What does it say about a society that targets its elders and its children? I won’t get started because I would never stop writing…

What often helps me out of the dark holes that come for me at times that we have been experiencing, is re-visiting some powerful sermons and some of my favorite poets. I picked up  Amiri Baraka’s Transbluesency collection.  There are so many poems and ideas in this collection that have given me so much but there are two in particular that I return to. I think it is because of their humor, their audacity, their ability to move “both directions at once”, their ability to be in the present, yet speak to the past and the future.  Both “In the Tradition” and “Heathens” sit in their own section of Transbluesency.

This time it was “Heathens” because I wanted to laugh, but not the kind of laugh that turns off the critique and the anger at a system that continues to have us in the crosshairs.

Baraka’s “Heathens” take the form of his African American echo of the Japanese haiku form; Baraka called them lowcoup.
After reading I did not feel my usual sense of satisfaction, so I opened up a Word document and started writing a few… here they are

Heathens
after Amiri Baraka

Heathens think
there is only one
Amendment
To the Constitution

Heathens think
All life is sacrificial
Outside of the womb

Heathens think
hate speech
Is Scripture

Heathens think
Blood splatter
Is fine art

The post Heathens first appeared on Fred L. Joiner.

My friend and neighbor, Jazz Incognito,  (WXYC 89.3 FM Chapel Hill) has an amazing radio show that spend so much good music, invited me on his show to speak about John Coltrane, poetry, and what his work has meant to me. Not only was it a lot of fun, but I think it could be a step toward my own re-engagement with his work. Some time ago, I remember being discouraged from writing poems inspired by Jazz and Trane by some folks whose opinion I really took to heart, so I had stopped. Today, as a poet and writer, I have a little more confidence in my voice and more tools at my disposal, so perhaps I am better equipped to reflect and more fully say what I want to say about Trane’s life and music.

Here the interview I did with Jazz Incognito and a portion of the show. I encourage you to check out the whole show when it air and check out the amazing archive of shows on Jazz incognito, you won’t be sorry .

Here is one of my poems inspired by Trane and his experiences in Japan. Thanks to Kim Roberts for publishing this poem on Beltway back in 2007, it was (and still is) such a blessing to have my poems published there among writers and thinkers who love.

Here are some links to other poems I had published on Beltway
Fred Joiner: The Wartime Issue
Fred Joiner: DC Places Issue
Fred Joiner: Audio Issue

Here is a piece I wrote for Trane’s 81st birthday on the now-defunct website Everyday Citizen:

A freestyle first meditation on _being a force for good_ on Trane’s 81st birthday (done in one take) (Everyday Citizen)

The post Happy Birthday, Trane first appeared on Fred L. Joiner.