carry him toward the creative life. After reading the article, Arthur was inspired to write and record this song, the title of which is also inspired by Nicorvo's first book of poems, Deadbeat, published by Four Way Books in 2012.

Sour rain, still
Hot with life
Frozen fingers
On your frozen ex-wife

Backwards view
Does impart
Backwards love
A dyslexic heart

Press your face against the mirror
That’s the price of a life apart
Maybe love’s indifference from
Dyslexic hearts

I don’t care, I never did
That’s the awful truth
If I say it that way
Does it finally make sense to you?

Scattered seeds
Pull yours lips over
Eggshell teeth

Your love’s dry
Like the moon’s seas
Backwards love
A dyslexic heart