Chronicle of A Love Supreme
by Aurora Lewis
He played the sax, so I acclimated myself
to John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme
I was crushing hard, being only sixteen
He was tall and thin, I thought he was cool
black shades above his sly grin
Said I was too innocent to hang with him
At eighteen there was a drummer
I wasn’t into drums, couldn’t find
his groove, he left no melody inside
of me, no wave for me to ride
although, I lost my virginity.
Fell hard at nineteen for best
friend, soon as I saw him
He played the cornet,
graceful, beautiful hands
a laugh, resonating
within me, I’d never be
the same, he too dug Trane
Twenty-five, he was gone
Japan, Turkey, other lands
Settled in New York, married,
a son, why wasn’t it me
I wandered about from man
to man missing his body
all that was he
Found him on the internet at
fifty-five, a musician of fame
Bought his music, hide it away
a treasure, only for me
Dared to send a birthday greeting
Inside I left my business card
a brief hello, hoping not to offend
He called, how could I
not know that voice
Divorced, living only for his music
and his son whose face I longed
to see, did he look like him
We met twice, a concert, a class
he was teaching, prospect of
obtaining a fulltime position
bringing him back to Cali and me
Returning to NY, we collaborated
via email on his dissertation
then he drifted away as I
reached out to him
Soon, an email notification
he died in a VA hospital
was he alone, why hadn’t I known
He was only sixty-four, I fifty-nine
Forever, my love supreme
_____
First Floor Corner Room
by Lawrence J. Klumas
He wanted it that way.
No roommate.
There was a soft amber light
Seeping under the door-sill
There was that bluesy sound, played low,
On the Bang & Olufsen, after lights out.
His girlfriend quietly slipping in after hours,
Leaving early in the morning.
All of us on that wing refused to turn him in.
It must have been that late-night jazz,
Soft piano chords, sensual saxophone,
Artists in love with their music.
What he said to her was a mystery.
Maybe nothing at all,
The music enough for romance.
__________
Aurora M. Lewis, worked in the banking financial industry for 40 years and retired early in 2009. That same year she received a Certificate in Creative Writing-General Studies from UCLA, with honors. Her poems, short stories, and nonfiction have been accepted by The Literary Hatchet, Gemini Magazine, Persimmon Tree, and Tinderbox Poetry Journal, among others.
*
Lawrence J. Klumas has written poetry since 1958, and continued writing for his engineering profession — but, most recently re-immersed himself into poetry with a passion. He has been published in Que sais-je, on-line at JerryJazzMusician, Diocesan Messenger. He contributes a poem weekly to the Fallbrook, CA Episcopal Church newsletter. He has a chapbook submitted for San Diego Book Awards.
He is a retired USAF officer, an engineer, a Viet Nam veteran, and a past Assoc VP Occidental College (Facilities). He has a BS In Business Administration (with a minor in Literature) from Eastern Nazarene College, and both a BS and MS in Industrial Engineering from Arizona State University.
A great variety and a splendid collection of jazz
Gorgeous poem, Patricia! So much richness in so few words.
To bring from the lips to the ear or the fingers to the ear and into the body so much of life and love is such a fine thing that the poet and the musician have married here that all we can do that is celebrate and hallelujah.
I’m very happy to be part of such a fine collection. I particularly enjoyed Michael Newell’s ‘Vintage Inn ..’ and Lawrence Koumas’s lovely little anecdote.
This collection has too many good poems and poets to acknowledge every poem and every poet worthy of attention. I will, therefore, single out a handful of poets who moved me deeply. The list would include Gannon Daniels, Robert Nisbet, Susana Case, Dan Franch, Patricia Carragon, John Stupp, and Aurora Lewis. If I went back and reread all the poems for a fourth or fifth time, I would likely expand this list considerably. I tip my hat to all the fine artists in this collection, and I thank Joseph Maita for putting all these fine poems together in such an appealing way.
Michael,
I especially like the way the way the two settings, outside and inside the Inn in the first poem, as in these lines:
outside the night is filled
with cigarette smoke lightning
and Lithia Creek swirling over rocks
In the second poem, I hear the music playing in the background of the second poem.
I am pleased that I was able to participate in a poetry writing event which includes the deeply felt emotions of jazz music and love and its individual expressions in form and format. I will read these with great pleasure. This idea to showcase it on Valentines date was terrific.