Poem 470
A fantasy rhapsody about New York life in the fifties as mediated through the story of Dion and the Belmonts … I was obviously going through a Dion phase listening to songs like Love Came To Me or The Majestic …
( I like the curtains like dog tongues and the here’s hoping girlfriends … )
Summer Of The Big Murder
Wild kazoo courtesy of Dion and the boys the midtown main street brownstone gang on the corner in the evening the summer of the big murder all the windows open panting for breath curtains sucked in and out like long low dog tongues you come out for those beers because the sky is purple and there's nothing inside and Dion sings lead short and showy backed by handclaps the bass falsetto rhythm runs sidewalk church of doo-wop and when the electricity cuts the babies boom the stores are looted and shopping carts rumble home over broken glass but now while the sun goes down on ninety-eight degrees that clicked everyone's ticket with nowhere to hide Dion and the Belmonts try another one sort it out there on the street building the layers of harmony counterpoint until it comes together and the little crowd the here's hoping girlfriends the frocks and singlets on the stoops fanning with magazines say yeah they got it listen and they all listen and Dion knows they've got it and the boys know they've got it attention before the shadow of the apartment block falls or the breeze can blow the smell back everyone in the street shares it blind and sweet perfection