Photograph by Steve Shepherd
sung only in paint (for don van vliet)
each plywood panel held an image
destined for the smithsonian institute
so on the day he left the house
don explained to the puzzled newlyweds
that the doors of his kitchen cupboards
would be leaving too
later, way out in the desert,
his canvases fetched more than his music
and the magic band, long silent, vanished in the rising heat
leaving his new songs un-transcribed
sung only in paint
Steve Shepherd writes poems and takes photographs. He used to make radio programmes, mostly jazz.