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photo by Joe Maita
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To Renee Nicole Good, a Poet
Words can pierce like bullets
but they can’t stop bullets
but i still value poets more than
guns, they carry more weight than
darkness
poets are dreamers, who walk the
tightrope between reality and madness
with no safety net under them, we walk
into to the world daily, on borrowed time knowing that
the world is merciless, that’s why our
words should show mercy, we can
hold a fistful of bullets
and they become a bouquet of
flowers
everyone comes from somewhere else
this is not our home, our home is the words
we live in, found in books and songs and daylight
a poet’s words are magic, able to turn graves into
gardens, able to transform darkness, turning death
into dreams…
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1’8’26
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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 1962 recording of Dexter Gordon performing the Sammy Cahn/Jule Styne composition “I Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out to Dry,” with Sonny Clark (piano); Butch Warren (bass); and Billy Higgins (drums). [Universal Music Group]
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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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