Tag: Poet Laureate

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Happy Birthday, Trane

Tomorrow September 23, 2021, would have been John William Coltrane’s 95 birthday. This year, after 5 years of living in Trane’s home state of NC for almost 5 years now, I finally got to celebrate his commemorate his birthday in a way that I think got me thinking again about what his life and music have meant to me.

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.

TRANE’S BLUES @ NAGASAKI

in a world where calls to prayer
are interrupted by the hot wail

of breaking bones and the rhythm
of blood spilling.

i have learned to question.

what is this way of seeing, viewing
the world through a ring of brass?

what is the sound that follows sight
whole notes blown

to be a force for good…

a drone calls me at the hour of God;
the sound is like that first hit.

the high that begins the search
more inward, than interstellar

i have found that the warm space
under sheets of sound

is my sanctuary, the calm center of a whirlwind
trapped in fire-shaped brass; every whole

note is a prison for all
the suffering I have ever seen.

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)

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More Goodness…

I had the good fortune to be on a panel as part of the Mosaic Literary Conference a few weeks ago. Ron Kavanaugh has been a literary activist and warrior for the Black literary world for a long time. One of my first published writings was published in the pages of Mosaic Magazine, so it was an honor to be on this panel with such accomplished folks: Tai Allen (moderator), Janice Lowe, and Dimitry Leger.

With thanks to NC Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green and Timothy Crowley, I have a poem included in this cool anthology that just came out. So far, I only see it listed on Amazon, but you can ask your local bookstore to get it from Chapel Hill Press. For those who are local to Chapel Hill, check Epilogue and Fly Leaf.

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Yeah, I know…

This a picture of me when we first moved to Bamako, Mali, and had just started blogging at one of my other sites BOOM For Real Bamako.

I know my website needs a little updating. I am getting to it, please bear with me. In the meantime check a few links of me reading or talking about my work

While it is an honor to have any organization support or feature your work, this reading in particular was a distinct honor to be a part of because of what this organization means to African American Poetry in particular, and American Letters in general.

This program is in support of the newly published Furious Flower anthology, Furious Flower: seeding the future of african american poetry edited by Dr. Joanne Gabbin and Lauren Alleyne. My presentation starts at 49:03, but you will miss a poetry blessing if you don’t listen to the who thing.

This is a piece I did with the Sciences Po School of Journalism in Paris , France. Thank you to Pariesa Young for reaching out to me after finding my poem Currency.

The following link is a link to the business and economy program Marketplace, it airs on NPR. Thank you to Maria Hollenhorst for finding my poem Austerity on the Academy of American Poets website. I know some writers are used to a certain type of acclaim and recognition, but for me as a poet who does not have my own collection out in the world YET, it is an honor to have my poem on this website. It is hard to put in words.

Photo by Jati Lindsay

Click here to check out the segment on Marketplace.

Last but not least, is a reading I participated in with some other amazing writers to celebrate the publication of the Carolina African American Writers’ Collective’s new anthology All the Songs We Sing edited by Lenard D. Moore with an introduction by NC Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green.
It was such an honor to not only be included in this anthology but also to be welcomed into the fellowship of the Carolina African American Writers’ Collective, so needless to say that my gratitude abounds. Thanks to Lenard D. Moore for welcoming me into the fold.

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Gratitude #1

Today I sat on a panel, called “Blacker than a hundred midnights”: Public History and Memory and the Souls of Blackfolk in the South”  with Nikky Finney, Randall Kenan, and Dr. Danielle Purifoy, moderated by Dr. Jennifer Larson here at UNC-Chapel Hill. It was a distinct honor to be a part of the conversation in such a distinguished and accomplished company.

I started my initial comments with this poem by Lucille Clifton:

why some people be mad at me sometimes By Lucille Clifton

which really set the tone for everything else I said. You really cannot go wrong with Ms. Lucille, her poetry just keeps on giving.

I have more gratitude to share, but I am going to let this sit here a moment.

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Gratitude #0

Jati Lindsay on Lens

Over the years it has been so cool to see the work of so many poets who are friends, who I have met or whose work I just love on The Academy of American Poets website (and Poetry Foundation too).

To quite honest, I never thought anything I had written would find itself there. So you can imagine how beside myself I am with gratitude and jot that 2 of my poems Austerity and Currency are now on The Academy of American Poets’ website.
One of those poems, Currecncy is included in The Next Verse Poets Mixtape Volume One: the 4 X 4 (Central Square Press) which you purchase here.