the pacifier - matthew shipp solo at the blue note set 1 & 2 - 8/23/10 (for O.P.)

monologue with self
am steel yama
in trin sic as what for (f)ever
zig zag rimrom pozzzilum rorrim
the where is something &
the where is something not
revolving as in barrel as in light of solidilos /oh
& the flame really does dance to the music
& the music truly does obey the flame
combined with piano’s intrigues are enough to pacify
like a young boy's thumb
enough to satisfy even the hungriest whim
or emptiest void
jazz
&
cocktails
flung from any horn’s
bell - glasszaj blue tones &
cylinders

it's not only about tearing up flowers
or building down walls
not always about how lucid the howler can be
or how transparent
it's a wind away from destroying a pre-fab
a jaunt away from the confines of freedom

i still hug my pillow
& keep another over my head
nearly smothering myself
i still make sure my feet are covered
by a blanket
in the dark of night as i try to catch some sleep
always afraid that if i leave them exposed
a hand will grab me from beneath the bed
pull me under
& carry me to my death
& this even though the bed i now sleep on
rests solidly on the floor i still breathe to stay alive
tho not by choice it is a mechanical act of being

i am steeled to the soft &
beckoning Fetishes
tho i easily succumb with a nod
for rarely has there been sugar so sweet
or pepper so hot
these brittling bones that make a pass
@ a young boy's ears
the torrents
that sweep over a growing prince's life
flesh as sweet as candy

you draw the music as it filters
thru your blood knowing
some day the bureau
will hold your secret as the blanket now
holds mine
he replays the past merging it into triads
available echoes of yesterday
spreading outward toward our innards
fragments of standards
that represent the composer’s need to speak
straight lines morph
then just as quickly disperse into borderless realms

all secrets keep as our world's continue
to end
here inside this blue blue note
where a new New Yorker
is born
so hurry now
the city impatiently awaits you
with its thumb in its mouth

the pianist's speech a mystery to us both

- Steve Dalachinsky

Purchase thru iTunes

Born in Brooklyn, Mr. Dalachinsky is a writer, poet, and jazz expert. He's released numerous collections of his poetry, the latest being The Final Nite & Other Poems: Complete Notes from a Charles Gayle Notebook 1987-2006 (Ugly Duckling Presse). And he's made several albums, including a 2006 collaboration with Matthew Shipp, Phenomena of Interference (Hopscotch).