John Hertzberg.
Bay Area Rhapsody.1993.
Mixed Media Collage, 30" x 40". $1000.

Ebony keys preparing to leave
Along tracks of pristine ivory
Young Mozart's Magic Flute
Has been packed away
Along with his African suit
As Wordman remembers
Just like yesterday
When words and music flowed
From behind acoustic lined walls
Smiles and laughter
Always on call
Visions like years evaporating
An entourage of figures contemplating
Place and time
Just where they stand in line
How they might fit
Into the warp of Einstein's time
Eyes peering through the web of death
Somehow controlling meanings and rhymes
Fleur-de-lis floating on ceilings
Once the scene of clandestine meetings
The Rubicon Princess having fled
To the mysteries of a city in the wind
One more memory left behind
Recalling softly muted colors
Hidden in shadows
of melting afternoon hours
When word-bound refugees fled
Hoping to crawl into
The deep viridian hues
Where memory once knew
of forbidden fruits
And footprints roaming parking lots
Starlit nights above city lights
Just a dream
Just a dream
High speed Kodachrome
Undeveloped
Exposed to the light
Many a long and wordless night
Eyes peering into velveteen darkness
Beads of perspiration dripping
From furrowed brows wondering
Seeking answers
To questions dancing
Seems no one needs solutions
Just absolution
Monkeys upon backs of believers
Somehow controlled by the Deceiver