"1980 AD (for Robert Calvert)" (New poem, 2021/11/24)

"Let he who has not been stoned
Cast the first sin."

articulate dawn in red voltage
there's snow everywhere, smoke rising into Orion
11 a.m.
the hour when you’re most likely die
but nothing happens
except radio hum Atlantis
sending out news from the autochtone

I realize
there's no noticeable difference
between a saint and a madman
hair and beard on bumblebee street
old Hindu LPs in the dollar bin
books on Africa and such

snow crystal
falls
evaporate skies begin their elaborate dance
Orion drifts above me

I am always present
the limbs are always spooky
I tune my bass guitar
it is always hot
tenses mix
and spaces occur as a dream
from beyond the stratosphere

B-movie sort of feeling
in the comfort stone
fragments of song appear, and Robert is singing
Quark
and Work Song
suddenly back to past tense

I was dead I was nurturing dead
I'm very sorry if somebody boiled their heads
to the rhythm my machines made
I was in such a hurry... trying to record a dream...
I'm very sorry, if I failed, failed within

smoke rises again, it has risen to bomb size
then European oldies but goodies stormed the house
on the hill
I realized
this was a war between me and the girl.
the girl won. I can't sing.