Alfred
By Obsidian c. 2010
...and so i cried at
Alfred Washington's grave
there i heard piano keys
tickle ivories old jazz-time strokes
and Art Tatum was the most
Bible-thumping Alfred Washington
a cornucopia of useless historical biblical knowledge
and canonical tones
i was just a black boy
trapped in ghetto's plight broken
windows tring to escape his fate
black & white ivory keys
promised to set me free
from the chains of a forbidden
South Bronx rite
Alfred Washington was
Be-Bop's epitome of epic scale
chords and arpeggios
diatonic triads
"E G B D F
Every Good Boy Does Fine
G B D F E
F A C E
& A C E G"
Running my bony fingers up
and down the scales
became the new religion of
salvation to me
flat scales
sharps
and inversions
saved a nappy headed Negro
boy from gansta's delight
and dark foreboding jail cell's
cold steel blight
i quit my piano lessons
at 14 wanted to box and
play basketball
Sugar Ray Leonard
and Magic Johnson dreams
escape my father's screams
but i still hear Alfred Washington
tickling the ivories in between
finally i come to the
grave sight of a jazz musician
rhapsody's peaceful sleep
and bent my tired poet's
knees not to pray...
but to weep
