From High To Low
by Michael Doyle

Too many people believe in the niche
And from there won't budge an inch.
Truth? It pays to know about everything
Because then, you can choose what to bring

To the party of life's extremes.
From this, you can learn to work your dreams.
And the most needed of people do this
Despite how many others seem to miss

The factuality of this reality.
You need to know the high to the low.
If you are to be the one who is needed -
So, the wise have always pleaded. 

Learning this seems an absurdity.
That out of enough of the ordinary
Are built things seemingly extraordinary,
Some of which become legendary.

From this, jazz came to be born
From a few notes played on a horn.
Folk music, developed from the ordinary,
It was improvised into the extraordinary.

Once born, it processed an accumulation
Of growth, as it first spread across the nation,
And unable to help itself, it became ever more
Into a richness that hinted at the poor.

A street urchin's knowledge of the street
Brought about a syncopated sense of beat.
From this plain English and sensibility
A skill set grew with accomplished ability

Grew and grew until all its notable joys
Became the bebop that sounded like noise
To those who didn't have quite the ear
For the dissonance that invoked fears

That, again, grew into a degree of fascination
Until a fusion was born in its exasperation
Learning again that all music is folk music heard
A sort of witch's brew, shaken and self-stirred

Someone call the press, and keep them on the phones
As we feel the downbeat deep in our riddled bones
However free form, jazz music is always synthesizing
And in its secret delights, it is always mesmerizing

(c) April 24, 2025   Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved