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Shadows & Jazz

Tony O’Dwyer

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The sound of a clarinet can seduce

Even the most careless of hearts

As the short pumping kisses of breath,

The deft curving of fingers,

Transform to hot melting notes.

We danced, holding our hands low,

The music swaying on our bodies,

Twined in senseless rhythm.

Jazz is so sensuous, you whispered,

And it seemed the notes, still in their music sheets,

Floated across the room to caress my skin.

Going home, under the pale light of a lamp post,

You stopped to consider our shadows,

Lying like two secrets on the sleeping street.

I can’t remember if there were stars or a moon.

Or if there was only a blackened sky

And our dark shapes turning their backs,

As if we were standing behind two envied lovers

Transformed by the music, the light, and

Their own single, uncomplicated love.

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Playlist song: [artist], “[title]”

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Tony O’Dwyer‘s poetry has been published in a wide variety of journals and has won a number of poetry competitions. He was runner-up in the Patrick Kavanagh Award. He is co-editor and publisher of Crannóg magazine. His first collection, Off Guard, was published by Bradshaw Books, Cork, Ireland in 2003. It is reissued in 2024 by Wordsonthestreet, Galway, Ireland. His next collection Waiting for the Mason is due from Salmon Poetry in 2025.

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