Words Of Wisdom

Being generous of spirit is a wonderful way to live.

~Pete Seeger, singer, (1919-2014)

Pete Seeger, 1919-2013

I didn't listen to folk songs all that much, but I knew who Pete Seeger was. He was a popular performer during the anti-war and environment movements of the 1960s and 1970s. Seeger's life was filed with song and activism. He was a friend of fellow folkie Woody Guthrie (1912-1967) and helped Bob Dylan get his first album recorded and produced.

What I see from Pete Seeger is a person of conviction and would stood by them. Growing up I remember Seeger, Josh White, the Chad Mitchell Trio, Joan Baez and others. Pete was an icon who lived through the troubling times and issues the country faced. He was actively involved in righting the many wrongs our nation has done. 

Folk music isn't as popular as it was in the 1960s but it is a genre that speaks to the heart and soul of people who have been wronged by big brother and the forces of imperialism, war, and commercialism. Pete Seeger showed us that we can and must fight evil. 

Rest in peace, Pete. thank you for standing up for your convictions. 

Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Born in Yonkers, New York in 1919, Lawrence Ferlinghetti is a poet, activist, painter, and publisher. He founded City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco in 1953, the first all paperback bookstore in the country. It is still in operation today.

Ferlinghetti was instrumental in publishing the works of Beat writers such as Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Diane DePrima, Gregory Corso, William S. Burroughs, Bob Kaufman, and others. Ferlinghetti is still active today at age 94. He writes a column for the San Francisco Chronicle.    

Sources

www.poets.org

www.poetryfoundation.org

If you would be a poet, create works capable of answering the challenge of apocalyptic times, even if this meaning sounds apocalyptic. You are Whitman, you are Poe, you are Mark Twain, you are Emily Dickinson and Edna St. Vincent Millay, you areNeruda and Mayakovsky and Pasolini, you are an American or a non-American, you can conquer the conquerors with words..       ~Lawrence Ferlinghetti, from his book Poetry As Insurgent Art

Finding Your Own Voice

There's the tendency of a writer to want emulate one of their favorite authors. It quite natural to want to do this but is it practical? People will know a particular by the style of writing. Will they know your style if you copy someone else's?

Finding your own voice takes time and effort. I began writing poetrt two years ago. After a while I found my own voice. Each person's voice is different and unique. No one else can present a piece of work the same way that you do. I attend a weekly open mic at a bookstore. I am amazed by the many different voices that perform whether it be a story, poem, spoken word, song or dance. Many differences make an arts community.

Your voice is as important as the next person. Don't covet another voice; discover and create your own. Perhaps your unique voice will spawn a new generation of artists.

Words Of Wisdom

This world is but a canvas to our imagination.

~Henry David Thoreau

Fan Of The Beats

This is the book I'm currently reading. I've always been a big fan of the Beat Generation and enjoy reading about the lives of the people who lived it. Jack Kerouac is probably my favorite because I enjoy reading his novels. I grew up during the fifties and sixties and just missed out on being a part of that culture. 

The Beats And Others Influences

Yesterday my spouse and I were at the Barnes & Noble on the Upper West Side. I usually browse the literature and poetry section. I selected a few books and sat down in the reading area. I read some chapters of two books by Beat writer Jack Kerouac. Big Sur and Dharma Bums were the books titles. 

Kerouac is one writer I've taken a great interest in. I've read a few of his poetry books and a couple of his novels. I read On The Road a couple of years back but my interest in the beat writers goes back a long way.Kerouac, along with Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs and later Neal Cassidy for an interesting nucleus of disaffected writers disgusted with war and the current state of society during the 1940s and 1950s.

 Last Friday after an open mic I reflected on the power of the spoken word and art throughout the ages with another artist. It's amazing about some genres and some artists and poets ad writers still influence a generation of writers and artist today. That's the beauty of it. Some may wonder what our importance is. Look at the many neighborhoods artist brought attention to. Harlem, Chelsea, Greenwich and the East Village to name a few. Artist brought attention to these neighborhoods where rents were cheap, food was reasonable, and where they could develop their craft. These places are slowly going away but they will not disappear.

 I love reading the history of these and other areas where the arts were a vital part of the community. The people who were the catalysts were colorful and unique. Many years after their heydays I can still feel their spirit. I can here them saying "Keep on writing!"

Background Singers

 

This past Tuesday my wife and and I watched this movie at a local theater. Background singers are much a part of the musical performances as the stars themselves. This documentary details the lives of these wonderful women and men on and off stage. 

One of my favorite singers growing up was Darlene Love. Songs like 'Wait Until My Bobby Gets Home' and 'He's The Boy I Love' bring back memories of my youth. Now in her seventies, Darlene is as beautiful and lively as ever. How many people know that the late, great Luther Vondross was a backup singer before achieving fame as a solo artist? 

I recommend this for our music lovers. 

Words Of Wisdom

Let us be grateful to people who make us
happy, they are the charming gardeners who
make our souls blossom.

~Marcel Proust

Words Of Wisdom

Poetry is painting that speaks. Painting is poetry that's silent.

~Simonides

Reading More

I see that I will be reading a lot more this year. I mentioned in the past that I read biographies of poets that I read. It helps me to understand the mindset of the poet. Reading Sylvia Plath's bio helped me to understand the poetry she wrote. 

One thing I have found is that there's more to poetry than I realize. Reading like a poet and putting myself in the poet's mind is quite interesting. I did this with Edgar Allan Poe and found him to be a compelling, brilliant, and complicated individual. It's a possibility that I could write an essay about an author. I have thought about translating an author but right now it's a passing thought. 

Seeing it now, I see myself doing a protracted study on a poet. I have Edgar Allan Poe and Sylvia Plath in my sights. Langston Hughes is another poet I admire ad love. If I were to make this a goal of mine it would be a LOOOOOONNG term project.    

Writing Goals

One of my writing goals is to write more. I confess that I always haven't been consistent in writing but now it's changed. I have set aside time to write. I do read a lot of poetry and other works but don't always write. I will write poems and a novella to start with.

A second goal is to have a chapbook published. I have procrastinated on this but I can't anymore. 

Poetry On New Year's Day

Last night my wife and I attended the New Year's Day Poetry Marathon Benefit. It was my umpteenth time and my spouse's first. Over 140 poets perform through reading, the spoken word, drama, musical accompaniment and dance. My wife was impressed by the numerous variety of performances. The marathon goes from two in the afternoon till one in the morning (sometimes longer). I'm hopefully that next year I will be able to read at this wonderful event. Below are pictures of some of the performers.