Cinquains for Studs Terkel
J. Quinn Brisben
cigar
brass voice checked shirt
all heart all thumbs projects
a WPA mural
of sound
tape splice
makes a new thing
out of clashing voices
we hear so plain that we must act
in time
recall
Cisco he would
lay hands on big-bellied
women laughing shouting right on
honey
Big Bill
been here and gone
echoes gritty in grooves
telling new times that just folks sing
the blues
art is
the part that means
more than the sum of wholes
re-shaped in pain to make old words
new worlds
giants
called back in wax
bring home old dreams to us
so we can take it easy but
take it
