POEM: The Next Pretty Note

The Next Pretty Note

Elvis Costello’s “Shipbuilding”
plays on a loop in my head,
even as Stephanie and I

pause

to diagnose what the kitten
might have just knocked over
out in the living room.

Chet Baker, late in life,
approaching the fall
that would kill him,
plays the most incredible solo
on “Shipbuilding” – including,
at one point, a delay pedal
that makes him sound
like a choir of trumpets.

I used to know a guy
who played with Chet:

“Everybody always wondered
what he was thinking to play
as beautifully as he did.
He once told me: ‘I’m just looking
for the next pretty note.’”

Meanwhile, in the living room,
Something else falls.

/ / /

1 January 2025
Charlottesville VA