(for herbie mann)
(for herbie mann)

the tune
was groovy
as a blue sky,
smog-free
summer day
when the
washington senators
actually beat
somebody --

but what
made our record
collections esoteric
(or so we thought)
was the flute;

likewise blue,
terse as
my paternal
grandpa --
but,
you know,
baby,
jazzy.

and the guitarist --
who knew
the phone number
of the blues,
but didnt
name drop.

i borrowed
father's beret
and forgotten ray-bans,
then rejoined
joey holliday
in our still-unfinished
basement --

(more 45s than
a firing range)

to nurse co-colas,
and bob our heads
like metronomes
with polite,
middle class afros,

visions of
geek-free
nightclubs
in our minds.

 

reuben jackson
8/6/03

© copyright


C o m m e n t s

phone # 1 of 1
mark weber
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February 25, 05

whew! great lines, again: the guitarist who knew the phone number of the blues but didnt name drop -- YEA

Do you have a recording of this? I could play it on my jazz radio show here in Albuqueque -- the demographix say I have 5000 listeners every show -- Thursday afternoon > kunm.org

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