Wild Child
Always back to Lorraine
—Lou Reed

Headlines moulder behind plexiglass.
Charging clouds crash.
Cogs break into dust—
but by some profane magic
pinstriped shamans place calking guns
into willing hands
of guys like Chuck and Phil who shoot
Funny Foam into all the cracks,
until all is well.
At the lunch counter three guys who see
no reason to try
eat their sandwiches with gusto.
Three other guys, skipping lunch, have time
to half-wonder what would happen
if they slowed down just a little.

These clouds converge.

On the highway
no one has the sense
to slow down.

Mark Kerstetter is an artist and writer living in Saint Petersburg, Florida. As a kid in rural Pennsylvania he sang solos in church. Eventually he learned to love all forms of music---yes, even opera! One of his strongest encounters with the power of art was seeing Lou Reed sing “The Kids,” on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert in the seventies. In March, 2008 Jerry Jazz Musician published his short story, “Mountain,” about the concerns of a traveling musician.