live bebop from bourbon street

fingers sway sweep
the surface of the keys
as if the magic is being
drawn from the air

every step down
every dip
a tug of the oar
reeling the ears further in
as the piano spreads ripples
from the treading

like a clowning elephant
bathing in a pond
the trumpet shoots up
a fountain of notes
and midway through its fall
sax phones in like a catharsis--
a sieve for
despair and peace

the cymbals hiss
like something's amiss
while the drums racket
as a steam train gathering
speed and switch
to a tap
dancer's heel toe
before settling in like the steady
hooves of a cavalry march

time stretches itself
to accommodate
more notes
per second

my heart beats
behind my ears
just eager
to greet the sounds
as they come in

my mind's been plucked
like a bird from a tree

and lassoed
into a universe
where the blaring
stars confide why
they're beaming

my tongue
takes the fifth
unable to read
mind's spell