Dear John, Dear Coltrane (Poetry from Illinois)

Hipster cool. Free jazz evocations dripped along the page, Michael Harper exudes the essence of life and truth with poems about musicians, life, emotions, th essence of being black. Smart, lean, raw without being rough, DEAR JOHN, DEAR COLTRANE is urban and urbane, a thin tome for those who prefer suggestion that leave room for the mind to wander -- and exact detail with room for the music of the poetry to rise up.Think a sophisticated Bukowski reaching for the stars and the thrill of a sax line. Heady stuff that brings to the reader as is their own experience... and delivers based on lives lived and imagined.

First read this book not too long after the first publication. I am replenishing my literature collection and I had to have this book. I always loved it and the poem on Coltrane is magnificent.