.

.

The Sunday Poem  is published weekly, and strives to include the poet reading their work.

Connie Johnson reads her poem at its conclusion.

.

.

___

.

.

 

 

Real Girl  by Nellie Mae Rowe; 1980

.
High Museum of Art, Atlanta
© Estate of Nellie Mae Rowe/High Museum of Art, Atlanta

.
.

___

.

.

Nellie Mae Rowe: Of My Hand

outsider iconography / intentional complexity
what she creates is not done privately
she demands visibility

of her hand   /   art by Nellie Mae Rowe!
late-in-life-revelations / self-taught creations
like Southern jazz vignettes:

assemblage jazz
fantastical  jazz / playhouse jazz
signature  jazz 

of her hand  /  & genius in the simplicity!
she refuses to go quietly  /  into old age
or oblivion

found materials / something from
nothing!  / a celebration of things
“…that ain’t been born yet”

of her hand / handmade dolls / chewing gum
sculptures    / canvas of pencil    /  pen & ink
& it all seems to conjure:

devotional  jazz  /  knickknack jazz
phantasmagoric jazz /  Georgia- in-
the- lineage jazz

riffs of a real girl!
a heart arabesque / in a land
where life can get grotesque

for a Black girl
for a real girl  / crayon
pencil & pen 

life has begun again
God in her gift & in
every coded gem

of her hand     /    themes of transformation!
motifs of dogs  & fish  /  roses &  butterflies
beads  / marbles  /  &  mulberry trees 

“I draw things you haven’t seen…”
a divine gift!   /   radical   / complex
jazz on canvas by Nellie Mae Rowe

& there’s no need
to explain the riffs
of a woman

who once was a little girl
who dreamt of feeling
really free

.

Listen to Connie Johnson read her poem

 

.

.

___

.

.

 

.
Connie Johnson has multiple Pushcart Prize nominations for poetry. A California-based writer, she has authored Everything is Distant Now (Blue Horse Press) and I Have Almost Everything (Boats Against the Current). In a Place of Dreams, her digital chapbook (containing audio readings/personal narrative), was published by Jerry Jazz Musician. Click here to view it.

.

.

Listen to the 1953 recording of pianist Mary Lou Williams performing Tadd Dameron’s composition “Lady Bird,” with Ken Napper (bass); Allen Ganley (drums), and Tony Scott (bongos). [Legacy Recordings]

.

.

___
.

.

Click for:

Nellie Mae Rowe’s Wikipedia page

Images of works by Nellie Mae Rowe

The Sunday Poem

More poetry on Jerry Jazz Musician

“Saharan Blues on the Seine,” Aishatu Ado’s winning story in the 68th 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!)

.

___

.

.

Jerry Jazz Musician…human produced since 1999

.

.

.

.

.