A solitary trumpet
wails from across the alley.
I join in, slapping my knee
with a lively rhythm.
The window ledge becomes
my ride cymbal.
The floor is my bass drum and
the wall my crash.
We make great music.
He is Dizzy Gillespie
and I am Gene Krupa.
The alley is our stage.
The drunk next to the garbage cans begins to
hum along and for just a moment his
life is no longer miserable.
CD Goble normally writes nonfiction, but occasionally dabbles in fiction. He has recently became interested in poetry. http://imperfectdisciples.wordpress.com/
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16 Responses to “WAILING • by CD Goble”
Comments
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September 26th, 2009 at 8:26 am
Well, I may be a bit biased, as the author is my brother … but that’s a damn nice job.
September 26th, 2009 at 10:32 am
I’m not related at all, and I wholeheartedly agree!
September 26th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
As did we!
September 26th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
So…when are you sending another Steve? Let’s get some fraternal competition going
September 26th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
Very good, I liked this.
September 26th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
Oonah, I wouldn’t like my chances against Steve. In a battle of verse, he definately has the edge.
September 26th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
That was great. Really atmospheric.
Cheers
Mark
September 26th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
How could the musical ride be a noisy cymbal?
Is the “drunk” carrying the melody during the ride? Good cadence and rhythm, but I don’t especially hear music in it. Oh well, let it ride.
In the spirit of introductions, I’m just me.
September 26th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
Roberta: A “ride cymbal” — or just a ride, in drummer lingo — is the one used to tap out quarter notes, eighth notes, a swing beat, whatever while the other hand keeps the accented beats on the snare. The drummer lets the rhythm “ride” on that cymbal.
When he wrote about the wall being his “crash,” he referred to the loud splashy cymbal used at the end of a drum fill or to back up a power chord.
September 26th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
love jazz–real jazz.
–dj
September 27th, 2009 at 2:15 am
I only knew ‘ride cymbal’ because my husband likes drums…
September 27th, 2009 at 6:55 am
CD – So the drum keeps in partial engagement using the (zzzzzzzshshshsh, zzzzzzzzzshshsh) wire brush and the (tapatapatap) as a riff while the trumpet and “drunk” carry the melody?
September 27th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
Thanks for the comments everyone.
Roberta: Correct, the drums supply the rhythm while in the case of this poem, the melody is provided by a trumpet.
September 28th, 2009 at 3:55 am
This brought a smile to my face. I can hear the sound!
September 28th, 2009 at 7:28 am
CD-
Oh, on re-read I do see that the trumpet started the melody, the “drunk” joining last. Does the drunk represent the singer in words, (among others a frequenter of speakeasys?) The visual image in the poem is very clear – it’s nice little palpable sculpture.
October 27th, 2010 at 3:07 am
I really like the imagery in the poem but it seems a shame that the drunk who had his sad life lifted didn’t have a little more chance to get carried along on the musical ride_ the garbage cans were screaming for a beating! Nice job though.