Play for us,
Benny Goodman,
play our song
play life
(that plays us)
yours the instrument
who are an instrument
splinter
n-o-w

we were a generation
who wrestled life
death has no definition
life is what we have
and has us
what we know
knows us
what we breathe
breathes us
an unending love song
against the reed
of your larynx

Your breath
coaxed it from
the artificial throat
of ebony and silver -
stronger than the bird
braver than the harp
freer than the songs of David.

Ode to a clarinet,
modern nightingale,
rising beyond music
to those mysteries
where hearing sees
and seeing hears
and intuition
touches reality
all that we have been
(knowledge)
all that we will be
(destiny).


HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!