The Song Inside

by Jeff McRae

You remember? Luke sees Leia 
in the real first movie while 
he’s hanging out in the garage 
setting up his horn—she pops out 
the robot and he’s like Dang, 
she’s hot and she’s all Save us, 
Obi Wan. Before he seriously 
shed chops—before dedication, 
boring as a desert. Soon 
he’s wondering whence 
this song inside? and what exactly 
is the real story about his pops—
bop killer who smoked everyone 
on the bandstand. Just legend? 
Legend doesn’t satisfy the drive 
to master mystery. Meeting
a father is epic. A father 
gives his son what he knows 
and may even reveal secrets 
only guilt caused by love 
can occasion. He’d remove 
the mask, uncover Anakin—
purveyor of smooth jazz. 
Mythology is bloodied by adults 
who can’t play together, 
but father and son would maneuver 
through any lingering dissonance 
over a couple gigs, trading fours, 
shoving and pulling against 
each other’s time—Luke all 
No man, this is how we do it now
and Vader like Join me. Someday 
the young Jedi might pull the horn 
from his mouth and listen.

Jeff McRae earned an MA in Writing from the University of New Hampshire and an MFA in Poetry from Washington University in St. Louis. Recent poems appear or are forthcoming in Aji Magazine, Salamander, Cider Press Review, The American Journal of Poetry, Midwest Quarterly, and elsewhere. He lives in Vermont.