Oscar in Ottawa
Benchmark on the Corner
By: Charles Giuliano - Jul 06, 2019
Oscar in Ottawa
On the corner
Total surprise
Hip chance encounter
Oscar in bronze
Sharing his bench
Cozy with the big guy
Canadian jazz master
Fleet fingered player
More stride than bop
Evoking Art Tatum
Clusters of notes
Floating like butterflies
Sting of bees
Lingering over melodies
Pulling out tunes
Straight no chaser
So many memories
Countless festivals
Those Pablo recordings
Mixed and matched
Such odd combos
Rooted in Ottawa
Strange for the dude
Hardly a swinging town
Tribute to native son
Done come and gone
Split for the Apple
No cats to hang with
Mostly tourists gawking
Not much to see
Government town
No place to groove
Just for a moment
Hung with the cat
Larger than life
Or so it would seem
Me and Oscar
Shooting hoops
Way up yonder
Where sun don’t shine