I’m listening to Eric Dolphy without understanding a word
there are no words but I know what you mean
on the drive back to Hamilton College
after visiting Archie for the first time
in Goldwin Smith Hall in 1976 I brought my hardcover copy
of Diversification he signed it and took me
to Epoch headquarters we took a walk
around the Cornell arts quad he showed me
the one building on campus he liked (was it Barnes Hall?)
because it “has some diversity to go with its unity”
he complained of bad health bad teeth bad skin
well, I said, you look good
well, he said, I fuck a lol
11 / 19 / 17
from Playlist by David Lehman (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2019). Photo of A. R. (Archie) Ammons.