a half moon rises
as the sun sets over
a golden Charles

the Fens
luminescence
guide scullers
chasing the days
ebbing light
shimmering
upon near
stillness,
as dancing
black ripples
push silver
splashes of
floating sheens
toward the
gentle slopes of
grassy banks

fisherman cast
the day’s final
hopes upon
gracious waters
as shad fry
breech to
proclaim
a promise
of a dutiful
return to fulfill
a future bounty

this accessible
river, the pulsing
heart conjoining
two cities;
flows as a  
democratic spirit
drawing all to its
hospitable shores

my eyes remain
transfixed on
the glowing ember
of a twilight Charles
drifting under darkened
portals of the
Harvard Bridge,
while the rise
of a sunset breeze
whispers a cool
end to the
summers day

I imagine
Luna blowing
a goodnight
kiss to a
yawning Sol,
as she winks to
young *****
lovers embracing
the long shadows
and sweet fragrance
of tall bulrushes

a slight puff of wind
anoints my minds eye
as lazy water rolls
toward me, lapping
my feet, lollygagging
along, slowly strolling
towards the bay
as I salute pilots
navigating this
most friendly
course

Music Selection:
Grant Green, Moon River

Cambridge MA
7/7/91
jbm

some cast lines into swift rivers
or vast seas of uncertainty

while others throw nets toward
rich stores of earthly treasure

ships piloted by the heart,
steer in fruitless pursuit
of elusive schools of love

a doughty fool forever waits
to harpoon longshot luck
a happenstance filled fate

Godly men cast nets
among flocks of people,
for they alone produce the
bountiful yields of bursting nets

for sons of Jonah and Ahab
a fruitless watch is foretold
self love’s only triumph
is a loveless end

remain a solitary fisher
gliding by on birch bark canoe
minding a compass of faith

Taj Mahal
Fishin Blues

jbm
NYC
4/9/89

Buildings are like men's ****** qualities...

I surmise as I sit in the shadow of the WTC.

I wonder why two?

One may have been too revealing,
to telling, alone, pornographic...

no mask to that...

I, on the 33rd floor of a Cortlandt St. nag
still get a full eye fill,

but not for long because they ***** anew always,
around my view...

a beautiful Hudson energizing the battery with
fresh flows is forever...

but not for my view...

I wonder who is building that long skinny one?
What about this short fat one?
Who's ******* is this?

I assume its a man's
it is a man's world...

little windows on the Hudson,
I spy natures *****...

James Brown;  
Man's World

jbm
9/85
nyc

Your fatal wounds
and soul's dis-membership
from your body
is not apparent...

As the parade passes
I remember you as you
looked on the finest day
of your life...

That is the image
etched in my memories,
like you are in the midst
of your finest day...

Politicians lead the parades
waving to the masses from
luxurious limos...

We elected them and they channel
our focus as if to say;

"I am what this day is all about".  

Our democratic institutions remain
strong thanks to sacrificial veterans...

What does my loved
one have to do with
that ugly toad?  

I hate that man.

Was it his vote
that condemned
my son
to an early grave?

Get away!

Don't steal the sunshine from my
son's face with your small shadow.

Tom Jones:
Green Grass of Home

jbm
Veterans Day
1987
NYC

a shooting star is born
from the bleakness
of the heavenly spheres

racing to earth
the flashing streak sears
a burning path across the sky

at dazzling speed
it accelerates, slashing
the porous atmosphere
like a laser bolt from
Zeus's own hand

then evaporates
into the nothingness
of the midnight sky

the universe remains
little changed from its
advent and passing

Charlie Parker:
Star Eyes

jbm
Catskills, NY
8/88

i am a buoy of flesh and bones
my soul is cast iron steel
my heart a brass bell

i float and bob atop the morass
of flailing humanity

steeped in fathoms of angst and guilt,
tried and tired from terrible currents
of an endless midnight swim

waves of time rain over my head

through the roar of crashing surf,
and rushing rising tides,
my solemn ring pierces
the misty din to alert
attentive ears

Duke Ellington:
Ring Dem Bells

Charlie Parker
Miles Davis:
Sippin At Bells

jbm
Nantucket, MA
8/90

Goin to New England for a couple of weeks
won't have to deal with any NYC creeps
I'll be livin in a cabin on a White Mountain peak
Layin low, coolin my jets in some splashy creek
it's been a ****** of a summer, so to speak
Though in August I had a little hot streak
9/12 I'm back, and won't be meek
to **** the numbers with the havoc that I wreak

Mose Allison:
Your Mind is on Vacation

jbm
8.25.86
NYC