SOUNDSCAPES (for Gary Clark, Jr)

burgeoning geniuses of rhythm and  song 

hugging the blues with their guitars

on street corners or in ghetto blues bars

that cry forth clinging laments, soulful chords rising tolling 

ancient sadness, exquisite madness

musicians finding their identity

as troubadours of the anguished heart

by way of a beggar's cup

a little luck

and those shouted encores worth more than a million bucks