It’s John Coltrane’s
birthday 
and Ray Charles’s
birthday 
today, September 23rd,
as it will forever be.

Ought to be
a national holiday —

but I’ll bet the damned President
of the USA has never heard
of them, or if he has
he thinks they’re just more
of that nuisance noise
that suits nothing and no one
until he is suited by it,
him and his suits and ties,
him and his ears
turned away from song.  

I’ll bet
he never sings “What’d I Say”
in the shower. I’ll bet
“Interstellar Space” is just
a mining venture in his head.
There is gold out there for the taking
among the stars, says the damned
President Of The USA, and it’s 
blessedly silent there, as silent
as he hopes and dreams

his enemies
will forever be,
as his friends
will forever be,

as his wives
will forever be,

as his sons
will forever be, as

his daughters
will forever be.