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photo Juststreamit / CC BY-SA

Wallace Roney (1960 – 2020) in concert, 2004

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Self-Isolation
………………………for Wallace Roney

i listen to wallace roney
as i watch the sun rise
i make a safe haven out of
jazz
this music is social
but right now, i am alone
and wallace’s trumpet is my
life boat in an ocean of
chaos
my noah’s ark in a sea
of lies and half truths…
like a bear, i hibernate inside
a warm, honey groove
one day, a red trumpet will
call us home
i see the greyness of the world
from my window
but wallace sends his song from
heaven
declaring, do not be afraid….
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………………………………………………...erren geraud kelly 4’4’20

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Publisher’s note:  In a 4.4.2020 email (used by permission of Erren Kelly), the poet writes:

“i have been listening to a lot of jazz the past three weeks, everything from tradition, hardbop, bebop, cool jazz , jazz fusion, etc as a way to deal with all of this…

“i think some good poems will come out of this…

“i want us all to survive…beauty and life will come out of this crisis…”

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Erren Kelly is a two-time Pushcart nominated poet from Boston whose work has appeared in 300 publications (print and online), including Hiram Poetry Review, Mudfish, Poetry Magazine, Ceremony, Cacti Fur, Bitterzoet, Cactus Heart, Similar Peaks, Gloom Cupboard, .and .Poetry Salzburg.

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A 2019 recording of Wallace Roney playing “Why Should There Be Stars”

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To read Wallace Roney’s obituary in the New York Times, click here

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