The Sunday Poem: “You Never Forget Your First” – by Brian Kates

May 25th, 2024

The Sunday Poem is published weekly, and strives to include the poet reading their work.

Brian Kates reads his poem at its conclusion.

___

Miles Davis “‘Round About Midnight” (1957/Columbia Records)

You Never Forget Your First

My high school girlfriend’s older brother
lived in a garret in the Village, like something
out of La Boheme, and she said maybe if we
went there, he’d leave us alone and we could
…well, you know

So we walked up the five flights to his place
on LeRoy Street and there he was on the sofa,
toking on a joint. He looked at me hard.
“You like jazz?”

I knew this was a test I had to pass.
“Yeah, man,” I said, though all I knew of jazz
was the Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey
my parents played on our suburban hi-fi.

He pulled an LP from a stack and held it up.
Cat on the jacket, looking very hip, dark shades,
head propped in one hand, the other cradling his horn.

He slipped the record out of the liner in that
cool way that never leaves a fingerprint.
He laid it on the turntable and passed me the joint.

This was my first time and I tried to hold it in
and not cough. He lowered the arm gently.
A pop as the needle found its groove.

Ba-ba-bah-ba-bahh, ba-baaahh.

Miles’ muted trumpet, tight, breathy.
Trane blowing cool and hot. The band entwined
like dancers in an elaborate ballet.
I’d never heard anything like it. Ever. For the first time,
I understood the meaning of the word epiphany.

He got up. “Have fun, kids. See ya ‘round midnight.”
The vinyl was still spinning when he left and we
…well, you know.
That was a first time, too.

Listen to Brian Kates read his poem

___

Brian Kates’ journalism has won a Pulitzer Prize, George Polk Award and other honors. His non-fiction book, The Murder of a Shopping Bag Lady, a saga of American homelessness, was a finalist for Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Allan Poe Award. Brian’s poetry has appeared in Banyan Review, Paterson Literary Review, Third Wednesday and elsewhere. He lives with his wife in a house in the woods in the lower Hudson Valley.

Listen to the 1956 recording (released on LP in 1957) of Miles Davis performing Thelonious Monk’s composition, “‘Round Midnight,” with John Coltrane (tenor sax); Red Garland (piano); Paul Chambers (bass); and “Philly Joe” Jones (drums). [Columbia/Legacy]