ALONG THE CHARLES

Along the Charles
after an hour at church
a child of eleven
hears an angelic songs' litany
at St. John the evangelist
near Harvard Square
bz searches over the river
in early dawn among the canals
for bread crumbs
on the shining rays
of a fairground
with some birds amid philodendron
suddenly hears bacchanals
and a lone sax riffs sound
relaxes along the greensward grass
and wildflower shore
to his back a sailboat is down
near a kayak full of fraternal
Harvard companions
and Platonic friends who pass
hidden amid the sun cast canals,
there is one black swan
turning almost in a nostalgic form
by the day's marathon runners
bz writes down salty words
with chalk on the graffiti wall
as a future free spirit bard
painting over his courtyard hall,
and learns to draw
on carbon copy
a favorite Roualt clown.