In A Sentimental Mood

To: Coltrane and Ellington

The emotions
struggle against the confinement
of thoughts before spoken.
Pre-existing words strangle and
dull the sentiment.
Feelings only pure in my head
that put me into a certain frame of mind,
take me to a certain place in time,
inexplicable by the rigidity of any language.
People want to understand how I’m feeling
and all I can tell them is:
“Listen to the song.”