“Always Follow the Pork Pie Hat” – a poem by Michael L. Newell

March 27th, 2025

 

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photo of Lester Young, 1946/by William Gottlieb/Library of Congress

photo by William Gottlieb/Library of Congress</small></small><br />

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Always Follow the Pork Pie Hat

thick as soup
the summer air
and the music

rolling from nearby window
Mingus’s big band
in wild abandon

bubbling like summer
breeze wrapping me
in unanticipated hope

and my feet tap a rhythm
new to me but filling me
with an unexpected

unknown exaltation
is this a form of prayer?

 

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Michael L. Newell lives on the Atlantic Coast of Florida. His most recent book of poems is Passage of a Heart.

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Listen to the 1959 recording of Charles Mingus playing his composition (devoted to Lester Young) “Goodbye Porkpie Hat,” with Mingus (bass); Booker Ervin (tenor sax); Shafi Hadi (tenor sax); Horace Parlan (piano); and Dannie Richmond (drums).  [Columbia]

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Click for:

Information about Kinds of Cool: An Interactive Collection of Jazz Poetry

The Sunday Poem

More poetry on Jerry Jazz Musician

“Bluesette,” Salvatore Difalco’s winning story in the 67th Jerry Jazz Musician Short Fiction Contest

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Information about how to submit your poetry or short fiction

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