“The Day Herbie Died” — a poem by David Cooke

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photo of Herbie Nichols by Francis Wolff/© Mosaic Images

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The Day Herbie Died
………………………..after Frank O’Hara

I never did read the news, though I don’t suppose
it made a splash in the Post or Herald Tribune–
with maybe just a line or two
among the baseball stats, divorces,
and the marches picking up
deep down in the Cotton States.

And I couldn’t tell you a thing I did
on a day as ordinary as any other
in a year, like others, distinguished
by various deaths, the atrocious weather.

He may have gigged at the Five Spot,
Minton’s, the Three Deuces,
but if he did I never caught him,
too young by a long chalk
to sneak past their doors –
back in the days when Bird and Monk
meant nothing to me or even Billie
for whom he wrote his anthem,
Lady Sings the Blues.

Playing Dixie to pay the rent,
he tried to tout the tunes he’d written
with crazy names and stranger rhythms,
but never hit the big time.
Before the end he cut some tracks,
then died as Spring was shaking off
the longest, hardest winter.

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David Cooke’s latest collection of poetry is Sicilian Elephants (Two Rivers Press). He is the founder of the UK-based online literary journal The High Window, which he founded in 2015, and which can be viewed by clicking here

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Herbie Nichols died of leukemia on April 12, 1963 at the age of 44

Listen to the 1956 Blue Note recording of him playing “Lady Sings the Blues,” with Al McKibbon (bass), and Max Roach (drums)

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Francis Wolff’s photo of Herbie Nichols was taken in May, 1955, during The Prophetic Herbie Nichols session for Blue Note.  This photograph is among hundreds of classic photographs by Wolff that are available for viewing and purchasing at the Mosaic Images website, which can be visited by clicking here.

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Click here for information about how to submit your poetry

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