SECTION TWELVE
POETRY PAGE FIVE

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COLUMN NINETY-FOUR, JULY 1, 2003
(Copyright © 2003 The Blacklisted Journalist)

WHAT’S ALL THIS JAZZ?

Coming late to sex and jazz,
taking nothing for granted / taking everything...  

unbuttoning / unzipping is
the cry of trumpets, growl of sax;
in her tossed underwear, the clarinet’s wail.  

Improvising out of solitude,
there are no wrong movements.
The man she faces, the man making all
this possible, hitting those spots  

maybe doesn’t hear the sound of her movements;
just wants to get off

before dinner  / after work, if
there was any work, maybe hears
a car horn or sanitation truck...  

doesn’t know about her unexpected gig,
who she’s jamming with in the dark.
Or really care.  He’s tired, hungry.  

But this is her night.  Her turn.
Whole body jumping, a 40’s jazz joint
she’s never been in  ##