In the shadow of the Arsenal

... so then the tattoo-spell passes.  Bluejay & Henry look up, note their surroundings.  We are back behind Shakespeare's Head, in old historic Providence.  The legacy of the past is pain & glory.  The shadow of the Armory (the shadow of War) remains.

9

The shadow of the huge gray Armory (an empty arsenal) 

looms over Shakespeare's Head and the faded garden. 

Climbing into uniform, polishing their cannon,

a remnant of the veterans still ropes a tight circle –

once a year – around the old town. Arms and medallions 

gleam in the dusky half-light; the ghost of drums 

comes back, hale and hollow fifth columns;

the monument breathes a brigade of African

Americans, marching to 19th-century major chords.

Gospel music, sculpted clay. . . and Henry hunts the phantom 

feline down dry garden paths.  And Bluejay, lonesome, 

bares one arm (hieroglyph – or sweetheart – without words). 

           2.24.98  Shrove Tuesday (Mardi Gras)

Benefit Street Arsenal (Shakespeare's Head in lower right corner)