Cooling Board

A Long Playing Poem

Mitchell L.H. Douglas

Publication Year: 2009

In the tradition of the Langston Hughes’ classic Montage of a Dream Deferred, Mitchell L. H. Douglas uses persona poetry to explore the personal and professional struggles of soul legend Donny Hathaway in his debut collection Cooling Board: a Long-Playing Poem. Douglas presents a narrative in two sides: side one focusing on Hathaway’s development as a young musician and subsequent rise to fame and side two bearing witness to the adversity that plagued his later years. Readers see Hathaway as true to his family and faith, and uncompromising in his quest for musical innovation. In a nod to Hathaway’s legacy as a musical trailblazer, Douglas implements a significant poetic innovation through the book’s format. By including alternate versions or “takes” of poems readers receive new information and interpretations of the poems. It can be likened to an album with previously unreleased versions of popular songs. Along the way, poems resembling liner notes and pop charts enhance the experience, reminding readers that the music is the heart of this ride. Above all, Douglas’ depiction of Hathaway reveals the human side of a man who has remained a mystery in the time since his death. Not only does the poet speak in the voices of Hathaway and his long-time collaborator Roberta Flack, the reader also hears the voices of those closest to Hathaway whom we are less familiar with: his mother, Drusella Huntley, his grandmother, Martha Crumwell—Hathaway’s earliest music teacher—and his wife, Eulaulah. With Douglas as a guide versed in the power of possessing many tongues, Cooling Board captures its reader like the best Hathaway song: passionately, honestly, and with an undeniable sense of purpose.

Published by: Red Hen Press

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Book Details

E-ISBN-13: 9781597093774
Print-ISBN-13: 9781597091404
Print-ISBN-10: 1597091405

Page Count: 112
Publication Year: 2009

Edition: First

Cooling Board

Title Page, Copyright, Dedication, Acknowledgments

Contents: Playlist

Epigraph

Liner Notes I

Side One

Essex House Hotel

Naming

Exodus I (Chicago to St. Louis)

Ascension (A Lesson for Miss Martha)

The Amazing Donny Pitts & His Magic Ukulele

The Music: An Explanation to Miss Martha

Extensions

Trying Times, Central City

Moving Days

Anatomy

Midnight Hour

Exodus II (St. Louis to D.C.)

Meeting Eulaulah, Howard University

What Eulaulah Hears

Negotiating the First Date

What Stars Are For

Meeting Eulaulah, Howard University (alternate take)

Roberta, Rebirth

Miss Martha Meets Eulaulah

Roberta, Rebirth (alternate take)

Curtis Breaks It Down

Trio

S.R.O.: Mr. Henry’s, Capitol Hill

Troubadour, 1971

The Bitter End

Side Two

Notes on ‘Life,’ a Symphony

Liner Notes II

The Hip

Jingles

The Uninvited (Visitor 1)

Sessions: New York

Whisperers

An Evening at St. Vincent

Diagnosis, 1973

Meds

This Is Blues

In Case You Thought It Was Easy

The Uninvited (Visitor 2)

Chart Position (What Hits & What Does Not , Take 1)

Release Me

Phantom Limb

(Re)union

On Country & Western

This Is Blues (alternate take)

Roberta, Rebirth (alternate take 2)

Liner Notes III

Process of a Love Song

What Eulaulah Hears (alternate take)

Chemistry

Chart Position (What Hits & What Does Not , Take 2)

Sessions: New York (alternate take)

Exits

Liner Notes IV

The Omega Sessions: Eight Steps Closer

Make It On My Own

The Last Supper (Roberta ’s Apartment, Central Park West)

Essex House Hotel (alternate take)

Personnel

About the Author

Research Areas

Recommend

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