Miles Davis’s “Sketches of Spain”
“The melodic phrase begins to pry open the mystery of the tones and remove the precious stone of the sob, a resonant tear on the river of the voice. That is ‘duende’.” ……………………………………..– Federico Garcia Lorca
Miles, you understood the delirium of beauty, how well it plays
with pain. Music eclipsing a moment into memory
fusing tones with pieces of time.
Notes as drenched with duende as the eddies of the East River,
gunmetal grey, unveiling the slope of a shoulder, some suicide lost
in the city’s sway. A sunset suffused with darkness.
It takes a strong wind to play a strong trumpet, you whispered, voice riven
by that same breath. Bracing against that same wind, you played
back turned to them, saying, who do you think I play for?
Miles, you lived for years alone in this city. Hermit brewing dark notes
pure as your wide-eyed glare. Anyone could go a little mad here.
Seven flights up and there’s all the exile you ever wanted.
Your notes spirited through the air, past all the empty rooms,
past all those session men in streets neon brilliant with indifference
all night for sale name your price.
You knew how this city can claim everything,
even what feels like your soul when you nightwalked by
Paradise Drugs, and in the window, saw your face multiply.
This poem is from the chapbook Songs from the Multiverse by M. L. Lyons (Finishing Line Press), and can be found at https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/songs-from-the-multiverse-by-m-l-lyons/
M. L. Lyons is a poet, writer and arts advocate. She was awarded a Klepser fellowship in Creative Writing from University of Washington. After interning at Copper Canyon Press, she co-edited Raising Lilly Ledbetter: Women Poets Occupy the Workplace. Her poetry has been nominated for the Pushcart and recently she received a scholarship to Hedgebrook writers residency.
The Paddock Review 