SAXOPHONIST
by Natalka Bilotserkivets, 1999

In the tunnel next to the pale girls selling flowers
and the beggars who move from hand to hand

in a cloud of cigarette smoke
on newspaper shreds and frozen puddles of piss

there
stands tall
in a sacred dark space
a saxophone player
playing to no one

with a gasp of joy
a lover’s scream
a flick of the tongue
an upturned haloed face

an upturned haloed face
a flick of the tongue
a lover’s scream
a gasp of joy

bil4.doc 9/18/07