A Poet's Progress

This past Saturday my wife and I went to a live blues festival held in the older part of the city. It was perfect fall weather and the live music was fun. I'm not much of one for crowds, but I guess other people are because I saw many smiling people.

Since I've been doing so much writing recently, I thought I should write down, in the midst of the show, some poetic phrases to capture the moment. Here's what I wrote:

I didn't know what to expect from the blues festival.
There was blues, for sure, blaring from the main stage.
So loud I could feel it in my chest and through the earth.
But what I kept noticing was people's clothes.
?A commentary on modern America.
The older man with untucked dress shirt taught in the back to accommodate his paunch up front.
The young woman with short jean shorts and a scarf.
The woman in red boots shaking in her ill-fitting jeans in a sort of half dance.
The old black man with naval epaulettes on his white shirt.
Another woman in a pink shirt, black hat, black vest really dancing in the white person way in front of the stage, her red hair bouncing.
The lady with the knit cap and a sweater which reached to her calves.
I look at my own outfit, boat shoes, khakis, a black and grey waffle shirt.
None of these things really tell my anything about these people.
But I notice them. Does anyone notice me, writing this?

Now, this is not a great poem. It's not really even a poem. However, I think it captures something of my real experience in the crowd and I intend to work on it over the coming weeks and make a better poem out of it. I'll be presenting the progress here.