after reading Apollinaire

This was the first poem in a chapbook published in 1972 by the Brown Univ. Literary Board, featuring the winners in fiction & poetry of the 1st annual Charles Philbrick Award (Henry Gould & James Morgan).

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FOR MARCH 28 NINETEEN 71

(after reading Apollinaire)

I made this notebook thoughtlessly
out of marks that separate me
from what my feet touch
though it bakes my eyes
each morning leaving a room
I find a lot of people without shoes
are whistling down the street
without caring about stars or dark bowls
a girl's hair beckons the evening on

in the warm air the first fly of spring
drones about my face looking for summer
short-legged people with winter hats
glance at the sun and bounce off the sidewalk
my back to a warm wall
I know how silence defeats love
leaning like an old man
against a warm day like this