Ed's Jazz Gods/Henry Miller/Ideas For Readings/

A couple of poems from
the most recent book from
Round Barn Press

Jazz Gods by Ed Coletti (January 2010)

Now available at
the San Francisco Beat Museum

or

by sending $9. (includes return postage) to

Jazz Gods, 2134 Vintage Circle, Santa Rosa, CA 95404. I'll immediately send an autographed cy.



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just one of those things
(for charlie parker)

simply another

thing

just one of
those crazy

things

purely one more of
those crazy
gossamer
wing-thing
bells-ring

things

you keep on
blowing out there,

bird!




Ornette #3 R.P.D.D.

knife blade shine
                 scratching meat off bone

riffing riffing
all round that bone
                white and pink with bone meat
                    separating from solidity

switch blade of a saxophone
slashing  sculpting
round and round
                     all round that bone


Some Previous Round Barn Press Chapbooks

Richard Krech - Some Global Positioning Dharma
Rychard Denner - Calendar of the Moon
Ed Coletti - Peace Planters & Family Matters
David Madgalene (photo) - Kali
Justin Adkins - Dream Climber
Bill Vartnaw - Postcards




...I revisited an old friend of mine, a painter in Paris.
He is definitely not what one would call a successful artist.
He is still painting in the same miserable
garret as of yore; his studio looks more like a rat's net than the workshop of an artist.
His style of painting hasn't changed appreciably since the days
when I first knew him - thirty or more years ago. All he needs by way of subject matter,
according to his own words, are a few animals - horse, dog, cow -
a few peasants, trees, sky, and water. Rarely does he sell a painting. Rarely does he have an exhibition
of his work. Is he unhappy? Is he filled with spite and envy?
Not in the least. On the contrary, he is so imbued with his mission
on earth - just to paint! - that he has taken to sleeping in his studio instead of going home to join
his family. He can't wait till morning comes and begin painting afresh. He loves what he does,
and he does it over and over again, like the variations of Bach.
In my opinion this is a successful artist, whether the world
acclaims him as such or not. 

(Henry Miller, "Paint As You Like and Die Happy - 1965)

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Rosemary Quinn

HOW TO READ A POEM

First:
From a point of stillness,
Breathe. . .
Feel your feet.
Look out and see your audience. See, and feel again.

Second:
Caress!
You chose these words (or they chose you!),
So caress each one… They are your children.
Give them space. Respect.
Give them what they need.

Some want speed. Some, volume…
Each is unique.
Do not be steady and relentless (unless you want).

Third:
W o r d s are S o u n d s… and each has (and must have) a pitch…

Which pitch
will drop that word deep
in the listener’s ear?

Fourth:
Before you read:
Read your poem again and again,
over and over,
always aloud.
Poems are meant to be spoken.
We are in the oral tradition of storytellers,
ten thousand years around the fire.

Fifth:
Lay your poem on the page.
Adjust your line lengths, type size, punctuation.
Give yourself a road map to follow.

Six:
Let each reading be new.
You have your road map now. The directions are clearly written.
You can follow on the fly.
Now…Let go!

Depending on who is in the room…
and whether or not you had coffee
or a nap
or a good night’s sleep
or a fight with someone on the way over…

depending on whether your feet hurt or are comfortable in your shoes,
your waistband too tight or your slip too loose

depending on whether you are sure
you picked the right poems, or
whether the person before you was just too damn good

depending on the espresso squeal,
who just walked in,
the baby’s cry
the coughing …

FLY! ENJOY !
This is your moment! Breathe! Don’t miss it!

Seven:
Never lift your finger from the page—to do so is to court disaster.

Instead, slide it gently down the margin.
Lift your eyes to make contact,
and return, safely, to the proper line.

Eight:
DO NOT STEP ON THE LAUGHTER.
As the laughter dies,
Raise your voice and continue.

Nine:
Say Thank you . . .

Step back . . .
Take your applause.

Enjoy. . .
You do this for love.


October 2009 Chico, CA

Ed Coletti's Recent Instructions to Himself at Readings

I will repeat the initials SDS to myself at my readings:

S  Smile.  People will be more into me and my work.

D Read Dramatically to emphasize the importance of my words.

S  Stare or look at my audience at the end of each poem
in order to let the full import Sink in.
(don't just shuffle through papers)

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Mum Halo/Blake's Motto/Jonathan Penton/

My Son

John Coletti's

Latest Book

from Rust Buckle Books

John Coletti is the author of Physical Kind (Yo-Yo-Labs, 2005), Same Enemy Rainbow (fewer & further, 2008), and now Mum Halo (Rust Buckle Books, 2010) which is available in pre-release at http://rustbucklebooks.blogspot.com/lebooks.blogspot.com/. He recently finished serving as editor of The Poetry Project Newsletter.

Mum Halo
John Coletti

ISBN 13: 978-0-9843468-0-6

102 pages, cover and interior art by Zachary Wollard

$15
$12 with free shipping

http://rustbucklebooks.blogspot.com/

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William Blake's Motto

I must Create a System or be enlav'd by another
Man's.


I will not Reason & Compare: my business is to Create."






Jonathan Penton's Motto

Never forget that beauty is destructive,

and poetry is its most destructive form.

Poets do not ask permission.

When you sing Ave Maria in the library, sing it loud.

“Deep Throat Nihilism” was first published on kagablog and later in the anthology poem, home (An Anthology of Ars Poetica) Paper Kite Press ed by Jennifer Hill and Dan Waber

Check out my two poems in Jonathan Penton's quirky journal Unlikely Stories.

Ed Coletti

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