papa used to
tune that
pan flute
for hours
until it
tamed my
childish
talkback
called
studious me
to the knee
for a music
lesson
where
there
was only
movement

manhood is
a measurement
of
the distance
between
being dynamic
and standing
still
for stillness
is not
inactivity

no matter
what the porch
playing
banjo bluegrass
suth’ner
might make
you funny
northern folk
consider

can you
hear rhythm
when the
the room stops
spinning?

play the
sheet music
improv
by ear
before
the song is
composed

do you
tap your
toe at
the stairwell
edge
beckoning
that bojangles
blackness
to rain down
on you
like rays
of light
while
you shuffle
a melody
out them
grains of sand
you ain’t
wasted
in the hourglass
from all
your life
before time?

time
is moving
as the sun
rises
and sets

and somehow
i know
don’t nobody
do much
arranging
after dark

summon me
some sun jazz
i want
to play
away every
warm moment
i got left
in this life