Tokyo Jazz Club
You played a solo on the bandstand but didn’t dig the sound your tenor was searching for/ something new, a note big enough to blow the whole town down/
Between sets, you caught a laugh rising from the bar/
a woman’s laugh, curling like smoke through blue light, full-bodied, bright, sweet with danger/
You heard Giant Steps inside it, each burst of joy a door swinging open/
You stole no melody—only the freedom of it/ transposing her wild laughter into a sound unheard/
raw and pure, free jazz for sure, a midnight breeze running loose through New York streets/
Now your music was hip to the score, a fusion of brass and laughter, a solo shaped for her alone/
At the end of the night, my horn held her close/
or was it you beneath those stars, where Jelly Roll Morton rolled through carnival lights glowing like flowers in the dark?
colossal statues were three thousand years old
found in Sardinia in 1974
carved by the Nuragic civilization
depicting warriors on Easter Island
We thought they were only heads
Until someone decided to dig down
They are full-bodied
Buried up to their necks
How did they carve stone back in the day?
Is it odd kings were not represented?
Only archers, boxers and warriors
Many theories are bantered about
Easter island holds on to her mysteries
Intriguing and enticing archeologists
Keeping the Nuragic civilization alive
Three thousand years later
Perhaps that was the purpose?
Forest and Dove
Artist: Max Ernst
Turn on the Lights
White of his eye, orange nose, black bird.
Blue sky flying high above the dark forest.
Scenery is haunting; like the kid’s movie “Coraline.”
Disturbing, the feeling of being lost in the forest.
Nightmare of trees depicted as serrated teeth.
(Hansel and Gretel in a cage) dove’s bars behind him.
Is he free, can he flee; will the bars surround him?
The woods, towering like skyscrapers, tight
in the frame; childhood claustrophobia, intense.
The full-bodied bird appears to be caught
“in the headlights,” like a deer taken aback.
Tenebrous green and rust brown, skeleton stature;
shadowy beasts bullying, stalking, terrorizing.
I can’t turn away. My eyes take in the scenery.
No matter how small the canvas, the ink
seeps into my brain, driving me mad in the night.
Surreality; reality of the young and very old.
full-bodied crows
profoundly near
ebonic wingspan
gliding and diving
in dusky parking lot
what caused them
to stir, so flagrantly
as twilight shoppers
pack in their groceries
Spring becomes tender
Poetically laughs and cries
with the first fruits of arrival
with the finality of departure...
Your body, with pleasure
like a flower opens into petals
when I skillfully touch you...
This simple life of ours,
in grandeur, does indeed blossom,
when we weave ourselves in nobility...
To truly love is:
to provide attentive ears,
to offer obliging arms...!
Life always becomes art,
canvas, palette, action...
in the mystery of creation!
Wine can be:
oily, full-bodied, fruity...
sine qua non; good grape, good wine!
farms await bony hands of want
land thirsty for full bodied Love
what strength is needed to grow the maize
whilst shadows roam streets in haze
leaves like notes blow across ferocious Falls
how long can darkness juggle its balls
¥
balls of the clown are tired of work
calm Falls continue their crystal splash cries
shadows between trees rustle like hungry
beggars
maize aromas ripe fill air for inhalation
yellow Earth bursts fiery gore
hands of farmworkers touch Lushness of Lore
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
wine is yet the same:
oily, full-bodied, fruity...
sine qua non... be wine...
Oh, I’d rush to my create my rainbow without haste.
With each sun blessed color, having its own, unique taste!
Only of the delicious flavors, that this poetess deem best.
Tantalizing, with a full-bodied, fruitful and fresh zest.
I would make the rainbow into an astounding, colorful slide,
And invite those I love, to join me in a most, unusual ride.
We would be proud to speak of God~without humiliation.
And how great this country is, with no fear of intimidation!
Inevitably, I will color it, the famous red, white and blue.
Being unabashedly patriotic, with joy and gratitude, too!
10/21/2024
How can love blossom without flowers
full-bodied roses to gaze at for hours
When the vase is empty so is the heart ~
seeds of doubt sprout tearing lovers apart
Waiting for ice cream
And looking around,
All versions of people
Are there to be found:
The old and the toddlers,
The skinny and fat,
The bald and the bearded,
The full-bodied tat;
The neat and the slobby ,
The antsy and calm,
Each there for the ice cream,
A sticky day balm.
I doubt we’d be sharing
Political views,
But united deciding
Which flavor to choose.
Like Winter
predicts Summer
Dark grey suffering
is not yet total green forest
and blue sky loss
As one cold
lonely voice
isolating experience
need not preclude
warm
yet alone
embracing vulnerable memories
transparent images
anticipating full-bodied reconnections,
compassionate life choices
As EarthTribal respiration
invites EarthMother regeneration
wombs reproductive
eggs
nuts
seeds
Surviving thistles
not yet Othering
weeds
As painful apartheid
is not yet anxious death
nor anticipating life
As isolating trauma discoveries
are not yet therapeutic
solitary thoughts
anticipating glad feelings
passionate
about sacred intimacy,
boundless recovery.
[Written with Jeff’s ‘Ode’ contest in mind, but missed
that boat… should’ve had more caffeine!]
*
We met; I was smitten, my lips almost purred
I’m sure that encounter had left you quite stirred
And I knew right then it was you I adored
And my love for you was forever assured
For you are the reason I get out of bed
You are the first daily thought in my head
Life without you is a thought filled with dread
Your warmth clears my mind leaving me in good stead
Whenever I see you I just drink you in
For I worship you more than I worship gin
You're steamy, full bodied and frosty you're not
For you are my coffee and Baby, you’re hot!
Been cranking out some crazy dreams
of prehistoric birds in flight
Six foot tall with bills like puffins
looking to roost for the night
One flew into a high line wire did a triple
and slammed to the ground
I stared in amazement as he got to his feet
What He did then would truly astound
Head down he charged in predating gear
To the place that my father stood
Quickly recast by the man that I Wed
Who then stepped out of sight as he should
Another one then caught the sight of me
Pursued me like honey and he was the bee
I ran hard for cover soon to arrive
Struggling to secure the door to the hive
And made it just in time
As his full bodied weight slammed into the door
Clawing he scratched with a deafening roar
I awoke to a silence sublime
Don't know why you need to know this
Just somehow feel you do
Sleep tight tonight don't let
monster birds bite and swallow you without a chew
A robust flavor, full-bodied
Written about wine, no less
Late the music played in the smoky air
in our noir Bogey and Bacall vignette,
and hands that stroked your silky chestnut hair
held a red wine and lit a cigarette.
Girl, I chased you until you caught me
and when I was lost it was you I found,
for in our chase and hunt unknowingly
I was the fox and you the foxhound.
Your soft skin smelt of aloes and citrus -
the smudge of fresh lipstick on your wineglass,
and what covet it was those lips to kiss -
in wine there’s truth! In vino veritas!
Those bitter tannins with your sweet imbue
filled my soul and besot its true love's claim,
girl, I knew no one could save me but you
and so we played our wicked game.
Lying there next to you in the moonshine
I did want for love but wanted more -
the feel and taste of that full bodied wine
and a lock and key to your cellar door.
Your soft skin smelt of aloes and citrus -
the smudge of fresh lipstick on your wineglass,
and what covet it was those lips to kiss -
in wine there’s truth! In vino veritas!
Written: April 2013
For Les
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