that first note
rose from the remains
of a broken kora
lying on soft ground
somewhere in the west of Africa
right where it fell
from someone’s hands

faced with what was happening
it did what it could

it bent

the old saying goes that
in the face of the deadly rigid
you survive
when you bend

so it bent

and slipped the bars of its cage

landed in the dank wood
of a porch pillar somewhere
foreign

stayed there
until
a nail driven into the post
to anchor a string
gave it enough room to come out

it sang along that string
until it was free enough

to get out into the moist air
and bend

you can play the blues on anything
if you understand that
the bend
is all there is to it

don’t need a lot of school
to learn how to bend
in fact

schooling can make you
forget

but the bend remembers everything
and can teach you everything

the sacred lesson

all you gotta do
if you don’t want to break
is bend

all you gotta do
to stand tall
is bend

all you gotta move through
moves for you
if you bend

the deadly rigid
has nothing for
the bend

when they strike you
put a chain on you
or a whip to you
put a rock to you
or a gun to you
slap a law on you
or a noose to you
put a break in you
or a shame in you
tell a lie on you
or rip on you
strip a pride from you
break a heart in you

even if you’re the one
doing it to you

when you can’t stand straight anymore

just recall
how far out of line
your spine can go
and still you can manage
to keep your feet on the ground

the blues is nothing
but the sound of how far
you can bend

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Likely Duende piece.  I might actually play this one myself…