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The cover of John Coltrane’s 1965 session First Meditations (released in 1977)
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Coltrane’s Still Speaking at 100
I woke up today to the news
that jazz saxophonist & legend
John Coltrane would have been
100 years old if he would have
lived this long.
Coltrane was born the same year
as John Clellon Holmes,
Lew Welch,
Robert Creeley,
Allen Ginsburg
& Neal Cassidy.
His tenor saxophone
and experimental jazz
would help define
& inspire
Beat Generation poetry & prose.
On the Road
Instead, in 1967, John Coltrane died.
He was 40 and in the best
years of his life, yet liver cancer
defined that those best years
were behind
him.
The jazz world trembled.
I climbed out of bed
and put on his classic album
“Dakar” and drank my coffee.
Today it is misting outside
and autumn is in the air.
It is darker than it has been,
colder, & more damp,
Perfect weather for
Trane’s soaring
experimental jazz.
Each note a drop of water on a tin roof
Climbing and clambering
D
…O
……W
……….N
To the slow rush gush
of the drops collaborating
& slowly combining,
then rushing along
to those gray
aluminum gutters.
The slow rush roar of Heaven
& the angels riding the clouds,
a swift drink poured out
upon the river rocks below,
just far enough away
from the house
to keep them sleeping.
I took a shower to Coltrane’s
“First Meditations”
And let the Love, Compassion,
& Joy, ease me in
Right before Consequences hit.
That is how life goes
when we are wild & free
The crazy seeps in,
And, Oh, man! Those consequences can soar!
I noticed that the voices in my head,
all of the thoughts of my youth,
and bad choices, & loves lost,
the chaos & the turmoil,
Grew silent & focused.
Coltrane’s jazz captured my mind
in a way that I had not noticed before
and silenced my crazy inside.
Perhaps it silenced his, too
Coltrane still speaks at 100
to those of us still trying
to silence the world
in us & around us,
turning our crazy
into a sweet & soaring
jazz experiment
we cautiously leave behind
on paper
Our minds shocked,
traumatized & seduced,
blown progressively harder
& faster in today’s time.
The sweet notes of life
meld together
on a rainy,
midnight café sidewalk,
letting us know
that we are still alive
creating experimental jazz
in our minds
that nobody else in the world
can hear or appreciate,
Consequences blow,
until we put a poem down on paper
Serenity follows
Maybe we will still speak
at one hundred years old,
having our words live on
in some vast, crazy experiment
that will capture
someone’s crazy & trauma
& set them free too.
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Jason A. Hendricks is an internationally published poet, writer, and former big adventure gonzo journalist residing in Auburn, Indiana. His work has been featured in over 250 different publications over the years. When not writing he pastors a local church and enjoys spending time with his wife, kids, and grandkid. He is currently working on his first book.
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Listen to the 1965 recording of John Coltrane performing his composition “Serenity,” with McCoy Tyner (piano); Jimmy Garrison (bass); and Elvin Jones (drums). [Universal Music Group]
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Click for:
A Letter From the Editor: On “The Weary Blues: Celebrating Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance”
Information about the book Kinds of Cool: An Interactive Collection of Jazz Poetry, Vol. II (featuring women poets)
“21 jazz poems on the 21st” collections
More poetry on Jerry Jazz Musician
“La Fontaine,” Ashlee Trahan’s winning story in the 72nd Jerry Jazz Musician Short Fiction Contest
More short fiction on Jerry Jazz Musician
Information about how to submit your poetry or short fiction
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