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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.
Copyright ©
Richard Davis
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