.
.
The poet Mark Donnelly at Seton Hall University during the Spring of 1972
.
___
.
L-Shaped Tree.
June 1972
Out of college about a month
Now what?
A Saturday morning with Dad in Huntington at the Village Green
An arts and crafts fair in the sunshine
I walk the grounds with him to the various booths
We make our rounds up and down the rows
Then off to the east side of the green, close to Park Avenue
I see a big wide tree with a low hanging horizontal bough
It invites me over
The L-shaped tree
I sit and look out from this corner spot
The colors, the people, the loose happy feel of it all
An outdoor adventure of wonder
Dad is not near me for the moment
I sit in silence on this broad bench of bark
I sense I belong here
Dad wants to leave
We’ve already spent a good bit of time
I agree and we drive home
But then I ask if I can borrow the car and go back
I make the return trip to the green alone
I walk directly to that tree
I sit down and am immediately comfortable on the inviting bark
I look out again at the crowd and the booths and the noise
I feel part of something
I don’t know what, I don’t know why, I don’t know how
But something is stirring within
Calling, as if this is home
This tree, this grass, this scene
I have thought of that day many times over the years
How a shift was in progress
A message directly to me
Creativity and the arts
Somehow, somewhere, some part of me, yes me
And yes, I am writing these words today more than fifty years later
.
.
___
.
.
Mark Donnelly is a writer of prose, poetry, and drama. A number of his poems and stories have been published by such journals and small presses as Jerry Jazz Musician; Pure Slush; Red Hen Press, Aerogramme Center for Arts and Culture; Newtown Literary Journal; Long Island Sounds and Long Island Quarterly. He has an MFA in Creative Writing from Brooklyn College. Mark relocated to Davis, California from Queens, New York in 2021.
.
.
Listen to the 1986 recording of pianist Abdullah Ibrahim performing his composition “Water From an Ancient Well” [Kontor New Media]
.
.
.
___
.
.
Click for:
A Letter From the Editor: On “The Weary Blues: Celebrating Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance”
Information about the book Kinds of Cool: An Interactive Collection of Jazz Poetry, Vol. II (featuring women poets)
“21 jazz poems on the 21st” collections
More poetry on Jerry Jazz Musician
“Where the Music Wasn’t Allowed,” Jane McCarthy’s winning story in the 71st Jerry Jazz Musician Short Fiction Contest
More short fiction on Jerry Jazz Musician
Information about how to submit your poetry or short fiction
Subscribe to the (free) Jerry Jazz Musician quarterly newsletter
Helping to support the ongoing publication of Jerry Jazz Musician, and to keep it commercial-free (thank you!)
.
___
.
.
Jerry Jazz Musician…human produced since 1999
.
.
.
