Billy, why you working as a parking attendant
surrounded by heavy cars
playing your tapes as you collect
parking fees
Billy please
stop letting your music
bounce off booths
and be crushed by cement
and held back from the masses
Billy Wai Wai
when you play your guitar
you cause mini tsunamis
in the souls of the oceans
Your Sahara rhythms
rattles the beads of Masai Warriors
Billy Wai Wai
when I open my window at night
your shoo be do wa wa scatting
rhythms float in like fog from London
metamorphising into brass bands
of eclectic jazz
Billy Wai Wai
you ain't bringing the noize
to dark smoky clubs
with the clinging and clanging of silverware and plates
rustlin furs and shakin ties
Billy Wai Wai
you depriving people
of platinum sounds and moonlight get downs
Man, Billy Wai Wai
we need you
we need you.
This poem is dedicated to a musician I encountered working as a parking attendant. Some day I hope Billy Wai Wai gets the opportunity to hear me read it.