Long Downbeat Poems

Digital Creationism
(Man 0, God 1)         

Part 1: Binary God
For men it seems God is a binary function
And like ones and zeros 'HE IS ON or 'he's off.'
Is...

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I.

In the beginning was the Single Stroke Roll—
left-right, left-right, the primordial heartbeat
of existence itself, each alternation a binary choice
between being and non-being, the eternal paradiddle
of consciousness striking against the drumhead of reality.

Listen: the Buzz Roll...

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IX.

In the ICU, machines create their own songo—
ventilator, heart monitor, IV pump—
forming an accidental orchestra
the clutch of machinery holding time
like a hi-hat choking its own decay.

Underneath the electronic rhythms
the human body maintains its own
stubborn organic...

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VI.

We are all metric modulations
of our former selves—changing time signatures
mid-measure, learning to count
in odd meters when life refuses
to conform to 4/4 expectations
finding beauty in 7/8 existence—
the off-kilter cadence
of becoming.

The teenager tattoos pain across her skin
in...

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He stepped down from the stagecoach kicking dust up with his boot
He stood a while, he lacked a smile, his teeth gripped his cheroot 
His Stetson it was thick with dust, his guitar case was...

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Spoken Word Poetry: JAZZ ALIVE

Man alive, and this ain’t no jive, I’m diggin’ on jazz to stay alive/
East Coast rhythms from the 50’s and 60’s, in the heart of the city, where the music breaths/
Up...

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Yo Bro Sound It Out/Tony Adamo
Yo bro, you got to sound it out/ let the spoken words roll/ let yourself go/your words are in and out of the rhythm track/ It’s the downbeat groove/ man,...

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CAR   COURT


Enter,   the older   heavyweight  steel  giant,
The bailiff,  a   1954 Hudson,  reads unhesitant : 
On the docket for this morning :  guilty...

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Sunshine undulates across verdant plain
casting dark shadows ushering twilight zone
ringing athwart tree trunks
invigorating, joyously kickstarting, 
and plenti revitalizing
bountiful nature buzzfeeding 

vim, vinegar  and spunk
caressing, massaging, and palpating with
soundlessness inducing bub bully giddy,
and sudsy spongy...

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Beyond the measure the traditions 
claim they sort and seek
might they find, might they find
ooh-bah-doo-bah: ah-ooh-ah!
The backbeat was sorted from the
"First tones" thats what she called it.
There are 12 planets in this system.
Each with ait's...

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In my city, downtown are many homeless,
wandering the busy streets so aimless;
one day, I saw my own brother begging,
my brother's face held such a bleakness.

I crossed the street my mind so confused,
my brother homeless- ...

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Proud parents gathered for the fifth grade band presentation.
The kids labored long and hard to enhance their musical education.
'Twas the band's first concert since its recent organization.
The harried teacher approached it with a sense of...

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I was sitting outside in the garden,
and stroking me cat on the back,
when I must have brushed on a flower,
which angered a wild bee to attack.

Accidentally I made the mistake;
a mistake that brought me to...

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whn my eys got stuck on u for frst tym...
d whole world has become so full of lyf n i 
ws fine...
dn u hv ur eys on me n it makes dt more 
real...
n i...

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(Snapping fingers rhythmically) Cobham's downbeat/ A thunderclap birth/
 Shorter's sax, a comet's fiery girth, blowing jazz-poet notes, a furious chase, too quick for the tongue, lost in sonic space/
 The new head of jazz, they...

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Andy O’(Snaps fingers rhythmically) The air hangs thick with midnight blue/And the city hums a graffiti tune/  a voice cuts through, a velvet blade/Andy O’, where stories are made/Poet, Musician, Broadcaster's soul/Navigating the sonic...

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I slip in unobtrusively 
and take a seat in back,
the orchestra is tuning up, 
I open up my pack
and take a rolled up magazine 
with which to play along,
conducting is a passion
I have had since...

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I slip in unobtrusively 
and take a seat in back,
the orchestra is tuning up, 
I open up my pack
and take a rolled up magazine 
with which to play along,
conducting is a passion
I have had since...

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I slip in unobtrusively 
and take a seat in back, 
the orchestra is tuning up, 
I open up my pack 
and take a rolled up magazine 
with which to play along, 
conducting is a passion...

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Say, dig what I say
Talkin’ bout a new jazz vibe/
Man, move over/
the Jazz Cookers are hittin’ their stride in the groove to stay alive/
Eddie Henderson/
Cecil McBee/
George Cables,Billy Hart
and Billy Harper/
swingin’ harder jazz be flying/
downbeat, upbeat,...

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I slip in unobtrusively 
and take a seat in back,
the orchestra is tuning up, 
I open up my pack
and take a rolled up magazine 
with which to play along,
conducting is a passion
I have had since...

Read More

my anonymity is stalking the streets 
like a preoccupation. mornings, slowly I creep
into august daylight, filling beat boroughs.
passing the time: digging fake burrows: 
motel rabbitrooms don't come with sheets: 
boxes gloomy in the dinge; dead-end...

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Souls amid vagueness
we sustain an inheritance
when affection is betrayed
the fights ratified a farewell
prior, we struck the shore

In the last spell of my life
faults are piled high on the mound
it swirls and coils into clouds
I must...

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salient smile scrunching
punctured physiognomy pulsing
voluptuous chin vying
over mystic memory
with callous contentions
seeped in stupefaction

rusty rubberneck moaning
airy attention fostering
damped dog downbeat

nocturnal ends neighboring
felon results rustling
saucy rebellion smirking

Her dad disembarked;
His monstrous master.
20:01:03:05:07

Note: 42 words.
My idea of the story...

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Once we were a matching pair, some days we’d get downbeat
as we both couldn't abide the stench of sweaty cheesy feet!

Our male owner would pop us in the washing machine
with warm soapy suds we’d soon...

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