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“Ego” – a poem by Martha Patterson

October 17th, 2024

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photo by William Gottlieb/Library of Congress

Louis Armstrong, 1946

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Ego

“Big egos,” they now say –
Basie, Armstrong, Ellington

Did Louis Armstrong
Possess an outsized ego

When he so well sang
“What a Beautiful World”?

He must have been
Happily hypnotized if so…

They aptly said he had
“A voice of gravel,”

And today the words still gleam
Like the jewels of an optimist

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Martha Patterson’s short story collection Small Acts of Magic was published by Finishing Line Press in 2021. Other work has been published in more than 20 anthologies and journals, and her plays have been produced in 21 states and eight countries. She has two degrees in Theatre, from Mount Holyoke College and Emerson College, and lives in Boston, Massachusetts. She loves being surrounded by her books, radio, and laptop.

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Watch a 1967 ABC Television appearance of Louis Armstrong performing “What a Wonderful World.”

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Click here to read our interview with Larry Tye, author of The Jazzmen: How Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie Transformed America

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Click here to read previous editions of The Sunday Poem

Click here to read “A Collection of Jazz Poetry – Spring/Summer, 2024 Edition”

Click here to read “Not From Around Here,” Jeff Dingler’s winning story in the 66th Jerry Jazz Musician Short Fiction Contest

Click here for information about how to submit your poetry or short fiction

Click here to subscribe to the (free) Jerry Jazz Musician quarterly newsletter

Click here to help support the ongoing publication of Jerry Jazz Musician, and to keep it commercial-free (thank you!)

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Tags: jazz poetry, martha patterson, poetry

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