Jazz Poetry

Jazz poetry is poetry shaped by the sound, rhythms, and improvisational feel of jazz. It may imitate syncopation, repetition, riffing, and the quick shifts of a jazz performance, and it is sometimes written to be read aloud with musical accompaniment. The form is often linked to African American poets such as Langston Hughes, who helped bring jazz's voice and energy into modern verse.

Example

Night taps its cymbals on the glass,
then breaks into a blue horn line;
my words lean forward, stumble, swing,
and find the beat before the next breath.

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