Jim Spurr: Distinguished 82nd Airborne Veteran ~ Poet Laureate of Shawnee, Oklahoma ~ Moderator of the very popular monthly Open Mic ~ Happily married to Aline ~ Award-winning author of Open Mike/Thursday Night and Hail Mary, On Two

The Medics Are At The Door and The Band Is Playing Loud

“ They were a long way from home
in a crowded hall where everyone
who could join in joined in.
They could hear the music.
They could feel it. It would be a part
of the healing process. “
Statement by: “The Hospital Administrator”

A steady cadence
pounded the sheet vinyl floor
accompanied by
an early day rock drummer
smilin’ and catchin’ his sticks
in mid air.
Patients moving in and out
in smooth quick step
while
chanting a Blue Cross Be-Bop beat
complimented by an array
of musical arrangements
screaming that they were
… a part of the cure.
Doctors and nurses not so sure
but willing to listen
to the shrill opera of last year’s hip hop
along with
Mister Boots Randolph’s
Yakkety-Yak Sax alone and loud
in an old country corner store
with tables out back on the patio
and everything depending on
the rhythm section to do
what the rhythm section was supposed
to do in the first place.
Furnish a healthy heartbeat.