Poetry by Joanne Olivieri

 

 

 

Night Visions

Streets, dark, empty
musical noir sax
hits exotic highs
filling the emptiness
of broken sidewalks
illuminated by the moon.

Firecrackers ablaze
while street lamps flicker
burnt fog lurks
through narrow corridors
and the stillness
speaks a jazz riff.

 

The Songwriter

(for Jerry Holland)

 

He styles the tunes

He is a maze
of words
searching
one heart
beating
lyrical rhythms

Those hip rhymin’ grooves
a procreation
mind and spirit
born
he’s the song

Cool upbeat jazz —
to soothe…

 

 

Bolivian Rhythms

 

I remember these tunes
so vividly in my mind
Bolivian rhythms
wafting across the square.

Haunting flutes
echo against
once forgotten senses.

The memories linger
sweet incantations
swirling pulses
throughout my veins.

Ethnic vibrations
chanting strings
tell of the stories

hidden in my soul.

 

 

 

Jazz Climax

 

for Sony Holland

 

 

 

 

The room hauntingly still
with mosaic tiles staring down
upon the audience.
Pink and red lights glare
like the eye of a storm
pouncing across the stage.

Lights dim and the music begins.
Ebony and ivory notes
meld with the pounding crescendo of drums.
Hot sax man plays it high and low
while the bass hovers
a musical fog.

And the introduction!
Thunderous applause
echoes while the star
rises to the occasion.
To the nines,
dressed “out of this world”
and the spotlight dull
in comparison to her beauty.

Her voice soft,
smooth velvet whispers
shower the room
in vocal elegance.

Lyrical reverberations
echo beyond the stage
and the room full
with sultry innocence
the sass and class monogamy.

Piano man sets the tone
tickling each key
to perfection.

At Last!
As the song goes…
Sensual bluesy rhythms
fuel the senses
with hot anticipation
while the audience swoons
in wild adulation
as rhythmic beats
rise and heighten
to a point of no return —
the jazz climax.
And she takes her bow.

Encore!