"The Noble Rise Above"

This is a poem by William Crawford, read aloud by me (mispronouncing "centimes"):

The Noble Rise Above

the first time

Coltrane played Paris

the French booed

and threw copper centimes

at him

Coltrane just

closed his eyes

raw oceans gentling

and listened to

the sound of pennies

tapping the wood

of the stage

it reminded him

of rain falling down

onto the tin roof

of his first home

Coltrane mimicked

that sound with his horn

then quoted

Pennies from Heaven

for safe measure.

Copyright © 2012, William Crawford

-- from his new book of poems Actual Tigers (Edgar & Lenore's Publishing House)

at amazon.com