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Yusef Komunyakaa

Yusef Komunyakaa Books

Poet

Magic City

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“Title: Blue Light Lounge Sutra For The Performance Poets At Harold Park Hotel the need gotta be so deep words can't answer simple questions all night long notes stumble off the tongue & color the air indigo so deep fragments of gut & flesh cling to the song you gotta get into it so deep salt crystalizes on eyelashes the need gotta be so deep you can vomit up ghosts & not feel broken till you are no more than a half ounce of gold in painful brightness you gotta get into it blow that saxophone so deep all the sex & dope in this world can't erase your need to howl against the sky the need gotta be so deep you can't just wiggle your hips & rise up out of it chaos in the cosmos modern man in the pepperpot you gotta get hooked into every hungry groove so deep the bomb locked in rust opens like a fist into it into it so deep rhythm is pre-memory the need gotta be basic animal need to see & know the terror we are made of honey cause if you wanna dance this boogie be ready to let the devil use your head for a drum”

InspirationalPoetry
Author:Yusef Komunyakaa
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“There's a sameness about American poetry that I don't think represents the whole people. It represents a poetry of the moment, a poetry of evasion, and I have problems with this. I believe poetry has always been political, long before poets had to deal with the page and white space . . . it's natural.”

PeopleThinkingBelieveLongWholeMomentsProblemPoliticalI BelieveNaturalSpaceWhiteDealsPoetPagesSamenessEvasionAmerican PoetryThis I BelieveWhite Space
Author:Yusef Komunyakaa
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“Blue is the insides of something mysterious and lonely. I'd look at fish and birds, thinking the sky and water colored them. The first abyss is blue. An artist must go beyond the mercy of satin or water-from a gutty hue to that which is close to royal purple. All seasons and blossoms inbetween. Lavender. Theatrical and outrageous electric. Almost gray. True and false blue. Water and oil. The gas jet breathing in oblivion. The unstruck match. The blue of absence. The blue of deep presence. The insides of something perfect.”

ThinkingFirstsLooksArtistWaterPerfectSkyBirdLonelyMercySeasonsBlueFishesOilAbsenceMysteriousBreathingGasGrayElectricRoyalAbyssOblivionPurpleOutrageousJetTheatricalHueSatinLavenderTrue And FalseBlue WaterSky And Water
Author:Yusef Komunyakaa
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“Cursing themselves in ragged dreamsfire has singed the edges of,they know a slow dying the fields have come to terms with.Shimmering fans work against the heat& smell of gunpowder, making moneyfloat from hand to hand. The next momenta rocket pushes a white fistthrough night sky, & they scatter like birds& fall into the shape their liveshave become.”

KnowsHandsNightFallNextTermWhiteSkyFansDyingFieldsShapesBirdEdgesSmellMaking MoneyHeatMomentumRocketsNight SkyCursingRaggedGunpowder
Author:Yusef Komunyakaa
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“I define poetry as celebration and confrontation. When we witness something, are we responsible for what we witness? That's an on-going existential question. Perhaps we are and perhaps there's a kind of daring, a kind of necessary energetic questioning. Because often I say it's not what we know, it's what we can risk discovering.”

KnowsKindRiskResponsibleWitnessCelebrationDaringDiscoveringQuestioningExistentialConfrontationEnergetic
Author:Yusef Komunyakaa
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“I originally wanted to embrace the imagery and forthrightness of rap music. There are some interesting, dynamic voices in rap. But I find most of it irresponsible in its overt violence and commercialization of anger. As artists, we believe we can will action through language. If that's the case, we have to take responsibility for what we say.”

IfsBelieveActionWantedArtistLanguageVoiceInterestingResponsibilityCasesViolenceEmbraceRapTaking ResponsibilityImageryIrresponsibleRap MusicSome InterestingCommercializationVisual Imagery
Author:Yusef Komunyakaa
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“My great-grandfather Melvin had been a carpenter - so was my father - and they taught me the value of tools: saws, hammers, chisels, files and rulers. It all dealt with conciseness and precision. It eliminated guesswork. One has to know his tools, so he doesn't work against himself.”

KnowsValuesFatherSawsTaughtToolsRulersGrandfatherHammersFilesPrecisionCarpenterChiselsGreat GrandfatherGuesswork
Book:Blue notes: essays, interviews, and commentaries
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