Jazz just is the
Music of Autumn I
Hear the fallen leaves
In the whiskered snare
The crisp chill in
The low keys and
The last bit of
Sun twinkling in the
High keys of piano
The smokiness of the
Plucked bass and the
Longing of a bygone
Summer in the sax
This is Autumns quartet
I had such plans
We have ridden all
Of the carnival rides
Gone fast and around
Up and down on
Ponies and in cars
And always start and
Always return where we
Began I guess that
It’s true that saying
That the foul always
Come home to roost
I’m coming back to
You Muenster in Denver
The last and brightest
Years of life together
It rained when I
Was in Paris it
Rained a cold rain
The kind of rain
That when felt chilled
I went to Paris
Running from things wishing
To leave them behind
But with every droplet
I remembered and soon
In Paris I wept
Paris to me was
The mothers arms needed
Once when I was
Younger a lover rented
A garret an awful
Hole in the wall
Stuck way up on
A forgotten floor of
A home whose only
View could be seen
From there and from
There the city fanned
Out like a favorite
Bedtime story calling us
To dream the kinds
Of dreams lovers do
Shadows are funny things
Children frolic with them
While adults run away
Oftentimes I do think
That shadows are our
Mirrors reflection soul side
The part of ourselves
Rarely gazed upon infrequently
Considered but always there
Reminding us all that
Even our souls have
A dark side seen
HARLAN DIDRICKSON 