jazzy blue love
by Mike Faran
a bubble of a moon shines
quiet sapphire
into your eyes as we walk
down to Renee’s
and we can hear the clarinet from here
This is one of the times I’m
happy not to own a car & to have an
open-minded girl
willing to taste jazz music
I squeeze your warm hand &
attempt to explain the fundamentals of
this beautiful stuff
but realize that there ain’t none
So we walk in the neon-lit night & as we
walk
the wail of a trumpet becomes
more distinct & yet
fails to define itself
beyond the fact that another world exists
for you
_____
DANCING WITH JACKIE
by Mike Faran
Dancing with you
I’m not aware that one leg is
shorter than the other
or perhaps one leg is longer
than the other,
but I do know that you are
painfully conscious of it
though we glide like an
autumn breeze;
we own this dance-floor!
One shoe is custom-made for
you,
the other a bright red stiletto.
We sit down, order fresh
cocktails and hold hands across
the small table;
a dark red candle flickers.
I see a lazy tear coursing your
cheek and I kiss it away.
You squeeze my hands tighter,
and I ask for the last dance –
the barefoot dance on the moonlit
sands of Zuma Beach,
where we have the jazz-music of
the surf.
You smile and nod with the beauty
and bravery of a child.
no more music baby doll
by Mike Faran
it all caught fire
burned up in the summer night
did you hear it?
chords popping here
a string singing there
i’m sorry. i love you. forgive me.
some people will make it
again
some creative creatures
will one day emerge from
caves
inspired by long restless nights of
rhythm & blues. but
the blues will come later
you know this
more than i do baby doll
_________
Mike Faran lived in Ventura, Ca. as a retired lobster trap builder. He is the author of We Go To A Fire (Penury Press) and is a Pushcart Prize nominee. His work has been published in Atlanta Review, Rattle, The Haight Ashbury Literary Journal, and Slant.
Mike passed away in December, 2017
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.