IMPROVISATION#313
ON A BEAT'S JOG

Silence
then a marathon
jog in the morning
after you wash
your hair and teeth
with a comb
of mushroom shells
from the harbor
you stop to write a line
wishing you
were with Ruskin
at the "Stones of Venice"
or in California
reaching out
for a snail's shell
remembering your audition
with a high pitched
soap opera star, Vera
who sang in Russian
from Pushkin's
first act of "Onegin."