billcunningham’sghostleadsme

into the park / Central Park not some obscure / off-the-beaten path park / keeps it obvious / but I’m so thick with grief

Final exams loom / I am a cheap coat / ten tonnes of coffee his stride outpaces mine / an incredible clip His bike stolen / again / His uniform: blue chore jacket, khakis / a perfect disguise for standing out.

I record this following / create video evidence. Proof of only moderate insanity / I delete it.

For a final project in a course called Walking the City I build a tour around Bill’s best known haunts / so a ghost was anticipated / but I can’t keep pace / could never keep pace.

Any time I hear / devout artist / sad lapsed catholic / no family contact / my hand twitches over the big red button labelled GAY / but he’s gone / caught crying in a single interview / and gone now

Whatever he has to show me is out there still / I must believe this.