Poetry by Nicholas Adell

April 7th, 2009

 

 

 

Poetry by Nicholas Adell

 

 

Mystery Men, Owls, and the Nature of America

Crazy old man walks up to me
I said, a crazy old man walks up to me
Tells me what to see
He calls to me
Makes me an offer I can’t refuse
Washes out the flames in my eyes
Burns a hole through the fabric in my clothes
Faster I run
Clearer he comes
Am I running backwards?
I ran right into a pig
My father is a good American
Why does he eat so much bacon?
How can you be a vegan?
Preservatives are what preserve you

The man came to me tonight in a dream
Told me to remember
Remember Nixon
Remember Lennon
Remember the Hoover Vacuum Corporation
Remember John Sinclair
He told me “You ain’t cool, You’re fuckin’ chilly, and chilly ain’t never been cool, son.”
He dared me to ask if my money could buy back my soul
Tells me wearing a Che shirt doesn’t help anybody but myself
Tells me to collect postage stamps
Put your hand down
Put it down
Call out
Shout out
Shout!
Yell!
Don’t talk out of turn

The next morning I walked to Washington Square Park
I only live a few blocks from there
But I took the subway uptown first
I wanted to see how the fancier pigs live
It was there I saw many people
Being dragged along by their furry masters
Cleaning up their shit for them
It made me wonder who’s really in control

My watch told me he was angry with me
He said I look at him too much
He doesn’t like all the attention
My phone told me he needs to daydream more
My wallet wants a polishing so he can go on a date tomorrow
But he told me he’s flat broke

Once I got to the park
I lit up a cigarette
I smoke because a talking camel tells me to
I saw a woman walk by
I thought she was beautiful
But the television tells me only the first 110 pounds of her is
Is that why she cries at night?
She had eyes so sharp they could freeze hot water
And a blazing gaze shot forth from them
The bridges into her mind were raised

I saw an owl in a tree
Speaking to me, he said “Be free”
This got me thinking
I think I should get a pet
They are on sale today at Walmart
Buy two owls get one free

Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie
I’m just being a good Amerikan
Take what you can get
Take from others
If you’re rich you can
But if you’re poor don’t try
Or you’ll end up in slavery for 3 to 5

It was half a pack and 30 minutes before I noticed the man sitting opposite me
He had on mirrors instead of glasses
I saw myself in him
I was scared of this
I stared myself in the eyes for a very long time
I told him he ought to get a house and a wife
He told me “the human dream doesn’t mean shit to a tree”

He asked me if Walmart was selling souls yet
He told me the government is a white man
He asked if I thought the water was still safe to drink
Make love not war was coined by men who wanted to get laid
I can’t fall in love
I’d rather be with my new owl

The man started to slide away
By the time I looked up
He was gone
On the bench were his glasses
Staring up at me
I put them on and got on with my day
I had a job to do

 

 

 

A Supermarket in California

Picking for eggs in a supermarket in a lonely town,
Inland of the California beaches and forestry,
I thought I saw Jack Kerouac, looking fresh and clean cut; still in his college gown.
But alas, it was just another man, shuffling and shopping quietly.

Oh! But what a man he happened to be.
He waved at the cereals and bantered with the breads.
I lugged my bags, heavy
With books upon a many forlorn times read.

In my amiable infamy, I had to wonder,
What if it was Jack Kerouac I came upon?
Would he smash my dreams and rend them asunder?
Or invoke his whimsical pen and whisk them through the fog?

I walked through the dense California forest haze,
Clouded with fog and green underbrush.
I’ve learned not to count my travels in days,
Because every night without fail, the solemn sparrow’s song is hushed.

Perhaps I will just continue on to the waters edge,
Some three hundred miles away.
For if I have learned one thing it is that this ledge,
Is one we all have to drift off of anyway.

So the crimson sun sets,
Its ink staining the trees like a ripe juicy pear.
A teardrop in the sky rises; as the ash of darkness descends.
Proposed with the dim, I just think back to what my very own Jack Kerouac might have said:
Never to fret, for it is always 3 o clock somewhere

 

 

Paterson, New Jersey

It is when I am painting Paterson
That my fervor is purged
And I am free to bask in my
Own extolling of this holy city.

It is when I am reading of Paterson,
That seven men with severed strings
Form an aggregate communion of disunity.
These seven men, with six strings,
Bought for five-pence apiece, march to
A beat in fours, and sing about the three.
They are never found without their other,
and the wenches dance to the nines,
decrepit lives drained to the lees
here in Paterson.

It is when I am in a place I have never been, Paterson,
That I am in a place I will never be.
Wisps of smoke snake over the horizon,
Steeples mark the times, and the
Occasional glimpse of a man walking by
Looks as though he is a Parisian blur,
An occupant of desolate streets.
A few trees bristle in the light breeze,
And the tidal shades shift over Paterson.

The remnants of the clashes of industry remain.
Rivers of water and concrete
Both sparkle with a typical New Jersey grey,
As though out of a Frank photograph taken anywhere in
The silent wildlife of low-rise American grandeur.

There are dogs scrounging around for scraps
Buried in the pavement
Down that street on the left.
And off to the right
There are men sniffing for bones
Thrown out by the shopkeepers.
A wheelbarrow, with specks of red paint
Clinging on due to the dependency of farmers in Cheyenne,
Stores the morsels men hold so dear.
It sits near a hill, just off one of the
Angular streets that claim to compose Paterson.

Trains and boats and planes
Lumber through Paterson with heavy hearts,
Eyeing the mythical monotony with arched brows.
Cars wonder over the Pulaski Skyway
And young boys dream out windows,
Inhaling the stench of time-charred waterways.
The night begins to fall and the
Doors to the bar housing the conscience of
The architects of this city begin to shudder. The
Furnished souls would shiver here tonight,
As something is amiss on the grease-kempt
Streets of Paterson.

Slick ignorance is belied by
The sedimentary dust enshrining Paterson. The
Hearts and minds of beaten leather jackets
And fading blue jeans are not to be won by
Snakeskin sharks from the North,
And Paterson will methodically resist
Any attempt to change its status as the
Agroville who stitches together
The surrounding landscapes.

The fall of America is a curious one indeed.
Among the boarded shacks and crumbling levees
Lies the true sepulcher of the wistful entity
That justified the possibility of the million-mile
Horizon stretching over the jagged hills of Jersey
To the far Frisco coast and some uniform place beyond.
Sipping whiskey out of paper-bagged bottles
Sit the contented denizens of Paterson,
Who watch the clouds continue to drift by
Even as the shelves of the sacred store lie bare.

Share this:

Comment on this article:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

In This Issue

The Modern Jazz Quintet by Everett Spruill
A Collection of Jazz Poetry — Summer, 2023 Edition

A wide range of topics are found in this collection. Tributes are paid to Tony Bennett and Ahmad Jamal and to the abstract worlds of musicians like Ornette Coleman and Pharoah Sanders; the complex lives of Chet Baker and Nina Simone are considered; devotions to Ellington and Basie are revealed; and personal solace is found in the music of Tommy Flanagan and Quartet West. These are poems of peace, reflection, time, venue and humor – all with jazz at their core. (Featuring the art of Everett Spruill)

The Sunday Poem

photo by William Gottlieb/Library of Congress
“Erroll Garner at the Ace” by Kristofer Collins

Interview

photo courtesy of Henry Threadgill
Interview with Brent Hayes Edwards, co-author (with Henry Threadgill) of Easily Slip Into Another World: A Life in Music...The author discusses his work co-written with Threadgill, the composer and multi-instrumentalist widely recognized as one of the most original and innovative voices in contemporary music, and the winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Music.

In Memoriam

Fotograaf Onbekend / Anefo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
A thought or two about Tony Bennett

Podcast

"BG Boogie’s musical tour of indictment season"...The podcaster “BG Boogie” has weaponized the most recent drama facing The Former Guy, creating a 30 minute playlist “with all the latest up-to-date-est musical indictments of political ineptitude.”

Interview

Chick Webb/photographer unknown
Interview with Stephanie Stein Crease, author of Rhythm Man: Chick Webb and the Beat That Changed America...The author talks about her book and Chick Webb, once at the center of America’s popular music, and among the most influential musicians in jazz history.

Community

FOTO:FORTEPAN / Kölcsey Ferenc Dunakeszi Városi Könyvtár / Petanovics fényképek, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
.“Community Bookshelf, #1"...a twice-yearly space where writers who have been published on Jerry Jazz Musician can share news about their recently authored books. This edition includes information about books published within the last six months or so…

Short Fiction

photo vi Wallpaper Flare
Short Fiction Contest-winning story #63 — “Company” by Anastasia Jill...Twenty-year-old Priscilla Habel lives with her wannabe flapper mother who remains stuck in the jazz age 40 years later. Life is monotonous and sad until Cil meets Willie Flasterstain, a beatnik lesbian who offers an escape from her mother's ever-imposing shadow.

Poetry

Trading Fours, with Douglas Cole, No. 16: “Little Waltz” and “Summertime”...Trading Fours with Douglas Cole is an occasional series of the writer’s poetic interpretations of jazz recordings and film. In this edition, he connects the recordings of Jessica Williams' "Little Waltz" and Gene Harris' "Summertime."

Playlist

photo by Bob Hecht
This 28-song Spotify playlist, curated by Jerry Jazz Musician contributing writer Bob Hecht, features great tunes performed by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Sarah Vaughan, Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Bill Evans, Lester Young, Stan Getz, and…well, you get the idea.

Poetry

photo of Wolfman Jack via Wikimedia Commons
“Wolfman and The Righteous Brothers” – a poem by John Briscoe

Jazz History Quiz #167

GuardianH, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Before becoming one of television’s biggest stars, he was a competent ragtime and jazz piano player greatly influenced by Scott Joplin (pictured), and employed a band of New Orleans musicians similar to the Original Dixieland Jazz Band to play during his vaudeville revue. Who was he?

Short Fiction

Warner/Reprise, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
“Not Just Another Damn Song on the Radio” – a short story by Craig Fishbane

Poetry

"Horn" by Samuel Dixon
Jazz Haiku – a sampler

Short Fiction

back cover of Diana Krall's album "The Girl in the Other Room" [Verve]
“Improvised: A life in 7ths, 9ths and Suspended 4ths” – a short story by Vikki C.

Interview

photo by William Gottlieb/Library of Congress
Long regarded as jazz music’s most eminent baritone saxophonist, Gerry Mulligan was a central figure in “cool” jazz whose contributions to it also included his important work as a composer and arranger. Noted jazz scholar Alyn Shipton, author of The Gerry Mulligan 1950s Quartets, and Jerry Jazz Musician contributing writer Bob Hecht discuss Mulligan’s unique contributions to modern jazz.

Photography

photo by Giovanni Piesco
Giovanni Piesco’s photographs of Tristan Honsinger

A Letter From the Publisher

An appeal for contributions to support the ongoing publishing efforts of Jerry Jazz Musician

Poetry

Maurice Mickle considers jazz venues, in two poems

In Memoriam

David Becker, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
“Tony Bennett, In Memoriam” – a poem by Erren Kelly

Poetry

IISG, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Ella Fitzgerald, in poems by Claire Andreani and Michael L. Newell

Book Excerpt

“Chick” Webb was one of the first virtuoso drummers in jazz and an innovative bandleader dubbed the “Savoy King,” who reigned at Harlem’s world-famous Savoy Ballroom. Stephanie Stein Crease is the first to fully tell Webb’s story in her biography, Rhythm Man: Chick Webb and the Beat that Changed America…The book’s entire introduction is excerpted here.

Feature

Hans Christian Hagedorn, professor for German and Comparative Literature at the University of Castilla-La Mancha in Ciudad Real (Spain) reveals the remarkable presence of Miguel de Cervantes’ classic Don Quixote in the history of jazz.

Short Fiction

Dmitry Rozhkov, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
“A Skull on the Moscow Leningrad Sleeper” – a short story by Robert Kibble...A story revolving around a jazz record which means so much to a couple that they risk being discovered while attempting to escape the Soviet Union

Book Excerpt

Book excerpt from Easily Slip Into Another World: A Life in Music, by Henry Threadgill and Brent Hayes Edwards

Short Fiction

photo via Appletreeauction.com
“Streamline Moderne” – a short story by Amadea Tanner

Publisher’s Notes

“C’est Si Bon” – at trip's end, a D-Day experience, and an abundance of gratitude

Poetry

photo by William Gottlieb/Library of Congress
A Charlie Parker Poetry Collection...Nine poets, nine poems on the leading figure in the development of bebop…

Contributing Writers

Click the image to view the writers, poets and artists whose work has been published on Jerry Jazz Musician, and find links to their work

Interview

Photo of Stanley Crouch by Michael Jackson
Interview with Glenn Mott, editor of Victory is Assured: The Uncollected Writings of Stanley Crouch (photo of Stanley Crouch by Michael Jackson)

Interview

photo of Sonny Rollins by Brian McMillen
Interview with Aidan Levy, author of Saxophone Colossus: The Life and Music of Sonny Rollins...The author discusses his book about the iconic tenor saxophonist who is one of the greatest jazz improvisers of all time – a lasting link to the golden age of jazz

Art

Designed for Dancing: How Midcentury Records Taught America to Dance: “Outtakes” — Vol. 2...In this edition, the authors Janet Borgerson and Jonathan Schroeder share examples of Cha Cha Cha record album covers that didn't make the final cut in their book

Pressed for All Time

“Pressed For All Time,” Vol. 17 — producer Joel Dorn on Rahsaan Roland Kirk’s 1967 album, The Inflated Tear

Photography

© Veryl Oakland
John McLaughlin and Carlos Santana are featured in this edition of photographs and stories from Veryl Oakland’s book, Jazz in Available Light

Coming Soon

An interview with Judith Tick, author of Becoming Ella Fitzgerald: The Jazz Singer Who Transformed American Song; A new collection of jazz poetry; a new Jazz History Quiz; short fiction; poetry; photography; interviews; playlists; and lots more in the works...

Interview Archive

Eubie Blake
Click to view the complete 22 year archive of Jerry Jazz Musician interviews, including those recently published with Richard Carlin and Ken Bloom on Eubie Blake (pictured); Richard Brent Turner on jazz and Islam; Alyn Shipton on the art of jazz; Shawn Levy on the original queens of standup comedy; Travis Atria on the expatriate trumpeter Arthur Briggs; Kitt Shapiro on her life with her mother, Eartha Kitt; Will Friedwald on Nat King Cole; Wayne Enstice on the drummer Dottie Dodgion; the drummer Joe La Barbera on Bill Evans; Philip Clark on Dave Brubeck; Nicholas Buccola on James Baldwin and William F. Buckley; Ricky Riccardi on Louis Armstrong; Dan Morgenstern and Christian Sands on Erroll Garner; Maria Golia on Ornette Coleman.

Site Archive