VIGIL for Doc
lit the opium this morning
and black peppery smoke
split the air and swirled around me
like a foolish dream
I thought of Levine
squinting through sulfur flares
glaring at the sun on an
industrial Detroit morning
I could see Molina
sticking his thumb out for the last time
on the bridge out of Hammond
my heroes’ work
precious, never delicate
their scars never for show
they roamed far from Hollywood
and the price was always
too high for Heaven
a poem is the way of living
and a song the way of life
it’s why Molina was always leaving
beneath a blue Chicago moon
why Levine was always looking
for a white sun burning
beyond the towers, through the smoke
VIGIL appears in All in the wind, my third full-length collection of poetry and posse, released in 2016 and out now through Yellow Lark Press. Please join me this Sunday for a night of poetry and storytelling, celebrating the release of Justin Arnold's A Dog Outside At Night In A Fight at The Buzzmill. Love you Brother.