Coming Soon ( Dec.2012) ...My New Kindle Book :

  " The Year of The Dragon in Harlem / Haiku and Other Poems To Read While Being Stopped and Frisked"by Daniel Carlton

2012 ..The Year of the Dragon

           Stop and Frisk in full effect

        Look for it on Amazon  ...here are a few samples:

 Send in the dragons

Funky fire breath and all
Blow some flames
Like Coltrane and sh*&^%(T
Until our fried minds
Force us to rely on our third eye
To truly see through the smoky haze
Fly over the city
Fill it with beats from the strength of your wings
We'll dance to that.. rhyme and reason be damned/
Until our partners are simply the last one's standing
Freed asses and minds reunited
Lay eggs
Like dangerous poems
Hatched only when we learn to sit still long enough
To dig it all
From sublime mind states
And when the scribes reflect back
On the "Year of the Dragon"
They will unanimously agree
That it wasn't a redefinition of anything
It was the return of magic
When we needed it the most

copyright 2012

On a clear Fall day/
Its almost easy to forget/
Yesterday's sorrow/
Dreams disguised as leaves
A tapestry
For tomorrow

copyright 2012

At the barbecue/
The dragon turned out to be/
Vegetarian /

The Dragon smiled/
Its fire warmed up  cold streets/
Folks ran regardless/

Inside the dancer/
Wings are always in motion/
A butterfly's truth

Copyright 2012

Long poems/Haiku /Musings/ Almost songs/Call and response...and so much more

picture by Benja Kay

City Parks Foundation » Bird with Strings with Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and Special Guests

City Parks Foundation » Bird with Strings with Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and Special Guests

  Myself, Claudia Haydyen and a Sax Player too

When Smalls Had It All by  Daniel  Carlton

as part of Harlem  Jazz Shrines 2012 

http://www.jazzmobile.org/

When we hear that a show is educational , its easy to think that it won't be fun, or too young, or whatever associations we have with being asked as kids( or as the adult chaperon ) to see something that is good for us. I would like to shatter that perception or reality by inviting you to this highly , musical piece being presented by yours truly as part of the Harlem Jazz Shrines 2012 festival. My show "When Smalls Had It All" is being sponsored by the wonderful organization Jazzmobile (with funding on a commission from :*Commissioning support from Charlie Parker Jazz Festival 20th Anniversary, and City Parks Foundation and Jazzmobile..

HARLEM JAZZ SHRINES FESTIVAL 2012

MAY 7-13, 2012

Celebrating Harlem’s Historic Jazz Venues:  Apollo Theater, Club Harlem, Havana San Juan, Lenox Lounge, Minton’s Playhouse, Monroe’s Uptown, Park Palace, Showman’s Jazz Club and Small’s Paradise.

Concerts by amazing musicians will take place at night in many sites in Harlem to recreate these seminal hotbeds of innovation and tradition.  My venue is Smalls Paradise..Harlem's longest running nightclub....from the 1920's -the 1980's.   I will use  live music ( from masterful musician's including Claudia Hayden on Flute, master Bassist Booker King,  sax player, and a keyboard) to create an atmosphere of song and dance. I will use fictional characters who interact  with the audience as if they( the audience) are sitting or waiting to dance at Smalls throughout the different eras. The dialogue will be verse. Images from the different eras in Harlem will be projected . Dancing encouraged. History taught through characters like a caretaker who sees Small's last day, different MC's , A numbers runner in the 1920's, A WWII soldier returned looking for his girl-and describing how Charlie Parker and the new music Be-Bop got him through the war, Wilt Chamberlain's right hand man in the 1960,s, A rapper in the 80's who comes to Smalls looking for the perfect break-beat..and many more..all played by moi. Did I mention live music? 

Check out the Harlem Jazz Shrines Link for all of the great offerings and venues ...but for an early morning good time , bring your classes ( 6th grade and up) a group , or yourself to : Harlem USA 124t and St Nicholas ( in the building that hosts the Magic Johnson Theater)  2nd floor  May 10th or 11th 10:00 A.M -11:15  

FREE    FREE FREE ..but call Jazzmobile for reservations

http://harlemjazzshrines.com/calendar

Small's Paradise Education/Public Programs

Wednesday, May 9, Thursday, May 10, Friday, May 11 10 a.m. |  Registration Required

Poet/actor/narrator Daniel Carlton will illuminate the history of this famous venue with the superlative presentation, "When Small's Had It All*," an interactive, multimedia theatrical work that salutes and recreates the electric atmosphere of the club with music, visuals and storytelling. 

For Grades 6 -12

Registration Required:  Teachers Call 212 866-4900 ext. 31

Commissioning support from Charlie Parker Jazz Festival 20th Anniversary, and City Parks Foundation and Jazzmobile.

"Where do broken hearts go?"

Sometimes there are hurts, that create holes so big in the heart, that fame can't fill them, that money can't cover, that adulation temporarily puts a bandage on . Really big talented hearts , can show through the art what it feels like. They can turn these things into beauty....but the hole itself creates bigger breaks...and sometimes we laugh, because we mistakenly interpret the sounds of the new breaks as that heart laughing with us. We may even worry about the holder of that precious breaking thing, knowing the signs because of our own soul fissures. A breaking heart tries to fill itself with things that are not so good for it . The hole doesn't care. It just wants to be filled. One can only hope , that after it collapses in on itself , that as it flies back home to it's source.. it can finally understand , that it was loved in ways , that the hole never let it truly see / That it is whole again.

...R.I.P Whitney Houston, Etta James, Don Cornelius, Amy Winehouse , and MJ

The Moon Over Harlem: Haiku,Afro-Bits and other poems by Daniel Carlton

In December 2011, I finally accomplished the goal of putting a book together of some of my poems. I decided to test the market with haiku and mostly shorter poems ( although I do have some long pieces in there too).

Why Haiku you ask? Well even if you didn't , here are the answers:

1) I have always loved the economy of this form of poetry. As a storyteller , I can go on for a bit in order to both unfold the narrative and create dramatic tension. Haiku are an exercise in brevity for me. I now write one daily as a writing warmup.

2) About 3 years ago , I discovered Richard Wright's haiku. Black Boy, Native Son, Uncle Tom's Children, and many of his other books are some of the most incisive reflections of the Black male's psychological and emotional psyche( particularly from his time period. His haiku had deeper levels too. On the surface they are as beautiful as any nature reflection coming out of Japan( the originators of the form) On a deeper level, he was writing from the perspective of a very sick man who was grappling with issues of mortality. His haiku also reads very soulful. The funky twists and turns that he manages to present in 17 syllables , speak volumes to his mastery of both rhythm and vision. African American and universal meet in 3 lines. It inspires me to try to do the same.

3 ) I love Harlem.I take daily walks up and down its streets for creative inspiration. This village in Manhattan inspires my acting, storytelling, play writing , and poetry. These are mostly Harlem haiku.

4) The moon fascinates me. Unlike the sun, it changes form , and you can stare at it without going blind. It is everyone's personal night lover.

5) I wanted a place for my afro-alliteration to live. Read the book to see what I mean

6) It is self published. Amazon makes it very easy to do this . The book is available on Kindle( and kindle apps). Practically everyone with a smart phone , program on their computer, or a variety of other devices can read it.

7) Some other forms of my poetry are included. Love, lust, political, historical, and other afro-bit reflections are presented throughout.

8) The price is right. Under 5 bucks.

So what are you waiting for?...the moon awaits........remember That it is Kindle only (for now

The Moon Over Harlem: Haiku,Afro-Bits and other poems.

The moon chases me

Across my Harlem rooftop

She wants attention

You can sample more at www. Amazon.com