Notes About The Poem

Background: With apologies to Jerry Jeff Walker for his famous song "Mr. Bojangles" recorded in 1968, in his album of the same title, and sung by many famous performers.
"I knew a man Bojangles and he'd dance for you in worn out shoes"

The lyrics of this song jangle on constant replay, in many old heads throughout the world including mine.

Like a jingle you cannot forget, that keeps popping up in echoes, triggered by various thoughts and memories.

Listen to poem:

Mister Joe Jangles

Mister Joe, poet, jangles loose change in his pocket,
Jogging memories and garnering thoughts as he walks.
For Mr. Joe's brain washes, tumbles and dries,
his gems of thoughts in hourly cycles, with riddles, jingles and rhymes.
Each wash-up, extracted, pegged, and hung up to dry,
To taunt and flap jangles for him, his readers and strangers near by.

Mister Joe's charm icons are processed, mulled over, distilled and wrung out for meaning within.
His jangles find meaning in bumps on smooth paper, read as Braille.
His jangles arise from stones skipped over calm smooth waters,
yielding meaning in the creases and ripples created.
His jangles rattle his sleep awake each night, with sky rockets of images and flashes bursting.
His jangles are a empowering, rewarding, revealing, enlightening,
and sometimes troubling and haunting, but can't be undone.
His jangles are his rhyme and reason, his friend and confidant, his mater and aether
His jangles are really what he's all about as a poet,
as a miner and peddler of ideas, and as a prophet and revealer.

Mister Joe's charms jangles the minds of his readers
His words cast nets to trawl up memories and concepts,
lured within the reader's mind with word play and twists.
Seas of dreams and memories are netted, prodded and poked
To yield twinkles, sparkles, hums, grunts, and nods of appreciation and delight.
His jangles finding meaning and echoes with links and associations, never before conceived nor considered.

Mister Joe's catch of memories once jangled, are returned to reader with care
Embellished and enthralled by meaning, relevance, word play and twists.
The reader now has new jangles to add to charm bracelet on wrist, or to jingle with loose change in pocket.
Mister Joe, the poet, and his reader, now walk and dance with jangles, jingling echoes within.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2016

Poem

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Pettinelli Avatar
August 31, 2017 at 5:40 PM
I was given your poem Mister Joe Jangles to review, and being a poet myself I liked your poem. I liked the interaction between the poet and the reader. I liked it mostly because you show that you as a poet can write and show imagination. Keep writing and I will keep reading. My poems are under Don Pettinelli the Northfield Poet.
Kettle Avatar
August 17, 2017 at 8:04 PM
Guess what I was doing before I came into read your poem, sitting on my deck off the side of my camper here in northern Ontario at a beauty spot BUT the funny thing is I was listening to the nitty gritty dirt band, I think there is 225 songs....something like that. Love the poem! Ty
Anderson Avatar
August 17, 2017 at 9:52 PM
Thanks for your lovely reply. Cheers
Sladojevic Avatar
August 17, 2017 at 3:09 AM
The ending verse is a nice touch.
Anderson Avatar
August 17, 2017 at 1:56 PM
Thanks, Cheers
Duncan Avatar
August 16, 2017 at 4:20 PM
Nicely done, Love the song Mr. Bojangles" Nitty Gritty Dirt Band :), Jim Stafford,
Anderson Avatar
August 16, 2017 at 4:24 PM
Thanks for your comment Debbie, Cheers
Wanter Avatar
August 16, 2017 at 9:21 AM
Been reading your poems from my email, and just want to say you are a very fine poet!
Hamilton Avatar
July 15, 2017 at 3:17 PM
Great job John, very enjoyable read, congrats on a great win!
Rodrigues Avatar
July 15, 2017 at 7:19 AM
Congrats on your top win! Love each verse! Fabulously crafted!
Barden Avatar
July 15, 2017 at 7:00 AM
This was special and exquisite on every level, John, and superb storytelling as well as a perfect command of literary technique and style ... and I just plain loved it! Congrats on THIRD PLACE and thank you for entering my contest!
Williams Avatar
March 9, 2017 at 3:07 PM
An extreme delight read. I loved it! Eight stars - Marilyn
Cents Avatar
March 9, 2017 at 12:24 PM
Excellent descriptive values of the relationship between the poet and the reader. I now walk and dance with "Jangles," along side you. Excellent read!
Smith Avatar
August 3, 2016 at 5:00 PM
I really enjoyed this one John...well done
Kent Avatar
August 3, 2016 at 4:49 PM
Super good! really got into this one.
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