Aretha, Marvin
and Smokey form
the Rushmore Mount
of soul
James Brown
the elder statesman
Etta James
her voice of gold
Prince and
Jimmy Ruffin
there standing in
the wings
Curtis Mayfield
‘It’s All Right’
The Windy City
brings
Al Green
is for the ladies
with fantasy
in song
Glady’s Knight
the smoothest silk
with Ben E. King
along
Levi Stubbs
and Martha Reeves
still warming up
out back
As Stevie Wonder
and Michael J
keep soul’s love train
— on track
(Memory Of The O’Jays At The Uptown Theater: April, 1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsYOAIR4L_w
Sacred Moment
All wanton memory
starved in blight
The present
my repast
What’s gone is gone
regret a martyr
This moment sacred
— to feast at last
(Dreamsleep: April, 2026)