Ralph Dartford
THE MAN FROM NAPLES
Sept 10th 2001, Santa Cruz CA
The man stepped off the Greyhound bus
on the corner of Pacific and Maple
sweating
humming of garlic
Al Green’s ‘How Can You Mend A Broken Heart’
fading but soothing
he would have to buy new batteries
for his beaten
bargain bucket
five-dollar
walkman,
soon
this man could not live without music
his road to Mandalay
there is shallow change
in his
well-fingered
baggy deep chino pockets
enough for coffee
and bread maybe
that was good
he carried the currency
of his multicolored bongos
under his arm like a baby
on his back
a stuffed falling apart
journeyman rucksack.
inside loud shirts from
‘Frank’s Thrift’
for one dollar plus two hours ironing
some picture poetry
a toothbrush
some hash
for sleeping
but for now
this crystal
sun charged
road melting
Santa Cruz morning.
is a new town to take
a song to sing
a heart ripe for again
breaking.
Date of Birth: March 14, 1963 Location: London, England Email: RDARTFORD@aol.com Publications: Pulp, Factions, The Living Room, Technopagen, Territories Magazine, abctales.com.co.uk, etc. Awards: Eastern Arts Writers Bursary, ABCtales.com Writer of the Week
