{"id":2365,"date":"2010-08-01T00:03:51","date_gmt":"2010-08-01T05:03:51","guid":{"rendered":"\/nashvillereview\/?p=2365"},"modified":"2015-02-13T12:57:31","modified_gmt":"2015-02-13T18:57:31","slug":"a-little-less-kettledrum-please","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/archives\/2365","title":{"rendered":"A Little Less Kettledrum, Please"},"content":{"rendered":"

The field commander, in his regal busby,
\n____<\/span>tosses his corded mace into the air.
\nHe, too, excites the eye. Just as the color guard,
\n____<\/span>those shako hats and twirling sabers,
\n____<\/span>____<\/span>trot out our choreographed
\ntribute to something. The Hundred Years War?<\/p>\n

Boom shaka-lacka lacka, boom shaka-lacka lacka<\/em>,
\n____<\/span>I\u2019m part of a fantail movement
\nstepping time in the eye of a peacock feather.
\n____<\/span>____<\/span>Hear me, up there in the bleachers?
\nI may be the least of all the piccolos.
\nBut mine\u2019s the tune you\u2019ll whistle as you leave.<\/p>\n

Now have all the mosquito trucks come by
\n____<\/span>____<\/span>to prepare the grounds.
\nAnd now has the unnatural grass
\n____<\/span>been freshly mowed and limed.
\n____<\/span>____<\/span>The drumline has reviewed all day
\nwheeling a battery of tympani without a glitch.<\/p>\n

If you heard a chirping flycatcher out of place,
\n____<\/span>that was not me. It was the reeds.
\nFor I save all my wind to expend uptempo
\n____<\/span>on Close Encounters of the Third Kind Theme<\/em>
\nby the maestro, Mr. John Williams.
\n____<\/span>____<\/span>We do a scramble pattern then.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when I imagine I am to be struck
\n____<\/span>by the first trombone, like a turgid wet wiener
\n____<\/span>____<\/span>thumping my shower bum
\n____<\/span>when coach averts his supervisory gaze.
\nOr, abject under the walnut tree,
\n____<\/span>he\u2019ll make me practice the Overture to Tommy.<\/em><\/p>\n

A junior who slides through valves like that,
\n____<\/span>who works the phrase with such aplomb,
\nwill surely be able to play me something
\n____<\/span>____<\/span>from the Great American Songbook,
\nbe it Body & Soul<\/em> or Jelly Jelly<\/em>. Anything will do.
\n____<\/span>Except I Can\u2019t Get Started With You.<\/em><\/p>\n

____<\/span>& just for the record I\u2019ll have you know
\n____<\/span>____<\/span>I play on the football team, too.
\nI just don\u2019t play on all of them at once.<\/p>\n

D. A. Powell<\/a><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The field commander, in his regal busby, ____tosses his corded mace into the air. He, too, excites the eye. Just as the color guard, ____those shako hats and twirling sabers, ________trot out our choreographed tribute to something. The Hundred Years War? Boom shaka-lacka lacka, boom shaka-lacka lacka, ____I\u2019m part of a fantail movement stepping time […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[13],"tags":[25],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Jypy-C9","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2365"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2365"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10125,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2365\/revisions\/10125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}