THE WASTELAND

I just finished reading The Wasteland by T.S. Eliot. I am going to read it again and post by thoughts in a future post.

WORDS OF WISDOM

Poetry remembers that it was an oral art before it was a written art.


~Jorge Luis Borges, Poet (1899-1986)

POEM

THE BEAN EATERS
by Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000)

They eat beans mostly, this old yellow pair.
Dinner is a casual affair.
Plain chipware on a plain and creaking wood, 
Tin flatware.

Two who are mostly good,
Two who have lived their day.
But keep putting on their clothes,
And keep putting things away.

And remembering...
Remembering, twinklings and twinges,
As they lean over the beans in their rented back room that is full of beads and receipts and dolls and
   cloths, tobacco crumbs, vases and fringes.

TODAY'S WORD

BURLETTA

A usually entirely comic musical opera popular in England in the latter half of the 18th century.

Origin: Italian, meaning "little joke".

Examples of burlettas:

Midas by Kane O'Hara 1760
Orpheus by Francois-Hyppolyte Barthelemon 1767
The Recruiting Sarjeant by Charles Dibdin 1770

DANCESPACE PROJECT PERFORMANCE

The Dancespace Project presents:
 
MORGAN BASSICHIS: MORE PROTEST SONGS! 

It begins tonight,April 19th, and runs through April 21st. The performance begins at 8 PM  at St. Mark's Church In The Bowery. Ticket price is $10 dollars.

ST. MARKS CHURCH
131 EAST 10TH STREET @ 2nd Avenue
NEW YORK, NY 10003
TEL. (212)-674-8112
TICKETS   (866) 811-4111
WEBSITE:  danspceproject.org

WORDS OF WISDOM

I"m thankful for weird people out here 'cause they're some of the most creative out here.



~Channing Tatum

POEM

LEAVES
by Sara Teasdale (1884-1933)

One by one, like leaves from a tree,
All my faiths have forsaken me;
But the stars above my head
Burn in white and delicate red,
And beneath my feet the earth
Brings the sturdy grass to birth.
I who was content to be
But a silken-singing tree,
But a rustle of delight
In the wistful heart of night,
I have lost the leaves that knew
Touch of rain and weight of dew.
Blinded by a leafy crown
I looked neither up nor down-
But the little leaves that die
Have left me room to see the sky;
Now for the first time I know
Stars above and earth below.

THREE GREAT MEN DIED THE SAME DAY

On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Did you know that two literary greats died on the same day. Christian apologist C.S. Lewis  and Aldous Huxley of 'Brave New World' fame passed on the same day.

EDGAR ALLAN POE'S BRONX HOME

Edgar Allan Poe spent the last three years of his life in the Bronx. He lived in a cottage at 2640 Grand Concourse, near Kingsbridge Road. At that time the Fordham section of the Bronx was rural accesible by railroad. It was here that Poe wrote his poems "Annabel Lee" and "Ulalume". He cottage was small but a humble place to live. Rent was five dollars a month. 

WORDS OF WISDOM

Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood.


~T.S. Eliot, Poet (1888-1965)

HAIKUS- DEFINITION

I have written haikus in the past and recently started up again. There have been a number of writers who have written haikus, Jack Kerouac and Richard Wright come to mind.

Haiku is a very short form of Japanese poetry. Traditional haiku consists of seventeen syllables in three lines of five, seven, and five, traditional evoking images of the natural world. Haiku are usually unrhymed.  


EXAMPLES OF HAIKUS:


An old silent pond...

A frog jumps into the pond,

splash! Silent again


                                              ~Basho Matsuo (1644-1694)



Over the wintry

forest, winds howl in rage

with no leaves to blow.



                                               ~Natsume Soseki (1275-1351)

HAIKU

MARCH CAME LIKE A LION

APRIL CAME IN LIKE A LAMB

MAY WILL BRING FLOWERS.

COMMENTARY-CENSORSHIP

I was in Strands Book store recently and browsed books that were banned by censors. Books like Huckleberry Finn and 1984 were on that list. Scanning the table, I had read a number of those books. Right now many college campuses ban free speech by those who may hold a different viewpoint and ideology not in lockstep with prevailing mindsets.

Censorship is nothing new. A college campus should be a place where open dialogue is valued. I'm liberal for the most part but what students are doing by shutting out different viewpoints is wrong. If we can't learn from each other then everybody loses. A big problem is that many people are oversensitive about everything. We need to start listening to each other or there will be a day when no one will want to listen to what we have to say.

RICHARD WRIGHT

I wouldn't say that Richard Wright is an obscure author, but is easily overlooked. A journalist, poet, and author, Wright (1908-1960) wrote noteworthy books like Native Son, Black Boy, and White Man, Listen, of which I've read the first two. He wrote of his experiences growing up in Jim Crow south, his strict upbringing in which he rejected religion as a way to solve the plight of racism.

Richard Wright was uncompromising in his views and refused to stray from them. He was not politically correct, something that I admire about him. Whatever your views about his politics, one needs to read his work with an open mind. Richard Wright's works may not be the most noted works but they are important into understanding what shaped his views about American society. 

WORDS OF WISDOM

In a time of universal deceit-telling the truth is a revolutionary act.



~Unknown

WRITING

I am currently writing a play centered around the days after Jesus' ascension into heaven. Many stories, movies, and plays have been done about this subject. I have an interest in what happens to the people after momentous events.  Personally, I experience butterflies before a big event then relax when it starts. I also see what a person is like away from the bright lights.

A lot of this type of writing stems from the many times I stepped away from the lights of what society says I should be. I've always wanted to affect others lives in an anonymous manner. I have a general idea where this play is headed. 

PLAY

DETAINED

by Rose-Mary Harrington; directed by Nancy Robillard

APRIL 11-28 @ 7:30 PM

FT. WASHINGTON COLLEGIATE CHURCH
729 WEST 181ST STREET
NEW YORK, NY 10033

presented by UP THEATER COMPANY

POETRY AT CORNELIA STREET CAFE

Voices of Poetry is back this Sunday, April 9th, at the Cornelia Street Cafe @ 6 PM. 

featuring Keisha Gaye-Anderson; Terence Degnan; Candace Wiley; Anton Yakovlev

Neil Silberblatt hosts.  

$10.00 COVER PLUS $10.00 MINIMUM

CORNELIA STREET CAFE
29 CORNELIA STREET
NEW YORK, NY 10014
TEL. 212-989-9319