Reading response 11/17

Reading response 11/17

Amiri Baraka, author of “Suppose Sorrow Was a Time Machine” visualizes his own family’s history of racial violence and takes his readers through that history. Baraka starts the short story by presenting his grandfather, Tom Russ. He states, “Say that you are Tom Russ. It is Dothan, Alabama, U.S.A. 1898. You are a Negro who has felt the ground vibrate, and you are trying to interpret the vibration. You are trying to interpret the vibration, and what it means in 1898 Dothan” (1). This quote seems to have a deep meaning in terms of the repetition and the use of word “vibrate”. The author wants to emphasize the vibration that is constantly brought up in the story. I think the vibration is representing the ambition, determination, and dreams that Tom Russ had. He faced a lot of struggles but he never gave up on his dreams. His store was burned down the first time and he rebuilds it and the second time it was burned down, he rebuilds it again (1). He didn’t run away from his city or his family when he started facing these challenges. He ended up leaving when they burnt the store again for his family. It states “Your unborn grandson says leave this pisshearted town, Tom” (2). They were trying to tell him that there are vibrations anywhere he goes because it all starts with him. If he has the determination to succeed, he will. Baraka states “A vibration can carry a man a long way” (2). This quote really stood out me because it shows that as long you have the ambition inside you, you will always be able to succeed to reach your goals.

Throughout the story, it feels like Baraka is taking us through a timeline of family’s history. He starts off in Alabama and makes his way to Pennsylvania and then New Jersey. From 1898 all the way to 1943, we are able to see a sequence of events that occurred in his family throughout the years.

I was able to make a connection to David Henderson’s “Sun goddess”. In both writings, the authors write in prose and use short, blunt rhythms in the beginning a paragraph. The overall similarity between the two is the reflection on the authors own life and the image of empowerment. In “Sun goddess”, the single mother’s struggles was the topic and she never gave up. In this short story, Tom Russ’ struggles was the topic and he was able to overcome them. Both of the characters were very powerful in spite of the challenges they faced.

Suppose Sorrow Was a Time Machine

    "Suppose Sorrow Was a Time Machine" by Amiri Baraka a short, fictional story about the racial tension living in Dothan, Alabama as a African American. It was very obvious they were not treated fairly in this racist state. They tried to run them out you see this in the beginning of the story: "The store is burning, Tom. They have burnt your store, Tom. What does it mean? Is the burning another vibration? Interpret this one, Tom. Let your unborn grandchild know what his dead, whistling grandfather thought of the burning. If I were you, Tom, I would have cried. Did you cry, Tom? No, I suppose not. Not with the vibration still moving the ground in front of you". ( Baraka 1)

    Baraka uses the word "vibration" throughout this short story. Can it mean his emotional state or the atmosphere, and how it is felt by others? This story takes you on a journey from Dothan, Alabama, to Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania and finally Newark, New Jersey. You see the struggles they have overcome from their store being burnt down twice in Alabama, and starting a new life in Pennsylvania where they are more at peace and then moving to New Jersey and owning two stores. Baraka's journey shows the struggles his family has been through and how they have conquered  every hurdle they were given. 

    This short story is very political as is his poetry it deals with a lot of racial discrimination, and how African Americans were treated unfairly, it deals with struggles and overcoming them, power and music. The impact of this story is in the witnessing, the looking back, the looking forward, the emptiness of loss, and the fullness of knowing Baraka was a witness to it all. It is through witnessing that we provide history with value. 

Amiri B

    From what I’m understanding during the reading is that black business were being distorted. Black business are getting burnt down. It seems that the people in this story are in disbelieve.The author brought up the past about negro being treated bad. The another talks about the times before he was born and the times when he was born. What I don’t understand is what he means by “vibrations”. The word “vibrations” is used most paragraphs of this story. I think it means peace among black people. This peace may have something to do with the Black Arts Movement. I see a lot of racial encounters about black people. Black people seems to be called “niggers”. For example, “Three Negros, 2 with horns, the third with a battered drum” (Pg 3). It seems like a lot of violence involving black people. 

The characters in the story are we well connected with each. Toms and Russ are the main characters in the story. These characters seems like the going thought the struggle of being black in this time. Whats interesting is that seems in the story the author is going back in time. For example, “Here is Newark, New Jersey 1925. Can’t haut  walks for all movement between me and the ground” (Pg 2). I thought this quote was an good example about  how the author brings up the past. I see the word “enlightenment" is mention in several paragraphs. This could be an important message for the black community. Again this connections to the black arts movement. Inspired to see that their is problems in the black community dealing with violence and much more.

I think a lot of times as was reading the author beings up the past as example to describe his feelings in the black community. I think the author is the racial discrimination is still a problem. I think he feels it doesn't mean anything just because black people are free. I think the author creates this story to how people how he feels thought literature. I’m wondering does this type of story has to deal with people he knew? Why would his story important now? Is this story important ?

Reading Response 11/17

The opening lines in "Suppose Sorrow was a Time Machine", by Amiri Baraka, instantaneously lay down this premise of racial tension. Baraka says, "Here is Dothan, Alabama, USA, 1898. This is of value. What is to be said about the place, Dothan, and the time, 1898. It is of value, but it doesn't matter what becomes of the telling, once it is told." If you think about the fact that Baraka is black, the title of the book, and what he just said about the location, Alabama, a racist southern state, it is quite clear this is going to be a story about the struggles of racial battles his family fought around the turn of the century. He keeps talking about his Uncle Tom, which I think might be a symbolic reference to the anti slave novel, "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and the journey of slaves and just Africans in general in the US.

Baraka keeps mentioning these "vibrations" that Tom feels, and I think those represent the struggle Tom went through. Kind of like an earthquake, where the vibrations can shake your world and bring it down but you can rebuild, and that's exactly what Tom did. His store gets burned down and he builds a new store so quickly to show that he's not scared of racists. But when the racists burn the new one down and he rebuilds a third building, making it bigger and better than the last, but the racists burn this down again and Tom is forced to head north. This shows the persistence Tom had, even though his world was constantly knocked down he rebuilt to show the racists he was strong. But when they face racists in Pennsylvania they head even further north to New Jersey where Tom finds himself holding political power. I think Tom feels this is the only way to change things, to do it the proper way. This really reminds me of the Jackie Robinson story. They chose Jackie Robinson to be the iconic baseball player who would change the rules of the game forever because they knew he would do the right thing and not fight back even though he really wanted to. He had to show the world how disgusting racism really was, and he did just that.

Baraka keeps mentioning Tom's grandson. I think he does this to build up this story of Tom's grandson only to have it be shattered in the end. I think that Tom died in Alabama after someone hit him over the head and the whole story is hypothetical. It leaves the reader with this kind of sour taste in their mouth because you realize that these racists are killing the innocents of the future. I think that was the bigger picture in this story. Hatred doesn't have a positive impact on things and this story proves just that.

Reading Response 11/17

“Suppose Sorrow Was a Time Machine” by Amiri Baraka is a fictional story where the future speaks to the present about the past. Tom Russ is the grandfather of the narrator, who speaks to his grandfather in his “post-prebirth enlightenment” pg2. The narrator talks about vibrations that give Tom uneasiness due to its uncertainty of where they were coming from and their exact meanings. Throughout the story, these vibrations are filled with aspirations, dreams, hope and history. Before the 1890’s there was not a need for African Americans/Blacks to worry about such things because they were enslaved. So these vibrations were more of a rumbling of the soul and an awakening of the mind of the once oppressed now freeman of what their future held.

Like Baraka’s Blues People, these vibrations transcend just like the work song evolved into spiritual song that later became blues than transformed into Jazz.  Tom’s evolution from Dothan, Alabama (south) in 1898 to Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania in 1917 and finally further up north to Newark, New Jersey in 1925 represent the same migration African music has taken in the US. The vibrations (work songs) in Dothan were still vibrations in Newark but with a different meaning, this is seen when the narrator talks about the rebuilding of Tom’s store and it “wasn’t really any store at all, only the insane intensity of your vision” pg1, just like he was still a black business owner in Alabama as in New Jersey but with different liberties.

           

The narrator uses vibrations as a vehicle to explore life at a time were Negros even though oppressed, they never had to worry about being self sufficient and independent, but with slavery being abolished the time had come for them to forge there own identities and think not only about their futures but the futures of their children and their children’s children. When Tom and Anna move to Pennsylvania his thoughts are finally about his lineage, using “street” speech, “send my grandson’s mother to college. She’s got to know ‘bout them vibrations”.pg2

Amiri Baraka has a way of using music as the background and foundation to explain the empowerment of the black culture.  He writes “one vibration can carry a man a long way if he knows just how to handle it”pg2, meaning that Tom Russ could have given up in Alabama after the first burning of his store or even the second but music that he knew in the south was doing something of its own in the north and he was in the hopes of finding out “what part of the world is fashioned in my image”. Pg2

At the end when Tom is lying in the hospital dying, the narrator wants more of him but there is nothing left to give. Tom has given his all but his story will not die with him he’s been talking to his unborn grandson who will feel the vibrations too but his won’t be musical but instead literary!!!

Reading Response 11/17

"Suppose Sorrow was a Time machine" by Amiri Baraka, discusses the way in which  Baraka draws back to his family. The speaker narrates his grandfathers life and tells him about the obstacles he faces. He is having a conversation with his grandfather named Tom Russ.Throughout the story Baraka describes a series of events that  happened to his family. For instance an act of violence that occurred to the family was when Tom store got burnt in Dothan Alabama because the people were trying to get him to run away. Despite these dilemma, he still managed to fix his store. It got burnt again the second time and still fixed it. This is evidence of racism because it showed the struggles that African Americans went through. They were treated very unfairly. I think the author wants an interpretation of what his daily struggles meant from his grandfather. He states "Look how the boy looks at you, Tom. He looks scared. smile at him, Tom. Just a tiny smile of recognition. brighten this bleak rust room. Show him the suns you used to carry around your pocket. Whisper something funny to him, Tom. Did you know he was your grandson, Tom. Did you know he fell down on the floor and screamed and kicked his feet when they said they were taking you to this loony pen..Have you no feelings for the child?" According to the author, Tom is his hero. He looks up to him to gain satisfaction through the past and present struggles in his grandfather's life. His only desire is be acknowledge by Tom. The authors uses repetition with the word vibration. Perhaps, the vibrations in the speaker's life may represent his struggles or his determination to bring about a change in his life. I think this story is similar to David Henderson's "Sun Goddess" because both are written in prose. Similar to "Suppose Sorrow was a Time machine", I can conclude that the speaker is strong and powerful  because he kept rebuilding his store even after it got burnt. "Sun Goddess" also describes a black woman who is still powerful despite the obstacles she faced.  Both works emphasize the idea of being strong; the determination to fight and overcome obstacles.

Amiri Baraka's "Suppose Sorrow Was a Time Machine"

Amiri Baraka’s short story, “Suppose Sorrow Was a Time Machine,” is about the racial discrimination that existed in Baraka’s family history. The story begins with Baraka introducing his grandfather, Tom Russ to his readers. Tom Russ lived in Dothan, Alabama during the year of 1898 and Baraka demonstrates a feeling of resentment towards him throughout the story. I was able to feel this animosity between Baraka and Tom Russ by the way Baraka speaks to Tom in the story. I noticed that Baraka used first and second point of view, in order to make his story feel as if he is talking to Tom.  For example, he uses second person when he says, “I know you Tom. You are my grandfather” (1). He then uses first person on page two, “I sit here and see Tom smiling at me, winking, knowing full well I hear everything he’s saying.” In the last paragraph of his story though, the story is told in the perspective of his mother saying, “Did you know he fell down on the floor and screamed and kicked his feet when they said they were taking you to this looney pen” (3). In addition, Baraka includes his poetic techniques in his short story by using repetition, short sentences, and words that imitate sounds. Also, his story is written almost in the form of a timeline. Baraka begins with describing Toms’ life in Dothan, Alabama but then moves on to different settings and time periods.  

            There were two thought-provoking scenes in the short story that I thought were meaningful to the message Baraka is trying to get through to his readers. One of the scenes appears in the beginning of the text, when Baraka says, “How obscure is enlightenment? As obscure as dust kicked up on a path nobody walks on, as obscure as birds falling off trees with no god to catch them. All this is O.K, Tom, but what about the unholy bastards who are killing you?” (1). I interpreted this quote as Baraka’s complaining to his grandfather about the way he responded to vibrations he knew about.  In the story, “vibrations” seem to refer to racial violence. Therefore, Baraka is upset by the way his grandfather accepted racial violence. Later on in the short story, we also discover that Tom dislikes Baraka’s father.  Baraka says, “Tom looks him up and down and asks him is he a good man. This is my father who nods and slides his arm around Tom’s daughter. Tom wonders will I look like him, and I nod yes, and he is satisfied and takes out his cigars and chats about the depression” (3). After reading this I got the impression that perhaps Tom did not approve of Baraka’s father because of his skin color. His wish was to have a grandson that reflected himself but instead Baraka came out looking more like his father. This disappointed Tom and he decided to maintain a cold relationship with Baraka. At the end of the short story, we see how Tom’s daughter begs for his acceptance of her son but Tom dies without doing so. It is sad to see how Baraka had affection for his grandfather but his grandfather did not have any for him because of racial discrimination. 

Suppose Sorrow Was A Time Machine

“Suppose Sorrow Was A Time Machine,” by Amiri Baraka is sort of a time line about his grandfather’s life. This story is written as if Baraka is speaking to his grandfather and he is telling him about his struggles and how he manages to over come them. For example, the first part takes place in Alabama where Tom is the owner of a store. Some people burn the store because they are trying to run him out of town. Tom doesn’t let this get to him and quickly rebuilds and fixes his store. His store is then burnt a second time, and again he manages to rebuild his entire store. Baraka wants to know what all of this means and wants his grandfather to interpret this for him. The rest of the story is written in a similar way, where they mention their location and the different things that happen in this location.

            One line that stood out to me was “ you are a Negro who has felt the ground vibrate, you are trying to interpret the vibration.” Another one that stood out to me was “A vibration can carry a man a long ways.” I think that these lines are essential to the story because in a way, its what the reader is trying to do. The reader is trying to interpret what this vibration means. At some parts of the story I thought the “vibration” was referring to his struggles but at others I felt like it was referring to the music inside of him or his determination.

            I think that this writing piece is very similar to David Henderson’s short story “Sun Goddess.” Both of them use the same style in some ways. For example both of them start with a same short line. They also both use the same idea of someone who is strong who over comes something. They have a sense of freedom and they also use music. In sun goddess the main character listens to jazz music that over powers her. In this story Tom says “tah tah tat , tah, yippee, hoorah, Tom Russ, Tom Tuss.” He is referring to himself in the music and using it to express himself.

            The only thing that I was unsure of was the ending of the story. It was a bit unclear as to what was going on.

Reading response 11/17

The story "Suppose Sorrow was a Time machine" by Amiri Baraka, is about how Baraka retracts his own family's history, as African Americans, and points out how emotional and full of racial violence it was. Throughout the story Baraka creates a timeline of events that occurred to his family. The story begins with the author having a rhetorical conversation with his grandfather, Tom Russ. The author mentions many acts of violence against Tom and his family. "All this is O.K, Tom, but what about the unholy bastards who are killing you? I hear they dropped a street light on your bald head and scattered your brains." Personally, I think that the author tracks down the history of his grandfather's life because he gets a satisfaction from knowing, from comparing and contrasting the past and the present. The author wants to be recognized by his grandfather because  he looks up to him and all that he went through. The author wants to be acknowledge by Tom. "Look how the boy looks at you, Tom. He looks scared. Smile at him, Tom. Just a tiny smile of recognition. Brighten this bleak rust room. Show him the suns you used to carry around your pocket. Whisper something funny to him, Tom. Did you know he was your grandson, Tom. Did you know he fell down on the floor and screamed and kicked his feet when they said they were taking you to this loony pen. Did you know that in only a few years hell recognize you as his "before everything conversationalist" and want to go to wherever it is you'll want to go after just a short detour. Just a phrase, Tom.... Have you no feelings for the child?"

The part of the story that I did not understand was the "vibration" that was contentiously mentioned throughout the story. Baraka used a lot of repetition in the entire piece. His writing is political because it illustrates racism and how African Americans were treated unfairly. In the story, the narrator mentions how Baraka's store was burned down to pieces various times yet he continued to rebuild it and it became well known among other African Americans in Dothan, Alabama.

Assignment for Monday

For Monday, please read "Suppose Sorrow Was a Time Machine," a short story by Amiri Baraka (a.k.a. LeRoi Jones, author of Blues People). It is very short--only 5 pages long. Write a regular blog response to the story, to be posted by 8pm Sunday. In your response, please try your best to make connections between the story and the ideas we covered during our last two class sessions.

the kid. Frank Sanchez

I found Henderson's poems very moving and even relatable to today's society. For example, his poem, "the kid", touches the topic of discrimination which many African-American in the Lower East Side had to encounter. Having studied in the Lower East Side I can understand the frustration and relate to the discrimination of the authorities towards minorities.

The poem carries itself as a spoken word video. I have seen many videos on youtube that has some slow and motivational music playing in the background while someone gives a motivational speech and this poem or words would fit perfect with some motivational background music. Although this poem doesn't rhyme enough to be some sort of rap song, it does have some moments here and there when it does have lines that rhyme. For example, after being stopped by the authorities the young man walking with an open bottle of wine responds to the cops when asked if he has anyone to call, "One bottle of wine. No one call to call mine". Henderson also utilized repetition as well that made this poem very spoken words like. When the authorities started to interrogate the young man he simply responds, "I ain't got no money-- and I ain't got not job-- I ain't got no home-- and I ain't got no one to call my own"; the repetition here being the I ain't got putting much emphasis to what the young kid lacks.  

Henderson's poems always have some message behind them and this poem definitely is attacking major problems with society. One of the issues Henderson is attacking is the discrimination by authorities against African-American. This young man is simply walking down the streets, yes definitely with an open bottle of wine and is drunk, and they decide to stop and frisk him. Nonetheless, the authorities then start to contemplate if they should take him in or not like if taking people to jail is a game and they decide based on their own personal judgment. Another issue that can be raised by reading this problem is that because of the social construct of the society African-Americans are being suppressed by the authorities and not given a chance to get out of such society. We can clearly see that African-Americans do no have the abilities to get out of such society and are being suppressed when the officer are contemplating taking the young boy to jail and he simply replies that it is not a big deal if he goes to jail or not which paints a picture that it's something that normally happens in his community.

Good Joanna

                                                 Woman on fire

       The characteristics of the poem that I see reflected in Henderson's other poems are imagery, free verse and a paradox of unity vs separation.  In majority of his poems he uses the phrase "we" referring to a bigger whole,  reaching out to his ethnic community.  For most part, the language used in most poems is ordinary; nothing too fancy or hard to comprehend. Henderson fails at creating a genuine pattern that can be recognized in his poetry.  However, his poetry is infused with Jazz and other political issues.  The context dictates the form his poems take. Majority of poems are written in prose with no strict structure,  there's not much rhythmic patters in them.  Anaphora can be found in the poem "Good Joanna" as well as imagery and hyperbole.  The language used in this poem can be considered romantic. Words such as candlelight, fire,hot, and red gives the poem a tone of intimacy. Hyperbole is used for most part, "Her red hair turned to fire", "...sun had fallen from the sky into his eyes" these examples allows the reader to create an image of the passionate experience being described in the text.  I assumed this so called "good Joanna" represented his lover or a mistress, yet there's no further information to support my inferences.  There's a sense of urgency in the poem,  of being one yet being strangers to one another.  The second part of the poem consist of a much more explained account of his personal experience.  They are drunk, they are drinking liquor , they are dancing. I find certain warmth and comfort in Henderson's words.  there is something so beautiful about this poem, perhaps the way its written.  The word "blue" is mentioned several times, which can link to the type of music they were dancing to.   Perhaps Henderson's poetry might lack a certain pattern because he was improvising just like Jazz music.  Henderson states "every tree in the forest burns alone", this phrase left me intrigued.  

Reading Response 11/12

When I read Henderson's poems I read them with the some what lackadaisical attitude. Even though his poems are about the exact opposite. He tends to write about being active, whether that be about working or about going around the city and enjoying observing the views. All his poems are about an experience, and what is interesting is the fact that he constantly uses colors to add emphasis on a description. He mentions the, "..blue Capricorn rains", the, "black galaxy", the, "white bars". The color just makes you kind of double take and re read the line, which in return gives you a more vivid image.

These poems all seems to have this musical feel to them, almost as if anyone who reads them will kind of want to sing them in a way.  Like in music, each poem tells a story and we see that in, "Lee Morgan". I think that this poem is about a night in the city. It seems like someone went to a club and on their way home they encountered some musicians who just encapsulated them. Each stanza has a unique sound to it just like any musical piece. At the end of the poem the author describes these street musicians and he picks up on their passion for music. We know this because he says, "slick trumpeteers, jericho jammin, ass-kicking, good timing, hard bopping, good lovin, slick be bop blues and ghetto dues". I think this is what is most important to Henderson. The idea of capturing the love and style that the musicians show. The word "slick" in this context gives off this feeling of "free flowing", of smooth style. The music comes out so naturally but it also sounds good. What I mean by this is that it's not like someone just walking up to a set of drums and slamming on them with all their might, it's someone walking up to a set of drums and slamming on them are the right moments. Timing is everything in music, and these street performers have their timing down! He literally says it 3 lines down, "good timing".

It's pretty clear that Henderson appreciated music; non the less good music. I think the whole point of this poem was to capture the love of music. The deeper meaning may have been that anyone, regardless of their color can associate with music. The other poems that talk about music seem to all give off this good vibe, and I think that's the message he's trying to send to the world, good vibes.

Reading Response 11/12

The poems by David Henderson in The Low East side seem to be reflective of the time period and setting he was in. Most of them have a mention of alcohol and a sense of loneliness.  But despite this and the fact that some of it may sound depressing, the use of imagery and the idea of blues doesn't present it that way. In other words, through song, many people can gain a sense of hope through the day. You can see this in the first poem, the kid. It features an African America man that is drunk on a Sunday morning. He is happy, keeps to himself and singing a tune while walking. Soon he is interrupted and harassed by two officers. During this conversation he reveals his living situation, explaining that he has no job or money. He does all of this with a jaunty tune or at least that is what I imagined. Even with that horrible experience he still goes on with his day. He then gets the first smile of the day(The text is cut off, so I am assuming he gets the smile of the new day, not this one).

Some of the text seems like a prelude to the things that come next. It sort of gives a story of things before the poem happens, like in Good Johanna. A lot of the poems later on in the text sound much more like Jazz. A lot of the words are improvised or a lot of them are not grammatically correct, probably for the sake of being on a rhythm or tune. There is a lot of storytelling throughout the poems even if some go about it differently. Some of them are actually songs, while some seem like songs written as sentences.

Music is a tool humans can use to celebrate their greatest moments with friends or even simply to brighten up your day. For some reason while reading this I couldn't help but feel if I was could rearrange the texts and change a few words, I could create a song with them. 

Reading Response

David Henderson was a black poet, who infused Jazz in his writings. Most of his poems take place in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. He discusses many of the issues that blacks would go through during his time. For example he mentions in one poem that one of his characters got stopped and searched him for no reason. The man had no one and nowhere to go. Its funny how these poems were written a long time ago but the same issue of being racially profiled by the police is still very much present. Most of his characters were also black.

            In his poems he is very specific with his descriptions and the descriptions of his surroundings. The second poem along with some of the others seems to tell a story. To me it seemed that the attitudes of the characters were portrayed in the way he was writing them. They seemed a bit blah boring, and he showed this in his writing by using short and concise sentences. He also seemed to use colors to describe different things. For example I got the feel that he connects the color red to something strong or fierce. He uses this color to describe one of his characters hair color.

            Sometimes he uses opposites such as “we talk of war// then make love.” He also uses play on words and has a different structure of writing. He randomly puts extra spaces between words, or italicizes things or doesn’t capitalize.

           

His poems were mostly about different situations that his different characters go through. I also noticed that most of his poems had a sad tone to them, sort of sad and depressing.

            One line that stood out to me was "Jass they play// you hear at it// it be a part of you// alive." He personifies the idea of music and jazz. I also found it interesting that he misspelled the word jazz. Music is a consistent theme in most of his poems and is often brought up even in small ways. Such as someone dancing or simply knowing who’s music was playing from just listening to the beginning.

Poems are not high in list of interest but these poems weren’t so bad. They are very descriptive and almost straightforward, which makes them easier to understand. His poems seem more like song lyrics than anything else. They flow together and transition well. By the way that they are written you can add a a rhythm and melody to them.

Reading response 11/12

David Henderson's "Lee Morgan" seems to be illustrating a scene at club Baron which is located in Manhattan. This club was a significant spot where musicians such as Lee Morgan and Thelonious Monk preformed. Morgan was hard bop trumpeter and Monk was a jazz pianist and composer. The first few lines of the poem states, "fly by night, black galaxy, friendly galaxy"(1-3). This indicates the time is at night or during the evening which is the time many people go to clubs. Henderson is starting off by getting us in the correct hour so we can understand the scene better. He also goes to describe Morgan and Monk's performance; "lee morgan trilling on the ceiling, sphere monk dancing round the horseshoe bar"(14-15). Henderson does great job helping us visualize the scene at the club. The descriptiveness allows me to see that these musicians were very much into their music. Morgan and Monk were 21 years apart but they were still able to combine their musical styles of jazz. The last stanza was really interesting because it had a musical beat while I was reading it. Henderson might have listened to how people spoke during this time and played it back in his poem. He states, "slick trumpeteers, jericho jammin, ass-kicking, good timing, hard bopping" (17-21). It seems like he was imitating some of Morgan's fierce and sweet energy.

"Slugs in Far East" was another poem that I thought was similar to "Lee Morgan" because both of these Poems seem to take place at night. The theme seems to be a memory of someone's past. Based on the vocabulary used in both poems, the scenes seem to be on the same time period. Both poems have a calm and reminiscing sound. Henderson uses the form of poetic stanzas in both poems. "Slugs in the Far East" seems to be one huge stanza where "Lee Morgan" has multiple stanzas, long and short. The overall similarity between these two poems is the topic of jazz music and clubs. I think the topic of jazz and club scenes were important to Henderson because he was born a few years after Lee Morgan and resided in Harlem as well. Jazz music was very popular during his time. Smoking, jazz music, and dancing was a way for people to come together and enjoy themselves. Music was a tool that united musicians and people who enjoyed the performances.