a short note on lou reed

i was in anaheim yesterday walking in downtown disney when anna checked her iPhone and told me lou reed had died at the early age of 71.  i was shocked not by his death.  we all will pass away someday.  but by his age.  i am not being ironic when i call dying at 71 'early' for nowadays it is.  but that reed for me was ageless in a way the very cool are ageless.  reed for me bypassed youth long long ago and entered time like a delta bluesman where things like youth and seniority matter not and a person becomes a Presence.  lou reed was such a Presence.  when i was a screaming punk rocker an older sibling of a friend had the warhol produced LP the velvet underground and nico with the banana peel sticker intact.  i went to school on that album.  later when i began reading and writing poetry i learned reed had studied with delmore schwartz, a bygolly real poet.  i was hooked.  i know two poets who named their kids reed after the poet-rocker.  that is the highest compliment i know.