This entry is part of Getaway Reads, a weekly e-mail series curated by Stephanie Cawley that features the writing of the Winter Poetry & Prose Getaway faculty.

Notes on Eavesdropping

by Nancy Falkow

I’m not nosey. (Okay, well maybe a little.) I’m just always collecting inspiration. Eavesdropping is when I write down phrases or snippets I hear when I’m out and about, or when I’m listening to podcasts, or watching movies or TV. Sometimes I pop these snippets into my songwriting journal or I keep a running list in my phone.

While listening to a podcast called WTF, I heard the host Marc Maron say in one interview, “Maybe I was always supposed to be this old” (or something very close to that)—and a chorus was born.

It’s that easy. Inspiration can come from anywhere. Maybe it’s Woody Allen, maybe it’s a couple at the table next to you at a restaurant. Just one line can spark an entire song (or essay, or poem).

I wrote “What I’m Doing Right” about my little girl, but a smidgen of inspiration came from somewhere entirely different—I’ll take it wherever I can get it!

What I’m Doing Right

by Nancy Falkow

I don’t know what I’m doing right
But in the brightest sky of summer light
You’re the only thing the world can see

Riding every tempered breeze
A splintered morning’s grand trapeze
And all the people see you as you please

And you laugh
But there’s no joke
It makes you laugh even harder

You don’t have any slight of hand
Except to make a wish and reap command
You could walk a smile in anybody’s shoes

And as the day just closes in
You never fail to find a second wind
Just unaware you’ve always been the muse

And you burst
But there’s no star
It makes you fly, even farther

Maybe I was always supposed to be this old
I’ll forever have your hand in mine to walk across the road
(I don’t know what I’m doing right)

Riding every tempered breeze
A splintered morning’s grand trapeze
And all the people see you as you please

And you laugh
But there’s no joke
It makes you laugh even harder

And you burst
But there’s no star
It makes you fly, even farther

Maybe I was always supposed to be this old
I’ll forever have your hand in mine to walk across the road
I don’t know what I’m doing right

“What I’m Doing Right” was released in December as a charity single in aid of Ireland’s Jack & Jill Children’s Foundation. Visit www.NancyFalkow.Bandcamp.com to donate and download.

© Nancy Falkow

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Nancy Falkow is an Ireland-based (formerly Philadelphia) singer-songwriter. She has shared stages, taxis, dressing rooms, and guitars with nationally touring musicians from Donovan to Daniel Lanois to Richie Havens. Songs of hers have appeared in TV and in film. She has been collaborating with musicians and writing in genres from pop to rock to folk for many years, but was always a teacher and a poet first, and draws from that well of experience with every song and workshop. With three successful albums under her belt, after the birth of her daughter, she began writing for what is her most successful album—”Under the Stars”—which she released under the project name Sunflow. This is her 15th year at the Getaway and she always looks forward to a trip home to run the Song Writing Workshop to see familiar faces and meet new enthusiasts. Her website is www.nancyfalkow.com and you can listen to some songs here.

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Want to study with Nancy Falkow? At the 2013 Winter Poetry & Prose Getaway, Nancy will be leading the Song Writing Workshop for the fifteenth year in a row. Click here to find out more.

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Advance your craft and energize your writing at the Winter Poetry & Prose Getaway. Enjoy challenging and supportive sessions, insightful feedback, and an encouraging community. Learn more.