I got no smile cause I’m down
I carry a horn to blow in all these streets
A solo riff out of my head
How could your ever know I feel
So high on life and feet and ass and legs and thighs
That I can rise and dance with all the stars
And I can eat the moon and laugh an I can cry
The dark caves of cities hungry streets
The tired faces dark and dreary bent
and all the death it dies
I let it die
I lift my horn and blow some sounds
some sound for kids to come
Some unborn sun
in darker streets than mine
Magicians carry wings so they can fly
Let’s blow a horn and love
Let’s get on it and ride
and laugh and dance and jive
Let’s shake the dead and let the downers die
The magic of the singers warms the earth
A song
A poem
Some paradise of mind
I got to smile now
I’m feeling good
The city street
The palace of my mind

Jack Micheline and Charlie Mingus at San Francisco’s California Hall 1976 | Photo by A.D. Winans