Street Music: City Poems

Street Music: City Poems
by Arnold Adoff (1995)

          The poetry in Street Music offers glimpses into city life through Adoff's phenomenal use of rhythm and repetition. The poem after which the entire collection is named really shows that rhythm -- and the way letters and words are spaced in the text change the pace during reading and emphasize certain parts. He writes "v o c a b u l a r i e s of clash flash screeching hot metal
l a  n g u a g e c o m b i n a t i o n s," where "clash flash screeching hot metal" are pushed together simulating the speed and sound of cars in the city. Karen Barbour's vibrant paintings bring to life the urban environment as well, adding further poetry and a contemporary jazz feel to Adoff's language. I was a bit taken aback, however, when a poem largely about people enjoying a park used the line "Pigeons with red eyes peck at empty c r a c k v i a l s." It seems to be thrown in and makes the poem more adult without contextualizing the drug issue in any way. His poem on homelessness, although from an observer's perspective, covers important social issues in a way that would be more accessible to children and might offer a starting point to discuss homelessness in a holistic way.
          This text could be included in a genre study of poetry because Adoff includes a number of contemporary poetry styles in his book -- some seem to be coffee-house style beat poetry, other poems integrate prose pieces or repetition and rhyme. I had read a review of this book that claimed it was a "self-consciously hip collection that strains to be stylish and modern," but I hardly feel this is the case. This is a very adult-oriented read of the book, and I believe children will appreciate the contemporary style and will not take it as parody of any kind. "Street Music" also seems as though it would work well for practicing reading poetry aloud that does not have a set rhyming pattern or a set number of syllables in a line. Students should be challenged to think about the presentation of materials that follow a more open and free verse.