29   An Icon

          woke up this mornin' with my mind
            set   on   freedom...

I wanted to make you happy with another poem,
& as the star of a nation     droops low
in the great NW sky     I wanted to flood you
with fishbaskets     from Rome, Byzantium

& as the voice of Marian Anderson
ricochets off the Memorial (& over the
heads of the D.A.R.)     I wanted the star
(with its consort     of muffled organ)
to surface--and plumb the mansions of heaven

& these desires of mine
hung there     pendulous     like fireworks,
or     all the other & Various     Works of Man--
waiting, waiting     (like sheepdogs--wandering barks)
for the miracle of your     ink-black     inspiration

---

Henry Gould | Island Road 30
Contents | Mudlark No. 6