1- Now there came one man alone
A mad man out among the world, a stranger unto myself
There is not a rumor of taste or a sense of smell
It is a long journey for the ranger assuming many roles
Wandering through the villages of thought
Touching him that touches all, touching him that touches all
A long journey in the wilderness hoping to find myself
2- Lost in a dream
I got lost in a dream last night, got so scared when I looked about
I saw my dripping flesh all over the ground
There was no place that sold a bucket big enough to hold me
I ran wild asking everyone, but no one could answer at all
They said ” Man you got to be dreaming”
But all I saw was they’re skin falling off
Finally I got lost and wandered
Wandered deep into the woods
Far from all the concrete an’ steel eye’s
I found my body sleeping by the roots of a tree
Late on an’ Autumn night a cool and gentle sleep
The tree was very kind to me, I felt peace and harmony
I awoke moments later and found myself in bed
My heart was throbbing blood to my veins
And so I envisioned a great tree with my mother below
My father was above and I felt quiet peace an’ harmony.
3- Paradise in Florence
My mind is talkative but I got nothing to say
I was asked if I knew if the doorway before me is “The Gate of Paradise” by Giovanni
I said I don’t study art. He said, but I’m sure it must be.
Maybe you can’t answer my question
I remember reading about it in a famous Art book he said
I said the only Art book I know is right in front of me
He looked but he didn’t see at first
He said is it a book I can read, he didn’t understand yet
We looked hard in each others eyes until he saw
Now I guess he thinks its Giovanni’s doors
Everybody looking for pretty water.
4- His arm
In a church I’ve visited oh so many times today I’ve found the reason why
Pieta oh grand of marble, the master he’d touched so gently with love.
And so in anger with his hammer
This one he had smashed for what reason why I tried to find.
I searched in form and line and could not find the imperfect sign.
Someone repaired the broken arm and breast
The Master’s permission he was given.
5- My Sestina
Hum, you pay as much to rent a car
As you do to be on the street and just plain eat
But I’m doing it cause its going to be neat.
Heading to the Carrera Quarry to see where
The roman empire and the David were from.
The women they look good from here
All over Roma they look right at you
I still can’t write much about old Sestina, what a chapel she is
The most impressive I’ve seen, Michelangelo so proud.
6- Florence
An’ aimless wanderer, people try to give me directions
I can’t take them, I can’t direction to somewhere
It is direction that I am, it is unavoidable.
I am in beautiful Florence now
I cannot communicate with my new companions
They want to go somewhere, I’m happy here
If it’s ok with you guys I’ll be feeling this way forever.
7- Note’s
The space that is not designated goes on for eternity
Space not defined in sculpture is truly most expressive.
Henry Moore says ” he finds enough inspiration
In a box of pebbles to begin work”
I never met a pebble that didn’t work !
The roof tops, one tile upon another ever increasing to the peak
one tile upon another ever increasing to the edge of eternity.
If an Italian isn’t smiling he most likely doesn’t see a women.
I’m listening to Joe Crocker in Italian, sound real cool.
When you can’t speak the language the mind becomes itself a voice
Thinks of itself and converses with it’s self
in endless circles of it’s self having thought.
An Italian woman will look at you once no matter how long
When you pass on the street
But she won’t look back at you
I have been looking back a lot
I see the greatest object in all the world ‘The David”
If sight is of the organ and nothing is separate
Within the here and now is seen the most perfect vision
Take away this human eye and replace it not
but with good sense envisioned within.
My life passes without sense of time, like a small beetle on the oak tree
I know not up or down yet am always breathing quietly to life given
Ho what else can it really be!
8- “Italian determination”
I’m sitting in a poling boat half sunk in the Arno canal in Florence
I’ve been sitting along time and there’s been few people around
But then all of a sudden a man with one of those English hats
A very brown face, very Italian looking appeared and full of purpose
I could hear the sound of water being disturbed
Often a thud or clunk from the boat he had boarded
I had at first not wanted to observe him strongly for fear he would go away
But I’m very curious and finally became aware of his mission
The boat he was using to stand on and push a piece of driftwood
Into the current and yet even with a lot of futile effort pushing and pulling
He didn’t accomplish anything for the boat was chained to close to shore
Yet even after this he was still strongly determined to do something
So on he went pushing and adjusting things in the boat and yanking the chain
Until suddenly he was on his way up the walk
I can see him now, he’s discussing his errand with gusto
to some men who sit on the wall above every day
Humph, such determination these Italians have .
9 Flower bed
If he dies they will make of him a flowerbed
an’ if you weep all the flowers will grow
an’ if you tend the garden
ho what a wonder that he is dead.
10 Saint Peters
So much monolithic marble, so many devote Christians
120 Saints, 12 disciples one Christ
I sit everywhere yet always see more
All the saints seem alive in the misty light of the moon
The pillars of granite stand it seems like they have no weight
An’ yet so tall, so many, so great yet without weight
The vibration here is very good.
11 Henry Moore
I saw a sign today it said, “Forte de Belvedere”
And underneath it said in big letters “Moore”
Ah I said “that’s what I came to Italy to see”
Henry Moore’s life time exhibition on the fort
I made my camp in secret under it’s walls
Yet until I saw the sign I had all but forgotten my mission
So now it is morning, the moon is gone an it is raining
It rains softly as the church bells of the Duomo ring out
Umbrellas in the rain, cathedral chimes play musical rhymes.