In a Downtown East Side cellar
Ceiling lowered by candle glow
All sit silent save the Jazzman
Ritzy waistcoat, sharp chapeau
Breathing brass into the bar-room
Surfing soundwaves to and fro
That cool dude is in his own world
Improvising like a pro
Riffing tremolo up spine-bones
Palpitating hearts aglow
Altered scales defying back-beat
Bluesy half-tones threatening flow
As the Jazzman vamps a coda
Treble shrill or alto low
In that Downtown East Side cellar
Ceiling lowered by candle glow
You’ll still find my friend the Jazzman
Same glint waistcoat, same chapeau
He’ll be blowing ‘til the Muses
Tell their brother come on home.
Fugitive Fragments 
Apologies. Reblogged to main site. I’ll put a copy on “Unwise Paths”
Reblogged this on Citizens, not serfs.
Like your jazzman. May I reblog?
I would be honoured with your additional circulation of my work and thank you indeed.
The honour is mine. Many thanks.
Jazz is a sickness I see we share. Cool poem.
Glad this clicked with you Kindred Spirit – thanks for letting me know 😀
OH I like this! In the town where I come from Fort Smith Arkansas there is a place called the West-End. Interesting……there is also a Jazz place with an open mike and I love, when I get home, to visit and take in the atmosphere. Much like you have here! It’s so wonderful I think! I like this very much Mike! 😀
Thank you for your kind words MM with your affirmation that music does indeed unite us all. 🙂
Its true! I think so! 😄😇
Absolutely beautiful, Mike. 🙂
Like me I see you too are inspired in your poetry by watching and listening to jazz musicians play.
I’ve been inspired several times over the years in sitting down and writing a poem after I’ve seen a jazz musician play.
I suppose it’s something about the nature of jazz itself that inspires such poetry.
I often find that I wax poetical in my speech even if I don’t write anything down after watching a jazz concert.
We’re two of a kind DVH – in fact any of the arts does it for me. Swing on brother 🙂
“He’ll be blowing ‘till the Muses
Tell their brother come on home”
Awesome. Always thought that the muses visited via the bell of the sax.
I reckon you’d be spot-on Kk – I couldn’t suggest a finer portal. Thank you muchly for your welcome appreciation.
This is fantastic. You captured both the essence of the jazzman and the flow of jazz music. I like the rhyming, too. It doesn’t feel forced. Great poem.
So glad this clicked with you Justin – I was hoping the rhyme scheme would imitate a musical effect, with meter providing the beat. Thanks for your analysis and positive feedback.
I say you accomplished those goals. Very cool.
.
nothing more beautiful
than a poem about jazz
you are one cool kat
🙂
Takes one to know one
Raechel jester of haiku
Many thanks to you
Love it.
Thanks June, I’m pleased.
This poem just had to have rhythm and rhyme didn’t it? Love the glow/chapeau. Brilliant.
You noticed my hat? I wear a different one for every poem 🙂 What pleases me more is that you heard the poetic elements in the beat and sound – sharp as a tack is my friend Jane. I thank you sincerely.
Just love the feeling here, I felt part of the whole scene. Fantastic, Mike. 🙂
Glad you got the vibe Chrissy, your appreciation of my bits’n’pieces means a lot to me 🙂
Always. Love the words. My pleasure.:)
I truly like this one dear Mike… Beauty is Truth, and Truth is Beauty.
I found it powerful and passionate, such a music is…
I love the ending… I bet he is still there In that Downtown East Side cellar, “He’ll be blowing ‘til the Muses… Tell their brother come on home”.
Thanks for sharing. All the best to you, Aquileana 😀
Yes the ‘coda’ would appeal to you Aquileana touching as it does on your specialty of Greek mythology. I’m glad that you got into the groove here, many thanks for your considered feedback.
Mike, this is wonderful, so much happening here. I can praise you endlessly for your poetic voice and structure, which is outstanding. This piece is so great, that I find I would like to share my experience with your words. So here goes. You have taken me for such a great ride, transporting me back in time, maybe late 50’s early 60’s. Written with such a cool tempo, creating a mood, an ambiance, suddenly I’m there. The visual imagery is fantastic. I smell the cigarette smoke, I see the flicker of the candlelight dancing about the room, I hear the ice clinking against the tumblers, all fabulous, not forgetting to mention that everyone there is completely captivated by the music. I’m going to guess “free jazz”, as I love the feeling that the Jazzman himself is totally lost in his own artistry. I have read this several times, and I love the poems that I, as the reader, return to over and over again. This is definitely one of those poems! Thank you!
Warm wishes,
Pepperanne
I bet I’ve re-read this comment more often than you’ve re-read the poem Pepperanne. I was only saying to a blogger recently how increasing amazed I am at the effect that the written word can have when put in poetic form. That my few lines have taken you to a fondly remembered atmosphere gives me gratification that I’m hard pressed to describe. What I do know is that your words will make the task of writing my next poem much easier due to the encouragement that this feedback has given me. Thank you Pepperanne for these gracious and benevolent words.
I like the poem—and love the final two lines 😀
Thank you for this appreciation Polly and glad you got the coda 🙂
The way a jazzman can enter into the music and become part of this… Of becoming an agent of the music. It sounds like a great place to be and be absorbed in the music.
Thanks Bjorn for finding the atmosphere and the human element necessary to fully get into the groove of this piece. Great feedback and very encouraging.
(((Awhoooo)))
Awesome work. We have a joint called The Cellar in Kitsalano just part of Vancouer BC. You reminded me of it. I should go and listen to the local blues and jazz kids play. Thank you for the nudge Sir Mike
Howls
The power of poetry to impel actions in others never ceases to amaze me Marcus. That it can be done with a mouseclick across hemispheres is almost as impressive. Glad this piece resonated (ugh, so bad) with you my lupine friend.
If there is a limit to how many times I can read this poem, then I think I’ve surpassed it already. Mike. Michael. Mr. McGuire, please know this one is loved for reasons way beyond anything I could easily explain. That cool dude in his own world… I love him. You had me at Jazzman. Completely seductive.
There are some comments that I can’t answer on the spot. I leave them for a while to digest and try to come up with an acknowledgement worthy of the words. This is of course one of those comments that I’m referring to and I’m hard pressed to compose a suitable reply. I’m overwhelmed Audrey – I thank you.
Mmm, I think you did just fine. You’re welcome, Michael.
Oh I want to go there tonight! Sounds like just my scene. I’ll lurk in a corner and sway and watch and sip something serious 🙂
Sure you’re only around the corner you lucky! This certainly seems to have struck a chord with you Jackie which thrills me to bits – thank you.
Cool as the dude, Mike.
Succinct summary and much appreciated feedback Michael.
You’ve really set the scene for us Mike, I can barely see through the swirls of smoke but love the syncopating rhythm, I love jazz but only in that I love the sound , I don’t know anything other than that and Ricky Lee Jones and Miles Davis and what a riff is. This piece is filled with cool imagery and hot ambiance …love it.
Glad you found the groove here H. It’s particularly nice when a fellow jazz lover sees to heart of what I was trying to do with this piece. My heartfired thanks.
After reading calmgrove’s comment, is it possible to say anything more or in a better way? I also agree with John , the fifth line was really effective with that beautiful alliteration of the “b”. Great poem, as usual. 🙂
I’m delighted with your very hospitable feedback here eT and genuinely appreciative of your time and thoughts. Many thanks again.
You create such perfect imagery with your word choice and sequence Mike. Amazing.:-)
Fab feedback CiD – very generous and gratefully received. My thanks.
Thank you Mike; for, as I read this piece my mind, my ears, drifted back to the day in the early 60’s when I stood mesmerized outside a club on 52nd Street and listened to Dizzy Gillespie play dream making Jazz on his bent trumpet.
What a anecdote you add to this piece Steve! Having heard the ‘upturned bell’ live is like witnessing a piece of history. Your feedback adds great value to this post – many thanks.
Love this!!
Delighted that it clicked with you murrsma – my greatest thanks.
I wanna be there. No, wait; thanks to your writing skill, I AM there. Thanks!
No higher compliment exists Ron, I’m humbled and grateful – many thanks.
One can really feel the rhythm and flow coming alive in your words. Great piece
Many thanks for this great feedback – I glad my work clicked with you. A greatly appreciated response.
What a nice upbeat piece — sound, tempo, imagery evoking a momentary feeling compressed in an ‘East Side cellar ceiling lowered by candle glow..’ just superb!
Thanks very much John for your thoughtful scrutiny. Your interpretation of the atmosphere adds value to the piece. Much appreciated.
I can’t add much to the previous comments except to say this is jazz personified. Would work extremely well as spoken word.
Your professionalism in spoken word on your YouTube Channel stands alone but this is not an ability that I possess so I’ll have to overlook your very flattering suggestion 😀
Such an accomplished, near perfect piece for its technical skill and emotional punch — as a classical musician I can imagine that performance through precise phrases and vivid imagery. So much else to enjoy, rhythmic metre, recurrent rhyme, subtle but not overused alliteration amongst them. Also evoked 19th-century sensibilities and Anglo-Saxon kenning without slavish imitation. As I said, well-nigh perfect.
Goodness Cg your lavish interpretation is stunning and bounteous. And your words are weighted by your stated (and obvious) experience with the theme. This is high honour indeed and I am sincerely grateful to you.
An ode to skill and dedication to craft and what i like most is that the poet doesn’t gush but rather chooses to reveal appreciation through well selected imagery;
particularly satisfying for me are ‘Breathing brass into the bar-room’ (strong image and alliteration) and ‘Riffing tremolo up spine-bones’ – a frisson..and the fine fine closing lines.
Well done, Mike!
Your thoughtful and considered analysis is articulate in a style that is your own John and your generosity is dispensed with liberal altruism. Thank you very much.