when you hear a blues harp
it sounds like a wolf howlin’,
sharp,
pointed,
bellowed,
guttural,
like an attack,
alert,
mournful animal.

those guys were
out there in
those tough territories
and those hard lives:
alcohol,
women,
despair,
poverty.
playing those things.

alert, alive, raging ears
playing those things,
explosive of their sentiments,
their lives.

able to slice
you with those things, those
hallowed instruments.

you get a ride of pain
when you feel theirs.