On the Bubble
By: Charles Giuliano - Aug 29, 2025
On the Bubble
Puddle hopper
Jim flew from
Great Barrington to North Adams
A matter of minutes
In his smaller plane
The big one
For longer flights
To Colorado and California
Soon to be sold
As was the chopper
Some time ago
Just hit 80 and
Feeling it
Aches and pains
In the shoulders
Can’t use the bow
No more cello
As he asked me
Lunch at pink diner
Wurlitzer juke box
Pure American Bandstand
Dick Clark flipping burgers
Served by perky Gabrielle
I had the meat loaf
Smothered in gravy
If you could spend the day
With anyone
Who would it be he asked
For Jim it was Bach
Mastering the suites
Hours each day
When not selling Judds
Now playing tenor sax
Where I go deep
Dexter and Lester
Sonny and Trane
From Bach to Bop
Two old dudes
Still learning stuff
Returning to classics
Ovid and Marquez
Just think he said
The next generation
Won’t read the Iliad
Or Aeneid in Latin
Like I did
For Jim Greek art with
Cornelius and Emily
Interns at the MFA
Kids nowadays
Never learn about slavery
This country is so fucked
Liberace presiding
Gilded Oval Office
King of Crass
Our time has come
Won’t live to see
End of Empire
We did our best
Kicked ass
Living to the full
Drugs, sex, rock ’n’ roll
Now on the bubble
Riffing on it
Let’s do this again
After Kathleen’s show
Time for Noguchi
At the Clark or
MASS MoCA
It’s just a hip hop
Nothing could be finer
Than a local diner
Where time and Elvis
Stand still
Like Duane Hansen sculptures
Gabrielle likes Temptations
Favorite song
My Girl
Where perky waitresses
Say what will you have hun
So much fun
Under the Boardwalk