Happy Toussaint Day JAN 14

The piano danced
The keys crashed and rang
Allen was singing
Fingers flashin all over dat thang

He oughta be on a pillar
High above a carnival crowd
He’s bettern Marsh Lee
For crying out loud

Tis another 14th Jan
Southern Nights run free
All the children singin
In the city of fleur de lis

He plays so gumbo
I wanna gonna faint
Ladies and gentlemen—
Allen Toussaint!

A Piano Takes A Bow

Chopping sweet chords
A piano takes a bow
Trills slide down scale and pause
Where to now young love
The bass line worries
A lithe right hand lingers, chording along—
Arpeggio, then stop
Rest
Triplets sing
And a languid alberti stalls
How to synch the rejoinder
Resolve the minor to augmented
Love skips away
And the chord resounds,
Echoes
Then the damper falls and it’s time to go.