106 contemporary poetry
fi rearm, the poem pays homage to Coltrane as ‘black blower of the
now / The vectors from all sources – slavery renaissance / bop
charlie parker’ (p. 270 ). The poem moves quickly from short accu-
mulative rhythms to the extended swoon of longer lines. In the
following passage, jazz poetics and political protest conjoin:
nigger absolute super-sane screams against reality
course through him
AS SOUND!
“Yes, it says
this is now in you screaming
recognize the truth
recognize reality
& even check me (Trane)
who blows it
Yes it says
Yes &
Yes again Convulsive multi orgasmic
Art
Protest (pp. 270 – 1 )The iterative momentum of these lines leads to a crescendo of
sound; moreover, their visual layout on the page propels the
dynamic of the narrative. Baraka’s performance includes street
language; changes in the typeface can create the implication of
shouts and chorus. The poet incorporates the refrains of the saxo-
phonist’s music as part of his rhetorical appeal to create a radical
work that not only has relevance, but political purpose as protest.
Throughout AM/TRAK one is given a sense of an improvised per-
formance and certainly the transcription of sounds such as ‘blow,
oh honk-scram (bahhhhhhh-wheeeeeeee)’ (p. 271 ) reinforces this
impression of immediacy. However, it should be noted that, as
Gayl Jones reminds us, in jazz-inspired writing ‘the concepts
“improvisational” and “extemporaneity” are only a manner of
speaking: jazz is mastery of technique, and a superb jazz text is as
exciting a form as its musical counterpart.’^20 Baraka’s adaptation
of open form and performance are not a mere freefall of words
and sound, but carefully accumulative. Importantly, the poet has