Alfred B. Spellman Poems

my swing is more mellow
these days: not the hardbop drive
i used to roll but more of a cool
foxtrot. my eyes still close
...

i will die in havana in a hurricane
it will be morning, i'll be facing southwest
away from the gulf, away from the storm
away from home, looking to the virid hills
...

so there's the 15th heavyfoot regiment band
the harlem hellfighters, james reese europe
director, tuning up. they got a french horn
choir & enough trumpets & t'bones to call down
...

his worn hips barely support the horn
in his hands. it is gold & flashes under the fresnels
the sound is deep enough to live in. phrase turns to
brilliant phrase & the source never empties
...

florene barco moved
to philadelphia &
on a visit home told
us she went
...