Following is a favorite poem from “back in the day” that still touches me, thrills me reading it now.
the song turning back into itself 2
A song for little children
by Al Young
Always it’s either
A beginning
or some end:
the baby’s being born
or its parents are
dying, fading om
like the rose
of the poem
withers, its light going out
while gardens come in
to bloom
Let us stand on streetcorners
in the desolate era
& propose a new kind
of craziness
Let us salute one another
one by one
two by two
the soft belly
moving toward
the long sideburns
the adams apple
or no apple at all
Let there be
in this craziness
a moon
a violin
a drum
Let the beautiful brown girl
join hands with
her black sister
her golden sister
her milkskinned sister
their eternal wombs
turning with the moon
Let there be a flute
to squeal above
the beat & the bowing
to open us up
that the greens
the blues
the yellows
the reds
the silvers &
indescribable rusts
might flow out
amazingly
& blend
with the wind
Let the wobby spin
of the earth
be a delight
wherein
a caress forms
the most perfect circle
Let the always be love
the beginning be love
love the only
possible
end
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I bought this volume in 1973. It cost $2.95. Imagine that.