Word Garden Word List--Ishmael Reed

 

Why the Black Hole Sings the Blues

Hello my little carolers! Every morning I get a "Poem-A-Day" via email from The Academy of American Poets. Honestly, a great many of them aren't very good in my opinion. Some of them are prosey. Some of them are badly written. Some of them are dull or overwritten. But once in a while there is a gem. I had never heard of Ishmael Reed until they sent me his poem A Black Genius. So good.

 ^{His mother responds to her “genius” son}

I’m familiar with your
Prestige, your honorary
Degrees your name
Mentioned on the news
Thousands eager to
Hear your views

An Avedon took your
Photo, a prime minister
Read your books
Your spouse admired for
Her depth and Intellect
Your children
For their good looks
Your poetry is known
From Judith’s library
In Maine to
Scholz Garten in the state
Of Texas
But two of your
Brothers own
Black Cadillacs and
And another brother
Owns a Lexus  

I immediately ordered his collection Why the Black Hole Sings the Blues, containing poems written between 2007 and 2020, as well as his longer tour de force The Jazz Martyrs. This volume deals with jazz music, the difficulties the famous jazz stars faced, racism, interpersonal relationships, the issues surrounding aging, as well as the odd humorous poem. Reed writes in an interesting style, sometimes using rhyme, sometimes not, sometimes sounding street, other times scholarly. He can do it all. 

Ishmael Reed

Ishmael Reed is a poet, a professor, an essayist, a novelist, and a jazz aficionado and a musician. I hope you'll check him out!

What we do here is to use at least 3 of the 20 words provided in a new original poem of your own. Then simply link up, visit others, and then sit back and listen to some righteous jazz. 

And now, your List:

Belmont Stakes

blues

bully

claws

cold

combustible

cooking

guts

jazz

jewels

lemon

musical

peppermint

predicted

puny

rhymes

rope

seventies

sugar

toy