John William Boone (1864–1927) world-renowned Ragtime pianist
C
my motto for life
- merit, not sympathy, wins-
my song against death.
E♭
i stroke piano’s
eighty eight mouths. each one sings
hot colors of joy
F
pentatonic black
keys raise up high into bliss,
born to sing my name
F#
whippoorwill, hawk, crow
sing madrigals for blind men.
forests blooms through each note.
G
my eyes: buried deep
beneath earth’s skin. my vision
begins in her womb.
B♭
darkness sounds like God
flowering from earth's molten tomb...
writhed wind. chorded cries.
C
rain, flower, sea, wind
map my dark horizon. i
inhale earth’s songbook
Copyright © 2016 by Tyehimba Jess. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on April 6, 2016, by the Academy of American Poets.
The light of a candle
is transferred to another candle—
spring twilight.
From Haiku Master Buson by Yosa Buson. Copyright © 2007 by Yosa Buson, translated by Edith Shiffert. Reprinted by permission of White Pine Press.
follow that airplane
of course I'm high this is
an emergency
§
giant Scots terrier
I thought I saw was known as
Taxicab Mountain
§
brown photo legend
"serene enjoyment" they suck
pipes bones crumbled back
§
night train whistles stars
over a nation under
mad temporal czars
§
round lumps of cells grow
up to love porridge later
become The Supremes
§
lady I lost my
subway token we must part
it's faster by air
§
"but it's our world"
tiny blue hands and green arms
your thought in my room
§
sweet bouzouki sound
another syntax for heads
up to the aether
§
in you the in moon
its rays entwined in my mind's
hair hangs down right in
§
viewing the dragon
there they ride slim through my dream
Carpaccio's pair
§
slow bloom inside you
the mnemonics of loving
incessant chatter
§
far shore Ferris wheel
turning glowing humming love
in our lit-up heads
§
switch them to sleep now
the flying foxes swarm out
great it's flurry time
§
wind rain you and me
went looking for a new house
o the grass grows loud
From Notes on the Possibilities and Attractions of Existence, by Anselm Hollo, published by Coffee House Press. Copyright © 2001 Anselm Hollo. Reprinted by permission of Coffee House Press. All rights reserved.