The Clipboard (for Bill Graham, at the Trips Festival)
The Astronaut plugs his cord
into the huge speaker console.
The striped-clad dandy
turns the switch to on.
That was when gravity got turned off.
Amidst the feedback
and strobed landing lights,
feeling light-weight,
I decided to be The Clipboard.
It anchors me
as the scene floats away.
The Clipboard says “This needs doing,”
even though fixing a broken guitar
has no bullet point.
“Protect the doors!”
The Clipboard yells.
The Astronaut has another idea,
and leaves the doors wide open.
The Clipboard pushes back
in order to feel the ground,
while ravers bounce and glow
like waves of light piercing space’s darkness.
Just outside the Hall
The Clipboard has no sway
and the Astronaut is oblivious
As a seagull dozes on a pier,
lulled by a fog horn out in the Bay.
Back inside the Hall
as madness rules this crazy scene,
The Clipboard declares
“This wildness can be controlled
(and still be fun).”