Harlem Blues !

While writing about the History of Jazz Music in verse , I got the idea for composing this fictitious poem ! I hope the readers will like it ! Harlem Blues ! Lingering perfumes float through the night air , Life was a drudgery for him and no one cared ! With neon lights blinking and flashing every- where ! The jazz band in the saloon played a soft tune , And the lady there sang the blues and also crooned ! Now the solitude of the night gets to him , As he drops down into a corner seat where lights are rather dim ! Signals the waiter as he lights his cigar , And orders a large whiskey and soda , having come down so far ! He remains enthralled by the lone singer’s voice , He must spend this ‘blue night’ all alone , - since he had no other choice ! The singer now comes pretty close to him , And he could see her white teeth dazzle and gleam ! But when he looked into those dark eye lashes , - Sad memories form the past before his eyes flashes ! He had been a clarinet player of some renown , But his wife couldn’t tolerate its piping sound ! His habit of playing his pipe at mid-night hours , Made her to desert him for their marriage had gone sour ! The blue notes in the saloon soon comes to an end , But the music goes on simply to entertain ! The singer now invites this loner to her room , He accompanies - trying to forget his loneliness and gloom ! She pours out two drinks in her upstairs room , And places his head gently between her bosom , - Which makes him to swoon ! The ‘blue notes’ still plays on in his mind , It is then when she pulls out a clarinet form behind ! Seeing him surprised - she laughs out loud , He stares at the clarinet with misgiving and doubt ! “Don’t worry darling I had met you wife , She had shown me your picture and told me about your life ! From my childhood days I had loved the clarinet , It turns me on before I go to bed ! So play the pipe gently as I get into my slip-on , And we shall make love right into the morn !” He picked up the clarinet and played ‘the blues’ so tender and so light , - The music echoed through the lonely Harlem night....... ! - Raj Nandy New Delhi