Great Scott, She's a Poet, Too!

by Gary M. Kramer

books

Love is like farting in a crowded elevator / People may not see who's doing it / But they sure can smell it. So muses Philly native Jill Scott in her debut collection The Moments, the Minutes, the Hours (St. Martin's Press). Like other performer/poets before her — the sublime Joni Mitchell, the ridiculous Jewel — the singer-songwriter tries her hand at verse without music, and the result is a collection of rhythmic and rhyming words that could easily be set to music.

In her introduction, Scott talks about a writing assignment she had in the eighth grade that introduced her to the works of her influences: Nikki Giovanni, Emily Dickinson, Gil Scott-Heron and Langston Hughes. If Scott's work is not quite up to the caliber of those poets, never mind. Her writing, honed at local joints like the North Star Bar, is full of heartfelt soul. From the sexually tinged "Young Buck Lovin' on the Kitchen Floor" to the sentimental "Blue," Scott displays a knack for chronicling heartbreak, creating delicate cadences out of emotionally painful moments and using vivid imagery to celebrate her life.

Curiously, however, Scott's best work may be the verses that do not need a soundtrack: her autobiographical "My Life" and her fine haiku. The author also includes some wonderful visuals — photographs and other artwork — to supplement the words, making this collection a terrific keepsake for the singer's fan base, even those folks who are not poetry aficionados.

Still, Jill, we would be in a rage, if your beautiful voice was silenced to just the page.

Jill Scott reads from The Moments, the Minutes, the Hours, Fri., May 6, 7 p.m., free, Free Library of Philadelphia, 1901 Vine St., 215-567-4341; Sat., May 21, 2 p.m., free, Borders Books, 1 S. Broad St., 215-568-7400.