Fluidity on “My Favorite Things”
First bars: da-da da, da da da: piano play.
Steamer on an expresso machine superheats a caramel macchiato in the making. Or a cork on a bottle of California Burgundy pops open.
Jazz-rhythm drums, catching the downbeat and bridging the intro, until the soul-satisfying melody line of John Coltrane’s saxophone strikes–“My Favorite Things,”
Like that first sip, Macchiato or Burgundy. Like that first spit line of a perfect verse winning a ten at a poetry slam. Like that prose-poetry capturing the sublimity of sunlight across rippling water. Like that haiku that shatters expectations.
Before that saxophone explodes in staccato notes and screaming crescendos.
Like our lips enveloping each other. Like our son’s first cry. Like his first step, walk, run, anything. Like facing a North Atlantic sunset together.
And the piano solo, its tattering rhythms. And the flute solo, its aural ecstasy. All leading back to Coltrane again.
Like the first bite of fresh spaghetti and meatballs on a cold November day. Like the embrace after the last tremble passes. Like the bliss of a good night’s sleep after a hard day.
Until he closes with the wind-down. That last melody line, crooning from his saxophone, “When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I’m feeling bad; I simply remember my favorite things…”
Like the first deep breath during the first still moment ever experienced.
Autumn nightfall
last applause falls
to silence
for dVerse Poetry Pub’s MTB. Guest Bartender Amaya serves Jazz Poetry
UPDATE: for Real Toads’ November Themes
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Frank J. Tassone 
You described the mood perfectly!
Dwight
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Thanks, Dwight!
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I like the thought of the applause falling to silence at the end like a good night’s sleep after a hard day.
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I hadn’t thought of it like that. Thanks, Frank!
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Bravo! This was extremely entertaining to read.
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Thanks! 😀
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I love the beautiful memories sprinkled through the music of this poem.
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Thanks, Sherry!
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Aah, love it. We just listened to Coltrane-plays-Julie Andrews a couple days ago. (Ive personally always thought the saxman does it better.) I like how you both created the mood with the drinks and describing what was happening musically, while also showing us vivid glimpses into some of your own favorite things — all within one jazzy haibun!
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Thanks, Amaya. “My Favorite Things (live)” is my favorite Coltrane single. 😀
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A stunning, jazzed haibun…enjoyed it!
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Thanks, lynn__! I’m glad you liked it!
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I love the capture of those experiences, never to be forgotten. This is my favorite part:
And the piano solo, its tattering rhythms. And the flute solo, its aural ecstasy.
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Thanks, Grace! 😀
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Love how you layered the story of your every day into the song itself… maybe music becoming the blood and the veins of your life (or the other way around)… and then the end is silence applause and sleep.
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Thanks, Bjorn!
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The prose is pitch perfect jazz, kind of blue with brushes on the rim.
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I love this!💞 Especially; “Like the embrace after the last tremble passes. Like the bliss of a good night’s sleep after a hard day.”💞
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Thanks, Sanaa! 😀
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This is fantastic. I love everything about it! There is nothing like the screech of espresso machine over live music to set a mood, really. From all of that to a son’s first steps and beyond. I just adore this journey.
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A synesthetic stew of simile and sound – brilliant
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