Where the Rubber Meets the Road (For Robert Bick)

You told me, back East
people in the office
were always talking
about the real world
meaning the money world
the world of practical concerns
& they talked about the bottom line
& said things like that's where the rubber
meets the road but you don't care
where the rubber meets the road
you care about the world of
the imagination where everything
is moving & not only
on the roads & even the roads
go here & there and anywhere
connecting up the hearts
& the planets & the warm people
& the clean air & the clean water
where you can play silver flute music
in the morning & the night
& the liquid sound of leaves falling
& ice thawing gets you in on creation
so you can shift things around a bit
make a difference, be in on
the main thing -- making a new world
not just making do with the one you
already got -- the one where all the talk
is about where the god-damned rubber
meets the road.
Too much traffic on that road
& not enough music. That's about it.