what i’d say….
ray’s voice
is what a brotha
feels like after he’s had
a good piece of
pussy
i know now why mama didn’t want us
playing secular music in her home
and why white kids love
r and b so much
it was heroin
for your ears
ray was the only brotha
who could mix the church
country music, blues and the cathouse
and make it sound cool
he sings ” i got a woman”
like she’s the only salvation
he needs
once upon a time
you could feel music
not just hear it
ray is what happens
when you break the chains
around your heart
and set yourself free
march 2011
_____
Erren Kelly is a Pushcart nominated poet from Los Angeles, California who has been writing for 25 years, and published in over 150 print and online publications, including Hiram Poetry Review, Mudfish, Poetry Magazine (online), Ceremony, Cactus Heart, Similar Peaks, Gloom Cupboard, and Poetry Salzburg.
Nice commentary on who Ray was. He started playing music and eventually became music itself. When one is inspired to write verse and joins it to the chorus of the cosmos, that is the purest form of music. It is God-given gift to step aside and let the thunder roll through you. Ray Charles became such a channel in the process of creation.