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“Trumpet Player,” by James Brewer

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Mist

Standing in front of the mist, trying to hear something
from outside of silence—expecting a miracle at dawn,

my heart is whispering to me: “The only two things that matter—
what your goal is and how can you achieve it, ‘cause talent

is regularly in peril, as the homeland, it evokes enmity,
beauty is regularly in peril, as the kindness, it evokes disgust,

freedom is regularly in peril, as the love, it evokes fear
and wishes no longer resemble dreams, nor we ourselves,

the answer to questions always lays in front and freezes
and burns the same.” Standing in front of the mist,

trying to hear something from outside of silence—
I feel my heart as I feel joy, I feel like Charlie Parker.

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By.David Dephy

 

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Blue Midnight
……………………after Paul Motian

……………………(for Colin Stranahan)

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They slip in from the sidewalk one by one
as the day dims to brown. Some stake tables
near the stage, some lean against the bar.

Spot lights burn like suns on the drums
and baby grand. Amber whiskey glistens.
Jazz fans sip, waiting for the blues.

When the tunes begin, the strangers
lean in, begin to pulse and sway, in sync.
The pianist plays a fast, flat-fingered riff.

With finesse, the spike-haired drummer
solos. His cymbals sing, shimmering.
A killer bass line conjures jazz gigs gone,
and then a slender ghost commands the scene,
playing through the changes. A woman claps.
He laughs, nods to the crowd and disappears.

The woman bites her lip and runs her finger
around her glass, stained red with pinot noir.
The crowd is on its feet, “More, encore.”

Notes soar and burst, then die like fireworks
in a darkening sky. The house lights rise.
The lonely leave alone—and slip into blue midnight.

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…………………………………….f first appeared in Verse Virtual, April, 2018

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By Susan Delaney Spear

 

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photo by Donna Termini

David Dephy is a trilingual Georgian/American award-winning poet, novelist, essayist, performer, multimedia artist.  He is the winner of the 2019 Spillwords Press Poetry Award for June’s Publication of the Month and a finalist of the Adelaide Literary Award Anthology 2019 for the category of Best Poem. His works have been published and anthologized in the USA and all over the world by the many literary magazines, journals and publishing houses. He lives and works in New York City.

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Susan.Delaney.Spear.earned an MFA in 2012 from Western Colorado State University. She is an Associate Professor and English Department Chair at Colorado Christian University. .Beyond All Bearing, her first collection, was published by Wipf and Stock in 2018.

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“Trumpet Player” painting courtesy of James Brewer

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