D Notes

Ode to Billy Nardozzi 

You say it like a gong

Sings it to a throng

Of thinking fellers

Gone wrong

When they failed

To notice the moon

Lights up the clouds

Like a sunflower at night

Through the round glass window With the Diamond pattern open

So the flies can come in and land 

On the lonely blue chair below themonkey puzzle Tree with

White  honeysuckle draping over like a blanket Of perfume as mommy and Ed

Walk out the gate to the piano

Bar where the show tunes seem old

Until the wine gets past the row of four light houses 

On the point of the cape.

Adam DeGraff

303-358-1670

Extra Credit

Hey y'all. Look what Mark Twain does here.

INDIAN CROW

by Mark Twain

I suppose he is the hardest lot that wears feathers. Yes, and the cheerfulest, and the best satisfied with himself. He never arrived at what he is by any careless process, or any sudden one; he is a work of art, and “art is long”; he is the product of immemorial ages, and deep calculation; one can’t make a bird like that in a day. He has been reincarnated more times than Shiva; and he has kept a sample of each incarnation, and fused it into his constitution. In the course of his evolutionary promotions, his sublime march toward ultimate perfection, he has been a gambler, a low comedian, a dissolute priest, a fussy woman, a blackguard, a scoffer, a liar, a thief, a spy, an informer, a trading politician, a swindler, a professional hypocrite, a patriot for cash, a reformer, a lecturer, a lawyer, a conspirator, a rebel, a royalist, a democrat, a practicer and propagator of irreverence, a meddler, an intruder, a busybody, an infidel, and a wallower in sin for the mere love if it. The strange result, the incredible result, of this patient accumulation of all damnable traits is, that he does not know what care is, he does not know what sorrow is, he does not know what remorse is, his life is one long thundering ecstasy of happiness, and he will go to his death untroubled, knowing that he will soon turn up again as an author or something, and be even more intolerable capable and comfortable than ever he was before.
--

Extra Credit, 7/3/13

Hey y'all. Thanks for sticking with me and giving me a reason to share poems! Here's one I read recently that got to me. I love the transparency of it, the way it is fruitily sentimental. And the way it shows the way. (A way.)

Effort at Speech Between Two People
BY MURIEL RUKEYSER

: Speak to me. Take my hand. What are you now?
I will tell you all. I will conceal nothing.
When I was three, a little child read a story about a rabbit
who died, in the story, and I crawled under a chair :
a pink rabbit : it was my birthday, and a candle
burnt a sore spot on my finger, and I was told to be happy.

: Oh, grow to know me. I am not happy. I will be open:
Now I am thinking of white sails against a sky like music,
like glad horns blowing, and birds tilting, and an arm about me.
There was one I loved, who wanted to live, sailing.

: Speak to me. Take my hand. What are you now?
When I was nine, I was fruitily sentimental,
fluid : and my widowed aunt played Chopin,
and I bent my head on the painted woodwork, and wept.
I want now to be close to you. I would
link the minutes of my days close, somehow, to your days.

FAREWELL FROM ADAM D AND THE DEGRAFF FAMILY

D Vines

Vines filled with water and light and the delightful divine.

As some of you may know I am now living in Queens NY (as Gen got a job in Manhattan.) Last weekend was my last official one in the D Note. There were a few very sweet moments. One was the musical Grand Central Station, the full chorus of actors in 1920s fashion, singing "New York New York" for the big finale. And then after the musical one of our favorite musicians and people Ryan Chrys played a solo set and dedicated it to the DeGraff family with some very kind words that brought tears to my eyes.

But never fear, though we won't be there (except for frequent visits), the place is in the hands of the Rosenberg's who are likewise in the hands of the music. And we will leave a large part of ourselves there. If you look closely you will see our sweat and blood swirled into the waves behind the stage mural.

Let me take a moment to tell you about that mural. Our friend David Larsen flew here from Oakland CA to paint the mural in February of 2003. The floors were being finished as we were preparing to open shop so David had to paint the panels separately at Matthew and Monica's house.

The design originated with a 1950s shaving cream ad. David took the wave of shaving cream in the ad and used it for the outline of the wave. Then he replicated the wave facing itself on either end of the mural. Inside of the waves he designed free hand and has told us that he tried to fit all of art history in there, everything from Art Deco to Cubism to Japanese print making. He fused them all together like it was no big thing!

There is a lot hidden in the waves. Matthew used to tell people to look for the camel in the waves. Of course there is no camel. He's got a strange sense of humor, laughing his ass off as people spent hours looking for it. (Anybody remember the dollar bill shellacked in the bar floor? Another classic Matthew prank.) His camel joke, by the way, had a hidden level of cleverness to it. It is a nod to the camel on Camel cigarettes and the way you can get a whole story  out of what you see inside that camel (see Still Life With Woodpecker by Tom Robbins.) Which leads me now to wonder, are there any waves in the camel?

The waves were meant to be, I think, a kind of graffiti tag from the West Coast, the Pacific, where Genevieve and myself had been living before we came to CO. Or perhaps they were meant to be one Atlantic Wave and One Pacific wave facing each other, with the Glyph in the middle representing the mid-west. To back that idea up let me add that it wasn't until a few years after David painted the mural that he mentioned to me that the glyph in the middle was from the signature glyph from  Currier and Ives. Have you ever seen the images on Currier and Ives china? They are as sentimentally mid-western as you can get. And the china is great too because it was inexpensive, but made well and done beautifully. Utilitarian beauty. That's the level of thought David put into this mural. So in way, to return to the conceit, the glyph of the D Note was holding back in abeyance the East and West coast for awhile, especially for me, who was in transit from the West to the East.

The waves were also in homage to the artist Raymond Pettibon (who did the covers for The Dead Kennedy's and other seminal punk bands) and the wave murals that he paints all over the world. David and Raymond are friends.

Perhaps the greatest thing about that mural is that it works aesthetically as a visual parantheses to any genre of music, from Bluegrass to Middle Eastern, from punk to classical. It is worth noting that there are a thousand pictures you can find on the web of bands playing before those mighty waves. Waves of pictures.

I often think of the wooden stage, beautifully designed by Matthew and our good friend Joe Triplett, as the prow of a ship upon which the waves of the mural are crashing overhead. The only thing holding the waves back is the power of the glyph. A glyph is a flourish. A flourish is art for art's sake. The art and the music are holding back the waves from crashing and wrecking the ship.

And that brings up the D Note theme song (w/Jeremy and Matthew DeGraff)

"I am the captain of the sea
The bloody ship she shelters me

She rocks below with wind and wave

I have to drink to see

Yo ho ho and a bottle of woe

Life at sea is the only life I know

The mermaids they all sing for me

From deep beneath the wine dark sea

They sing of longing and despair

They sing of one so fair

Yo ho ho and a bottle of woe (whoa!)

Life at sea is the only life for me."

I think the mural is a true contemporary masterpiece and the perfect backdrop for the D Note. We are so glad to see the waves waving there still. May they wave forever.

And speaking of forever, I could probably write about the D Note forever. But perhaps it is better to get to the business still at hand.

There is a great line up this coming weekend. Affrosippi is having a CD release party Friday night. This band is an awesome African based voodoo blues band lead by Dan Treanor. So good.

One of my personal favorite bands The Stormcellars are playing at 6pm Saturday night FREE. If you like the Lumineers and Mumford you will love these guys. Check out the video here for a taste.

Then another personal favorite takes the stage at 8pm, the band Hey Lady! This a kick ass B52s cover band and made me fall in love with the B52s all over again last time they played.

Ya'll better be there dancing in my stead!

14 [4:30p] John Bunzli Solo Happy Hour [7:00p] Affrosippi CD Release Party $5	15 [10:30a] Zumba $8 [6:00p] The Stormcellars [8:30p] Hey Lady! $5
16 [2:00p] Baby Boogie, bring your kids into dance! [8:00p] Salsa Dancing (lesson at 8pm, Orquestra La Brava at 9pm) $8

Alright y'all, I'm out!

Much love to you.

D Scribe

Extra Credit: If you want to keep getting the occasional extra credit from me then please respond and let me know and I'll add you to the family

Here's the last official poem, lyrics by Jeremy and myself, to the tune of In The Pines...

In D Note

In D Note, In D Note

Where the songs all get wrote

And you cannot get to sleep all your life

In D Note, In D Note

Where the demons get smote

And the angels are having a hell of a time

In D Note, In D Note

We're rocking the boat

And trying not to fall into the water

In D Note, In D note

Where the sun always shines

And you shiver as the warm wind blows

D Note Love Letter 6/6/13

D vine

Hey y'all, some great shows this weekend. I'm especially excited about Cabaret Otaku's Grand Central Station on Saturday night at 7pm.$10

"Cabaret Otaku and Front Range Theater Company present: Grand Central Station! A Musical Revue, featuring music of the golden age: The year is 1948 in Grand Central Station, NYC. Every traveler has a story to tell –and we tell some of these stories in song. A delightful presentation of music celebrating the romance of train travel in the 1940's! Join us as we proudly present Performance to benefits Nourish the Children."

This company has done opera shows at the D Note before and they are really good. (We'll have to remind them though that it isn't Grand Central Station, it's Grand Central Terminal. At a station trains pass by, but at a terminal they stop...and start.)

I also love the band playing Friday night at 7pm,  Monocle, Rocky Mountain Indie Folk. $5

There's also a fun dance band called The Spin playing Friday night, $6, and a benefit for Children's Miracle Network Saturday night. 

I'll be around this weekend and  hope to see you at the D.

D Scribe

Extra Credit:

Last week I mentioned that when I finish writing these D Note love letters (next week will be the last),  I would happily keep sending out a weekly poem to anyone interested. A handful of you fine folks responded, but If anybody else missed that announcement hit me back here and I'll include you in the list.

For now, here's one of my favorites...

Archaic Torso of Apollo

  by Rainer Maria Rilke

We cannot know his legendary head
with eyes like ripening fruit. And yet his torso
is still suffused with brilliance from inside,
like a lamp, in which his gaze, now turned to low,

gleams in all its power. Otherwise
the curved breast could not dazzle you so, nor could 
a smile run through the placid hips and thighs
to that dark center where procreation flared.

Otherwise this stone would seem defaced
beneath the translucent cascade of the shoulders
and would not glisten like a wild beast's fur:

would not, from all the borders of itself,
burst like a star: for here there is no place
that does not see you. You must change your life.

D Note love letter 5/30/13

dear frienDs,

I have thoroughly enjoyed writing this D-mail every Thursday morning for the past decade.  As most of you know, the D Note has new owners (kind of like marrying off your daughter!) so it is time to hang up my impresario hat and take a break. I will only be writing a few more D-mails and then I'm off to the next chapter in my life. Gonna be tough to follow the last chapter. My time at the D Note was amazing! I can't thank Matthew and Monica and the rest of my family and friends enough for helping bring this amazing dream to fruition.

I will miss meeting with all of you here weekly (and face to face at the D Note), but if you want to stay in touch I would love to connect with you on Facebook or Instagram (just hit me back for urls). And/or I would be happy to keep sending you poems via e-mail once a week too. Just hit reply and let me know!

As for this weekend, there's some great music on board. There's the sweet bluegrassy harmonies of Birds Of A Feather Friday night at 5:30p. Free! Then a really good dance band (seriously) called Moses Jones at 8pm. $10.

Saturday at 4pm we have the big band panache of Sentimental Sounds at 4pm. Free!

Then at 7pm Saturday we have Flamenco. From Rene Heredia's announcement for the show:

"We many new numbers, all produced and choreographed by René Heredia. The enchantment of Spain, the excitement of genuine gypsy flamenco dance, live authentic music played by a flamenco master, and multiple changes of lavish costumes all combine in one exquisite performance.

René Heredia is one of today’s foremost flamenco artists—the artistic director of both the Gypsy Chicks and the Flamenco Fantasy Dance Theatre, a solo guitarist, and a leader in the Flamenco Fusion movement. He has produced shows and performed around the world. René holds both the Governor’s and the Mayor’s Awards for excellence in the Arts for performance and education. René just recently received the “Living Legend of Dance in Colorado” award from the Carson-Brierly Dance Library and was nominated for the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Colorado Dance Alliance. He has won the Grand Prix de Disc from France.

René has performed for Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, Princess Nora of Jordan, Princess Grace Kelly and Prince Rainer of Monaco, and Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia. He has worked in person and on television with such noted artists as Art Linkletter, Steve Allan, Ed Sullivan, Ann Southern, Peter Nero, Hal Linden, Eddie Fisher, George Gobel, and Bill Cosby. Denver is privileged to have one of the leading flamenco artists in the U.S. today as a resident, performer, producer, choreographer, and teacher."

So there you go!

Extra Credit: I recently read the following Longfellow poem to my girls and we found it to be enchanting. Dungeon of my heart indeed.

The Children's Hour

Between the dark and the daylight,

      When the night is beginning to lower,

Comes a pause in the day's occupations,

      That is known as the Children's Hour.

I hear in the chamber above me

      The patter of little feet,

The sound of a door that is opened,

      And voices soft and sweet.

From my study I see in the lamplight,

      Descending the broad hall stair,

Grave Alice, and laughing Allegra,

      And Edith with golden hair.

A whisper, and then a silence:

      Yet I know by their merry eyes

They are plotting and planning together

      To take me by surprise.

A sudden rush from the stairway,

      A sudden raid from the hall!

By three doors left unguarded

      They enter my castle wall!

They climb up into my turret

      O'er the arms and back of my chair;

If I try to escape, they surround me;

      They seem to be everywhere.

They almost devour me with kisses,

      Their arms about me entwine,

Till I think of the Bishop of Bingen

      In his Mouse-Tower on the Rhine!

Do you think, O blue-eyed banditti,

      Because you have scaled the wall,

Such an old mustache as I am

      Is not a match for you all!

I have you fast in my fortress,

      And will not let you depart,

But put you down into the dungeon

      In the round-tower of my heart.

And there will I keep you forever,

      Yes, forever and a day,

Till the walls shall crumble to ruin,

      And moulder in dust away!

Love Letter 5/23/13

D ants,

Dancing away the years are we over here at the D.

For over a decade! This weekend we have entertained so many feet!

This weekend, we start with Moses Walker! Moses played with the Clamdaddys for years every Wedneday night and is one of our favorite people and musicians on the planet. Free! Then there is a cool indie show on Friday night with Marlo Narwhal and friends. Marlo Narwhal is a fusion of alternative rock and experimental blues-prog. Think Captain Beefheart meets Primus, with a little Lee Scratch Perry? Because we are keeping it weird.

Saturday Dusty Bottle Boxcar Band is back. This is highly danceable jug band music. Dikki Du on Saturday night is always the best Zydeco dance party around. Dikki Du is Zydeco royalty from Louisiana, Roy Carrier's nephew.

And of course, salsa on Sunday night, caliente.

4:30p Moses Walker! [7:00p] Nick Rockwell [7:45p] Electric Sunday $5 [9:00p] Marlo Narwhal, Big Thirsty Girl, Arturo Complex $5	25 [10:30a] Zumba $8 [4:00p] Music Lessons Of Westminster band recita [7:00p] Dusty Bottle Boxcar Band $5 [9:00p] Dikki Du and The Zydeco Krew $10
26 [2:00p] Baby Boogie, bring your kids into dance! [8:00p] Salsa Dancing (lesson at 8pm, Sabor de la Calle at 9pm) $8

Yours,

D pants

Extra Credit:

Roberto Bolano has become well known as a novelist, but he is also a poet. In fact his novel The Savage Detectives is partly about the state of poetry in Mexico City. Here is a selection of his poems, from BOMB Magazine.

34. I dreamt I was a really old Latin American
detective. I lived in New York and Mark Twain
was hiring me to save the life of someone without
a face. “It’s going to be a damn tough case, Mr.
Twain,” I told him.
35. I dreamt I was falling in love with Alice Sheldon.
She didn’t want me. So I tried getting myself killed
on three continents. Years passed. Finally, when I
was really old, she appeared on the other end of the
promenade in New York and with signals (like the
ones they use on aircraft carriers to help the pilots
land) she told me she’d always loved me.
39. I dreamt I kept sleeping while my classmates
tried to liberate Robert Desnos from the Terezín
concentration camp. When I woke a voice was
telling me to get moving. “Quick, Bolaño, quick,
there’s no time to lose.” When I got there, all I
found was an old detective picking through the
smoking ruins of the attack.
40. I dreamt that a storm of phantom numbers was
the only thing left of human beings three billion
years after Earth ceased to exist.

42. I dreamt I was 18 and saw my best friend at
the time, who was also 18, making love to Walt
Whitman. They did it in an armchair, contemplating
the stormy Civitavecchia sunset.
44. I dreamt I was translating the Marquis de Sade
with axe blows. I’d gone crazy and was living in the
woods.
46. I dreamt I was an old Latin American detective
and a mysterious Foundation hired me to find the
death certificates of the Flying Spics. I was traveling
all around the world: hospitals, battlefields, pulque
bars, abandoned schools.

--

D Note love letter 5/16/13

D ears,

The D, if you haven't noticed, is in the shape of an ear. It is an ear at attention. You can almost picture a cartoon hand cupped behind it. The D is listening.

The D is listening to bluegrass this friday night with the incredible Blue Canyon Boys. We have heard dozens of great bluegrass bands at the D Note, but this band is one of our favorites. Very traditional. Very good. (It strikes us that we could write a very rich history of the Colorado bluegrass bands of the aughties. BCB would have a chapter.)

There is a Singing In The Rain sing-a-long on Saturday at noon. That sounds fun!

We really like the bands Saturday night too, especially Mezzo Mestizo, a young acoustic, earnest CSN-style band. Like an amped-up romantic campfire.
 

17 [5:00p] Bill Mckay [7:00p] Blue Canyon boys $5 [9:00p] Project 3 / Liberal Monkey Movement $5	18 [10:30a] Zumba $8 [12:00p] Singing in the rain [4:00p] Music Train [7:00p] Mezzo Mestizo $5 [8:20p] Canyon Creek $5 [10:00p] Vignettes $5
19 [2:00p] Baby Boogie, bring your kids into dance! [8:00p] Salsa Dancing (lesson at 8pm, Orquestra La Brava at 9pm) $8	20 [7:00p] Open Mic Night (Open Stage-sign up at 6:30pm)	21 [8:00p] Tuesday Swing Night feat. The Stilettos	22 [8:00p] The Big Blues Jam

Thanks for tuning in D.

D part

Extra Credit: Here's one from Jennifer Mackenzie, winner of the 2013 Fence Modern Poet award.

from Blurbing the Reconquista  

Burgeoning with sleep I think
whose net is this cast upon the pearlescence
and is it monitoring my heartbeat
At the center is not being
able to breathe. I couldn’t sleep
and so discovered a genre (Welsh)
called “exultation”. Night
on the black windows of “The Swan”
3 tallskinny girls in white short shorts
(just before Trafalgar Square) ignite in me
the strong wish to smell like strawberries
and a scream budding from my chest
like breasts. Something that takes a long time
to recognize. Then wistful arson
Passing the night-dull statue
of the famous rider, inside me
an incredible privacy still reigns. Stealth
I thought was ardor

Love letter 5/9/13

D Particles

Ever noticed how strange music is? Where does it comes from? There are rhythms in nature, sure, in everything really, but melody and harmony and that thing called music that you get inside of, that gets inside of you? It is something we create out of tones and rhythms, and yet, once we are attuned to it, it seems to be creating itself. The more you think about it, the stranger it becomes.

But, whatever it is, whatever it really is, music does wonders for the health and wealth of the human spirit. And we are proud to bring you such a fine examples of it every night at the D Note.

On Friday night we have an all female tribute to Journey, The Journey Girls, and that will no doubt be lots of fun, followed by a good cover/dance band Banned In Japan.

Saturday night we have a CD release for D Note owner Dave Rosenberg's band Homebrew. Some great player in this band. The guitar player has an especially sweet tone. 

Free jazz next Tuesday, Green Mountain Jazz Band. And check the rest out at www.dnote.us

10 [5:30p] The Living Wills [7:00p] The Journey Girls [9:00p] Banned in Japan	11 [10:30a] Zumba $8 [1:00p] Stone Guitar Recital [4:00p] The Guests w/ Snore, The Dead Guns $5 [5:30p] Wannabes [7:00p] Home Brew CD Release $5
12 [2:00p] Baby Boogie, bring your kids into dance! [8:00p] >Salsa Dancing (lesson at 8pm, Conjuntos Colores at 9pm) $8	13 [7:00p] Open Mic Night (Open Stage-sign up at 6:30pm)	14 [5:30p] Green Mountain Jazz Band. Free. [8:30p] Tuesday Swing Night feat. The Stilettos

Come on and dance. Make a little romance.

Yours,

D Part

Extra Credit:

Robert Louis Stevenson is known as a novelist, but he was also a travel writer and poet. His poems are collected online here and are well worth diving into. Here's one from his children's collection Child's Garden Of Verses.

Block City

What are you able to build with your blocks?
Castles and palaces, temples and docks.
Rain may keep raining, and others go roam,
But I can be happy and building at home.

Let the sofa be mountains, the carpet be sea,
There I'll establish a city for me:
A kirk and a mill and a palace beside,
And a harbour as well where my vessels may ride.

Great is the palace with pillar and wall,
A sort of a tower on the top of it all,
And steps coming down in an orderly way
To where my toy vessels lie safe in the bay.

This one is sailing and that one is moored:
Hark to the song of the sailors aboard!
And see, on the steps of my palace, the kings
Coming and going with presents and things!

Yet as I saw it, I see it again,
The kirk and the palace, the ships and the men,
And as long as I live and where'er I may be,
I'll always remember my town by the sea.

D Note love letter 4/25/13

D tails,

Howdy do? We do D. How?

For those of you that haven't experienced the highland rock and roll of Angus Mohr, we suggest you check them out Saturday night. They do classic rock and roll in an epic fashion, including bagpipes. Their version of Dylan's Hard Rain is one of the best we've ever heard.

Speaking of classic rock, The Legendary Hitchhikers do a beautiful Tom Petty Tribute and will be playing a family show on Sunday afternoon at 3pm ($10 for the adults).

Some good big band music Saturday afternoon. Free

Some free jazz next (uh, free in the monetary sense) next Tuesday night.

Ahhhh, music!

Yours,

D Scribe

Extra credit: This week we feature a new poem by...myself. May it forever change your perception of a certain song we all know and love.

UPSCALE POETRY

"Doe, a deer, a female deer"

You hold in your mind the image of a deer.

A female deer.

Hold it there for a moment.

Look how beautiful she is.

"Ray, a drop of golden sun"

We have added the sun to the picture.

The deer is now there in the sun.

You can feel the sun.

(And note the adjective "golden".)

"Me, a name I call myself"

Now, by juxtaposition, you have yourself.

You have the thing that you call yourself.

This "me" escalates out of the "doe" in the "ray".

You are a female deer outside in the sun.

"Fa, a long long way to run"

You are a deer running in the sun!

And you have a long, long way to go.

"Sew, a needle pulling thread"

The needle is the deer (you) leaping as it sews,

Leaping there in the sun, sewing a crazy quilt.

"La, a note to follow sew"

The notes are the leaps of the deer, you, the needle,

leaping up the mountain, up the cloth, up the scale.
The deer slows, near the top of the mountain now, tired,

her voice straining to reach the next note...

"Tea, a drink with jam and bread"

You, she, deer, calls for a rest,

to stop for a refreshing picnic.

"Which brings us back to doe doe doe doe"

The food brings you back to yourself,

nourishes you, literally becomes you

and you're ready to start again

escalating up the endless scale.

D Note love letter 4/18/13

D flowers,

Here's to water! (even in it's frozen form, snow.) Good for the flowers.

This weekend we have a the Rolling Stone-esque rock and roll of The Duke Street Kings on Friday night followed by the Journey-esque music of Eclipse. Then Saturday night we have the incredible flamenco guitar master Steve Mullins and his projects The Rim Of The Well and The Muro and Mullins Guitar alliance. At 9:30p Saturday, we have a 420 show with the Primus tribute band Mr. Knowitall. This is one of those tribute bands where you shut your eyes and can't even tell the difference. We end the night with one of our favorite all time weird sing-along bands, The Inactivists. Here's to fire! Good for the smoke.

19 [5:00p] Fundraiser for Cancer w/ The Duke Street Kings. [9:00p] Eclipse (Journey Tribute Band) $5	20 [10:30a] Zumba $8 [4:00p ] Family Music Train presents: Raising Cain (80's Rock). $7 adults/$3 kids. [7:00p] The Muro and Mullins Guitar Alliance, Rim Of The Well. $15/$12 students [9:30p] Mr. Knowitall (Primus tribute band) and The Inactivists $5
21 [10:00a] Free Form Yoga ($5 - $10 Suggested Donation) [12:00pm-6:00pm] 303 Choir "Local Heart" Benefit w/ Paa Kow By All Means Band [8:00p] Salsa Dancing (lesson at 8pm, Conjuntos Colores at 9pm) $8	22 [7:00p] Zing The Big Band $7 [9:30p] Catsmelvin	23 [7:00p] Tuesday Swing Night feat. The Stilettos	24 [8:00p] The Big Blues Jam	25 [6:30p] Geeks Who Drink trivia quiz. [9:30p] Beer Pong

Also. Here's to air! Here's to earth! Elemental, my dear Watson.

Extra Credit: Here's a beautiful sequence of Haiku from Issa, one of the great masters from the 18th century. This translation is from the Penguin book of Haiku. Dig how the Haikus work on their own and in the sequence.

For fleas, also

Slowly, slowly, climb
Up and up Mount Fuji,
O snail.


Far-off mountain peaks
Reflected in its eyes:
The dragonfly.


For fleas, also, the night
Must be so very long,
So very lonely.


Stop! Don’t swat the fly
Who wrings his hands,
Who wrings his feet.


With bland serenity
Gazing at the far hills:
A tiny frog.


Emerging from the nose
Of Great Buddha’s statue:
A swallow.


Spring rain:
The uneaten ducks
Quack.


Red sky in the morning:
Does it gladden you,
O snail?

D Note love letter 4/11/13

D tails,

Adam DeGraff here, ye ol' impresario for ye ol' D Note. We are ironing out all the kinks in the transition from the DeGraffs to the The Rosenbergs and I'd have to say that overall it has been pretty smooth. Thanks for hanging with us. Long live the D Note!

Some great indie bands this weekend. Friday night brings The Constant Tourists, a gypsy jazz band that exhibits exquisite pop sensibilities followed by Idlewhile, super tasty alt country rock (for fans of The Lumineers and Churchhill.) The Deadwood Quartet on Friday night is a blues rock folk band from Boulder. Atomga is awesome afrobeat, James and The Devil is just hard core Colorado music (and REALLY fun). Check out the sweet websites for all of these bands.

Also check out our legendary salsa night Sunday night if you haven't had a chance yet. Beginners welcome. Great date night and great for singles too. Tuesdays we have swing dance lessons and a killer swing band, The Stilletos. The Big Blues Jam on Wednesday night has really taken off. You will hear some of the best blues this side of the Mississippi care of Dan Treanor and friends. Check out the rest of the schedule below.

11 [6:30p] Geeks Who Drink trivia quiz. [9:30p] Beer Pong	12 [5:00p] Bill McKay (of Left Over Salmon). Free. [7:00p] The Constant Tourists $5 [9:00p] Idlewhile $5	13 [10:30a] Zumba $8 [4:00p] Music Lessons Of Westminster Garage Band Recital [7:00p] Deadwood Quartet. $5 [8:30p] Benefit for Natalia w/ Atomga, James And The Devil, Lead by Design, Atomga, James and the Devil, Collierad. $5-$10 suggested donation
14 [10:00a] Free Form Yoga ($5 - $10 Suggested Donation) [2:00p] Baby Boogie, bring your kids into dance! [8:00p] Salsa Dancing (lesson at 8pm, Conjuntos Colores at 9pm) $8	15 [7:00p] Open Mic Night (Open Stage-sign up at 6:30pm)	16 [7:00p] Tuesday Swing Night feat. The Stilettos	17 [8:00p] The Big Blues Jam

Thanks for your support!

Yours,D scribe

Extra Credit: Here's one from Mary Ruefle, out of the recent issue of Boston Poetry Review.BROKEN SPOKE

You grow old.
You love everybody.
You forgive everyone.
You think: we are all leaves
dragged along by the wind.
Then comes a splendid spotted
yellow one—ah, distinction!
And in that moment
you are dragged under.

D Note love letter St. Patrick's Day '13

D Fault

The D Note is at least partly your fault. You are to share in the blame. Of course we mean blame in a good way. Take a trip down the asphalt (who's fault?) and come see us this weekend.

This will be one of those legendary D Note weekends. First off we have an early St. Pat's day show Friday night with the high energy Irish rock and roll of Indigent Row at 9pm. We're so lucky to get these guys on St. Pat's weekend as they are in high demand. Opening for them at 7pm is Gipsy Moon, a great Irish tinged bluegrass band featuring the offspring of the legendary Vince Herman.

Saturday night we a truly epic night starting at 4pm when Music Train Presents the traditional Celtic music of Loneacre. Following this is the beautiful Balkan folk music (with elements of gypsy jazz) sung by the world renowned Azra. And finally, for another left turn we have the amazing B52s cover band Hey Lady playing at 9pm. This band made us fall in love with the B52s all over again last time they played.

Sunday the fun doesn't stop. At noon we have another Irish traditional band Fennec playing a free concert. Then at 2:30p we have The Back Beat Jazz band playing. And of course we will end the night with our legendary salsa night.

That's the weekend! (throw in yoga and Zumba for good measure)

If that wasn't enough Dave and Mernie have started up three very cool new events on the weekdays. Tuesday nights are now Jump Blues Tuesdays with swing lessons at 7:30p followed by live music with Tommy Price and the Stilettos. Wednesdays we still feature a blues jam, but now it is with the host band Los Terrificos (featuring the great Dan Treanor). And Thursday after trivia we now have Beer Pong!!! A great idea from Greg Rosenberg. Thanks to Kendra for helping to get that going. It has been a blast so far.

Things are happening apace. APACE!

St. Patrick's Day Pre-Party Hoe Down [7:00p] Gipsy Moon (Irish-tinged Bluegrass featuring the great Vince Hermann's offspring) [9:30p] Indigent Row (Irish R&R) $7	16 [10:30a] Zumba $8 [4:00p] Music Train Family Concert Series Presents St. Patrick's Celebration. $7 adults/$3 kids [7:00p] “Azra Sings “ – Traditional music from Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Balkans featuring accordianist Edo Sadikovic. $15 [9:30p] Hey Lady! (Amazing B52's Tribute Band!). $5
17 [10:00a] Free Form Yoga ($5 - $10 Suggested Donation) [12:00p] St. Patrick's Day Lunch Concert w/ Fennec (traditional Irish quartet). FREE [2:00p] Baby Boogie, bring your kids into dance! [2:00p] Back Beat Jazz Band [8:00p] Salsa Dancing (lesson at 8pm, Orquestra La Brava at 9pm) $8

And that's the weekend.

Yours,

D Face

Extra Credit: We always take the opportunity this time of year to feature an Irish poet of which there are many; Yeats, Oscar Wild, Seamus Heaney, James Joyce, Van Morrison, Sinead O'Connor, Shane Macgowan, etc etc. Here's one from Bono.


She Moves In Mysterious Ways

Johnny take a walk
With your sister the moon
Let her pale light in
To fill up your room
You've been living underground
Eating from a can
You've been running away
From what you don't understand...
Love

She's slipping
You’re sliding down
She'll be there
When you
hit the ground

It's all right, it's all right, it's all right
She moves in mysterious ways

Johnny take a dive
With your sister in the rain
Let her talk about the things
You can't explain
To touch is to heal
To hurt is to steal
If you want to kiss the sky
Better learn how to kneel
On your knees boy

She's the wave
She turns the tide
She sees the man inside the child

It's all right, it's all right, it's all right
She moves in mysterious ways

lift my days, light up my nights
Love

One day you will look... back
And you'll see... where
You were held... how
By this love... while
You could stand there
You could move on this moment
Follow this feeling

It's all right, it's all right, it's all right
She moves in mysterious ways

The spirit moves in mysterious ways

Move with it
She moves with it

--


/)dam I)eGraff

www.dnote.us

weekend update 2/21/13

D tribe

We have found that the best kind of music to dance to is West African. It is uplifting spirit. Not to mention the body. That is why we are excited about Koffi Togo this Friday night at the D Note. Here's a description of the show from their FB page:

"We want to let you know that Koffi Togo Vibe will be at The D Note in Arvada next Friday, Feb 22nd! If you have not experienced our unique TogoJazz style music, you are in for a treat! We are unlike any other band around. Koffi Togo Vibe's goal is to open your eyes and connect your soul to a new musical experience by playing exotic, dance music in all meters including the 3s, 5s, 7s. Our music has the heart pumping foundation of West African percussion rhythms, fused with the beautiful melodies of guitars, keyboard, trumpet, saxophone and trombone! There are twelve of us! So, the music is full and the sounds are amazing!
Once you try on our TogoJazz Sound you will be hooked!!! We hope to see you all there. It's an all-ages show so bring the whole family...We play at around 9:00, but there is a fun band playing before us! And - it's FREE! So, you can't beat the price :)  Peace, Koffi Togo Vibe"

In other news, KGNU recommended Steve Itterly to us which is assurance of excellence so we will listen to his trio attentively Friday at 5pm. Arvada West Dog Park is having their fifth annual benefit at the D Note Saturday at 3pm. An all girl Journey cover band is playing Saturday at 7p followed by one of our favorite "house" bands The Jake Leg Shakers followed by something odd from KC, the electro punk band Odd-o-matic. Check out dnote.us for the rest of the scoop!



22
FREE ALL NIGHT!
[5:00p]
Steve Itterly Trio (fantastic blues/jazz)

[7:00p]
The Dirty Shoes Band (swinging blues)

[9:30p]
Koffi Togo (West African dance music)

23

[10:30a]
Zumba $8

[3:00p]
Benefit concert and silent auction for Arvada West Dog Park w/ SoHo Band. $5-$10 suggested donation.

[7:00p]
Journey Girls (All female Journey tribute band) $5

[8:30p]
The Jake Leg Shakers $5

[10:30p]
The Odd-o-matic (punk electro from KC)


We'll be saving a spot on the dance floor for you,

D ants in my pants

Extra credit: Pop star and poet Kishi Bashi played the Bluebird on Tuesday night and wowed the crowd. If you haven't been introduced to Kishi Bashi, here are the lyrics to Manchester for a primer. And here is a link to the song if you want to check it out.

Manchester

i wrote me a book
i hid the last page
i didn't even look
i think i locked it in a cage
wrote a novel
cause everybody likes to read a novel...

it started with a word,
and it started pretty well
about a rare and fragile bird
that I couldn't even spell
on the table
i think i left it on the table...

i found the last page in the sky,
cold and sweet, like an apple

oh hello,
will you be mine?
i haven't felt this alive in a long time
all the streets are warm today

i read signs
i haven't been this in love in a long time
the sun is up, the sun will stay

The very last breath of the hero of our tale
were you only to guess
did he truly prevail
in the the sequel?
I guess I'll have to write a sequel...

my favorite part's when I die
in your arms like a movie
it's tragic, but now the story has it's proper end.

oh hello,
will you be mine?
i haven't felt this alive in a long time
all the streets are warm and grey

i read the signs
I haven't been this in love in a long time
the sun is up the sun will stay
all for the new day

will you be mine?
the days are short and I wrote me my last rhyme
all the streets are warm today
I read the signs
I haven't been in this love in a long time.

it's been a long time





--

D Note 10 year anniversary. Love letter #520

D Parts,

On this day 10 years ago we opened the D Note for business. Back then Grandview Avenue was a sleepy street and it took a kind of sheer determination for us to get off the ground. It took a village really. Goethe says that if you commit to something worthwhile the universe will meet you more than half way and that has certainly been the case with the D Note. There are have been some nights that are so spectacular that we can't even believe the D Note is a place we helped create. As the legendary Phil often says, "Tonight is one of the 1001 greatest nights of music we've ever had at the D Note."

This weekend will be no exception as we are celebrating in grand D Note style. Come say goodbye to the DeGraffs and lift your glasses to many years to come for the Rosenbergs.

Tomorrow night, Friday, February 15, we start with Laughing Hands at 7pm. Laughing Hands is an acoustic world music band and was one of the first to blow our minds a decade ago. It features flamenco master Steve Mullins and his charismatic brother Brian on stringed instruments, percussionist Ed Contreras and Mike Fitzmaurice, composer and bassist extraordinaire. This show will feature dozens of exotic instruments and one of a kind compositions. It will be like nothing else you have ever heard before.

After Laughing Hands, at 9pm, we have opera music performed by Opera On Tap and Cabaret Otaku, including selections from The Magic Flute, Carmen, Lakme and Rossini's duet for two cats.

We end Friday night with the great Lionel Young, possibly the best blues man alive. Lionel is the only artist ever to win the IBC (International Blues Challenge) in Chicago twice, beating out thousands of other performers both times. He also used to play the D Note every Friday night in our early years. He is just amazing. For a few years Lionel played the D Note every Friday night and it was a heady time.

Then Saturday, Feb 16, we have Slo Children at 7pm, a band made up of Adam and Jeremy DeGraff and Adam Ferrill, Jax Delaguerre and Alejandro Castano. This set will consist of all songs about the D Note herself and will feature performances by Micah Lundy (from Zebra Junction), Allen Galton (from Wonderlic) and Melissa Ivey.

At 8:30pm we have Stonebraker, a terrific rock band from Arvada. They are good friends of the D Note and really warm up the room.

We end Saturday night with Oakhurst, one of our favorite Colorado roots Americana dance bands and the owners of sister bar, The Appaloosa.

The cover for both nights is $10. Come help us celebrate a decade of great music and community love!

Yours,

D scribe

Extra Credit: In a loose sense anything that is poetic can be called a poem. And, in an even looser sense, all poems are love poems. With that in mind we'd like to present to you here a love poem of a documentary about the D Note that Geoff LaPlant made 8 years ago. You might even recognize yourself in this film somewhere. We love that the film opens with Phil opening the door for the camera and saying, "Welcome aboard!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cytQV6IYIKo

D Note love letter 2/7/13

D Verses,

Welcome to D Note point two. Dave and Mernie are bringing some fresh energy and it will be great to see what they bring to the table over time. Long time D Noter Geoffrey Bruce came in on Monday night during open stage and in his inimitable Queen's English said to me, "This place is bigger than either you or the new owners. It belongs to everybody now." I thought that was well said. Ironically this is the first time, after probably 500 or more of these love letters, that I have used the pronouns "me" and "I". The reason I always use "us" and "we" is precisely due to the idea that Geoffrey stated so beautifully. The D Note was always about family and community and we are very pleased to see the locus of this community continue under new care.

It is worth your time to pre-check out all of the music we have this Fri and Sat night. Bluegrass into indie pop into kick ass rock on Friday night, w/ That Damn Sasquatch, Lunar Light Parade, Whiskey Agreement. How's that for Diversity?

Saturday night we have quaint and romantic ethereal indie pop w/ GoodLuckSpider into charasmatic harmony driven songwriter perfection w/ I'm With Her (featuring ANGIE STEVENS AND HALEY RYDELL) and then into more kick ass rock w/ The Broken Everlys.

Throw in Zumba and big band, yoga, baby boogie and salsa and you got yourself a weekend!

Next Tuesday there is a special comedy event w/ 4 up and coming Denver comics. $15. See attached poster for details. Then after the comedy we'll celebrate Fat Tuesday w/ Dan Treanor and the Afrosippy Band. $5 suggested donation.

And a reminder that our 10 year anniversary is happening next weekend w/ Lionel Young, Oakhurst, Opera On Tap, Laughing Hands, Slo Children, Stonebraker and more. Hire your babysitters now.

[5:00p] Katey Laurel [7:00p] That Damn Sasquatch (bluegrass) [9:30p] Lunar Light Parade (dance pop) [9:30p] The Whiskey Agreement	9 [10:30a] Zumba $8 [4:00p] Super Credit Union Fundraiser w/ Sentimental Sounds Big Band. $10 [7:00p] GoodLuckSpider [8:30p] I'm With Her (feat. Angie Stevens and Haley Rydell) $7 [10:30p] The Broken Everlys
10 [10:00a] Free Form Yoga ($5 - $10 Suggested Donation) [2:00p] Baby Boogie, bring your kids into dance! [4:00p] PJ Hahn, $4 (kids free) [8:00p] Salsa Dancing (lesson at 8pm, Conjuntos Colores at 9pm) $8	11 [7:00p] Open Mic Night (Open Stage-sign up at 6:30pm)	12 [7:30p] Steve O'Neill (stand up comedy) $15

Yours,

D nut

Extra Credit: Beck’s latest album comes in an almost-forgotten form—twenty songs existing only as individual pieces of sheet music, never before released or recorded. The idea is that it is up to you to learn the song yourself, like in the olden days. You can hear different renditions of these songs on youtube, which is cool too. Each of the 20 songs sheets included on the album are designed by a different artist. These are up on display as part of the D Note art show this month. Beck is one of those songwriters with the skill of a poet so we'll showcase some lyrics from the new "album" here.


       

         Rough on Rats
       


       
          Your crawfish fingers and your dirty dregs

          Your sideways stingers and your wooden legs

          They're throwing out jewels like rotten eggs

          'Cause it's Christmas in Siam

          And we're rough on rats
       
       
          Your scarecrow spiders and your shipwreck bones

          The fossilized bibles of Geronimo Jones

          His star spangled army in their roadhouse clothes

          'Cause a hero can't bronze his soul

          And we're rough on rats
       
       
          There's shattered glass on the dance floor

          A cop chaperoning a doll

          The testament of a landlord

          Who's living in a hollow log
       
       
          The burlap flowers and the cocaine dirt

          The horn of plenty in a desert of hurt

          The corduroy boy in the killjoy shirt

          He's a stereotype on ice

          And we're rough on rats
       
       
          So what do you think you could take from the heap

          Where the haystack needles are piled up cheap?

          You can buy what's useless and steal what you
          need

          In the pink penitentiary

          And we're rough on rats
       


--

(pink penitentiary?)

Very special announcement

Dearest notes of all,

Much news for you. The biggest being that the D Note has been sold! It will no longer be a DeGraff enterprise. We are going out in grand style after a full D cade of bringing you beautiful music, art and food. We are having a 10 yr anniversary celebration Feb 15 and 16. Check out the Westword nod for more info here. We started on Valentine's Day 2003 and it was an appropriate holiday to begin with because this has definitely been a labor of love for all of the DeGraff family, including Jeremy, Adam, Genevieve, David and Pamela who all deserve big ups. Also our old high school friend Jeff Jackson was an invester and deserves a hand. Perhaps Matthew and Monica DeGraff deserve the biggest heap of gratitude for their generous support over the years.

The new owners, Dave and Mernie Rosenberg, come to the D Note as fans. They will give it their own flavor, of course, "denote" in their own fashion, but it will always have a little of the DeGraff love in the place as by now that love has seeped into the walls!

We will still help book the bands, for the time being, and so regular events like salsa, baby boogie, blues night, trivia, open stage, Zumba, Yoga, etc, will continue, as well as many of the musicians that you are already familiar with and love.

Come to the D Note soon and raise your glass to more decades to come for the Rosenberg's!

This weekend we have two very worthy causes and much great music, including the world-influenced reggae of one of our all time favorite bands, Mono Verde. Also some very fine jazz for the jazz lovers Saturday afternoon.

Feb 1
[5:00p]
Bill McKay (of Leftover Salmon)

[7:00p]
Fundraiser for Knowledge For People (raising awareness for Autism) w/ Mono Verde (world beat). $10 suggested donation.

[10:00p]
Volunteer Funk Department $5

B2

[10:30a]
Zumba $8

[4:00p]
West Quarto (jazz) $5

[7 :00p]
Benefit for the family of Scott Mayo w/ The Rush Experience (Rush tribute band), Trust No One, Black Rainbow, Mint Novacaine. $10 suggested donation

Come say bye and hi!

D Scribe

Extra credit: One of the great Colorado/Finnish/Universal poets, Anselm Hollo, died this week. He was a good friend and we'll miss him. But we are consoled, at least, to still have many books of his poems to spend our lives with. Here is but one of those poems.

Shed the Fear

Who has a face sees
    the world,
but the world
    is not

to be borne-
   or only
when seen as
  another:

how did this
  come together? How
did I find you?
  so many turns

in the road
  so few of them
possible!
  How not to spin out

in hairpin turns
  of disbelief...
TheSufi martyrs
  insisted

"The world
  is a wedding"
Why not go with them,

in the face of
   present carnage
centuries
  later.

D Note love letter 1/23/13

D batteries,

Some fun dance music this weekend w/ Big Universe and Rough Satin on Friday night and the ever popular Hafla on Saturday night followed by the sweet sounds of Sweet Corn at 10p. There will be awesome energetic Salsa music Sunday night to with the band Sabor De La Calle too.


Yours in all things D

Scribe

Extra credit: Michael McClure is of the beat poet generation, friends with Keroauc, et al. He also just so happened to write the Janis Joplin hit "Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz". And he wrote one of our favorite books of nonsense "Ghost Tantras", which he once famously read to the lions in the S.F. Zoo. Here's a new poem of his from last week's New Yorker.

MEPHISTO 20

SOFT TOES CURL ON THE FLOOR. PRIMATE STYLE
  with gleam of varnished wood beneath them.
    The garden does not sleep at night.
       THE POWERFUL KNOWLEDGE
      is all around. The cortex is the shape
    of a self-curled and widespread butterfly;
   wings open in scents and all probable
             stream bottoms
       finding stars, blotches of odor,
     and pulses of organs
       in unlighted dimensions
         and awaking chakras.
       IT
       IS
         CORE ESSENCE
         of nothingness.
Like the twitch of a zebra's haunch
  in the herd by the game lodge
    at the lip of the crater.

      You know me by
   my white haired adventures
     at the cliff's edge.

love letter 1/17/13

D Ports,

Each moment is rare and precious, but sometimes we get tricked into thinking these moments go on forever. Don't fall for it. 

We are excited about the bands this weekend. There are two great bands on Friday night, Chain Station Mountain Music (bluegrassy) and Carry me Ohio (alt country/indie rock).

And then The Rocky Mountain Opera Bowl and Eclipse (Journey tribute band) on Saturday night. That line up makes a certain weird sense no? Steve Perry from Journey did bring a kind of opera singing in rock and roll. This is the second year we've had the Opera Bowl and it was just so cool last year. Just to hear the sheer power and precision of the voices.

We also have a Music Train Family Concert Saturday at 4pm featuring Kutandara, an African Marimba band. That was also really cool last year and we look forward to this one too. The kids will love it.

Then salsa dancing and music on Sunday night. Then next Tues, for you big band fans we have Bob's Big Band.

We are proud of these kinds of eclectic weekends, the unique shape of them. And we are so happy to share them with you!

18 [7:00p] Chain Station Mountain Music $5 [9:30p] Carry Me Ohio (FREE)	19 [10:30a] Zumba $8 [4:00p] Music Train Family Concert presents: Kuntandara, African Marimba Band. $7 adults/$3 kids [7:00p] Cabaret Otaku presents: Rocky Mountain Opera Bowl. $15 (4 for $50). [9:30p] Eclipse (Journey Tribute Band) $5
20 [10:00a] Free Form Yoga ($5 - $10 Suggested Donation) [2:00p] Baby Boogie, bring your kids into dance! [8:00p] Salsa Dancing (lesson at 8pm, Orquestra La Brava at 9pm) $8	21 [7:00p] Open Mic Night (Open Stage-sign up at 6:30pm)	22 [7:00p] Bob's Big Band FREE

Love to you and yours from us and ours.

D maniac

Extra Credit: A charming poem by Frank O'hara...

A True Account of Talking to the Sun on Fire Island

The Sun woke me this morning loud
and clear, saying "Hey! I've been
trying to wake you up for fifteen
minutes. Don't be so rude, you are
only the second poet I've ever chosen
to speak to personally

so why
aren't you more attentive? If I could
burn you through the window I would
to wake you up. I can't hang around
here all day."

"Sorry, Sun, I stayed
up late last night talking to Hal."

"When I woke up Mayakovsky he was
a lot more prompt" the Sun said
petulantly. "Most people are up
already waiting to see if I'm going
to put in an appearance."

I tried
to apologize "I missed you yesterday."
"That's better" he said. "I didn't
know you'd come out." "You may be
wondering why I've come so close?"
"Yes" I said beginning to feel hot
wondering if maybe he wasn't burning me
anyway.

"Frankly I wanted to tell you
I like your poetry. I see a lot
on my rounds and you're okay. You may
not be the greatest thing on earth, but
you're different. Now, I've heard some
say you're crazy, they being excessively
calm themselves to my mind, and other
crazy poets think that you're a boring
reactionary. Not me.

Just keep on
like I do and pay no attention. You'll
find that people always will complain
about the atmosphere, either too hot
or too cold too bright or too dark, days
too short or too long.

If you don't appear
at all one day they think you're lazy
or dead. Just keep right on, I like it.

And don't worry about your lineage
poetic or natural. The Sun shines on
the jungle, you know, on the tundra
the sea, the ghetto. Wherever you were
I knew it and saw you moving. I was waiting
for you to get to work.

And now that you
are making your own days, so to speak,
even if no one reads you but me
you won't be depressed. Not
everyone can look up, even at me. It
hurts their eyes."
"Oh Sun, I'm so grateful to you!"

"Thanks and remember I'm watching. It's
easier for me to speak to you out
here. I don't have to slide down
between buildings to get your ear.
I know you love Manhattan, but
you ought to look up more often.

And
always embrace things, people earth
sky stars, as I do, freely and with
the appropriate sense of space. That
is your inclination, known in the heavens
and you should follow it to hell, if
necessary, which I doubt.

Maybe we'll
speak again in Africa, of which I too
am specially fond. Go back to sleep now
Frank, and I may leave a tiny poem
in that brain of yours as my farewell."

"Sun, don't go!" I was awake
at last. "No, go I must, they're calling
me."
"Who are they?"

Rising he said "Some
day you'll know. They're calling to you
too." Darkly he rose, and then I slept.