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“Clifford Brown,” by Warren Goodson
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Music
gathers all our grief and rage,
transforms it into rhythmic dots
that dance across an open page,
which hearts and mouths and fingers strive
to share upon the human stage.
And when these traveling lines can reach
the livid, sad, or stubborn head
they burrow deep and journey through
and open up what’s closed. Instead
of sorrow, hate, and murderous hands,
cheers and applause—our withering souls
connect, survive, prevail thus fed.
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Felicia Sanzari Chernesky is a longtime editor, slowly publishing poet, and author of six picture books, including.From Apple Trees to Cider, Please!.and.The Boy Who Said Nonsense.(Albert Whitman). In 2018 she left the masthead of an academic quarterly to work with people who want to share their stories, ideas, and poems in print. Her poem, “Mother Tongue,” received an honorable mention in the 2020 Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award. Felicia lives with her family in Flemington, New Jersey. Find her online, with links to recent publications, at. www.feliciachernesky.com
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Warren Goodson is an artist whose work is driven by his appreciation for Black culture. He lives in Saxapahaw, North Carolina.
Click here to visit his website
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Listen to a 1953 recording of Clifford Brown playing “Easy Living”
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