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Bill Murray Admits a Painting Saved His Life



​

Back when I started acting in Chicago
I wasn't very good
I remember my first experience on the stage
I was so bad I just walked out
            out on the street
and started walking
 
and I walked for a couple of hours
and I realized I'd walked the wrong direction
not just the wrong direction
in terms of where I lived
but the wrong direction
in terms of a desire to stay alive.
 
I walked then thought, well
if I'm going to die where I am
I might as well just go over towards the lake
and maybe I'll float for awhile after I'm dead.
 
I ended up in front of the Art Institute of Chicago
            and I just walked inside
 
I didn't feel like I had any place being there
they used to ask you for a donation
I just walked right through
because I was ready to die
            and pretty much dead
 
I walked in and there's a painting there
I don't even know who painted it
but I think it's called The Song of the Lark
and it's a woman working in a field
and there's a sunrise behind her
and I've always loved this painting
            and I saw it that day
and I thought, well there’s a girl
who doesn’t have a whole lot of prospects
but the sun’s coming up anyway
and she’s got another chance at it.
 
So I think that gave me some sort
of feeling that I too am a person
and I get another chance
everyday the sun comes up. 

​

Larry O. Dean was born and raised in Flint, Michigan. He attended the University of Michigan, where he won three Hopwood Awards in Creative Writing, and Murray State University's low-residency MFA program. His most recent books include Activities of Daily Living (forthcoming, 2017), Brief Nudity (Salmon Poetry, 2013), Basic Cable Couplets (Silkworms Ink, 2012), abbrev (Beard of Bees, 2011), and About the Author (Mindmade Books, 2011). Selected magazine publications include Berkeley Poetry Review, Passages North, Big Bridge, OCHO, Blue Fifth Review, and Defenestration. Also a critically-acclaimed songwriter, Dean has numerous releases to his credit, including Good Grief (2015), Fun with a Purpose (2009) with The Injured Parties, Gentrification Is Theft (2002) with The Me Decade, and Fables in Slang (2001) with Post Office. He was a 2004 recipient of the Gwendolyn Brooks Award. Seek him out at larryodean.com
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  • HOME & LR WRITERS/ARTISTS
    • LR 1 >
      • Matthew Ulland
      • Logan Ellis
      • Howie Good
      • Edward Mullany
      • MASON SHREVE
      • Elena Robidoux
      • Jessica L. Walsh
      • Francesca Kritikos
      • Froydir
      • Gisle Skeie
      • Darren Vallery
      • Brooks Lampe
      • CAITLIN THOMSON
      • ELINOR ABBOTT
      • ROBERT BEVERIDGE
      • CHRISTOPHER WOODS
      • Christopher Morgan
      • Grace Millard
      • Van Donohue
      • James Croal Jackson
      • Marcia Arrieta
      • Peter S. Yumi
      • Grace Millard
      • Frederico Prado
      • Maya Owen
      • Samantha Rose
      • Chad Redden
      • AGNIESZKA MAUCH
      • Rebecca Brown
      • Steven Arcieri
      • Chuck Young
      • Carmen E Brady
    • LR 2 >
      • Bob Schofield
      • Luis Silva
      • Grace Millard
      • KR Seward
      • Conor Harris
      • Alyssa Berg
      • Mariya Nicolova
      • Dan Baucom
      • Zoe Blue
      • Sage Charlebois
      • Eleanor Hazard
      • Jesse Law
      • Roger Mindwater
      • Conor Harris
      • Kelley Alger
      • Steffen Mitchell
      • Kevin Sharp
      • Loisa Fenichell
      • BJ DuVall
      • Heleen De Boever
      • Jacob Rine
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      • Alison Colgan
      • John David Andrews
      • Bob Schofield
      • Jacob Kimmel
      • Jesse Bradley
      • Adefisayo Adeyeye
      • Matthew Bliss
      • Laura Casely
      • Dalton Day
      • Christopher Morgan
      • Jesse Prado
      • Nick Rizzuti
      • Jesse Law
      • Roger Mindwater
      • Will Holland
      • Nathaxn Walker
      • Christopher Morgan
      • Kevin Heaton
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      • Christina Murphy
      • Michelle Tudor
      • CHRIS OXLEY
      • KAREN NEUBERG
      • SCHEREZADE SIOBHAN
      • LARRY O. DEAN
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      • Robert Foshag
    • LITTLE RIVER #8 >
      • HOLLY DAY
      • CAROLYN SUPINKA
      • David Spicer
      • M.J. Iuppa
      • Chad Redden
      • DAVID FELIX
      • JOHN J. PARMAN
      • Moontain
      • LITTLE RIVER #9 >
        • PRIYANKA PADIDAM
        • TOM SNARSKY
        • REBECCA KOKITUS
  • Submission Guidelines