MARINERS NAVIGATE BY THE STARS

You are mortal now, like the rest of us,

Seeing the mouths of ghosts in the knotholes,

In the paneling, under the chenille bedspread,

Drawing keys on the big rock by the shore

To make it a piano with a tiny piece of charcoal.

I ask the questions I am afraid to ask.

Glass rattles off the bar, breaks on the floor.

Grace Kelly, cat burglars, the Riviera––

We leap off the space-time continuum,

Conspiring like heaven to fill each heart

With all who gather to protect you.

1 July 2012

Spoken word version from Venerable Madtown Hall, copyright © 2013 by Jim Cohn.

Video clip from The Making of Venerable Madtown Hall, copyright © 2013 by Jim Cohn.