MY LADY

The listless feather, cast a wounded refuge from the wings of a passing seagull, rode silently upon its windy stallion. The emerald waves crashed upon the shore and tiny sea crystals turned rainbow hues in the sunlight. It was now two o'clock, mid-day and she still wasn't here. I thought, "Surely she will come, she often comes on days as beautiful as this". Just a year ago last week she had visited my mother and comforted her from the pain she had so long endured. I can still remember the look on my mother's face after she had left so peacefully. Oh, she must indeed be a grand lady. They will never get me to believe the stupid stories they tell about her. The nerve of some of these people, trying to smear mud on a name as great as hers and after she has relieved so many of them from their living hell. I've been sitting here so long I'm getting a bit tired. The cool summer breeze has all but stopped now. The sun is half swallowed by the sea. I will soon be enshrouded by the blackness of night, and the loneliness of my lady death.

Info

MY LADY is a metaphorical paragraph written by Bruce Springsteen that, along with a poem presumably entitled SEASCAPE, was his first published writing. It was printed in the April 1969 edition of Seascape, the literary magazine of Ocean County College. The paragraph was erroneously attributed in print to "Bruce Sprengsteen".

Scan of MY LADY from the literary magazine of Ocean County College

The Publication

Seascape is the literary magazine issued by the student body of of Ocean County College in Toms River, NJ, where Bruce Springsteen spent only three semesters. He enrolled in September 1968 and dropped out in December 1969 shortly after his parents moved to California. The January 1969 edition of the magazine counted 48 pages and contained Springsteen's first two published writings, a poem presumably titled "Seascape" (see SEASCAPE) and a metaphorical paragraph titled "My Lady" (see MY LADY).

Scan of the Ocean County College literary magazine (cover page)

Scan of the Ocean County College literary magazine (credits page)

Scan of the Ocean County College literary magazine (page containing SEASCAPE)

Scan of the Ocean County College literary magazine (page containing MY LADY)

Only a few issues of the publication are known to exist. Most fans have seen Springsteen's writings in Seascape only under glass at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame And Museum in Cleveland. A copy was auctioned in June 2004 on Lelands.com, and a couple of years later an issue was donated to The Bruce Springsteen Special Collection at the Asbury Park Public Library, becoming the 3114th accepted item into the collection which is devoted to preserving the writing history and cultural legacy of Bruce Springsteen and members of the E Street Band. Another copy was auctioned in April 2016 on BackstageAuctions.com.

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Page last updated: 21 Apr 2016