MATCHBOOK: The Spinnaker (Sausalito)

in memory of Bill Evans

by Michael Harper

Adrift in your own spittle
(eyebrows on vibrato knuckles)

we are across the bay
from reality;

but reality hits in waves
and Tatum weaves

into the picture:
Pittsburgh, Bill Basie

filling in
until the man arrived.

There will be no talk
of mechanics

the smack direction
enough for any master’s

fingers, and the wrists
are flexible

as any girl;
the speed limits

on the bridge
are foggy

and out of gear:
T-birds, Mercedes

roll off Tiburon;
Mill Valley

is the papaya
of Vietnam;

French music
in your appreciation

is orchestrated
around Dien Bien Phu

because of the craft
of the French:

Pres and Bud
only alive

for awhile
because of it:

*

John Forasté © Brown University

About Michael Harper

     Michael Harper is one of America’s most celebrated poets, having received honors and appointments from artistic organizations and academic institutions across the country, ranging from National Book Award to a Guggenheim Fellowship. He is much sought after for poetic readings, guest lectureships, and visiting professorships, and served as the Poet Laureate of Rhode Island from 1988 to 1993, and as Kapstein Professor of English at Brown University.

     His poetry is highly influenced by the music he loves: jazz and blues sound through the lines and often appear as inspiration, metaphor or rhythm in individual poems. His poetry is filled with references to his past; history, experience, and family are strong inspirations which reverberate throughout his work. His ancestry, to which he refers frequently, is filled with fascinating and inspirational individuals. Paraphrasing Ralph Ellison, Harper once said: “Relatives are people that you are born into, and have no choice about them. Ancestors are people you choose.” His ancestors live on and their voices can still be heard in the lines of his verse.

– From Brown University Library