“City Zen”

The Diner / The waiter asks, "What would you like?" The man says, "What I had yesterday." The waiter / pauses, looks out the window, and replies, "You cannot have it." / The Park / An old man sits on the park bench watching pigeons. "What are you doing?" I ask. "Waiting," he / says. "For what?" I ask. "For them to get tired of it," he replies. / The Museum / The sign says, "Do Not Touch." A child touches it anyway. The child is not punished. The sign, / having been touched, is no longer the same sign.

“Coltrane on Soprano” and “Driving in the Highlands”

His / eyes are / so closed / they're op / en. From the / top of his he / ad, he sees the / music coming / at him eleven / notes at a time. / He must squee / ze them all thro / ugh this narrow / tongue flick of a / horn, this squeal / er, whiner, sopra / no, diva of a high / pitched saxophone. / Flurries of fingere / d-key-fingers indis / tinguishable from eac / h other, strike the honey / from the stone. O, blurry pain / and slurry sorrow suck the merci / ful marrow from this brass-gold bone.