ONCE AND AGAIN

Help me,
Push me,
Make me walk
To where the
Jazz steals
My weakened soul.

Fill the barrels
Of my want
Till running full,
Then set me
On my feet
Once and again.

No use trying
To push away
The strong pull
Circling my ears
Like night bugs
Buzzing loud.

I’m captured
In drowning
Water pulsed
With pounding beats
Driving me
Deep into sin.

METAL WHEELS

With head back
The tears pool up,
Then his face
Falls to the crowd
And joy and pain
Stain his cheeks
With veins
Of running life.

His fingers
Crawl with haste
Like spiders
Rising nervous
And falling fast
On the bass
That speaks
To lonely ears.

A slap of wood,
A snap of string,
With elbows greased
On years of jazz
Churning deep
Like metal wheels
On a train
Heading home.

PLAY JAZZ MAN

Play jazz man
Like newspapers
Blowing homeless
From yesterday
With your scratched
Smiling soul
And fast fingers
Growling hard
With hunger
Under the lights
And shake your
Head like leaves
Slapped by wind
Unable to resist
The power of
A greater spirit
Shaping the clay
On the wheel
Of your soul
Where the heart
Of your breaths
Rise like vapor
On cool nights
Forming waves
That flow strong
Like the taste
Of molasses
Dripping rich
Into the ears
Where eyes
Finally see that
The man of jazz
Lives where
Music and words
Are born.