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3 Poems by Ryan Ritchie

Ryan Ritchie

JK - Jack Kerouac typewriter

FOR JACK

nothing any wordsmith can do with a keyboard matches
the beauty that leaps from the subconscious mind of the
jazz musician. we sit and think, type, sit and think some
more, never achieving improvisational nirvana. what
jazzmen do fills the nighttime sky, brings us closer to
god than any sunday service. for us, improv becomes a
mishmashofowordsthatdontmakesense when all we really
want is to blow, blow, blow. to tickle the blacks and whites,
massage the low end and swing all the way home.

THURSDAY NIGHT

Nothing is wrong
and
everything is right.
Cuz it’s me, the cats
and
John Coltrane
tonight.

NOT VICE VERSA

Jazz is poetic.
But poems are not jazz. Once
more, the music wins.

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Ryan Ritchie

Ryan Ritchie is a 33-year-old writer from Lomita, California. His work has been published in/at RollingStone.com, Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly, BlackBook, VegNews, Haggard & Halloo, Modern Drunkard Magazine and lots more he can't remember. You can follow him at @RyanLRitchie.

Author: Ryan Ritchie Tags: Beat Generation, Jack Kerouac, jazz Category: Poetry July 8, 2013

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Empty Mirror

Established in 2000 and edited by Denise Enck, Empty Mirror is an online literary magazine that publishes new work each Friday.

Each week EM features several poems each by one or two poets; reviews; critical essays; visual art; and personal essays.

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