You settle in to read the liner notes from a new jazz album as the piano unwinds a long, serpentine string of chords, a double helix of promise. Then you realize you chose the wrong drink for this tune. Where was your head, choosing a convoluted red cabernet instead of a simple Chablis? Complexity on top of complexity only leads to headaches or unwanted pregnancies. An odd note, one you didn’t hear coming, drops from the speaker and causes you to wonder if the trumpet knows much about manners or how to play well with others. You think back to something you heard from the blind drunk at The No Holds Bar about the music of depressed monks in Eastern Europe. You smile, once. You didn’t see that coming either. The light fades and the print is now too small to read; the liner notes are put off until after next week’s session. For now, you are left with your feet dangling in the air like inverted half notes from the bottom of a staff. Your therapist still hasn’t returned your call, so you switch to shots of Jack and a little Winehouse.
Le Hinton is the author of four books of poetry including Status Post Hope (2006) and Black on Most Days (2008). He is the editor and publisher of the poetry journal Fledgling Rag. He lives harmlessly in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
