JOHNNY RAY

I walked a friend
home after a date
and the radio was on
in her underground apartment
when a news bulletin
said in a deep voice
that Johnny Ray was arrested
in a New York airport
for having sex
in a bathroom
and I felt his song "Cry"
when my beating soul
moves blood between
my musical fingers
as I start to play riffs
on my sax
out the window
and neighbors came down
to hear me play
we took up a collection
so we could have a deli party
put on Johnny's recording
and danced till 4 A.M.
knowing it was Johnny's love
was the delirious reason
for my sorrow
that a man is arrested
for brief lust,
my own music beats off
flees a few miserable hours
and my life expands an octave.