POEM: Gene Ludwig

Posted 23 October, 2009 in Jazz, Music, My poems, Poetry

GeneatClefClub
Photo by Ben Johnson, Sr.

I saw organist Gene Ludwig in concert earlier tonight, and wrote these three pieces while watching the show. If you’d like to know more about Gene, listen to my interview with him on The Jazz Session.

Gene Ludwig

Gone deep inside, he slides
effortlessly across the organ keys,
never losing the sense of weightlessness
every earthbound mortal
longs for.
Unlike most, he isn’t held
down by gravity, not forced to
wear the chains of step-by-step,
inch-by-inch. Instead, he
gently leaves the earth, smiling.

Perhaps he’s the local mortician,
skin made alabaster through
affinity with those he serves;
or an accountant, toiling away
until life’s energy winds down
like the gold watch they’ll give him;
he could be any one of a hundred
buttoned-up Rotarians in grey flannel suits,
friends with the mayor or with
the chief of police.
Then he sits down at the organ, and
joy springs from those ivory fingers.
He strips off the grey shell,
revealing the light at his core.
That light is the only thing
that reaches us faster
than his sound.

Grabbing two handfuls of
electricity, he
naturally believes that life is beautiful, that
everyone has ready access to this
level of presence, this certain
understanding of the melody.
Doubtless, they all
would trade places
if they could, exchanging
Gene’s grace for their own.

4 comments to “POEM: Gene Ludwig”

Gerry Youngman, October 24th, 2009 at 12:34 pm:

Nice Jason..I think this truly captures the moment…Gene is an amazing player, and as I grow older a model of what can be done sans the rocking chair…

jasoncrane.org » Two days of poetry (part 3): Monroe Community College, May 9th, 2010 at 9:30 pm:

[...] I asked the students to read “Gene Ludwig” and then tell me about the man described in the poem. I asked them to describe him physically and [...]

The Jazz Session » Gene Ludwig, 1937-2010, July 15th, 2010 at 12:37 pm:

[...] Schenectady gig inspired a poem that appears in my book, Unexpected Sunlight. You can read the poem at jasoncrane.org. var a2a_config = a2a_config || {}; a2a_config.linkname="Gene Ludwig, 1937-2010"; [...]

jasoncrane.org » Gene Ludwig, 1937-2010, July 15th, 2010 at 12:41 pm:

[...] Schenectady gig inspired a poem that appears in my book, Unexpected Sunlight. You can read the poem here at jasoncrane.org. var a2a_config = a2a_config || {}; a2a_config.linkname="Gene Ludwig, 1937-2010"; [...]