RONNIE SCOTTS’S JAZZ CLUB 1984
You say, I would rather have been
a classical pianist.
You hold down those jazz and blues keys
until the dogs stop snapping
and the hoses run dry.
I need to know your laughter
is as deep as your blues.
I cannot imagine the 70s
without your drum roll voice
singing of a new world coming,
ushering the good news out of church
into the clubs.
You have no mercy
reliving Mississippi Goddam
before our eyes.
I want to rock you,
hush that prophetic voice to rest.
Nina, your voice is still now,
still the balm in Gilead.
