These Are My JOTtings, Part #2

Saudade: "The Lost Tuba Player"

Heavy metal through those youthful days.
A tuba made of brass around my neck
attended me when marching cold or hot.
What joy in music made, though the body was a wreck!

Marching practices were awfully long.
Halftime shows and parades kept on point
the mind and soul of low brass notes,
while polyester burned each limb and joint.

The captain of the band, a senior on his way,
the greatest of acclaim to end his high school Day
was the John Philip Sousa Senior Bandsman Award.
Still, it bears honor in his home on display.

A freshman, he in '78 in a college marching band,
the Sound of the South of Troy State U.
What a year of making music great!
Too soon sadly, it was through.

But still the tuba, that dear friend,
he played in a community band.
He shared a concert on a flatbed truck
parading throughout the land.

He moved so many miles away
to finish his college days new.
A teacher he was soon to be,
though more concerts with his tuba to do.

His last great claim to fame he saw as a tuba player rare
was on a concert stage beside a piccolo player there.
The break-strain played of "The Stars and Stripes Forever"
of low and high together.

But then 'twas gone, that large, dear friend.
The tuba player was lost.
No more great concerts with a band
for music has its cost.

For now, life must be lived for others.
A job to work, that all may eat.
The youthful days of music were gone.
His tuba skills did not a profession meet.

What thoughts do waft! What concerts not played!
What honors unknown for no days on parade!
How faded those days! What loss for the heart!
His tuba remains a great Joy, once obeyed.

He tried, once again, just a few years ago now
to find and to play a great tuba, a friend.
A practice or two, maybe three, then 'twas o'er.
The mouthpiece he shelves for this mem'ry to mend.

Maybe that was quite all he was needed to do,
hold this large rotund friend his youthful days through.
He still cries and salutes when this Sousa march peals
as he stands on his feet with a mem'ry that's real.

by Jay O'Toole
on April 20th, 2020