Studio8 - Uniting the Arts

On the way home,
listened to Langston Hughes’
blues poems, sax wailing,
his voice exhaling truths
on the radio. I so
wish you had heard him roar!
Jazz beats, pedal to the floor,
revving a fervent engine.
That dude is legend!

Looking for freedom.
Not much freedom for awhile,
at least not on the Big Screen
until told we have troops fighting
for freedom, and that made sense, so I
went to bed almost believing in freedom
at some point in the last 2 or 4 centuries.
But what happened in the sixties (and the
forever twenties, thirties, forties, fifties and
seventies) kind of wrecked everything after
the big wars, though I can't be sure. Jack
should have never hung around in those
neighborhoods trying to get the blues
and the jazz and all that.

the real deal
changed a lot of lives
he had a contemporary in baltimore
called himself Slangston Hughes
I met him at a couple at readings
he was cool...but I never liked that moniker he chose
seemed sacrilegious
because what you heard in the car
shouldn't be messed with
imho

Mnaz... who’s Jack? Friend of Langston’s?

Saw... yeah I heard of that guy’s handle. Never heard his poetry though. I agree with you.

Kerouac. (Almost) a contemporary..

Aha! That’s who I thought you meant. Not really contemporaries I don’t think but that’s ok. I’m very certain Hughes must have influenced him.

Hughes was 1930s right? Kerouac was 1950s?

Yes. Jack was about 24 years younger. The connection was jazz. Jazz and poetry. Jazz poetry ...

My fave!!! Love it!

raised by his grandmother, supported in his creativity, hughes still speaks to us. powerful, simple language. direct messages.
His work is taught in our nation-wide literature curriculum.

thanks, doreen, for sharing your soul delight