The Clarinet

First published in Mosaic #28, 1988, page 82 (University of California, Riverside). This was my first published longer poem in any journal other than school-related publications. Later published in Sand Hill Review #4, Spring 2003, page 33. Also shown in the “Ars Poetica” exhibit (where artists interpret poems) at the Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network (BARN) on Bainbridge Island, Washington, with an opening reception held on 5 April 2024. My poem was interpreted by glass artist Sandy Schlyer. See also “Your Second Heart” and “How to Respond to a Haiku,” poems featured in other “Ars Poetica” exhibits. +

A Londoner with

hatovercoatclarinet

plays amiable

songstunesmelodies

outside

the Royal Festival,

command performance

inside.

His hatovercoatclarinet

case

are worn,

and the tired case lies

open

where naked

reedspenniespounds

rest.

The music

floats

sweetly

across the Thames

played

through thin

woolgloveswithoutfingers

and when the concert

ends

bowlersgownsducktails

waltz like the river by

to the sound

of a dreamy

clarinet.

Photos from the 5 April 2024 opening exhibit at the Bainbridge Artisans Resource Network on Bainbridge Island, Washington.

Glass artwork by Sandy Schlyer inspired by my poem “The Clarinet.”