When Art Tatum Played the Blues

We're forever encircled, since the heart    
Always divides against itself.      
      
Then, we become dumbstruck gulls,    
And everything scatters, before our eyes—    
As when an opponent      
      
Upsets the chessboard, and neither of us      
Can remember where the pieces go.      
      
Rather than starting over, somehow,      
We continue. Discovering a music, which,        
Separate from its melody,      
      
Guides the arrangement, through offbeats,      
To refresh old standards with discord.