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Contrapuntal Occurrence

Lbelans, 2018

 

Prelude

A constellation glints off the window sill prism.

            dissolving

in a downbeat.

 

Three friends died within an autumnal week of each other. They were younger than I am

All of them lit by glistening sun

            all the walking days of their lives.

 

Carl Sagan

said - Our matter is made of red giant stars; 

evolution of life is caused by their death. 

 

Fugue

Under October’s low-hanging orb, an old man

fiercely plunks a city trashcan. He might be playing Rachmaninoff.

            In the rearview mirror, maybe Monk.

 

Orange candy corn pylons line the road on my way

 to buy Halloween treats; Terence Blanchard’s Choices riffs on the car radio.

            In an interlude, Cornel West chews on spoken words.

 

Emerald green balloons

tumble down Broad Street. They seem to be in a hurry.

            In hindsight,

maybe lost.

 

Coda

Stars scatter across the ceiling, spilling along the wall.

Perhaps my three friends have come to offer a last line

            in that moment,

dusk settles.

 

Gustav Mahler

said - The symphony should be like the world;

it must embrace everything.

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