A hug from those that came before me

and went to that great somewhere that

is nowhere anymore until

I slide into that coat

that remembers the fold of my arms and

I remember the embrace of

everything we stood for

the thunder and the grace

and the the beautiful face

in the black and the white of

the leather and the night.

The last stand of the timid turns

on their stiffening

a rocket of emotion

a moment of glistening

with backs to the wall

and nobody listening

they hear the last song

that the ransomed were singing.

The coat is an album

full of old pictures

and a vault imbued

with all of my wishes as

I dance through the streets with

wise eyes and dervishes and

thunder and grace.

I remember the embrace of

everything we stood for

and the beautiful face

in the black and the white

of the leather and the night.

-Danny Grosso