jazz and lilies— a poem by Loretta Oleck

sitting on the edge of the bed

in baggy underwear

you flutter tongue your trumpet

skinny bare chest expanding and deflating

tightening and loosening your stomach muscles

to manipulate the pitch

you’re no Charlie Parker

as you double tongue

triple tongue

doodle tongue

distant bleating of sheep

and the casablanca lilies

lie in a heap with open mouths

shouting

cover up

shut up

get out

you hum while you play

crowding out the fragrance of the truth

that we no longer lie cheek by jowl

you muster up a mean jazz growl

cradling the bursting bloom in my arms

my face presses into screaming petals

inhaling deeply before gathering

my scattered belongings to go

sound the trumpet!

with eyes half mast you will be lost

playing and pretending

I never left

___

Loretta Oleck is a writer and psychotherapist living in the Hudson Valley of New York. Besides authoring six books in the field of mental health, she has a Master's degree in Creative Writing from New York University.  Her poetry has been accepted/published in The Westchester Review, Poetica Magazine, The Stone Hobo, Still Point Arts Quarterly, Marco Polo Arts Magazine, Feminist Studies, Mom Egg, among other publications. More recently, her poetry was chosen to be performed at the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art. She has been selected to give readings at numerous venues around New York.