I crisscrossed with Monk <br />Wailed with Bud <br />Counted every star with Stitt <br />Sang "Don't Blame Me" with Sarah <br />Wore a flower like Billie <br />Screamed in the range of Dinah <br />& scatted "How High the Moon" with Ella Fitzgerald <br />as she blew roof off the Shrine Auditorium <br />Jazz at the Philharmonic <br /> <br />I cut my hair into a permanent tam <br />Made my feet rebellious metronomes <br />Embedded record needles in paint on paper <br />Talked bopology talk <br />Laughed in high-pitched saxophone phrases <br />Became keeper of every Bird riff <br />every Lester lick <br />as Hawk melodicized my ear of infatuated tongues <br />& Blakey drummed militant messages in <br />soul of my applauding teeth <br />& Ray hit bass notes to the last love seat in my bones <br />I moved in triple time with Max <br />Grooved high with Diz <br />Perdidoed with Pettiford <br />Flew home with Hamp <br />Shuffled in Dexter's Deck <br />Squatty-rooed with Peterson <br />Dreamed a "52nd Street Theme" with Fats <br />& scatted "Lady Be Good" with Ella Fitzgerald <br />as she blew roof off the Shrine Auditorium <br />Jazz at the Philharmonic<br /><br />Jayne Cortez<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/jazz-fan-looks-back/
