Take Five on Centauri Three

by Bruce Boston and Marge Simon

A tentacled maw
on two sets of drums.
Human tenor sax.
Blue amphibian on bass.
One of those crusty immortals
with the built-in cowls
tickling the ivories.

A new take on an old Take,
Brubeck classic filtered
through the light years
and alien mentation.
Not recorded in a studio
but played live in a club
where a crowd listens.

Played by black skin or white,
cerise, ultramarine, or scaled,
it sets feet to tapping,
forelegs to rubbing, lips
to smiling, silver tongues
clicking, and cowls erect.

Jazz played in the
momentum of the heart
as it was meant to be.
Changing with the moment.
Capturing the air it breathes.
Old Earth's gift to the stars.

Appeared in Talebones