D.K. McKenzie—Warwick poet, pianist, and founder of The Poe Underground, a spoken word and music project—plays an original, improvised keyboard solo under his recording of July by Alexander Posey and Flypaper by D.K. McKenzie.

July

The air without has taken fever,

Fast I feel the beating of its pulse,

The leaves are twisted on the maple,

In the corn, the autumn's premature,

The weary butterfly hangs waiting,

For a breath to waft him thither at the touch,

But falls like truth unheeded,

Into dust-blown grass and hollyhocks.

The air without is blinding dusty,

Cool I feel the breezes blow,

I see the sunlight crowded on the porch,

Grow smaller ‘til absorbed in shadow,

And the far blue hills are changed to gray,

And twilight lingers in the woods between,

And now I hear the shower dancing,

In the cornfield and the thirsty grass.

Flypaper

Invention

fly paper reactions

silk journeys

across lunar landscapes

Sahara caravan

the backs of camels provide survival

the outfit of danger

worn with irregular symmetry

Father sun

with his sky inferno

he’s benevolent or brutal

and grants us passage through the delta

but only for a short burst of time before sending us burning

across the desert plains of Africa

Watch D.K. create his keyboard solos for July and Flypaper.

Check out ⁠The Poe Underground⁠.