In Walked Sid
July 3, 2006
This is a fantasy of the mind,
a song of the heart,
and a reality of the soul.
It is a true story:
IN WALKED SID
the saxophone cries harshly
where is Sid
where is Sid
where has that cat gone?
the piano starts to pound
where is Sid
where is Sid
who will play our song?
for so many years he gave anew
what he had received
never held back a single note
while through the reed he breathed
a reality to be understood
an affirmation
that life was good-
to listen not in the way we are told
but in a way that was rather, bold.
JAZZ was his religion
more than any other
saying in a million ways,
you gotta love your brother.
and as a singer never tires of song
and a bee never tires of flowers
we always dug that special man,
we were so damn glad he was ours.
So when we heard that he was gone
we went blue funk into black
as we began to realize
the cat
ain’t ever
comin’ back…
then imperceptibly at first
before we could hear
or see
a song washed onto this shore of souls
and some bop began to be
we couldn’t help but begin to smile
as the sun began to shine
and everywhere a cat could see
things started lookin’ fine…
then Sid blew out a rainbow of notes
to say everything is cool
out here we’re really cookin’ man
and Charlie Parker’s teachin’ school!
1999
qazse 
July 3, 2006 at 2:00 am
Sid’s body died more than ten years ago. He was a superb saxaphone and jazz man. He left behind a vibe for us which will resonate through time until we meet again.
PS: regarding the reference to Charlie Parker, he was a saxaphone genius who along with Dizzy Gillespie is credited with moving jazz into a revolutionary new direction – namely bebop.
please note: this poem is not yet where I want it to be. I have been tweeking it for seven years and will probably do so for another seven.