TOO MANY OCEANS IN YOUR SONG (FOR NORMAN)

First published in August 2022

The dreamscape
of deep blue waters
is all-embracing.
I try to swim (I'm
a good swimmer)
float with the tide
imagine I might drown.

You stand on the shore
your voice deep, true
singing the blues
of downtown streets
in old New Orleans
of getting the blues
when it rains. Stop!

What about me?
I call, my voice thin
wavering in the wind
as the ocean sucks me
down into blues like
you've never known,
indigo, peacock, sapphire.

And still you sing
the blues of rundown streets,
Bourbon, Beale, Basin ...
Even the smooth red tiles
of a Tin Roof turn blue.
You ignore my struggles
in the ocean's blue depths.

Too many deep-down dreams,
too many oceans in your song.