THE SWAP.

AN UNCLE SWAPS HIS DRUM KIT FOR A COLLECTION OF BENNY GOODMAN RECORDS HIS NEPHEW HAS.

Sure, Kid, I’ll swap
My old drum kit

For those Benny
Goodman records,

Uncle Will said,
Looking at the

Collection of
Records his young

Nephew held in
His hands. All of

It? Colin asked.
Sure all of it.

I don’t play them
No more and they’re

Worth the price of
All those records,

Uncle replied,
Taking all the

Benny Goodman
Records in his

Hands. Gene Krupa
Was my hero,

You know that, Kid.
I played with some

Jazz and dance bands,
But I was not

As good as he
Was. Colin looked

At his uncle’s
Half-missing thumb,

Which he’d lost in
World War Two, and

Wondered how he
Managed to play

At all, but knew
He did because

They’d had a jam
Session once with

His uncle on
Drums and he on

His tenor sax and
His brother on

Piano, but that
Was another

Story and now
Colin, gazing at an

Old photograph,
And looking back

Over the years
Wonders what had

Happened to the
Drum kit and the

Benny Goodman
Record set and

Whether Uncle
Will still plays drums

On the other
Side of dark death.

Author's Note

PHOTO OF TERRY 1965.