“Poem for Mingus and the Fisherman’s Wife” – a poem (for April) by Miho Kinnas and E. Ethelbert Miller

March 31st, 2026

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12 individual poets contribute a jazz-themed poem dedicated to a particular month, resulting in a 2026 calendar of jazz poetry that winds through the year with a variety of poetic styles and voices who share their journeys with the music, tying it into the month they were tasked to interpret. Along the way you will encounter the likes of Sonny Stitt, Charles Mingus, Jaco Pastorius, Wynton Kelly, John Coltrane, and Nina Simone.

This edition, April, features Miho Kinnas and E. Ethelbert Miller’s poem “Poem for Mingus and the Fisherman’s Wife.”

 

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April, 2026

“Poem for Mingus and the Fisherman’s Wife”

by Miho Kinnas & E Ethelbert Miller

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Tom Marcello Webster, New York, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Charles Mingus, 1976

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Poem for Mingus and the Fisherman’s Wife

Charles Mingus is a big
bass of a man.

Dogwood blossoms vibrate
outside his studio.

Out by the ocean
seashells clap.

The water in April
is still cold.

The shoes of the fisherman’s
wife are some jive ass slippers.

 

Charles Mingus was born on April 22, 1922, in Nogales, Arizona.

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Listen to E. Ethelbert Miller read the poem

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Photo by Natasha Akery

 Photo by Marty

Miho Kinnas is the author of three poetry collections. Her latest book
is  Waiting for Sunset to Bury Red Camellias  (Free Verse Press).
E. Ethelbert Miller is the author of several poetry collections and two memoirs. His latest books include the Baseball Trilogy  (God Invented Baseball, When Your Wife Has Tommy John Surgery, and How I Found Love Behind the Catcher’s Mask)  and the little book of e  (all from City Point Press).
Miho and Ethelbert jointly wrote  Eclipse into the Other Side  (Pinyon Publishing.)

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Listen to the 1972  recording of bassist Charles Mingus performing his composition “The Shoes of the Fisherman’s Wife are Some Jive Ass Slippers” [Legacy/Columbia]

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Click here to read D.H. Jenkins’ poem for May

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Readers can click to other poems within the 2026 jazz poetry calendar by clicking on the link to the months here:

Jan/Feb/Mar/Apr/May/Jun/Jul/Aug/Sep/Oct/Nov/Dec/Intro

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Click for:

The Sunday Poem Archive

More poetry on Jerry Jazz Musician

War. Remembrance. Walls. The High Price of Authoritarianism – by editor/publisher Joe Maita

“The Sound of Becoming,” J.C. Michaels’ winning story in the 70th Jerry Jazz Musician Short Fiction Contest

More short fiction on Jerry Jazz Musician

Information about how to submit your poetry or short fiction

Subscribe to the (free) Jerry Jazz Musician quarterly newsletter

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