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12 individual poets contribute a jazz-themed poem dedicated to a particular month, resulting in a 2026 calendar of jazz poetry that winds through the year with a variety of poetic styles and voices who share their journeys with the music, tying it into the month they were tasked to interpret. Along the way you will encounter the likes of Sonny Stitt, Charles Mingus, Jaco Pastorius, Wynton Kelly, John Coltrane, and Nina Simone.
This edition, March, features Erren Geraud Kelly’s poem “She is a Flame.”
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March, 2026
“She is a Flame”
by Erren Geraud Kelly
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photo by Milivojevic/via Pixnio//CC0
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She is a Flame
The Worker Bee is the
Candleflame, taking shape
In a jazz of night, my oasis
In this wasteland of ” Greatness”
My whole note in a melody
Of dreams
She is my mermaid in an ocean
Of doubt, my sunlight in dreams
I cannot live without, the grapes
To feed me in cruel March
She is miles ahead of any song
I hear, a star, eclipsing dream
Fear is an ocean, she sails through
Calmly in her boat, she dances her
Dance of dreams, in white lace
And sonnets, transparent, with a
Heart of God so pure, she floats
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Listen to Erren Kelly read his poem
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Erren Kelly is a three-time Pushcart nominated poet from Boston whose work has appeared in 300 publications (print and online), including Hiram Poetry Review, Mudfish, Poetry Magazine, Ceremony, Cacti Fur, Bitterzoet, Cactus Heart, Similar Peaks, Gloom Cupboard, and Poetry Salzburg.
Click here to read “Under Quarantine” — COVID-era poetry of Erren Kelly, published by Jerry Jazz Musician
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Listen to the 1977 recording of Bill Evans performing the Bergman/Bergman/Demy/Legrand composition “You Must Believe in Spring,” with Evans (piano); Eddie Gomez (bass); and Eliot Zigmund (drums). [Universal Music Group]
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Readers can click to other poems within the 2026 jazz poetry calendar by clicking on the link to the months here:
Jan/Feb/Mar/Apr/May/Jun/Jul/Aug/Sep/Oct/Nov/Dec/Intro
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Click for:
More poetry on Jerry Jazz Musician
War. Remembrance. Walls. The High Price of Authoritarianism – by editor/publisher Joe Maita
“The Sound of Becoming,” J.C. Michaels’ winning story in the 70th 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!)
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Jerry Jazz Musician…human produced since 1999
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