Dr. Gretna Wilkinson, PhD
His tenor sax released a semibreve that mistook
time for eternity. Take it, he urged. Light some
fire. And he restarted Sonny Rollins’ Shadrack
aiming for smooth
Her horn seemed to swallow the note whole
like she was trying to out-Sonny the Rollins
Play more like you, he pressed, outdo you
When he resumed the song, she crawled inside
the piece note upon note like a stairway to a
dream. It made her toes sweat as she tapped to tap
it away. Woman and horn were now hardwired
for rebellion
Just then, the sax freed a husky b flat and a new
sound stirred in the horn. It pulled her behind this
moment to the one where she was drinking limeade
on the rickety back porch and great grandmother
was telling secrets to dusk…again:
Livin sho wadn easy. But hope keep acomin.
Keep acomin. Keep acomin. Keep…Keep…
Hmmm! Sometime, it feel like God hisself be
testin me. Bluesin up me life. Jazzin up yestiday
pain. Stuffin it in de back pocket o’ tomorrah
misry. Sometime, hope itself get all funky an’
an’ funky an’ mo funky too
Staywithmegirl!
Startled, she pushed a string of velvet-wrapped tones
that sounded like it was Sunday morning in heaven,
and God was awake. It stirred the customer leaning
beside the door. He caught his breath, daubed a tear
and stepped away from the juke joint
I can smell tomorrow again, he whispered into the night,
unaware that he had whispered
Dr. Gretna Wilkinson, PhD
Dr. Gretna Wilkinson, PhD began her career as a missionary teacher in the jungles of her native Guyana. She has authored five chapbooks and one full-length book, Opening the Drawer. A Dodge Foundation Poet, she regularly performs in the New York-Philadelphia metro area and on the west coast with the ensemble, Cool Women. She is a former Professor of English and NJPAC/United Way Artist in Residence. Her honors include: Honorary Eagle Scout, Monmouth County Arts Educator of the Year & Claes Nobel Educator of Distinction. Her poem, “Washday In The Backyard” was recently nominated for the Pushcart Prize.