"Art Blakley" by Bradley Samore

after Nat Hentoff *

When he drums, every

body is involved in a greater

going. 

           On a peak of exultation,

Blakey’s crackling rolls announce

a groove that opens the pulse

to immediacy.

                       Blakey’s explosions 

change direction, ignite

tenderness in the band, flights

of unity. There are times when

Art is centripetal, welcomes

anyone who is.

 This is an erasure poem, constructed entirely of the liner notes Nat Hentoff wrote for the album Free for All by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. The original erasure appears below the bio.

Bradley Samore currently works as a technical writer. His poems have appeared in The Florida Review, Carve, The Dewdrop, and other publications. He is a winner of the Creative Writing Ink Poetry Prize. www.BradleySamore.com