outlaw poetry and free jazz network

Zoot

I thought I saw the ghost of him
floating over the boulevard
at half past ten last night.
His tenor called to me
down the long corridor of
the Harbor freeway,
distant and haunting
like the final notes from
Micheline’s Hohner
lost in the screech of
brakes at ride’s end.

I’ve got it bad.

I thought I felt a strand of
moonbeams or was it
a string of notes, gently
wrapping themselves
around my legs, sending
me tripping across
Hawthorne nights.
Sending me into
a velvet fog so
cool and wet that neither
A Train nor Strayhorn
could guide me
swinging low
back home
to your
lush
life.

And that ain’t good.

RD Armstrong

some related articles are listed below:

1. rd armstrong | yardbird burned YardBird Burned (A duet written for voice and sax) by RD Armstrong YardBird burned All Wick — No Candle Made it to the sun and back Unlike Icarus – YardBird couldn’t burn out – his spirit was the flame by which HE burned. YardBird burned ‘til there was only a husk left ‘til all the notes – the be-boppin’ bitty black notes – were piled at his feet like cigar ash. YardBird swung his sax in a mighty arc like an ax spinning like a Dervish carving a niche out of the “don’t-take-it-for” granite walls of Swing-Jazz-Tradition. YardBird shaped...
2. rd armstrong | eyes like mingus Painting by Rigsby Smith Eyes Like Mingus (For Steve Fowler) Eyes like flint like flecks of coal like shiny bits of starless sky trapped in the ruins of a slag heap Eyes like molten steel sullen and angry piercing — a bullet finding its mark like a jaguar passionate and alive yet hating the trap pacing behind the bars bars like a skeleton trapped inside the mind behind Eyes like Mingus like notes caught in the net like the grid of notation like Mingus in shamanic Mexico trapped in a chair no strength to grip no fingers to coax...
3. raindog | fire and rain The following poems are taken from the book ‘Fire and Rain’ by RD Armstrong aka Raindog. This book will be available for purchase June 1st. 2008. Just click on the above image to place your orders for this ‘MUST READ’. Pueblo de las Putas She stumbled down the sidewalk fighting with a large white “sports” bag. She wore a tight knit black dress that seemed determined to ride up to an interesting height. It was late, nearly one AM, and I was heading south on Pacific back to the point, back home. I would’ve liked to stay and seen...
4. bone | poetry by todd moore & rd armstrong 5 EURO incl. shipment cost world-wide more Todd Moore books are available here… more RD Armstrong books are avaulable here… var lcValues87 = new Array(1); lcValues87[0]=5; localCurrency("EUR","USD",lcValues87,87); Show currencies in localCurrencyUserSelection('EUR','USD',87); [Please enable JavaScript to change the currency used on this page] Powered bythe LocalCurrency plugin for WordPress. Rates from Yahoo! Finance Share and Enjoy: ...
5. todd moore | a conversation with raindog Todd Moore and Raindog aka RD Armstrong “I want to write a poem that will make the top of your head roll into your soup.” Todd Moore This interview originally appeared way back in September of 1997 in the Lummox. Since it appeared, Todd and I have become good friends. I met him for the first time when I drove out to ABQ – Albuquerque, NM – in April 2000. Since Todd has been named Lummox of the Year 2000, it seemed only fitting to reprint this. Interested readers might want to order copies of his latest books through...