Gypsy
The Cathedral steps now house bodegas
Bread and wine
It is the Feast of St. Michael
Whose hand is miraculously unrotten in the Cathedral
And the gypsy becomes a hand first
then a voice
then a begging bowl
A hand strums the guitar
A voice pierces gypsy pain
A begging bowl always goes empty
So he drums against its side
Percussion accompaniment to the high tenor
song of loss and exile
but never defeat
The dog loves his master
The priest his office
The Spaniard his wine
But the free gypsy holds on fast only to his song.
Valencia
Feast of St. Michael, April 2001