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“Junior Mance Trio 63rd Street Theme” — a poem by Michael L. Newell

July 1st, 2017

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JUNIOR MANCE TRIO 63RD STREET THEME

piano dances listeners down the street

feet must move to keep up

crowds gather round

street life jumping this way and that

voices whispering in the background

yeah man this is life on the street

the drums commenting on note after note

phrase after phrase and the piano

leaps five steps ahead two to the side

three to the back c’mon man keep up

and the bass keeps a rock steady beat

no matter where the piano goes

and the drum never loses its way

the audience bops heads shoulders

and hips and the piano constantly

explores all possibilities while those

in attendance swing and sway

there is no way to leave here

until the piano man shows

everyone the door with a sweeping

gesture unleashing a cascade of notes

that leaves all smiling moving

a-grooving slip sliding out the door

night settles into bones and home beckons

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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, junior mance, Michael L. Newell, poetry

One comments on ““Junior Mance Trio 63rd Street Theme” — a poem by Michael L. Newell”

susandale says:

July 1, 2017 at 5:56 am

wonderfully visual

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