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Notes About The Poem

With apologies to Jerry Jeff Walker for twisting his song title "Mr. Bojangles" into the theme of the poem Mr. Joe - Jangles. The song was included in Bob Dylan's 1973 album 'Dylan' - though originally written and recorded by Jerry Jeff Walker in 1968. "I knew a man Bojangles and he danced for you. In worn out shoes. With silver hair, a ragged shirt and baggy pants.
The old soft shoe................."

Bob Dylan => https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVWg4Jg9xBg&ab_channel=BobDylanVEVO

Geoff Walker => https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYwaWd4BmmY

posted 1 August 2026
for The Pensive Poet Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Constance La France

juey

Listen to poem:

The Pensive Poet

Mister Joe, would-be muse,
jangles loose change in his pockets.
Each tiny clang sets forgotten cupboards humming.
Forgotten thoughts spring up, without asking.

Memories jog the journey while he's walking.
The kettle whistles before; the teacup understands.
Old riddles wash, rinse, tumble, and spin.
Rhymes peg themselves upon invisible lines.
The breeze flaps fresh ideas, hung out to dry.

"Finished the laundry, Mister Joe?"
The washing hangs bone-dry on the line.
He gathers the clothes, fluffs them loose.
Now the creases know exactly where to hide.
By dusk, his pockets have quietly grown heavier.
Loose change is dressed in freshly laundered clothes.
Every coin now sounds suspiciously like poems.

Next morning, he empties his pockets, onto the page.....
Sorting the jangles, line by line.
He wants to cast jangles and clangs, 
into the minds of his readers, if they'll listen.
To show enough, but to leave enough unsaid.

He wants his words to fish where quiet memories sleep.
Each image leaves another mouth half wide open.
So the reader finds footprints before finding feet.
And a mirror quietly longing, to become a window.

The catch is prodded, puzzled - shaken and stirred.
Some readers smile; some simply stop and stare.
Each little clang becomes another hidden key.
Unlocking rooms he never knew were waiting there.

The poem, once written, quietly triggers,
jingles rattling in the readers' pockets. 
Coming home with someone else's change.
For a poem is more than the bell a poet rings~
It is the echoes awakening in waiting bells.
The page is turned... the reader keeps on jingling.

The reader keeps on jingling.
The reader keeps on jingling.

poetrypoetsfree verse

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Constance La France

August 15, 2026 at 4:26 PM

John, wonderfully penned and congratulations on your win in my The Pensive Poet Contest, well done ⭐

Sotto Poet

August 12, 2026 at 7:04 AM

Congratulations on your win in the contest with this beautifully crafted poem.

Natasha L Scragg

August 1, 2026 at 12:29 AM

Love your imagery in this poem John! "Rhymes peg themselves on invisible lines" amazing line 😄 and the feeling of continuity in the reference to change jingling echoing awakening of more bells... this wonderfully depicts what creative writing is like for the author, more and more inspiration comes. A wonderful poem. 😉☺️

John Anderson

August 1, 2026 at 12:44 AM

Thanks you very much for your kind words. It very much describes my 'approach' to writing poetry which is strangely about what I call 'jangles" or 'clangs' - the little hints that cause me to take notice and consider them in my memory or experience. They trigger ideas which I try to portray in the poems I write. Again it is my hope to convey my thoughts and lines in such a way that it inspires similar 'jangles' in my readers - perhaps not in the way that I intended - but that's OK. I must say I deliberately add the 'jangles' and 'clangs' hoping they will trigger something in the readers who may walk away with new loose change in their pockets.✍️ Cheers!