Reflections on John Coltrane's 'A Love Supreme'

'God is,
God is all,
God is beautiful'
resonates
tunes the soul.

Such Acknowledgement
Psalm of simple descant
vibrates
trains eyes
to see grace
in the commonplace
turning to God,
A Love Supreme.

With Resolution
Brain fires dendrite
fires muscle
drives pencil
over paper
graphite waves
crash over five-lined sheets
of harmonic litany.

Your exuberance
Pursuance
harmonic peace
repeats
in rough ecstatic elegance
the wish of God for all:
A Love Supreme.

Theme flows
from Chinese gong:
vibrating sax
humming bass
thundering drum
piano antiphon
chaotic syncopation
concatenation:
A Love Supreme.

Words, sounds, speech, men, memory, thoughts--
Yours a means among many
consecrated when you chant on tape:
'A Love Supreme.'

Bass hums, 'A Love Supreme'
Drum thunders, 'A Love Supreme'
Saxophone renders 'A Love Supreme.'



(I was inspired to write this poem after listening to jazz artist John Coltrane's opus, "A Love Supreme,' and reading the poem he wrote (http://tinyurl.com/dk6f8g) as the nexus to this musical piece. The words in italics are his. Themes of Acknowledgement, Resolution, Pursuance and Psalm are the four parts of his brilliant work: A Love Supreme. They are capitalized. I have tried to match the rhythm of my poem to the rhythm of his 4-part suite)
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