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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, May, features DH Jenkins’ poem “May Day.”
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May, 2026
“May Day”
by DH Jenkins
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Chris Hakkens, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Jaco Pastorius, 1980
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May Day
Window on a night street
window on a wilderness retreat;
the soft luster of falling snow
the traces of tiny bird feet.
I hear the rain of distant clouds
and put the kettle on,
sip coffee and dream,
warm feet on the wood stove.
I feel the openness of summer,
I feel the spirit of spring,
and those mornings of May
are where I want to remain—
Listening to Jaco Pastorius’
“May Day” lets me surrender
to the breeze, Beltane,
and those avenues of wonder.
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Listen to DH Jenkins read his poem
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DH Jenkins’ poems have appeared in Jerry Jazz Musician, Kinds of Cool—an interactive collection of Jazz Poetry 2025 (Unsolicited Press), The Ekphrastic Review and The Wave, Kelp Journal, as well as in Ocean Poetry Anthology 2024 (Kelp Books), Ocean Poetry Anthology 2025(Kelp Books). For many years he was a professor of Speech and Writing for UMUC-Asia, living and working in Japan and Korea. While in residence there, he received the Bylee Massey Award for a project in the Humanities, as well as the Drazek Excellence in Teaching Award. He now lives in New Zealand.
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Listen to the 1989 recording of Jaco Pastorious performing his (and Brian Melvin’s) composition “May Day.” [The Orchard]
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Click here to read Russell Dupont’s poem for June
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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:
More poetry on Jerry Jazz Musician
“Where the Music Wasn’t Allowed,” Jane McCarthy’s winning story in the 71st 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
Helping to support the ongoing publication of Jerry Jazz Musician, and to keep it commercial-free (thank you!)
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Jerry Jazz Musician…human produced since 1999
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