One Flower

By Jack Kerouac

One Flower 

One flower

on the cliffside

Nodding at the canyon 

Tenorman 

Sweet sad young tenor

Horn slumped around neck

Bearded full of junk 

Slouches waiting

For Apocalypse,

Listens to the new

Negro raw trumpet kid

Tell him the wooden news;

And the beat of the bass

The bass—drives in

Drummer drops a bomb

Piano tinkle tackles

Sweet tenor lifting

All American sorrows

Raises mouthpiece to mouth

And blows to finger

The iron sounds 

Trees 

But a tree has

a long suffering shapeIs

spread in half

by 2 limbed fate

Rises from gray rain

pavements

To traffic in the bleak

brown air

Of cities radar television

nameless dumb &numb mis connicumb

Throwing twigs the

color of ink To white souled

heaven, with

A reality of its own uses .