Music has been my main focus for the past dozen years, & since my days in San Francisco in the 90's I haven't devoted much time to poetry. But one day, "out of the blue," (more or less) I looked back at my old work & decided to post some of it. Here are some poems I wrote while living in San Francisco between 1989 & 1996, as well as more recent poems from my Idaho days ("She Sells Seashells" & several newer poems as well). There's also a link to stuff from my salad days in Charlottesville, VA (when I was unquestionably green). There's also a link to translations I did while in San Francisco.
In terms of acknowledgments: some of these poems & translations previously appeared in the magazines “Timbukutu,” “Chump,” & "Little Friend, Little Friend," as well as on the Haphazard Gourmet Girls blog. If the editors of these publications ever show up here: Thanks guys & gals!
Second, a disclaimer: The San Francisco poems are more or less “pictures from life’s other side.” As such, they weren’t really intended for everyone, & there is the occasional turn of phrase here & there that some might find offensive. The best thing for those folks to do is not take up time reading stuff they'd find upsetting; there’s lots of music & other things on the Five & Dime Jazz & Bijou Orchestrette sites that we’d like you to enjoy.
Finally, the poems have some quirks. I pretty much dispensed with punctuation at a certain point (perhaps because it conflicted with large quantities of caffeine & nictone?); also, names of states are always given as abbreviations (VT=Vermont, TX=Texas, etc.), which can be a bit confusing. Whether or not this is effective on the page can be debated. The poems have been left "as is," however, since the point here wasn't revision, but making the work available.
I've included a couple of sound files from a reading I gave in San Francisco back in February 1996 (complete with ambient beanery sounds & street noise).
My Funny Valentine
Dr Zhivago
I also included a clip of the Alice in Wonder Band performing "She Sells Seashells." This was recorded in June 2004. My wife Eberle wrote the music; the band line-up for that song was: Deadre Chase, vocal; Eberle Umbach, piano; Lois Fry, viola; Art Troutner, tenor recorder; & yours truly on electric bass. "She Sells Seashells" is © Plum Alley Music 2001-2008; all poetic works & translations linked from this page are © John Hayes, 1980-2008.
You can reach me at fiveanddimejazz@yahoo.com.
Hope you enjoy.
The Days Of Wine & Roses
Sam Peckinpah Mexican Xmas
Big Carnival Ballade
La Giaconda & The Shadow
Song
The Big Sleep
My Funny Valentine
Another Legend Without A Red Convertible In It
Poem (1)
Love Song #57
Dr. Zhivago
Poem (2)
Canzone
A Few More Fold-Out Postcard Sonnets :
5/21 5/23 5/27
5/30 6/8 6/9
6/13 6/20 6/21
6/23 6/30 7/7
7/11 7/16 7/18
7/23 8/1
Hard-Boiled Prehistoric Breakfast
St. Joseph Down & Out on the Miracle Mile
Orson Welles' War Of The Worlds
Here Comes Peter Cottontail
The Transfiguration of St Collette Coyote
Sketch for a Big Band Balinese Puppet
Theater
Le Petit Roman de Tristan Toystore
Night-Sea Journey
Kinder- Und Hausmärchen Without
A Nightlight
3 Case Histories
Poem (3)
She Sells Seashells
New Poems
CHARLOTTESVILLE POEMS: A page with links to poems I wrote in the 80's, mostly in Charlottesville, VA
TRANSLATIONS: A selection of translations from 20th century French poetry I did in the 90's.
