Jazz

A melodic trumpet—

baptizing with grace notes—

envelops the faithful

. 

but sounds like fortissimo dissonance

to an unbeliever, as it swings

as low as is allowed without

purgatory’s repelling,

. 

and likewise, the trombone—

with its glissando and its lack of

fermata—is misunderstood,

. 

but if, however,

a repentant soul bows down—

. 

deferring in an act of obedience

or that of inconsequential

love spirito sostenuto—

.

the jazz will reveal its own truth

in a night of resplendent awe.

.

first published in Southern Hum

Inspiration from Thomas Merton

“Perhaps if I only realized that I do not admire what everyone seems to admire, I would really begin to live after all.”

 

From No Man is an Island by Thomas Merton  San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers, Inc. 1955), page 126.