Lady Day

Queen of Jazz Royalty

By: Charles Giuliano - Mar 04, 2016

Lady Day

Signature gardenias
In her hair
Perfume accenting
Sweet scent of
That lilting voice
Unique texture
Fractured and cracked
Ravaged by racism
Strung out on junk
Narrow range
Not great pipes
Rusted by life
Impeccable phrasing
Laying back
Wafted by the beat
Consummate swing
Teddy Wilson on piano
Laying down the bones
Of tunes
God Bless the Child
Most harrowing
Strange Fruit
Sobbed when first heard
Choked up ever since
Thinking of the
Scent of magnolias
In the gallant South
Burning flesh
Twisted mouth
Easter Weekend in
Natchez
Mississippi Goddam
Ghosts like
Spanish moss
Hanging from the
Poplar trees
Lady Day
Grew up with
Lester Young
Friend and lover
It’s complicated
She called him Prez
Like Duke, Count, King and Earl
Royalty of jazz
His mellow horn
Scorched with pain
After the Army
Spirit broken in the brig
Their suffering
Down and mellow
Speaking to our
Hearts and minds
Setting the bar
For art and humanity
Above and beyond
That bridge too far