Just in Time

            “Twelve bars. Coltrane leafs through
            the voluminous air for some note
            to save us from ourselves.”
                from “Changes; or Reveries at a Window Overlooking
                a Country Road, with Two Women Talking Blues in the Kitchen.”
                by Yusef Komunyakaa

In a haze, dazed, dozing
between notes – waking
just in time
just in time
just in that perfect time


to wait, to see,        to feel
to breathe that tenor breath
and hold, caress
to make love
to the singular
perfect
sound

rising like a moon over water
rippling the air
the hot, wet air
reflecting in a million sparkling
possibilities.
But one
one
one note

a tenored wave
expanding in dimension
in volume
a million voices in the night
in the dark
a moment
a moment
a moment more
to curve, to arc
and bend

crashing, tumbling, rolling
into the froth
the churning chaos
white
white
light

and pause
in anticipation
in a haze, dazed
and dozing
between notes
waking
just in time.