Jazz

The honeyed words slip over me like scent from a rose
Spill over me like soap, cleansing my cares away
Called many names: jazz, the blues, or soul
It can be rollicking or slow, rousing or soothing
Toe-tapping, hand clapping
Or foot shuffling, dance the two-step slowly.

Jazz is evocative…of summer days in the sun
Rainy days in the city, in the country
Makes me want to run
Laughingly down the sidewalk.
It makes me want to sing,
Do handsprings, watch a white wing
Enjoy the beauty of everything.

Monsoon beats on my window
car horn blares down the street
keyboard taps with homework
brain thinks of duties and
responsibilities
of citizenship, and
card players laugh in the
living room at the twists of the game.

(c) Nadya