Charles Rossiter Poem for Cloudburst

Ceremony at the 42^nd Street Library

First go to the information desk

cross the hall to 320

talk to the tall black woman

in the red dress

fill out the application form

complete with personal reference

not a relative

show traceable ID

sign another form and get a card

go down the hall to 316 and

ring the buzzer.

When they let you in

show the card

sign in again and state your purpose

take a seat and adjust the light

while the attendant gets your package

sign a final form

hesitate a moment when the box arrives

Then slowly

        s  l  o  w  l  y

untie the red cotton ribbon

fold back the left flap then right

then top then bottom

there.  .  .

in the rectangle recess

framed in blue

hesitate again

now

take out the five 10-cent pocket notebooks

and read

Kerouac’s own penciled hand

OLD ANGEL MIDNIGHT---complete

SCRIPTURES OF THE HOLY ETERNITY---complete

dream fragments play scenes

and other scribbles.

Copy a line you’ve never seen.

“The moon is a piece of tea”

now

hold the notebooks in your hand

let it all sink in.

Charles Rossiter—First published in Chronicles of Disorder