Symphony

Symphony

Underneath the gravely streets
comes a knock knock knocking
a beat so fine so loud so fierce
that it seems to rumble out of your
ears coarsely yelling screaming
imitating your every move until
you pause to realize that the knock
knock knocking was a dance so
you that it becomes your own
symphony.

Awe

Awe

With every short breathe
comes a howling coo of awe
for today is now.

Right then and there

Right then and there

That moment where sounds
seem to morph into images
and that sort of sweep becomes
a thunder bolt a shooting star
an erupting volcano coursing
through the air so fast so
sonically fast that when you
stop to breathe it hits you
right
then
and there.

Sphere

Sphere

Lights keep on shining
on the sphere that is jazz to
keep on rotating.

In place

In place

Rush rush rushing
energy flowing through
excitement nervousness
to calm calm in place.

Light

Light 

With a light touch songs
dismiss a year of pain and
a life of sorrow.

Yesterdays

Yesterdays

Crystal clear air soothing
the sounds the tones the
pitches the timbres
the meaning of life
lived in a moment of
yesterdays.

Wind

Wind

The way the wind blows
I wouldn't be surprised if
it just went away.

Gone

Gone

Spinning spinning spinning
the sound is spinning away
into the clouds the stars the sky
the deepness of the ocean
the shallowness of the sand
spinning spinning spinning
away and away until
p
 o
  o
    f
it's gone.

Silence

Silence 

If you close your ears
and focus inward
a million sounds
rebound

the click click click
of an internal clock
and the scratch of
impatience

the moan moan moaning
of the day's struggles
the cheerful applause
of the day's successes

clapping tapping
whopping wooping
splashing crashing
away in our head

the delicate melodies
the rhythmic flops
the intuitive harmonic
progressions growing
morphing making
a new song

then you start to listen
again and you realize

the song is yours only
made in

s                    e

i           c

 l     n

e

Autumn

Autumn 

Autumn encapsulates
music

the crunches of leaves
the echos of birds
the ahh of the rising
winds

an orchestra of sounds
of creatures
of nature

of life.

Roars

Roars

Crash crash bang
woosh splinter kabam
roars over the oohs and the
ahhs and the ohhs and the
scooby doo wops.

Day

Day

As the night fades into gray
I sing the song of day.

All day

All day

Zee doo bop doo bop
Scatting across the landscape
Shooby doo all day.

Sighs

Sighs

To feel the air
between my eyes
is to see a song
and how it sighs.

What does it sound like?

What does it sound like?

What does it sound like?

Dat da da daa da
baa bap, bop baa
Dat da da daa da
baa bap, bop baa

Ching ching cha
ching ching da
ding ding da
ding da ding

Doo dee da
doo e and a
doo dee da
doo e and a

all overlapping.

Present tense

Present tense

A jolt of energy
sprints across a hazy room
waking a crowd from
the tired nervousness from
a week of anxiety of
stress of apathy towards
just being

Serious faces fill with
humility and care
concentration locked in
speaking through a gaze

Squished boxed cramped in
tight people flock to hear
to experience to be a part of
the sensation the history
the story

Walls adorned with
pictures and records and
awards and calendars and
newspapers on the half
eroded walls preserving
monuments of the past

Food huddling across the
deep room carrying comfort
and feeding the hunger the
deep hunger for food and
for thought to know

and the thoughts
they carry so much
hope want need for
more than truth for
more than just plain
existence

Can you hear?
Are you there?
Are you living;
or existing?

Hurry hurry hurry
turns to relax relax
relax participate

Larger than life a
human speaks and
tells their life through
just one note

Larger than life a
human responds to
this story of hope of
loss of redemption
and though the two
might never meet there
is a true understanding
an empathy for someone
else other than them

and hearing oh
hearing the purity
the purity of the anger
casting out smoke screaming
for attention bashing the
injustice declaring peace

and hearing experiencing
the love the true unbiased
love and wonder for it all
the relationships the
sounds the map through
sounds and the simple
bluntness of being
honest in the now

and the squeal the
honk the whinny the
coo the ahh the shh
the cackle the hush
the cough the plunk
the pop the crash
the taa the daa
the dee the dum
the zzz the zap
the whoosh the boom;
the light bringing forth
shadows from the
inside out

Present tense life
demands improvisation

And improvisation;
well it demands present tense life.

New

New

Looking out across
a glimmer comes out sprinting
of new sounds of hope

Sweet

Sweet

The beat
on the street
is pretty

sweet

One

One

It's weird to think that
one note

just one

that one note means
so much

that one note is
backed by
years of experience
memories
good days
bad days
experiences

that one note
from one person
tells a
story

love
loss
loneliness
that one sunset
that one moment where
you just said

this is me.

About people

About people

Smiling through the tears
it HITS me

yes

it's about people

and though tears
c
 a
  s
   c
    a
     d
      e
down my cheek
it feels like a

relief

A simple tune
a desolate club
swinging lightly
humming low

Pause for brief claps
grateful

Staring at the industrialized
air ducts slate gray walls
electrifying charcoal
cold metal details harsh
contrasting warmness in

people;
music

A robotic scenery

But a human life.

Start

Start

Cold
dark
raining
splish splash a splish a splash

my arm patting against the glass
two e and a clap

My breath cooling the air
ooh awww

then I start to think:
when did this song start...

but did it ever end?

And

And

The sound of the drums

whooshes crashes splinters out

one and a two and... 

The beat

The beat

I walked off the bus today
shoes tarnished by the rain
laces undone
too frazzled too lazy
to bend down

I scurried across the street
Trumpet in arm
the pressure of the case
nudging my arm
too rushed too late
to adjust it

I ran into the club
suit on sharp
shoes tarnished by the rain
trumpet in arm
buzzing my lips
too hot too cool
to care for

I walked off the bus today
and I walked off yesterday
always rushing to a
different beat than my
own music so

I will walk off the bus tomorrow
maybe tiptoe a bit
whistle a bit and
gaze at the sky
so the beat of my
heart matches the beat of
my music

If

If

If you close your ears
all the sights sounds and wonders
can share no music

Now

Now

Now

when you improvise 

you can be thinking of 

an array of things

what note should I play? 

what are the chords?

what lick should I put here? 

what scale fits here? 

what? what? what?

Now 

when you improvise

you can be living 

an array of things

the music

the legacy

the sounds

the people

you can react

you can speak out 

you can talk

you can listen

Now

when you improvise

you can let

whatever it is

just be

What is jazz?

What is jazz?

What is jazz?

nobody knows

ask this man

he says it's a type of

music

ask the next 

he says it's a type of

sound 

him? 

he says it's a type of 

person

her? 

she says it's a form of

culture 

and if you approach them

well 

they say it's a state of 

mind

what is that state of 

mind you ask

well in a cool whisper they 

answer real quiet and ponder that

it's the state of mind where you

walk with a bit of a swing to your

step and look with a bit of fire in your

eyes and you talk with a lot of kindness in your

heart and you dare yourself to keep on

loving because at the end of the day

what is jazz? 

nobody knows

jazz is you

Playing in time

Playing in time

One
two
a one two three
four

ding ding da ding ding da
ding ding da ding

one

and a two

three

and
you're playing in time

Song of my life

Song of my life

The song of my step
the song of my life
starts with that walk
that jaunt
that saunter
that swinging step

Your own

Your own

If you close your eyes
pit a pat a splish a splash
becomes your own tune