Blasé

Blasé

Why do you act so
blasé, as if the sky was
merely black and white?

Rambling

Rambling

Rambling
crackling
chuckling
rambling.

Love

Love

Love it once
love it twice
but never more than thrice
move on my man
move on my friend
move on from love's advice.

Confirmation

Confirmation

The stars fell into
place the moon smiled back and
I sat contently.

I love music

I love music

I love music
what else is there to say?
I love art I love poetry
I love cocoa on a cold winter day
I love the blue sky
imagining shapes of the clouds
I love the rain
the cool dew amidst flowers
I love books
pretending I'm someone else
a pirate in the sea
a flapper at a party
I love family I love friends
I love people
how laughter erupts in conversation
energy that never ends
I love music
what else is there to say?
the sentence could stop at I love.

A clean slate

A clean slate

A clean slate
a fresh plate
a full moon
a new tune
a turn in the road
a peace now bestowed.

Passion

Passion

Let's go back to when
love and passion steered us in
the right direction.

Peace on earth

Peace on earth

Peace on earth for all
that inhabit, peaceful thoughts
for all words spoken.

Speak

Speak

I have a frog in my throat
that goes ribbit ribbit
I have a frog in my throat
that can't sing it sing it.

Choices

Choices

You know what rules the world?
Yes and no.

Let's go downtown

Let's go downtown 

Let's go downtown
'cause I hear a sound so round
so outrageously profound
that it hits me as it gets me
pounds me as it crowns me
jolts me as it bolts me
all as it echoes to a mist.

All that time

All that time

All that time
and momentum
spent worrying
rocking back and forth
could have moved me forward.

Mantra

Mantra

To change the world
starts with me
to change the world
starts with me
to change the world
starts with me
to change the world
starts with we.

Let's go back

Let's go back

Let's go back
to the time
we did something for fun
for the love of it
instead of expectation
or validation.

I can sit here all day

I can sit here all day

Or I can look in the mirror and realize
I need fresh air.

We're the cats

We're the cats

We're the cats
that set the vibe
we're the club
that brings the hype
we're the family
that went to school
we're the tribe
that makes things cool
we're the mothers
who mess stuff up
we're the fathers
who don't give up.

Get it

Get it

Get it
got it
done

over.

Validation

Validation

It seems like a dictionary only term
one for the books
something done to get your name
on a plastic card
strapped to a chewed-up rope lanyard.

I choose

I choose

When you wake up
you have a choice
to love yourself
to be grateful for life
to find beauty in the unknown
and I choose peace.

Let us forget the past

Let us forget the past

Let us forget the past
for what it was
let us forget the past
for all of its woes
let us forget the past
to let us be present.

Finish line

Finish line

You're there
but not there

you see the finish line

someone jumps ahead of you

you fall
over an obstacle...

pick your self up and speed ahead

or stay in the dust.

The worst feeling

The worst feeling

the worst feeling
is being there
but not being there
present
but crystalized.

The next level

The next level

you can't get to the next level
without some sort of stepping stone

so I guess I'll just wait for that
stone
as I throw rocks in the water
rippling and rippling away.

My heroes

My heroes

My heroes
may not walk with us today
but they linger in the sounds of our steps
the curve of our speech
the echo of each sunrise

It's a gift

It's a gift

It's a gift
so take it
just take it
and give a piece away to others
to understand how
it's a gift.

Anxious

Anxious 

Anxiety stems from living in the future
as depression stems from living in the past
as happiness stems from just living.

Forgive me

Forgive me

Forgive me
for who I was
and how I felt
that earthly day

Forgive me
for I'll forgive you
as he forgave us.

When you want something

When you want something

When you want something
everything seems to take you there
to be for that cause

When you want something
your sentences seem to go up the hill
leading toward its house
and your eyes seem to stare
at its oceans and streams

When you want something
it's hard to stop
worrying
fighting
tossing and turning
over how it could be
or couldn't be

When you want something
is there a plan B?

When you want something
you go full force
and find yourself within that something
as it meets you at the finish line.

Comparing myself to you

Comparing myself to you

If I spent all day
comparing myself to you
why I could never win the fight,
the argument, the turmoil within myself

If I spent all day
comparing you to me
why I could never end the criticism
of this two way street

If I spent all day
comparing me to me
why I would see growth,
a journey, a purpose, me!

Jealousy

Jealousy

Jealousy
it seems to come over me
whenever I am pleased with myself

A beautiful day
let's go out and play

but no, no
it could be better
you could be better
it all could be better
so why even try?

Human beings

Human beings

Alienation is an absurd cyclone

that takes us in and makes us alone

when in the eye of it all 

is humanity all exactly alike. 

Finals

Finals

I work so hard for what I want
that I seem to neglect what I want

for example
I work so hard to have an education
that I forget to learn while roaming through my books.

Goosebumps

Goosebumps

I felt at one with the world
when I put my instrument to my lips
for I seemed to disappear
I was barely there
as the music washed over my hair.

Opportunities

Opportunities

While rushed with duties
bored with chores
and overwhelmed with work

one could realize the opportunities
the dream within a dream
learning from hard work.

Black Friday

Black Friday

I never understood
a day to get
after a day to give

opposites attract.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving

The house smells like love
on Thanksgiving

sugary and sweet
as a pecan pie steams out of the oven

crisp and roasted
as potatoes and carrots roll into my plate

smoked and fresh
as turkey tumbles over gravy

the house smells like love
on Thanksgiving.

Holiday

Holiday

The holiday isn't a day of the year
a day of the week
it's a place in our hearts
strong yet weak.

Who is left?

Who is left?

The world I live in scares me
for who is left to care for me?

Child at play

Child at play

Boom kaboom
vroom vroom
boom kaboom
crash crash.

Current events

Current events

When I see pain in the world
I get sad easily
to the point where everything
seems devoid of how it should be.

Freedom

Freedom

I wish I could write a poem from the heart
and put down the words I hear in my head

as I wish I could just scream to the hills
jump through hoops
dance the tango
sing as loudly as possible
in whatever key comes out

but what always gets in the way
is consequence
concern
criticism.

Like me

Like me

It terrifies me to think
that the only people that like me
are like me.

Marvelous

Marvelous

so there I was

dim
dull
dreary
packed
noisy
dark

and there you were.

Alone

Alone

In a packed room
full of chitter and chatter
I hear a voice in my head
scratching words into my ears.

How can you be positive

How can you be positive

How can you be positive
when clouds loom over the air?

how can you be positive
when circumstance doesn't care?

Voices

Voices

 I whisper poems in my head
and never write them down
for the music seems to stop
with any plop of ink or judgement.

A year ago

A year ago

Just a year ago
only a year ago

my perspective of life
was thin, jaded, strife.

Let's just simplify

Let's just simplify

Let's just simplify

I don't need this
I don't need that

what I need is time spent alone
time to sing to scat.

Without you

Without you

I'll make do
I'll get through
winter's blizzard
without you.

Pennies

Pennies

We always want success now

but what if we were given a penny a second?
and success came over time
with patience and consistency?

Please visit my jazz education website, Kind of Pink and Purple, where I create a multimedia resource for young adults to learn about jazz. 

Please subscribe to Without a Poem by email (top right of the page) and follow both Kind of Pink and Purple and Without a Poem on other social media: Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Google Plus, Pinterest. 

Since September 2015, I have been the JazzBoston newsletter writer/ editor. Please sign up for the monthly newsletter to learn more about the Boston jazz scene. 

Simplify

Simplify

Simplify

a concept so small
so deceptively simple

that if you encapsulate it
every beam of light
seems twice as bright
and ever star in the sky
shoots by
as if this world is all yours

simplify.

Please visit my jazz education website, Kind of Pink and Purple, where I create a multimedia resource for young adults to learn about jazz. 

Please subscribe to Without a Poem by email (top right of the page) and follow both Kind of Pink and Purple and Without a Poem on other social media: Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Google Plus, Pinterest. 

Since September 2015, I have been the JazzBoston newsletter writer/ editor. Please sign up for the monthly newsletter to learn more about the Boston jazz scene. 

Change

Change

Who ever said that
one person can't change the world?
for any one person living
can make a life out of change, change, changing.

Please visit my jazz education website, Kind of Pink and Purple, where I create a multimedia resource for young adults to learn about jazz. 

Please subscribe to Without a Poem by email (top right of the page) and follow both Kind of Pink and Purple and Without a Poem on other social media: Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Google Plus, Pinterest. 

Since September 2015, I have been the JazzBoston newsletter writer/ editor. Please sign up for the monthly newsletter to learn more about the Boston jazz scene. 

Splendid

Splendid

The beauty of it all is
once you decide that you want to be great
that you even deserve to be great in the first place
everything becomes splendidly marvelous.

Please visit my jazz education website, Kind of Pink and Purple, where I create a multimedia resource for young adults to learn about jazz. 

Please subscribe to Without a Poem by email (top right of the page) and follow both Kind of Pink and Purple and Without a Poem on other social media: Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Google Plus, Pinterest. 

Since September 2015, I have been the JazzBoston newsletter writer/ editor. Please sign up for the monthly newsletter to learn more about the Boston jazz scene. 

Imagined barrier

Imagined barrier

It isn't about age
or where you're from
it isn't about your gender
or who you love
it isn't about money
class, race, or position
it's about passion
for if you have that 
any imagined barrier
dissipates like mist. 

Please visit my jazz education website, Kind of Pink and Purple, where I create a multimedia resource for young adults to learn about jazz. 

Please subscribe to Without a Poem by email (top right of the page) and follow both Kind of Pink and Purple and Without a Poem on other social media: Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Google Plus, Pinterest. 

Since September 2015, I have been the JazzBoston newsletter writer/ editor. Please sign up for the monthly newsletter to learn more about the Boston jazz scene. 

Melody

Melody

I feel it in the air
the leaves as they change
the ghost of a melody
that leaves me unnamed.

Please visit my jazz education website, Kind of Pink and Purple, where I create a multimedia resource for young adults to learn about jazz. 

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Since September 2015, I have been the JazzBoston newsletter writer/ editor. Please sign up for the monthly newsletter to learn more about the Boston jazz scene. 

What is the point of poetry?

What is the point of poetry?

What is the point of poetry?

Poems don't stop war
people are still fighting

they don't cure diseases
cancer and HIV aren't solved

they don't stop time
it is always going on

they don't let us live forever
we're getting older day by day

they don't feed the starving
so many are out there hungry

they don't provide shelter
so many are out there without shelter

they don't teach how to
balance a checkbook
pay the mortgage
get insurance
save up for retirement
create a college fund

and what about the other pinnacles of life?
getting married, having kids, grandkids  -
I have to figure that out for myself

what can poems do
other than observe
just as you or I?

Please visit my jazz education website, Kind of Pink and Purple, where I create a multimedia resource for young adults to learn about jazz. 

Please subscribe to Without a Poem by email (top right of the page) and follow both Kind of Pink and Purple and Without a Poem on other social media: Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Google Plus, Pinterest. 

Since September 2015, I have been the JazzBoston newsletter writer/ editor. Please sign up for the monthly newsletter to learn more about the Boston jazz scene. 

If I couldn't see

If I couldn't see 

If I couldn't see
how could I go to the
art museum every Wednesday at noon?

would I notice any difference from a
CD or a concert?

could I still tie my shoes?

would I still care enough to
buy new clothes each season?

or to wear red lipstick and
purple eyeshadow?

would I be able to find your
lips to kiss you?

could I still fly a kite
or marvel at the deep blue sky?

would I have to give up painting,
sewing, knitting, drawing, sketching?

could I still read a book each night
before my dreams take over?

If I couldn't see
could I look in the empty mirror
and feel my own presence?

Please visit my jazz education website, Kind of Pink and Purple, where I create a multimedia resource for young adults to learn about jazz. 

Please subscribe to Without a Poem by email (top right of the page) and follow both Kind of Pink and Purple and Without a Poem on other social media: Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Google Plus, Pinterest. 

Since September 2015, I have been the JazzBoston newsletter writer/ editor. Please sign up for the monthly newsletter to learn more about the Boston jazz scene. 

Confrontation

Confrontation

I passed three hundred people today
just walking through town
maybe even one thousand
in my eyes, a singular viewpoint

the mother with a child tugging
for attention - Mom! Mom! Mom!

the teenage couple
laughing and starry-eyed - Isn't
that so funny? Right? Oh my!

the middle-aged
man tense and anxious - Oh no,
I have ten more years until retirement!

the young girl
oblivious and impatient - Why do I
have to go to this class? I just want to sleep!

the homeless man, tired and
forlorn - Change? Spare change?

all echoing each footstep, hurried,
marked with caution, nervousness

Who are these people?
Oh no, I better not run into that man.
Let me just walk on this side of the street.
Oh, what's next on my schedule?

and so it goes
passing by
as I pass myself
each day
just hoping to get by
without confrontation.

Please visit my jazz education website, Kind of Pink and Purple, where I create a multimedia resource for young adults to learn about jazz. 

Please subscribe to Without a Poem by email (top right of the page) and follow both Kind of Pink and Purple and Without a Poem on other social media: Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Google Plus, Pinterest. 

Since September 2015, I have been the JazzBoston newsletter writer/ editor. Please sign up for the monthly newsletter to learn more about the Boston jazz scene. 

Atop a rainbow

Atop a rainbow

In the midst of much
happiness and success what
isn't so apparent is
the overwhelming sorrow
trapped within that world
clouds atop a rainbow.

Please visit my jazz education website, Kind of Pink and Purple, where I create a multimedia resource for young adults to learn about jazz. 

Please subscribe to Without a Poem by email (top right of the page) and follow both Kind of Pink and Purple and Without a Poem on other social media: Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Google Plus, Pinterest. 

Since September 2015, I have been the JazzBoston newsletter writer/ editor. Please sign up for the monthly newsletter to learn more about the Boston jazz scene. 

Here's a little secret

Here's a little secret

Here's a little secret
for all my friends old and new:
to forget about the past
and start finding joy in life,
in love, in living, in you!

Listen to Mulgrew Miller play, "I Love You":

Please visit my jazz education website, Kind of Pink and Purple, where I create a multimedia resource for young adults to learn about jazz. 

Please subscribe to Without a Poem by email (top right of the page) and follow both Kind of Pink and Purple and Without a Poem on other social media: Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Google Plus, Pinterest. 

Since September 2015, I have been the JazzBoston newsletter writer/ editor. Please sign up for the monthly newsletter to learn more about the Boston jazz scene. 

Passion

Passion

Passion - where does it come from?

it doesn't come to you in a jar
you can't spread it on toast

why it doesn't even come in a store
like the rarest rubies, diamonds or sapphire

it doesn't come to you with old age
or pop out of a birthday card like confetti

you can't even get it in a lottery
by any amount of gambling or good luck

oh and it certainly doesn't come to you through others
the force of family or friends

Passion - where does it come from?

why it's innate, it's real,
it's genuine, it's fate!

Inspired by Clark Terry playing, "Stardust":

Please visit my jazz education website, Kind of Pink and Purple, where I create a multimedia resource for young adults to learn about jazz. 

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Since September 2015, I have been the JazzBoston newsletter writer/ editor. Please sign up for the monthly newsletter to learn more about the Boston jazz scene. 

Joy

Joy

If I could capture one word in a jar
and hold it up to the light
it would be joy in its small package to
carry the town, city, night.

Inspired by Erroll Garner playing, "Misty":

Please visit my jazz education website, Kind of Pink and Purple, where I create a multimedia resource for young adults to learn about jazz. 

Please subscribe to Without a Poem by email (top right of the page) and follow both Kind of Pink and Purple and Without a Poem on other social media: Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Google Plus, Pinterest. 

Since September 2015, I have been the JazzBoston newsletter writer/ editor. Please sign up for the monthly newsletter to learn more about the Boston jazz scene. 

Is me

Is me

I wanted to be liked so much
an impulse was to change exterior things

it's my clothes
then they'd like me

it's my possessions
then they'd like me

it's my laugh
then they'd like me

all to realize
the one losing in every scenario
is me.

Embarrassment

Embarrassment 

I need to get over
that sense of embarrassment
from myself
in order to walk
without a hunched back
smile showing my teeth
make eye contact
feel alive!

Sometimes I get so sad

Sometimes I get so sad

Sometimes I get so sad
I don't even know what to do with myself
I can't even cry
for even that's so brave.

Buddy

Buddy

I just want a friend
a true friend that I can do
everything with
say anything to
be anything by
and still be loved.

Confidence

Confidence

I wish I had confidence
as so many people do

confidence to see me
separate from who I am
and to accept both.

nervous

nervous

okay i'm nervous
but isn't everyone at one point in their life
and if they aren't don't they get a bit scared
of the end?

Newton's second law

Newton's second law

Why make music?
for it evaporates into the air
why spend a life dedicated to
what just becomes heat in a millisecond?

because life is more than just what we
can capture with statistics

it's day to day
moment to moment
look to look

it's in the air
just listen.

I seek hidden meaning

I seek hidden meaning

I seek hidden meaning
in everything
it could just be a look
but it took a symphony.

I keep myself closed off

I keep myself closed off

I keep myself closed off
from all that could happen to me
and then I complain when I'm
sitting there waiting for thee.

My insecurities run me

My insecurities run me

My insecurities run me

I wake up much too late
I drink too much caffeine

I go on health crazes
then two weeks go by of nothing

I want to be perfect
but I don't do anything to
make myself that way

I sleep with a night light on
I'm afraid of things that can't hurt me

Depressed in a corner
self conscious in a mirror

I appear to be this hardworking person
and maybe I am
but I always feel like I'm cheating myself
only to run myself down sick from overwork

But maybe my biggest insecurity
is that I'm worth more than I give myself credit

Let's be great together

Let's be great together

I'm so tired of
being surrounded by
mediocre moods

let's be great!
in fact
let's be great together.

Reality check

Reality check

It's funny when you think
everyone
is exactly like you

everyone shares your motivations
your dreams
your passions

then the mirror is pulled from in front of you
and you see the reality.

I feel more confident each day

I feel more confident each day

I went through a phase

where even saying my name
felt foreign
felt awkward

but who cares

who really cares

let's just be who we are

nobody is worth that anxiety

there are more important things to solve.

The light shines on

The light shines on

Let us be warriors

let us shine on

let us be who we are
who we're meant to be

no one can stop us

the light shines on.

Footprint

Footprint

Don't you just wish

that you could fulfill your childhood dreams?

whether it was to be an
astronaut
ballerina
teacher
firefighter
doctor

everything is just one way to look at
changing the world
and leaving your footprint on mankind.

The moment I feel free

The moment I feel free

The moment I feel free
is when I am all alone
unscheduled
nowhere to be
content in myself
singing at the top of my lungs
a melody and dancing along
I don't care how I look
how I sound
how I present myself
because in that moment of freedom
everything I do is accepted
happy joyful real
and no one can tell me otherwise.

It's beautiful

It's beautiful

It's beautiful

if you can just take a second

and be grateful for everything
be overwhelmed by gratitude
in all that is there

I am living!
I am breathing!
I am walking!
I have a family!
I have education!
I have food!
I have shelter!
I have warmth!
I have music!

and grateful for even the bad things

Failure helped me find a new path!
Frustration helped me rethink my ways!
Stress helped my schedule my day!
Bad friends made me find new ones!
Bad days lead me here!

and oh, what a relief!
to just feel grateful
and nothing else.

When you wish

When you wish

If I had to forecast
that I would be here
this very second
minute
hour
day
week
month
year
place in my life

I would have dreamed

but not truly believed
that yes
a wish activated by work
became a reality.

So what

So what

So what

you aren't from the same place
don't share the same taste
don't share the same face

you share the same dreams
share the same moon beams
share the same smile that gleams

and it's beautiful.

Sharing

Sharing

I can't stand those people

that think that sharing their
candle
with others is going to
diminish
their own flame

why you can light a whole room up!

for once we can all actually see

it's not about us
it's about us. 

People will accept you

People will accept you

I feel like there are
in fact
people that will accept
you
for who you are

but it takes a lot of people
pushing you away
further and further
into that shell
into that cocoon

that sometimes the sun can't shine
on the heroes
the right people

because everything
everyone

looks dark from your perspective.

Advice

Advice

You know

the best words of advice

I have gotten in a
long
time

have been that you
don't
need to wait
for permission

to be who you want to be

start today
start now
start this instant

you were born to be great
don't wait
for someone to come along

and push that out of you

be great

get it
got it
over.

I await that day

I await that day

I await that day

where I don't feel
lame
or awkward
or shy
or out of place

where I don't look
lonely
or scared
or apathetic
or lost

where I don't seem
timid
or quiet
or fragile
or easy to break

but why can't that day be today?

Social skills

Social skills

I think what I need to work on
isn't social skills

I know how to meet people
I know how to carry a conversation
I know how to be polite

what I need to work on is
myself
how to listen to myself
how to talk with myself
how to accept myself

so when I turn to others
I can hear what they're saying
above the sounds of self doubt.

Lonely in a crowd

Lonely in a crowd

I always want to say
that that moody feeling
is loneliness

but I know that's untrue

for I can feel even more lonely
surrounded by people.

Take one look

Take one look

Take one look around you
I bet you didn't notice that
or that
or
that
and if you spin around again
why
everything looks so different
did you realize that
did you see that
did you notice that
it's always been there
but you can't see it until
you place yourself
there.

Trust me

Trust me

Trust me.

I don't
n
e
e
d
permission
to
be
myself

and

neither
should
y
o
u

Focus on the positive

Focus on the positive 

What's the worst thing
that can happen
when we all focus on the
positive?
We didn't get the job
and we smiled too much?

Influences

Influences

It's funny how
we can be influenced
to the point of changing our lives
over someone
we've never met
and maybe never will meet
it seems like we're all family.

Positivity

Positivity 

I think we need to dwell
in positivity
life isn't rooted in darkness
the sun is always there
clouds pass.

Independent

Independent 

How can I be independent
when everything I do
is set to someone else's calendar,
schedule, agenda?

Trick candle

Trick candle

I get excited so easily
it's like blowing out a trick candle
on a birthday cake.

When

When

When all you want to do
is do what you want
and you aren't able to do it.

When

When

When I stop letting
people push me around I
will feel the ground close.

I feel proud

I feel proud

I feel proud of where
I'm from and the people I
know and love so much.

If I fell in love

If I fell in love

If I fell in love
I hope it would be all at
once as in a dream.

Everything is magic

Everything is magic

Sometimes I wish
I lived in
a movie
where everything was magic
everything had a happy ending
everything worked out
everything
was
perfect.

I love it

I love it

Rainy days reading a book
a cup of hot chocolate
the splish splash of the raindrops
the coolness of the air.

Fate

Fate

Is it fate that I met you
it it fate that this time
everything worked out
so joyful and kind?

Everything

Everything

If I could do anything
I would do everything
a pilot a ballerina
an astronaut a teacher.

If I could

If I could

If I could have everything
I always ever wanted
would I be happy
or bitter without success?

Like-minded

Like-minded

To fit in when you
stand out in a room of like-
minded people too.

What I know

What I know

What I know is an opinion
what I know isn't fact
but when I hear music
it keeps me right on track.

Jazz

Jazz

Jazz is the pizzaz
that round old sound rebounds
beat so neat so sweet.

Today

Today

Today I'll see
today I'll be.

Happiness

Happiness

Why is my happiness
dependent on achievement?

Why can't we all just
be enough right now?

Achieve

Achieve 

The second I thought
how nobody cares, I knew
I could achieve it.

Permission

Permission

Oh please I don't need
permission to be myself
in this crazy world.

Failure

Failure

It's okay to fail
in a valiant attempt
to try something new.

Art

Art

How do I react
to what is real - it's my life
my occupation.

Time

Time

Where did all this time
go? It's as if it all blew
away to sawdust.

Listen to Carmen McCrae sing, "Yesterdays":

Reach for the stars

Reach for the stars

What's the worst that could
happen when you reach for the
stars? Fall down, get up!

Listen to Frank Sinatra sing, "A Day in the Life of a Fool":

Hide

Hide

Oh but hush - say you're
doing just fine, say that life
is great - just hide it.

Confront

Confront

I cower away
from the things I don't know - to
confront is to feel.

Today

Today

Today I firmly
plant my feet in the now, I
refuse to look back.

It's here

It's here

If you look you'll see
that it's here, that it's all here
and it's here to stay.

Light

Light

The world seems to light
up with the joy of thousands
of men living life.

Danilo Perez

Watch the Children of the Light trio perform:

Inspired by the World Premier of Danilo Perez's Detroit World Suite at the Detroit Jazz Festival on September 6th. 

To be me

To be me

It kept me awake at night
that quest to be something
no not in a prideful way
as nothing truly great ever comes from
but in a personal way
that way that just tugs at your heart
and itches at your soul
that quest to be something
to be anything to be everything
to be me.

Steve Turre/ Rahsaan Roland Kirk birthday celebration

Inspired by the Steve Turre/ Rahsaan Roland Kirk birthday celebration with special guest James Carter at the Detroit Jazz Festival on September 6th.

Beautiful

Beautiful

There is nothing so

beautiful than to hear a

song out of the blue. 

Pat Metheny

Inspired by seeing Pat Metheny at the Detroit Jazz Festival on September 4th. 

The fear of failure

The fear of failure

The fear of failure
causes the fear to increase
making one more scared.

Work with myself

Work with myself

What a major change
to not compare myself to others
to brush aside inner chastising
and work with myself
to better myself.

Infinity

Infinity

Who needs time
when I have infinity within me?

Unity

Unity

I wanted
oh how I truly wanted
to do this little thing called
change the world

I thought about it much too
much it seemed to suffocate me
from doing anything of true importance

but sure this noble task was important
for it consumed me

I ignored my friends, ignored
my family, ignored my teachers,
ignored myself and my needs
with all my greed I pushed
everyone near to me away

I was headstrong

I was wrong

everything was in my head

change doesn't live in a
pent-up day dream

to change the world takes
guts takes class takes
time takes patience takes
community but also unity.

Houghton's Pond

Inspired by Woody Shaw's album Unity:

This post marks one year of writing a poem a day!

Joy spring

Joy spring

The cymbal crashes
bashes splashes flashes

the piano pings
dings stings zings

the bass plops
bops hops stops

with each new boom 
from the drum set of my heart
comes a bloom of flowers
of joy spring a new start.

Listen to Manhattan Transfer sing, "Joy Spring":

Manhattan Transfer at Scullers Jazz Club

Inspired by Manhattan Transfer at Scullers Jazz Club on August 27.