The Excuse: an Email
Still not certain how
my schedule will unfold
I am confronted by a
roiling combination
of previous promises
weather events
miscellaneous omens now conspire
to leave me dealing in a world of 18% grey.
Calendars mean nothing.
I beg a day to consult
the shape of morning clouds
the slight rising whistle of a mourning dove
a woman with remarkable legs who sells fruit at the local market on Tuesdays
the priests at the end of the lane
various unpaid consultants, shamans, retainers
tea leaves coffee dregs
wine stains
I will get back to you. Soon.
Promise.
Outlier in 12/8 time
It’s like a joke in a way. You know?
I mean
explaining anything that
shouldn’t need to be explained
My old man played
sax in the’30s
I knew broken rhythms from
my first step me not old
enough to shave. You know?
Broken rhythms?
Synco
pation
5-4 time. You know? 12-8
my friends daytripping the Beatles in ’65
me carrying Thelonious Monk
under my arm
Thelonious Sphere Monk dig it
Sphere
I got cool, you know? Cool.
No one told me about Howl no one
knew I felt it before I read it and
Jesus, did we need anything else?
I know. You weren’t there. You
missed it, an accident
of birth. Your parents didn’t know how
important it would be
riots in Paris death
at Kent State you
bopping to disco.
Really? Did you need that?
Disco Repeat Disco Repeat Disco
drums supplied by
a machine a machine a fucking machine
dig it?
It was like a joke in a way. You know?
Vagabond Deluxe
I have played
in the warm rains of a surprise
Hawaiian downpour
walked Fijian beaches
and seen
wet dark stones silvered
by Pacific sunsets
I have fished fast flowing
Spanish rivers
sought comfort in Havana’s bars
and stood on the
balcony outside Hemingway’s
Key West bedroom
I have wandered the
cobbled streets of Saint-Michel
stood beneath the weight
of Notre Dame’s ancient shadow
searched for gold in a
Tangiers market and left
footprints on the shores of
the Sea of Cortez
but
I would give it all back
erase from memory
destinations far and near
if for a moment
I could revisit Victoria Avenue
and in that bedroom
just once more
find you waiting.
