The Sunday Poem: “Hours of Jazz” by David Dephy

June 26th, 2025

1940 photo of Ella Fitzgerald by Carl Van Vechten (via Wikipedia Commons)

Hours of Jazz

“She is a constellation,” I thought
listening to Ella Fitzgerald.
The magic spell has been cast,
and time has been stopped. OK,

here is the thing about hours:
To eat in fifteen minutes, you work
eight hours. To work eight hours,
you live four hours away, but for living

you sleep even less. No matter how
slow life is, it goes fast, bending deeper
on us, threatening our wishes, but we
are proud of our flights and downfalls,

remembering, pitying ourselves, who
we are, who we were, always alone
but together, folded by the darkest nights,
hearing from far our low voices

and words and breaths, yield a good return.
To enjoy one day in your life, you work six,
but to get a week off, you work a year,
to retire before the end, you work all

your life. Over time, you realize that
this constant run is not aimed at making
you believe in a run, but in ensuring that
you practice your oblivion.

Remember to walk very carefully,
and to enjoy one day in your life, you
should work six – listening to Ella
Fitzgerald, all the hours are fading away.

Listen to David Dephy read his poem

___

David Dephy is an American award-winning poet, novelist, essayist, multi-media artist, with a Master of Fine Arts degree evaluated by the Globe Language USA. The founder of Poetry Orchestra and American Poetry Intersection. Poet-in-Residence for Brownstone Poets 2024-2025. His poem, “A Sense of Purpose,” is being sent to the Moon by The Lunar Codex, NASA, and Brick Street Poetry in 2024. He is named as “A Literature Luminary” by Bowery Poetry, “Stellar Poet” by Voices of Poetry, “Incomparable Poet” by Statorec, “Brilliant Grace” by Headline Poetry & Press and “Extremely Unique Poetic Voice” by Cultural Daily. He was exiled from his native country of Georgia in 2017 and was granted political asylum in the USA immediately and indefinitely. His family, beloved wife and 9-year-old son joined him in the U.S. after 7 years of exile in 2023. He lives and works in New York City.

Listen to the 1976 recording of Ella Fitzgerald (with guitarist Joe Pass) performing the Ted Koehler/Harold Arlen composition “I’ve Got the World on a String.” [Universal Music Group]