“Kind of Blue” — a poem by Kathleen S. Burgess

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“Paris Sidewalk, After a Rain,” photo by Bob Hecht

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Kind of Blue

Spring rains watercolor the earth leaf, daffodil, violet,
…………then soften to a blue-gray mist,

and clear. Day’s begun transitioning, sky-bright blue to
…………lapis lazuli. Moon dreams in the north.

Dusk. From an upper floor apartment, a shower begins
…………to pour through the ceiling onto a radio,

short-circuits Coltrane’s reedy After the Rain. And below
…………a woman stands awash in spark and flush.

Seen from windows, earth’s subdued Afro-blue. Wings
…………in flight, like McCoy Tyner’s hands, are

stroking V’s in waves of migration, as Alice Coltrane’s
…………are brushing The Sun over a New York

nightclub. After him. On American coasts, waves gush
…………to shore, spume and froth

in fits over bare skin. Salt every hair with every lash.
…………Eye of the world, moon-tossed,

the ocean shifts. Tide’s ebbing shush reveals in sand
…………one small moon shell. Listen

in a silent way after Miles, John, McCoy, Alice, Chick.
…………After the great migration, currents.

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Kathleen S. Burgess is  a senior editor at  Pudding Magazine: The Journal of Applied Poetry  and assistant poetry editor at  Northern Appalachia  Review. Her poems and interviews appear in  North American Review,  r.kv.r.y,  jmww,  Literary Mama.  Recipient of a 2018  Sheila-Na-Gig  online poetry prize, among others, she’s received four nominations for a Pushcart Prize and two for Best of the Net. She also tours with Women of Appalachia. Recent poetry collections include  What Burden Do Those Trains Bear Away   about hitchhiking 11,000 miles to South America (Bottom Dog Press, 2018) and  The Wonder Cupboard  (NightBallet Press, 2019). A retired public school music teacher, Kathleen lives with her husband Jack Burgess in Chillicothe, Ohio, home of Adena and Hopewell cultures, the original first capital of Ohio. 

kathleensburgess.com

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Bob Hecht is a resident of Portland, Oregon, and a frequent contributor to Jerry Jazz Musician.  A selection of his photography can be found at his website by clicking here.

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Listen to the 1963 recording of John Coltrane playing “After the Rain,” with McCoy Tyner (piano), Jimmy Garrison (bass) and Elvin Jones (drums)

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Click here to learn how to submit your poetry

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