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Thank You Very Much*
…………………For Hugh Fraser

He closed almost every show with that tune.
It was so like him.
After giving us more than we ever knew
….could be coaxed from a piano
or a trombone…
he thanked us.

God, the energy of the man.
Tireless. Tireless and talented
beyond all imagining.
A wild and gentle genius.

Goodbye, old friend.
This just shouldn’t be.

“Thank you” hardly does it, Hugh,
….but then who am I
to improve on your words?
So, old friend—

Thank you very much.

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*Canadian jazz legend Hugh Fraser died on June 17, 2020 at the age of 62. He is pictured above with his partner, trumpeter Lorae Farrell. The photo was taken by the poet at a party to celebrate Hugh’s 60^th birthday in October 2018. 

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P.W. Bridgman writes from Vancouver. His selection of poems, entitled A Lamb, was published by Ekstasis Editions in 2018. It was preceded in 2013 by a selection of short fiction entitled Standing at an Angle to My Age (Libros Libertad). Bridgman’s writing has appeared in Grain, The Antigonish Review, Canadian Poetry Review, The Moth Magazine, The High Window, The Glasgow Review of Books, The Honest Ulsterman, The Bangor Literary Journal, The Galway Review, Ars Medica, Poetry Salzburg Review and other periodicals and anthologies.

Learn more at .www.pwbridgman.ca

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Listen to Hugh Fraser play “Thank You Very Much” from his 2005 album Bonehenge

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