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painting by Berthold Faust/CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED/Wikimedia Commons
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Ornithology
I saw some crows in low and noisy flight.
I watched them until they were out of sight.
And I have heard, at times, the calling geese,
above and unseen in the autumn night,
and thought of Charlie Parker’s saxophone,
They called him Bird. He too was out of sight!
The crow’s call can be taken as complaint
or warning, but I don’t think that is right.
They’re laughing, constantly, without restraint.
It’s geese that warn: Stay close! Don’t drift! Keep tight!
Parker’s long gone, like last October’s flock.
The crows hang in the year around and fight
the cold and mock the geese who climb aboard
the red-eye when November starts to bite.
But Parker never got the changes wrong
even when flying at the speed of light.
Each bird lives out its life inside a song.
People try. Hardly any get it right.
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Joel Glickman taught music including jazz history and the jazz band at Northland College, Ashland Wisconsin, from 1974 until retirement in 2017, where he has resumed teaching about jazz again, part time. He has written and published poetry over a wide range of subjects. Primarily a classical clarinetist and folk singer-song writer and banjo player, his jazz and saxophone skills lag behind these. He resides in Ashland with wife Susan and their Bichon, Madeline.
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Listen to the 1946 recording of Charlie Parker playing “Ornithology” [Universal Music Group]
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Click here to read The Sunday Poem
Click here to read “A Collection of Jazz Poetry – Winter, 2024 Edition”
Click here to read “The Old Casino,” J.B. Marlow’s winning story in the 64th Jerry Jazz Musician Short Fiction Contest
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