“I’ll tell you a secret—my things could never be popular… they are only for the few who desire and look out for that kind of thing, and are doing something like it themselves.”—Goethe, from Emil Ludwig’s Goethe, The History of a Man

  Ahh, words of an authentic Shaman-Type. Goethe is most definitely a card-carrying member of the guild, at the highest echelons I might add. Among those I like to refer to as ‘Giants of the Human Spirit.’ 

  But it is an unrecognized guild, and their modern day avatars—‘the few’ Goethe speaks of—have an extremely hard time navigating our workaday secular world without guidance or even sympathy today. 

  I met Zack in LaFontaine Parc. I was sitting on a bench by the water when he rode up on an electric bike and leaning it against the bench next to mine proceeded to unload a guitar and a small amplifier. “Uh oh,” I thought, “here comes the noise!” But he plugged in and began to play and I was relieved it wasn’t overly loud. 

  He was lean and had a sort of handsomely harrowed look about him. When he began to play and sing his voice was deep and equally harrowed and his guitar playing was strong and rhythmic. Curious, I soon figured he was in some kind of open G tuning. 

  The songs he sang were his own and were dark, haunted and lonely. He sang of a woman too, but things hadn’t worked out and the dark haunted loneliness had returned. 

  Between songs we fell into conversation. Things weren’t going great with him he said but he was getting by playing his music here and there and recently he informed me he had taken to social media and begun selling self-produced CD’s. 

  He was upfront in relating that alcohol and drugs had played a pernicious role in his life for too many years. Lately he said he had found Jesus and was proud to say he was turning his life around. 

  Standing up and stowing the book I was reading in my bag I asked him where I could support the cause by watching him play but he said lately he wasn’t doing too many shows. 

  All I could do was wish him the very best…

  So I did. 

  Bless you Zack.