Poem Du Jour

Poem du Jour

Woke up, read
David Mitchell's
"Utopia Avenue" in bed,
said goodbye to the kids,
walked a couple miles
with Genevieve,
talked about world strife,
the horror of Trump,
the even worse horror
in Palestine, all the things
that need to be done.
Then went to PS 122 to watch
8th graders perform
scenes from Romeo & Juliet.
Sofia did balcony scene
with Tony. I sat next to
Tony's parents, Tonna,
an opera singer
and big Tony, a director.
These kids have all
known each other
since kindergarten.
Now they are all
going off to separate
high schools. Because
I could not go home
until after street cleaning
was over I went to Costco.
It was a madhouse.
Costco is next to
Socrates Sculpture Park.
I wandered over to see
the new show. The artist
Suchita Mattai was there
still working on it,
There were giant balls
gorgeously embroidered
from Saris hanging
from the trees, meant
to represent the fruit
of Indian women's labor.
Afterward I sat on a bench
looking across the
East River at the city
while I listened to the
Ronnie Lane and Thin Chance
album recommended to me
by Flynndigger and friend
Lenny: "Anymore for Anymore."
Perfect album he said,
and it was. Went back
home and parked, 12:29 PM.
(12:30 street cleaning ends.)
Went inside, wrote my 40th
essay on Emily Dickinson
for the Prowling Bee blog,
on FR 726, a poem about
jewelweed. I was pleased
with it, light and sweet,
but with hidden depths,
like the poem, a blaze
flickering to itself.
Then played tennis
with Chris Casey,
a great battle. 6-5.
Girls came home
from school. Played
a Ricky Montgomery
song on guitar with Sofia,
"This December." Practiced
singing "Till There Was You,"
sang long to 7 different versions:
Marvin Gaye, Beatles,
Ray Charles, Jerry Vale,
Shirley Jones, Peggy Lee
and Sutton Foster.
Helped the girls make
grilled cheese for dinner.
Went to meet Gen's sister
Cat and her fiance, Austin
at Central Park to hear
the NY Philharmonic.
On the way ran into
Trombone Sam. We talked
about David Berman's
cover of George Strait's
Friday Night Fever,
the way he improved it.
On the train read
Peter Gizzi's poem again.
I'm glad to see it is still
adorning the trains:

"Sunday's Empire

The roofs speak
as light over
The scaped silence.

A cacophony
of shapes
kicks off into the sky.

People live here
in the quiet
a day undresses.

Tones shaking out."

Saw the actress Greta Lee
at the 86th 6 Train stop.
I love her! Walking into
the park I see a woman
wearing a tee shirt that says,
"Fashion stole my smile."
I asked to take her picture.
She smiled. Found Cat
and Austin in the sea
of concert goers.
They were with
Ecuadorian friends.
Perfect weather.
Beethoven's "Egmont"
kicked it off. This was
followed by Mendelssohn's
Concert in E minor.
It was a revelation,
especially with
the great Randall Goosby
on the violin solos.
Austin mentioned
that Felix was a great
name, and that there
really weren't many
famous ones.
We could only think
of three: Felix
Mendelssohn,
Felix Unger
and Felix the cat.
I think Cat and Austin
half decided to name
their first child Felix
if they have a boy.
The concerto was followed
by a work by 10 year old
composer, David Wright,
called "Tarzan's Rage."
It was big and full of
rock & roll riffs.
Awesome. Then
the conductor introduced
a piece by Carlos Simon
by saying, "Strap in
or go to church,
whatever you wish."
Last piece was
Rimsky Korsakov's
"Asturian Fandango."
I had the thought
that great music
like great poetry
lies in the tension
between the flow
that carries you forward
and the surprises
that clap back.
Finally there were
fireworks over the cityscape,
the new moon hanging
in the balance.
On the way home I passed
a window over which
was written,
"Angelina celebrates
120 years of delicacy."
While waiting for the 6
back to Sunnyside
I bought a cup full
of watermelon for $3
from a Mexican woman
selling fruit. On the train
I listened to Ronnie Lane
and Thin Chance's
masterpiece "Anymore
for Anymore" again.
Back home. Wrote this.