Tribute

That reverb tank suspended from sci-fi cables

Rattling, Splashing, Blasting, Exploding

The golden worn glitter and American flag

The sword of a southern California guitar man

That resplendent wall of sparkling grille cloth

Shimmering like the Pacific in the blazing sun

Heat waves, tidal waves or lasers of sound

Soaring decibels that shaped me

And I sat in my room at 14 and tried to figure out

Your Lebanese harmonic minor scale reverb drenched

Like a Bengal tiger on the prowl and onstage with me

Ever since

Skulls, crossbones, motorbikes, leather jackets

Symbols of the soundtrack that started on the 101

Caricatures that come alive in our imaginations

Every time your records are on

Your reverb splash will send concentric circles of sound

From the far reaches of space to Davy Jones’s Locker

They will ricochet like gun fire at high noon and return

Ghostly echoes in the sky