Ladies and Gentlemen

                              I
I sleep across the river in a tent of a friend's.
I wake up when I do,
I do not sleep in.

At nighttime I roam the city.
I eat the scraps, leftovers,
Little bits and pieces.

Always there is a kind word and a gesture,
The people abound,
All kinds of names.

Gentlemen
    and
  Ladies

I am on top as the Tower is crumbling,
Teach me the basics.

Remember right now and remember the feeling of right now,
Do not forget, teach me this:

Patience.

Remember this moment and ferment the feeling of this moment,
Do not forget again, because something caught my eye,

A little flicker of a fire,
Or a little gleam of light,

Golden.

How is this?
In love I am surrendered,
And in love is where I stay.

I remember those few before me,
Footsteps to follow
All along the way,

For now,

I sit in coffee shops as is the custom,
Written books and talking men.

I hear their stories,
I know them.

At nighttime we drink as we desire and do whatever we can,
Fire men.

Imperfect and impermanent, but we dance.
Imperfect and impertinent yes, but we sing.

Together is better then alone,

Let the one who knows show the way.
Use these hands and I will use our strength
And then we trade,

So I can follow your footsteps,
I want to trace you as you lay,
And hear the breath that you're controlling first enter and then escape.

Remember this moment and the feeling it's holding
So we don't let anything go to waste.

Now, tell me joy and sing for glory,
Key of Bb, key of G.

Let me touch your sadness,
Use a minor or maybe d.

It makes the slightest difference,
But in the end it's all the same.

We sang A song that Someone wrote,
And it was gracious, amazing every note.

                              II
Who can remember all the porches, living rooms,
The basements, groups of people,
The common homes.

Capricious overtures,
Perfect tone.

But I know the way:
Renunciation.

I am love,
I will the song.

I spoke the Word
First.

         Precedence, always remember this, know well the difference
                              because the friend is not separate
                                         from me and you.

Worn out shoes, I wear my boots.
I dress in the style of whatever is in fashion,

Truth be true,
I do not mind,

My love is arrived,
And I am man alive.

                              III
"In the room the women come and go,
Talking of Michelangelo."

A perpetual state of leaving and arrival,

Bound for glory,
And right on time

And oh, how the engines whine!
Separation implying unity,

The moment when you die,
"That is the one action

(And the time of death is every moment)."

As soon as I leave
I have arrived.

And what compares,
Each part to the whole?

Of course not, but
Intellect and reason,

The foundation of experience,
As they say in likeness,

As above, so below.

Multiply everyone with each other and then do the math,
It's grand and seriously, the possibilities are endless.

                              IV
I get caught up in the heat of the moment,

The pounding emotion,
An endless array

Of ceaseless commotion
And tireless play.

Day after day
The shape is never broken,

Protean formula,
Rubric of clay.

The will to the wind
Whispering hello, hello again

My dear friend,

Silence.

                              V
Dire is the fortune men told me,
Let the birds eat me when I am dead.