David Lohrey

A Love Supreme

Do you know it? The love or the music? 
One rarely gets both, but some do. You’ve 
seen them. You’ve gotten nothing and they
have both. Love and music. Throw in some
money and, we could say, they have it all.

I do not. Not that I have not tried.
I have been on that bench unlacing my skates.
I have received the low scores that broke Tanya’s 
heart. Tanya Harding had a tough life. Tanya
never knew privilege. 

You know you are not on the receiving end
when people start spitting in your mouth.
Many know sadness. If you have not, you should
consider yourself lucky. Some are foolish enough 
to take all the credit for their well-being. 

These people are delusional. These people
are semi-conductors. They do not stand before
the symphony at rehearsal. They stand at the side.
They are in the hive but not beside the queen.
The thrum of life keeps them going. 

There is no time to waste. The bees follow each other
into the box. They crawl. They chomp at the bit.
They fall. My name is Miss Derby and we are in
Kentucky. Stand on the scale. Lower your britches.
How many years have you been racing?

John Coltrane built statues. He worked in bronze.
He made the Taj Mahal. He installed dishwashers.
Coltrane sang in braille. Everything he shipped, went 
First Class. Remember that. Air Mail, not bulk. One
note at a time, sent to each and every one of us.

The buzz blocks the music. The hive thrives on silence.
Coltrane played a music that lulled the bees. He composed.
He annulled. He excavated. He killed. Then he rested.
Everyone who has listened knows the terms of his contract. 
Like His Master, he bowed to none.




David Lohrey’s plays have been produced in Switzerland, Canada, and 
Lithuania. His poems can be found at Expat Press, Terror House, Stickman 
Review, Dead Mule, and Open Arts Forum, alongwith the University of 
Alabama, Illinois State, and Michigan State University.  His fiction appears 
in Storgy Magazine, Terror House Magazine, and Literally Stories. David’s 
first collection of poetry, Machiavelli’s Backyard, was published in 2017. 
His newest collection, Bluff City, appeared this month, published by 
Terror HousePress. 
 
 

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