John William Boone (1864-1927) world-renowned Ragtime pianist.
C
my motto for life

- merit, not sympathy, wins-

my song against death.

Eb

i stroke piano's

eighty eight mouths. each one sings

hot colors of joy

F

pentatonic black

keys raise up high into bliss,

born to sing my name

F#

whippoorwill, hawk, crow

sing madrigals for blind men.

forests blooms through each note.


G

my eyes: buried deep


beneath earth's skin. my vision


begins in her womb.


Bb

darkness sounds like God


flowering from earth's molten tomb...


writhed wind. chorded cries.

C

rain, flower, sea, wind


map my dark horizon. i


inhale earth's songbook


About this poem
"John William 'Blind' Boone was one of the most successful pianists of his time. His motto, 'Merit, not sympathy, wins,' guided his path through music and life. The haiku here are labeled with the notes of pentatonic blues in C."
-Tyehimba Jess

About Tyehimba Jess
Tyehimba Jess is the author of "Olio" (Wave Books, 2016). Jess is the poetry and fiction editor of African American Review, a faculty member at Pacific University's M.F.A. program and an associate professor of English at the College of Staten Island.

***
The Academy of American Poets is a nonprofit, mission-driven organization, whose aim is to make poetry available to a wider audience. Email The Academy at poem-a-day[at]poets.org.


(c) 2016 Tyehimba Jess. Originally published in Poem-a-Day, www.poets.org. Distributed by King Features Syndicate