Wednesday, May 27, 2009

for robert kaufman


for bob kaufman
"adapting the harmonic complexities &
spontaneous invention of bebop to poetic
euphony & meter, he became the
quintessential jazz poet."
raymond foye
when i read your poems i fell in awe;
if only i could write that way.
yr exquisite lines in the golden sardine
took my breath away.

private, surreal & misunderstood,
beloved bomkauf to friend & fan,
u’d poet at cars or in north beach bars,
the original bebop man.

u screamed yr wild & jazzy verse
in the coffee shops in my brain;
to the sultry strains of a saxophone
u spoke to me of an ancient rain

& solitudes crowded with loneliness,
yr poignant dadaist call --
our american rimbaud & original beat
the greatest of them all.

Joseph McNair; 2009

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