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Sound Check

Sound Check

At five this morning
I opened the drapes
There was a little
Blue bird perched
On the white railing

He did not move
Holding a peanut
While I was singing
Santana

Picturing Santana
As I had seen him
At Grant Park
Wearing a blue 
Bandana 

And playing
A royal blue
Guitar
Making the guitar
With a bit
Of peaceful effort

Sing softly
A five minute solo
And a black hawk
Flew above him

All the other musicians
Stopped playing
And Santana was 
Ad-libing
For maybe ten minutes

And although there were
A half-million people
The crowd grew so quiet 
You could hear 
The sounds of Michigan 
Avenue traffic 

The sun shone clear
The crowd was in awe
Santana was praying
While he played

He was singing
In Spanish
The Act of Contrition

Over and over
The crowd joining in
Behind him
Was a banner
Of Our Lady Of Guadalupe 

Maybe he’d play 
Another ten minutes
The same wondrous way
The entire band turned

The gal next to me
Started crying 
Everyone faced 
Our Lady

And were singing,
Praying in english
Spanish and polish

The Gal next to me
Was still crying 
And then I remembered 
This was only rehearsal

The crowd was expanding 
Everyone was quiet
The breeze was gentle
The crowd sang softly 

More birds
Flew on stage 
It was 75 degrees

The crowd was mournful 
But ecstatic 

The woman’s little boy
Jumped on my lap
As the band left the stage

Santana turned and smiled
See you guys
In one hour

Then he put arms and
Hands in the air

Looking into sky
He said
Gracias.  
Te Adoro.

The crowd was weeping
I was stunned
The crowd was quiet.

I, the little boy
And the mom
Next to me began 
Singing

Como La Flor 
Then the whole row
The whole section 
Sang softly along

The wind picked up
The sun was brighter

The sky had gotten
A copper blue shade
Like a painting 

The crowd kept singing 
Louder and louder
Now quite loud 
And finally the voices 
Drifted

The birds flew peacefully 
Over the park
And everyone was noticing.

The mom next to me said
Firmly

There is hope.

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