A Poem For Sam Cooke
Listen to poem:
December 14, 1965
"Mr. Samuel Cooke. Sam Cooke??
You been in that casket for three days..
You a long way from Chicago, son?"
And Sam said, "What happened
Where am I?"
"This is the Judgement room.
In about ten minutes God himself
Will walk right through that Door.
And you Mr. Cooke better hope
He gives you points for your Gospel years."
And Sam tried to hold back his tears
"A lot of Legends came through here
Holiday, Smith, Jelly Roll Morton
Fats Waller, .....
Charlie Parker
Sat right there.
I've seen a thousand caskets
But the musical funerals are the hardest."
The Angel said, "Johnny Ace died by the gun
The Kid was just twenty-five.
What is it with music, young people and dyin?"
And Sam started cryin
A second Angel paused,
"I’ll never forget Buddy Holly.
That kid was special-
He could sure push a tune."
An Angel rushed in
"We gotta get Sam dressed
God will be here soon."
And Sam noticed a white piano
Sitting right by the wall
And for a moment he forgot it all.
And he felt a torch in his soul
And that Angel said, "Oh no in here we
Can't LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL..”
"That there Mr. Cooke is God’s Piano
Last person to use it was Dinah Washington.
And she didn't get shot in a hotel
With her pants off.
And the answer to yo next question
Can you play God’s piano is "'umm No'"
And Sam’s head dropped low."
"Okay maybe for five minutes..
But play something clean slow.
And Sam played NEARER TO THEE
And it was as sad like a Eulogy
It was sad like a eulogy.
And Sam Cooke sat on that Piano
Remembering The First Baptist church
In Chicago Heights
as his tears glittered under those lights.
And he played like God was comin'
IN THE STILL OF THE NIGHT.
Then an older Angel
Walked up from behind
"Can you play that Cupid song?
I don’t think God would mind."
And before he could say, “Cupid
Draw back you bow.."
Another Angel interrupted
"You know we cant do that no more.."
Before he could belt out
"Please hear my cry.."
Half of the angels were on the floor
Then he stopped and couldn't
Play no more.
And they said, Whats wrong Sam?
And Sam wanted to explain
What happened on that final night.
An Angel stopped him, "Sayin’
This is heaven Sam. It’s alright."
And one Angel joked
You was just a BAD BOY HAVIN' A PARTY."
And then Sam asked
"My son Vincent??
Unable to keep his sorrow in.
They said, "Yeah he made it in."
Down to his final two minutes
Sam asked if he could sing
TWISTIN' THE NIGHT AWAY.
They could see in his eyes how
Bad he wanted to play
Umm God don’t like that song….
But perhaps we can
Turn our heads away
Sam punched that piano
Like Ali punched Liston.
He punched that Piano
Just like Ali hit Liston
And those Angels just listened.
And he sang about a NEW YORK WAY
And Sam’s final minutes
Started to fade away
They said, "You opened the door
For Aretha
You gave us Taylor and Womack.
You got the whole world cryin, son
..But no one gets to go back."
And they let Sam look down to earth
Down to his funeral Below
And he let the tears go
He looked a hundred million miles
Down to the earth
To that little town in Mississippi
Where he was given birth.
And they took him back to 1950
When he was with the Souls stirrers
Singing, HOW FAR AM I FROM CANAAN?
And Sam hit that piano once again
And he saw 200,000 People
in Chicago crying.
He saw Aretha holding back tears
And they tried to ease his fears
And they said,
"Don't worry bout Papa Ray
He got another thirty years."
And Sam lowered his head
Revealing his Chagrin..
And all those Angels
jumped to attention
When God walked in
And Sam bowed at the floor
And those Angels got so quiet
You could have heard a feather
Fall to the floor.
And God said, "Sam
Have a seat.
I looked over your entire life.
You were something as a kid
In that church.
But the end Sam
Troubles me.."
And Sam looked at God
With sad refrain
Wanting so badly to explain.
"I watched you singing at the Copa
And you moved my soul.
I gave you everything, Sam.
You were so much better than Cole.
I liked the song you wrote
About the River
And the Little Tent."
Sam became solemn
As he tried to repent.
"This is not how
It was supposed to end, Sam."
And God opened a book
Turned it to page one
Page five and then ten.
"Man you got a lot of sins.
Are you worthy to Enter In?
Sam bowed to the feet of God
Trying to make amends.
When God show him the final page
His hopes grew dim.
God said, Get off your knees, Sam
And touch thee my hem.
The Angels
Gave him his Blue Spiral notebook
And welcomed him in.
And God said, Sam
It's not going to be that easy.
Before I send you on
I have a request
One final test:
Can you play that song
BRING IT ON HOME?
BRING IT ON HOME, Sam.
Written By Michael Ellis
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