The only thing
wrong with jazz
is that sooner or later
you always get
a psychopath honking
on a saxophone
and even though
every time he stops
for breath, the audience
starts clapping,
so obviously overjoyed
that the torture might be
over finally, he starts
honking again, louder
and angrier and longer,
probably thinks free-form
means deformed...
jeez... and by then
the drummer`s tired,
kind-hearted eyes
are going dead,
not the first time,
by a long shot,
he had to drum
along with an
instrumental tantrum.

"I was almost too
brutalized
to apologize", he said.

"Later, later, much later...
oh, but baby... (honk!)
oh, baby (honk! honk! honk!)
but jeez, just wishing
my blue angel would please,
please fly all the way down
onto this dusty old platform
and bestow some grace
upon that hollow soul,
let some fresh air
into his total absence
of conscience
so he won`t be blowing
so hard, blowing out these
cruddy off-key expressions
of his, but oh (honk!) how
he`s digging it now,
digging that hole,
the deep dark hole
of the bottomless soul,
as everybody can hear
because believe me
one thing`s clear,
this poor kid
has no clue
what he just did
to all of you."

06/26/2018