DUKE

Duke Ellington had a
superstition against
clothes that lost
a button. He never
wore them again.
Who was it that
said “I never mend”?
I want to use this
somehow, but can’t
quite find a way
in my needs-work
life, where I constantly
try to eliminate projects
only to have new ones
bubble up.

Stagnation always shows
on top, says the note to myself.
Is it stagnation or truth
that things seem always
to happen the same?
A thin line.
Why do they say that?
What line was ever fat?

Duke had lots of superstitions,
some borrowed & some made up.
Whole movements
have grown up this way,
about placement and flow,
what brings fortune and luck.

I think of it entering my
home, the table that
does not know where to go
sitting in front of the door.
Keep your doorway clear
they say, so opportunity
can come in. Make sure
your house number
can be easily seen,
so that it can find you.

I wanted to think it
chic, the way they put
my house number low on
the fence, but if I plant
there it will be obscured.
Then what? My next chance
will go somewhere else.

And what has this to do
with the button that fell
off, or the way Duke kept
his band alive,
the thirteenth man on the
payroll, silent until he
could find number fourteen?

I cannot wait it out
if opportunity passes
me by again.
I need my luck now.
Taking my shirt from the closet,
I finger down the front,
stroking the buttons
as if they were keys.

4/14/99