number man
(for the ghost of
johann sebastain bach)
he was born to wonder about numbers.
he balanced fives against tens
and made them sleep together
and love each other.
he took sixes and seven
and set them wrangling and fighting
over raw bones.
he woke up twos and fours
out of baby sleep
and touched them back to sleep.
he managed eights and nines,
gave them prophet beards,
marched them into mists and mountains.
he added all the numbers he knew,
multiplied them by new found numbers
and called it a prayer of Numbers.
for each of a million cipher silences
he dug up a mate number
for a candle light in the dark.
he knew love numbers, luck numbers,
how the sand and the stars
are made and held by numbers.
he died from the wonder of numbering.
he said good-by as if good-by is a number.
~poem by carl sandburg ~
found in a poetry journal based
out of chicago
dated 1947
~musical scores written in bach's
own hand..
found here.
