Free
Verse
Bookstore
on Dudley
Next to the
venice west
the book store
partners Vaughn Marlowe
and Milton Bratton
collected the words
Milton clean from a bout
with synanon house
and before the crazys came
we all went to see Joe gordon
at Shellys Manhole
every piano player in town
in the audiance amazing night
later Joe fell asleep
with a lit cigarette
burned hiself up he did
not related to Dexter
but they were brothers
Good time's all night jazz
anywhere in town
lots of brothers
on the beach
unselfconscious
an integrated community
keeping the Beat....
Tamboo
Milton
Tony Davis
Bill smith
Roscoe Weathers
Dewey
Maurice Lacey
no race just a community
Charlie Newman unintentionally
insulted a young blood
who took no offence
Tamboo and Milton
laughly set it right
smokin the piece pipe
and the drums drummed
and all went well
into the night
1958
surfs
up
golden
glowing
rays of sunshine
rejoice ....
on breaking waves
surfers song
so perfect
the fetch
on waves
they be sharing
turquoise stallions
no reins to hold
inside the tube
rushing sounds
down a wall
in free fall
Kyoka
we
laughed
about warnings
of global warming
winter so long and cold...
nothing to sweat about
heavy
gusts
the tree bends
boughs swish
fresh timber
breaks wind
counting
waves
big swell
on the south shore
tourists summer surprise
meeting the lifeguards
JRM
my ol man in
memory
the man from New York
black ink of his words
the time was winter
before the killer summer
the board walk and sand
the slap slap of Harrachi's
on cobblestone
always the sound of Monk
and the Lady
the blue of the ocean
miles of beach
waves calling
words washing over
all of Venice West
and the drumming
echoing up Dudly street
touching the face of god
for awhile
and then the dealers
took it all down
drugs drowned
those words
and what ifs
the killer summer
he called it
and I lost him
Tanka
sunrise
an
errant sunbeam
breaks through
the morning forest
captivating a rainbow
in a drop of dew
