#MIDDLEBURY
On Strings of Blue
Cedar Sigo
for Bill Berkson
Was it tonight’s
flirtatious
remark or his
exquisite song-book
on stage?
My outside life
has turned itself in,
any opening
up at all
is no small feat
when romancing
the edge
of an echo
Smoke in the
dream and rest
in bed,
For all we
know
and I’ll
be seeing you,
Carnegie Hall
underground,
“More light please”
Bill Berkson
will read from
John Wieners
in my wooden
house across
the street (brown
with golden couch)
his sounding out
The Cut, “Not a woman
passed unloved, not
one eye filled
was addressed.”
His voice held
the cleanest
copy one
could find,
We scraped
syllables off
the same records,
It’s that old
feeling and
I’ve got it bad,
straight starlight
embarrassing
the big (night)
sky, cool air
unveiled by Bill
About this poem
“‘On Strings of Blue’ was written in the immediate aftermath of Bill Berkson’s death. We would visit each other quite often, discussing poems, poets, singers, art and everything thing else in between. He always seemed to come bearing gifts. The poem felt more like a visitation from Bill, as though he were telling me what to write in places, showing me how he might phrase things.” – Cedar Sigo
About Cedar Sigo
Cedar Sigo is the author of “Language Arts” (Wave Books, 2014). He has taught at St. Mary’s College and Naropa University. He lives in San Francisco.
The Academy of American Poets is a nonprofit, mission-driven organization, whose aim is to make poetry available to a wider audience. Email The Academy at poem-a-day@poets.org.
(c) 2016 Cedar Sigo. Originally published in Poem-a-Day, www.poets.org. Distributed by King Features Syndicate.
