Posted by Mark C. Kennedy on May 06, 2001 at 11:18:16 from 38.32.161.166 :
Toward mid-July last year, my dearest friend, Ed Powell, posted this poem to me, NOON MUSIC IN DELAWARE PARK Cry hot tears behind dark glasses, Marching in silence, dog on a leash, Shipmates with me Crashing out of Plainview prison, Shipmates dropping from heat And half century later –Ed Powell My first poem age 74, scratched in pocket notebook
and I wish to share it with all whose lives he touched. It was a first for him. There is a second.
In friendship always , my friend. Mark C. Kennedy
4 July 2000
Hearing, walkman in ears,
John Philip Sousa's
Stars and Stripes Forever
I am a 19 year old,
Parading, 10,000 strong, the grounds
Of Great Lakes Naval Training Station
–Benjamin, Peraslugoff, Jack Noonan
Tom Ragstad, Fred Scriber–
No longer images, now only names
I merge in the vast thrust of America,
Swept up in this dumb organism
Blind to its own destiny
–And tetanus shots
I stand at attention on an asphalt strip,
Awaiting further instructions.
Tears from John Philip Sousa
Burn my face just as if they came
From Beethoven's 15th Quartet.
124 Jewett Parkway
Buffalo, New York, 14214
Email:ehpowell@aol.com
while walking around the park, conversing with God.