Abstract
Ornithology Peter Fiore (bio) Notes are ghosts that swell in shadows in churches that sing spirituals. In thewatery New Orleans sun, marching they play blues on pawnshop horns. Notesare voices overheard from riverboats to Harlem, gin served in speakeasies. And notes are vacancy signs on yellow hotels where Bird died, that spinningplace Bird plays everything you can think of, where he soars and circles, searsand cools. Where he doesn’t want to die. And they begin cheering on the bigdark man in the blue pin-striped suit and great drops of sweat are rolling offhis high forehead and he’s grinning like a motherfucker between solos. Then when he puts his horn to his mouth again it sounds like lightning hascracked in the room and screeched across the sky. And people listen fromsomewhere down where they’re breathing to the notes jack-knifing into eachother. And in the center is the huge dark-feathered bird, who I’veonly seen in pictures, blowing his soul apart, bringing it all back from joy anddespair, sliding in and out of the steel and glass office buildings on 52nd Streetlike sapphires flying into the darkness. [End Page 696] Peter Fiore peter fiore is the author of three books: text messages, the first volume of American poetry devoted to Gogyoka; Keep the Ball In Front of You, a meditation on teaching and playing tennis, and flowers to the torch, a book of tanka prose. His novella, when angels speak of love, will be published by Loose Moose Press. His work has been published in numerous journals. He lives in New York City. Copyright © 2016 The Massachusetts Review, Inc.
Published Version
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