Beale Street in Memphis is famous for it's jazz and blues clubs. Starting around May, the street is open only to pedestrians at night. Various musicians perform outside of the venues while people walk by and listen. They serve beer in large cups that could only be described as small buckets. The energy is contagious and if you play the guitar, this is one of the most inspiring places on God's green earth.

Some of the terms I used in this poem are familiar to those that play the guitar'¦ I hope this doesn't obscure the image too much for some of you.
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Dusk and a
carnival bash
blossoms
bouquets of beer
on crowded corners
barre chords collide
storming
Tennessee blues
as symphony strolls
through Beale Street.

multitudes
materialize
lured listeners
mesmerized
by a jubilee
strumming jazz
harmony with
hammer-ons
pull-offs
and slides
on Les Paul
and Gibson
guilding melodies
under inlays of
vibrating veneer.

this acoustic Mecca
beckons
echoing ecstasy
with every string
of my soul

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