The following version of this poem was used to create this guide: Johnson, Roxane Beth. “Blues for Almost Forgotten Music.” Poetry Foundation, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/54418/blues-for-almost-forgotten-music. Note that all parenthetical citations refer to the line number from which the quotation is taken.

“Blues for Almost Forgotten Music” is a poem that uses an experimental structure and alternating right- and left-aligned lines of text to create emotional space. The poem first appeared in the poet’s debut collection, Jubilee, which won the Philip Levine Prize in Poetry in 2006. It explores the parallels between music, love, and memory.