Blue Notes

Blue Notes

                                                                      by Shasta Gragg

Thick, obscuring haze
 A 1950’s jazz club
Spot lights in blue wrap a shimmer around me
Smoke wafts from a hundred cigarettes
 In my hair and clothes
Blue notes.
Dangerous, delicious scent
 I was a little girl
held tight in Daddy’s arms
 A blue flannel shirt comforts me, still
Blue notes.
Crazy chaotic notes flow from the tenor sax- Coltrane’s refrain
 I grow dizzy, intoxicated from the lack of melody
Stars burst behind my eyes
Blue notes.
In college jazz band
Open the case and lift the tenor from the velvet lining
Smoke pours out, feathers out, like cirrus clouds
I don’t feel bad for staying up late to play all those
Blue notes.