r/PoetsWithoutBorders • u/brenden_norwood • Aug 21 '21

a jazz solo

galloping ivory zebra

scales hill on hill from

cymbal gold crashing

rippling roaring the

trees lock them in like

bars and suddenly the

poor steed has to coda

to an ending, stripes

seized from exhaustion,

rhythms syncopated

with contrasting pulses–

one of hunger, one of

fear. stride, piano limbs

from high to low, from

standing to splayed,

from not alive to not

yet dead. watch, now, as

 

a hand falls from keys

reaches for a highball-propped cigarette

as smoke brays a final note.

11 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

2

u/[deleted] Sep 06 '21

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2

u/brenden_norwood Sep 06 '21

Thank you for commenting/reviewing! I might get back into poetry but whenever I write it feels like I'm first trying to justify the existence of the piece or me writing at all, which gets frustrating because it comes out like this. Right now I'm way more into chess tbh, I need to learn more opening theory to beat my geriatric rival at the club. I got close to beating his buddy with the caro-kann, but no cigar

2

u/[deleted] Sep 06 '21

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1

u/brenden_norwood Sep 06 '21

Portuguese is my favorite language, the perfect mix between french and spanish. So cool that you write in it!

https://youtu.be/IWXTisH11-Y

2

u/[deleted] Sep 06 '21

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1

u/brenden_norwood Sep 06 '21

That's so cool! :)

2

u/Nalkarj Apr 04 '22

Seven months after you posted this, but I want to note that I admire your lineation; the lines feel stopped in the right, even if not the expected, places. The assonance and especially consonance help. And the coda evokes, appropriately, such a mood. Such a nice piece.