I use this page to post a variety of pieces, both those just out of the sluice, and older pieces that feel fresh to me at the moment. I generally keep them up for a month, or a few at the most.
Look for new poems (and more) at the start of each month.
Haiku for Missy Church (new in August)
Written to a Young Jazz Quintet (new in June)
Written to a Student Tentet at California Jazz Conservatory (new in June)
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This one leaked out in August during an On26 generative writing session.
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ghost
How can I touch you, ghost,
when you appear so briefly then are gone?
How can I let you know the tender
breath I send to you?
When you return, and you do,
a flash of sense invading all my nerves,
how can I make you stay, how can I
stop you on your quiet way?
My breath, my candid life is yours
if you so like, if you so be,
but while the hegemony of flesh resides
I do not know if you will ever see
my true expanse, the taciturn refrain
obscured by all the clamor of my veins,
my silly heart. Please come, my ghost,
upon me in my restless sleep
so you might drink the gist of my repose
and there encounter all that is not me
but that which I might be in our abide.
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During the Identity Crisis reading in July on the patio of First Edition in Uptown Oakland, I found myself writing a haiku to haiku-maven and end-of-life doula Missy Church, author of (not surprisingly) Death Haiku from Collapse Press. To wit:
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Haiku for Missy Church
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For June I’m offering a couple of ekphrastic pieces written while listening to live jazz at the California Jazz Conservatory. This time the best ones were descriptive rather than abstract. Here’s the first one.
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Written to a Young Jazz Quintet, Berkeley, CA, May 13, 2023
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the guitarist grimaces
……….mouthing words that
………………..aren’t there
……….playing like an angel
the bassist lanks
……….their way across
………………..the universe
……….on a single fretboard
the drummer flails
……….and storms
………………..then glides
……….a gentle rain
the alto lives inside his sax
……….keys play his fingers
………………..and the neck the reed
……….draw his breath
& the tenor most still
……….mystery of blinking eyes
………………..blows an absolute
……….miracle
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Here’s another ekphrastic that leaked out of a jazz concert at the California Jazz Conservatory. Yay!
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Written to a Student Tentet at California Jazz Conservatory, Berkeley, CA, May 13, 2023
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And the child pipes
into the song
because music of course
who could help?
— peep — beep —
and the child
wants to dance
squirming in dad’s arms
— Let her dance!
because what else
…— peep —
…………— woooo —
…down the scales
and the child
slides with it
there go those hands
…— woooo —
into the rise
rise child rise
because music
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Here’s a sculpted piece about rain and warfare that I wrote at a piano recital recently. Since I can’t figure out how to format sculpted pieces in this silly wordpress thingy, I’ve scanned and pasted the pages in below. The probably read better if you click on each one to see the full size (then hit the back button to return to the page).
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The Bay Area lost a much-loved foundation-rock poet on March 6, Jeanne Lupton. I only tend to write memorial pieces if one wants to leak out. This one wanted to leak out.
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TANKA QUEEN
for Jeannie Lupton: rest peacefully, woman
–to the tune of some song–
If your mind ain’t all it could be now
This girl will make it fine
If your heart could use a boost or two
Just give her five lines
She’s the gypsy, the tanka queen
Silence before she starts
She’s the gypsy, she’s guaranteed
To give you a younger heart
Give her the room and then the floor
Leave your self behind
You may cry and you may roar
Her song will fill your mind
She’s the gypsy, the tanka queen
Silence before she starts
She’s the gypsy, she’s guaranteed
To gently take your soul apart so that you can see how it works then carefully put it back together
Gather your wits and hold on fast
Your mind must learn to roam
Just as the gypsy queen must do
You’re gonna hit the road
Her work is done and there you are
More alive than when you came
More you than you have been before
And maybe even sane
She’s the gypsy, the tanka queen
Silence before she starts
She’s the gypsy, she’s guaranteed
To gently take your heart and mind and soul apart so that you can see how lovely they are then with great care put them back together
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