Sinatra 5.15.98

 

Sinatra 5.15.98

The scientist James Maxwell predicted that radio waves
would exist in space in a kind of forever.

From earth, 1956 bounces against Pluto
on its way to Andromeda,
1968 tangles with 1986, jangling
in the asteroid belt.

This is to say that after the final private O
of Sinatra's mouth, this crystal globe
will radiate his songs/our lives
once again, in a kind of forever:

teenagers will swoon, ancient as Sirens,
and his circle-breath notes will rise
like smoke rings from a mournful lover.