Child of the Song

(for James Matthews)

1
so you heard the night break into a laughter
when the dogs began to howl
and now you pass the day
having heard the scream of cats making love beneath broken automobiles
and your memory
like your eyes
like your whiskers
was witness to it all
otherwise why would you ask me about nina simone
your eyes say nothing nice about the minutes you carried
nor your whiskers
because they smell of alcohol
and your memory keeps throbbing behind your eyes
otherwise why would you sing with ausi miriam
about the empty days
and the nights which shattered your sleep
child of the song
tell us

2
remember
how we used to sit in the womb of the dawn
crushing the days that the future held
popping them
as if they were bugs troubling our night
remember
and we staggered into the mourning into the street
where everything screamed: sonofabitch!

3
yes, the day was not ours nor the night
remember how someone's baby rushed out of the tenth floor
and crushed on the tar
his blood splashing on the flower petals in the garden
so you heard the laughter of the law
what will you say to your son
mourn?
or my son, every mourning is a dangerous alley
yes
prophets claim the future
and the present destroys them

so
child of the song, sing don't cry
with song and dance we defied death
remember
like
the heavens are blue because they are empty
and
beware, my brother, of park benches
sitting there
is the last thing a fighter must do.