Doctor William S. Sax and Bird of Paradise

Doctor William S. Sax and Bird of Paradise
Faust Part Three
Sad Catholic childhood as dark nuns weep in rain i
And Saint Thérèse turns her head
Vanilla pudding and snow swirls dust Milk Street ii
Brown banks of Merrimac muck
And child ghosts and fantasy
Sax hides in darkness (Round Midnight)
The Shadow
Under porches
Count Condu below evil Castle
Castle Hill, Snake Hill
Fury river roars white horses of the apocalypse
Nightmares and cotton dress and apron strings
La mort and gentle flaky apple pies iii
Terrifying poems of inky night
Lenten March and candle wax
Grotto and Stations, memories and dreams
Goodbye soft innocent books of childhood
New Hampshire sorrows flood tear-soaked sea
Thérèse showers roses in eternity
The Lord rose on Easter morn iv
A new tone springs from Dorsey’s horn
Tragic roses crown your hair
Cherry blossoms once a year

i  Kerouac, Jack. Doctor Sax: Faust Part Three. (New York: Grove Press, 1959). p. 34.
ii  Ibid., p. 25.
iii Ibid., p. 81.
iv Ibid., p. 244.