|
|
Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE SYNCOPATED CAKEWALK, by CLARENCE MAJOR Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: My present life is a sunday-morning cartoon Last Line: Fine, says mister b, you start seven in the morning! | |||
My present life is a Sunday-morning cartoon. In it, I see Miss Hand and her Five Daughters rubbing my back and the backs of my legs. Nat King Cole provides the music and the words. It's 1949. Finished with them, I take off on a riverboat, down the Mississippi, looking for work. On deck they got the Original Dixieland Jazz Band doing "Big Butter and Egg Man." A guru has the cabin next to mine and everybody who visits him whimpers something terrible! Stood on deck after dinner watching the clouds form faces and arms. The Shadow went by giggling to himself. An Illinois Central ticket fell from his pocket. Snake Hips picked it up and ran. Texas Shuffle, who sat in with the Band last night, this morning, dropped his fiddle cases in the ocean and did the Lindy all the way to the dinning room. I got off at Freak Lips Harbor. Boy from Springfield said he'd talk like Satch for me for a dime. I gave him a Bird and an introductory note to the Duke of Ellington. Found my way to the Ida B. Wells Youth Center. Girl named Ella said I'd have to wait to see Mister B. Everybody else was out to lunch. In the waiting room got into a conversation. with a horse thief from Jump Back. Told him: My past life is a Saturday-morning cartoon. In it, I'm jumping Rock Island freight cars, skipping Peoria with Leadbelly, running from the man, accused of being too complex to handle. Sorry. Just trying to prove my innocence. Meanwhile, Zoot, Sassy, Getz, Prez, Cootie, everybody give me a hand. Finally, Mister B comes in. Asks about my future. All I can say is, I can do the Cow-Cow Boogie on the ocean and hold my own in a chase chorus among the best! Fine, says Mister B, you start seven in the morning! Used with the permission of Copper Canyon Press, P.O. Box 271, Port Townsend, WA 98368-0271, www.cc.press.org | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...REVELATION AT CAP FERRAT by CLARENCE MAJOR SAND FLESH AND SKY by CLARENCE MAJOR A GUY I KNOW ON 47TH AND COTTAGE by CLARENCE MAJOR AGING TOGETHER by CLARENCE MAJOR AT THE ZOO IN SPAIN by CLARENCE MAJOR ATELIER CEZANNE by CLARENCE MAJOR BALLROOM DARK by CLARENCE MAJOR CLAY BISON IN A CAVE by CLARENCE MAJOR DISMAL MOMENT PASSING by CLARENCE MAJOR EIGHTEEN-DOLLAR TAXI TRIP TO TIZAPAN AND BACK TO CHAPALA by CLARENCE MAJOR |
| |