I always wondered if the pianist
hunched over his keyboard in the front
of the small club, reinventing a melody
we all thought we knew, the bassist
sharing the stage providing support,
stopped to note the lyrics offered up
by the people in the audience as he
continued to play, and if so, did he
note them for future reference
or did he simply recall that like him
some in his next audience would simply
reinvent lyrics when he
played the same song in yet
another small club, always new
lyrics from new singers who
simply could never just sit and listen.