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“Diddley-Bop-She-Bop” — a poem by Michael L. Newell

June 12th, 2017

DIDDLEY-BOP-SHE-BOP

Them knees,

full of bees again,

two gates

flapping in a stuttering breeze,

hands rapping

tables, thighs,

high up on

the chest, invest

the body in

the bopping sound

of Mister Monk

doing the Bemsha Swing,

the funkiest thing

in town tonight,

an old tape

lighting up Tashkent.

Swing that thing.

Make these rainy streets

ring in Navruz,

Central Asian New Year.

(At The Cafe in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Monk on the box, 1998)

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newell

Michael L. Newell is a retired secondary school English/Theatre teacher who currently lives on the south-central Oregon coast. He has had poems recently published in (among other places) Verse-Virtual, Culture Counter, The Iconoclast, Ship of Fools, and Red Eft Review.

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Tags: jazz poetry, Michael L. Newell, poetry, thelonious monk

2 comments on ““Diddley-Bop-She-Bop” — a poem by Michael L. Newell”

susandale says:

June 12, 2017 at 6:13 am

fun, rhythm-soaked poem

Reply
Darcia says:

June 12, 2017 at 4:04 pm

Michael’s poetry makes me feel like i am there, my head was bopping as i read this poem!

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