May Day 1976 
the entire contingent
of the gay pride parade
in the Fan of Richmond Va
Turned off the street
in a prearranged choreography 
Up the packed aisle of the
the active church 
transitioning to 
music department stage

“Bozo Face Makes a Waltz”
was playing over the sound system 
the bassoon, cello and piano with electronics purring and spurting 

The ensemble of cross dressed celebrants mounted the
Former altar cum stage
Dropping to their knees 
They began to chant
“Ozo Bozo Ozo Bozo”

Bozo the clown’s smiling vestige
with 5 line staves stamped ad hoc
Copies of the score
Placed akimbo across the space 
only hours before had held 
the sacraments 

Loudspeakers 3/4 spasms
A quote from Cocteau describes: 
kissing the backside of the glass
in a vestibule off a mirrored room 
A Parisian bordello 
A young male prostitute
pressing his ruby lips
against the shiny surface 
on the other side of the 
one way glass

Boston months before 
expenses mounted

Professorial coercion 
awkward non intimacy
access granted
electronic music studio
early computer music conference 
freedom is not free 
an exchange, he said
Old whale, young whale, he said

His former room at the Priory 
Years before he had forsaken 
his vow of chastity 
married
making tape music 
with “lobos” In the title 

pre #metoo retaliation 
lead to expulsion 
an angry letter of recusal
VCU not included in the transcript. 

As Bozo’s Dr. Suesean robots say:
Decades later, finally dismissed,
The accumulating harassment charges persist,
But amidst the chaos and the strife,
A modular synthesizer came to life.

Ten panels, carefully built that year,
A labor of love, a passion clear,
Each wire and knob, each circuit and sound,
Crafted with care, with purpose profound.

Yet in the shuffle, it was stolen or lost,
Among the paperwork and the cost,
A relic of a simpler time,
Forgotten, neglected, left behind.

Lux Aeterna 
Dona Nobis Pacem
Honk Honk Honk

4/16/2023