sample poems from "book club poetry"
ALL THAT JAZZ
ALL THAT JAZZ
The emotional vernacular
Of the Original Sin
The bloodstains of the nation
The enduring lament of slavery
The veil of vibrations
The music of endurance
The expression of pain
The melody of melancholia
The drum-beat of drapetomania
The chords of discontent
ALL THAT JAZZ
The notes of despair
The cacophony of The Middle Passage
The hypocrisy of 3/5 of a human
The Underground Railroad
The desperation of dissociation
The Strange Fruit of lynchings
The poll tax
The back of the bus
ALL THAT JAZZ
The poetry of Phillis Wheatley
The guidance of Harriet Tubman
The valor Rosa Parks
The sacrifice of Emmett Till
The inspiration Martin Luther King Jr.
The forthrightness of Malcolm X
The march to Selma
The bravery of John Lewis
The neck of George Floyd
ALL THAT JAZZ
The Emancipation Proclamation
The necessity of reparations
The right to Vote
The spirit of “Lift Every Voice”
The narrative of Frederick Douglass
The soul of W. E. B. Du Bois
The energy of Elijah Cummings
The election of Barack Obama
The presence of Kamala Harris
The judgement of Katanje Brown-Jackson
ALL THAT JAZZ
The Harlem Renaissance
The music of the soul
The trumpet of Louis Armstrong
The elegance of Duke Ellington
The dazzle of Dizzy Gillespie
The cool of John Coltrane
The smoothness of Miles Davis
The verve of Charlie “Bird” Parker
ALL THAT JAZZ
The Harlem Renaissance
The voice of the soul
The contralto of Marian Anderson
The lyricism of Ella Fitzgerald
The poignancy of Billy Holliday
The melody of Sarah Vaughn
The tempo of the Temptations
The ballads of Beyonce
The verses of Hip Hop
ALL THAT JAZZ
The Harlem Renaissance
The literature of the soul
The writing of Zora Neale Hurston
The visibility of Ralph Ellison
The nativeness of Richard Wright
The literacy of James Baldwin
The warnings of Audre Lorde
The words of Maya Angelou
The rhymes of Amanda Gorman
ALL THAT JAZZ
The rhythm of resilience
The harmonies of Hope
The ballad of Freedom
ALL THAT JAZZ
© Marshall S. Harth 5 March 2024 1030, 1 April 2024 1600 @ Long Branch
Poem written in anticipation of reading JAZZ A History of America’s Music
by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2000.
Anticipation: Carly
Your so vain,
You probably think this poem
Is about you!
“But you’re not quite good enough.”
“You’re just difficult enough.”
Anticipation, Emulsification
“I haven’t got time for the pain.”
And since:
“Nobody Does It Better.”
Better than you, it just seems to be:
Anticipation, palpitation, palpitation
Panic, panic attack.
And,
I haven’t got time for the pain
All you seem to do is complain
I suppose, it’s just because,
You’re so VAIN.
Anticipation, now so vacant
I haven’t got time for your pain!
© Marshall S. Harth
18 October 2018 1200
@ Long Branch
Inspired by: Carly Simon, boys in the trees: a memoir. [2015] Flatiron Press, New York, NY.
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