FAIRFIELD PORTER'S DECORATION

Receiving an invitation
to view ''Interior with
a Dress Pattern''
in a gallery in Manhattan
feeling flattered
in this penthouse loft
wondering was life downhill
from here among the jet set
with the blues of memory
as the day with a voice raised me
up from the backwaters
of obscurity
yet with a security of feeling
standing apart from the crowd
playing a Bach violin sonata
feeling like a jester
of entertainment
with a Bojangles angle
as angels prepare for my debut
at fourteen
without any directions
but to be cool
as Mailer takes me up the roof
after I told him my fear
of heights subtracts
this August midnight hour
and asks me to look down
at the traffic and to fight fear
he said with a bear hug
and a Bronx cheer.