We’re half way through NaPoWriMo/GloPoWriMo 2020 and it’s April 15th. The stated optional objective is to write a poem reflective of the color of any particular brand of our choosing. This brought to mind an argument brewing since the 1970s. Does ‘race’ matter in the playing of blues and jazz. This poem is reflective of my thoughts on the controversy.
What Color Is A Soul? by Michael Doyle On the far side of the hyphen We bring it back again There ain't no crime In swinging in jazzy time Be we black or white Blind to the sight Spoken with optimism We don't got no time for racism Black legends of jazz White legends of jazz It's all razz-ma-tazz Even with brown legends of jazz Satchmo said it best When he said there is no racial test For cats who wanna blow It's all down to the musical know However, powerful the race consciousness It simply takes away the truest bliss Some folks just plain forget history's reference And want it played to racial preference What started out Creole in New Orleans Quickly became the idiom of American dreams There's a soulful feeling that is blind To the color barriers best left behind Stomping the blues might be from the South But as its legend spread by word of mouth So then did it's breakdown of segregation There can be nothing less than complete integration It's nothing but a Crow Jim set of beliefs That lends to little more than unjustified grief To say we can know the color of a soul Cats of all colors refuse that heartless control This mistaken fostering of ominous Black Pride Is inexcusable in its harsh down side Like notes of a hanging judge there's a lack of truth Reality holds differently even where uncouth Political correctness is musically questionable As such it's nothing less than objectionable Race can never make its case for true distinction And the living must breath or know extinction (c) April 15, 2020 Michael Doyle All Rights Reserved
