Lady Day by J. Patrick Lewis

Lady Day
by
J. Patrick Lewis

Billie Holiday
1915-1959  

On “Blue Moon” nights I love to hypnotize
Strangers in smoky nightclubs just like this,
“Too Marvelous for Words” in “Them There Eyes,"
They swoon like I was “Prelude to a Kiss.”
“Nice Work If You Can Get It.” What I’ve got,
Oh, no, “You Can’t Take That Away From Me.”
It’s “All Or Nothing At All”—or maybe not—
“I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues” off-key.
“What Is This Thing Called Love?” I cannot find
It in a blessed note a Lady sings.
A life mistreated treats you so unkind,
Left me with “Just One of Those (Crazy) Things”—
A voice that Harlem toned and living tuned,
A voice I carry with me like a wound.