‘The Dream Keeper’ and ‘Dreams’ by Langston Hughes.
Bring me all of your dreams, You dreamers
‘The Dream Keeper’ and ‘Dreams’ by Langston Hughes.
Bring me all of your dreams, You dreamers
‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’ by T. S. Eliot. The animation on this video is extremely odd and disturbing, much like the poet himself.
Let us go then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky
‘In My Kitchen in New York’ by Allen Ginsberg.
Thank God Arthur Rimbaud’s watching me from over the sink.
“Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes.”-Walt Whitman
A few weeks ago, I participated in a podcast for Women Writing for a Change here in The Queen City. Although I was puffy and a bit out-of-sorts due to major sinus issues, the entire experience was several sorts of fun. My kilt-clad honey was there for moral support; the organizers even invited him into “the circle” (quite the important thing), where he unleashed his singular brand of brash, intellectual charm on all of my co-writer-readers. There followed nearly two hours of creative rituals, snacks, networking, laughter and, of course, podcast recording.
As host Carol Stewart said in her intro to the ‘Spring Fling’-themed podcast, we are “sending forth words that are bold and necessary”. Twelve writers offering twelve entirely different perspectives, a dozen voices ultimately uniting in a rising and triumphant exultation to the new season; there is stunning individuality but a cohesive flow is maintained. Written in ten minutes on a Sunday afternoon, with the only goal being to stave off boredom whilst maintaining a comfortable laziness, my contribution is brief and humble. It initially appeared here as Intermezzo: The Sky is Flaunting Itself. It’s quick but descriptive; after reading it twenty times I’m still content with it and am glad that I did not embellish it for this recording.
I am the third reader in the first segment. Be sure to check out my friend Angela Muchmore in the second segment, where she reads a lovely original poem. The podcast is available as a free download on iTunes. It can also be found on the WWFC web-site.
Award-winning poet Adrienne Rich is dead. She was 82. More information can be found on The Rumpus or at the Los Angeles Times. I’d write more but I’m eager to curl up with some of her poems and a cup of tea. There is no better way to honor a writer’s memory than by reading their carefully crafted words.
“A thinking woman sleeps with monsters.”-Adrienne Rich
F. Scott Fitzgerald reading an abbreviated version of Keats’ ‘Ode to a Nightingale’.
This week’s ‘VFTG’ is a bit different, as it features a writer reading another writer’s work. I think this makes it doubly interesting!
‘Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night’ by Dylan Thomas.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
‘Bird-Witted‘ by Marianne Moore
…the still living
beetle has dropped
out, she picks it up and puts
it in again.