Elegy for Paradise

Sweet water ripples

falls fruit ripe

lovely breath

lush was paradise

until

anchors dropped

sailoirs landfall

 legacy:

color flows out of the world

what words for this loss

life flows out of the earth

tiniest to largest creature vanishing

words cannot serve this loss

sky closes saturated with human waste

homo sapiens self harms

collateral damage in excess

all life flows out of the earth

words fail

waters cries

~~~

 

In the sixties,

In a Catholic school,

Thou Shall Not Ask:

“Where are all the Indian People?”

Answer:

Time out,

On your knees in the corner,

Another pink slip home.

In 2016,

“Where are all the Indigenous People?

Answer:

At Standing Rock defending the Water, Earth and Sky.

NoDAPL

 

 

No, I’m not dead–yet. But I’m working on that development like all other living things.

Did I really say that?

Yeah, I guess I did.

Huh, who’d have thunk it.

 

Okay, hello to any interested parties. Yeah, that means you, Bearspawprint, Johnny, Charles, Dennis, LaBelleStudio, Lisa and whoever else who might have been wondering why I’ve been so MIA.  I’m not sure I’ve found something positive to post about at length. But while finally attending to my email –yeah, I’ve been an equal opportunity AWOL entity on more than the blogland front– a few thoughts crossed my mental landscape — nothing earthshaking, I assure you.  I hope this finds everyone enjoying some part of being alive at the moment of reading.  If not, it’s my understanding that there are seven seasons of True Blood available for viewing online to help with your perspective. Or perhaps not. Do you get the idea as to why I’ve not been posting for some time? Hmm?

One:

While I’ve been absent from my blogcasa The Breakfast Special’s  Sarge and Lily–and their supporting cast, have been running amok for hundreds of pages. Currently I am not sure it’s a good idea on my part to continue posting their romantic adventure online. Thoughts on  the pros and cons of this issue are welcome.

Two:

Why the f*&k is Soy appearing in everything from mayo to bread to soup where it serves no purpose except as a filler? I have no affection for soy products as I am allergic to to soy–and its increasing presence in food items where it serves no value is pissing me off royally.  Ooops, this isn’t quite positive, is it? But I do feel better for venting. That’s positive relief. Frack Soy.

Three:

My ever delightful friend, Berit, shared this insightful commentary about rape culture in poetic form.  Nothing is perfect, but I do think it makes a point well worth sharing.  And anything that slams the TSA is right up my alley along with Freedom of Speech.  Hmm, the positive is in the poetry. Or so I’m thinking as I’m typing.  Hence, let me present Anna Binkovitz’s poem “Asking for it”.

Button Poetry

Published on Mar 27, 2014

Anna Binkovitz of Macalester College, performing during prelims at the 2014 College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational. Macalester placed 5th overall in the tournament.

Download the audio of this poem for free: http://bit.ly/1tZ49QM

Follow Button on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/SG5Xm0

About Button:

Button Poetry is committed to developing a coherent and effective system of production, distribution, promotion and fundraising for spoken word and performance poetry.

We seek to showcase the power and diversity of voices in our community. By encouraging and broadcasting the best and brightest performance poets of today, we hope to broaden poetry’s audience, to expand its reach and develop a greater level of cultural appreciation for the art form.

 

Four:

Lantern Journal Magazine can be found on facebook for anyone interested in a serious Art Journal.  At the moment I cannot paste a link to its website. I have no clue why.

Five:

I’m ending this post now before I start backpedaling like crazy before hitting the post button.  🙂

Rain – Drops

clouds sigh

~ ~ ~ ~

sky cries

* * * * * *

water falls

\\\\\\\\\\

rain –  drops

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

@eva

&

Whimsy ~

The Song for Rain (2012), created by Zheng Yawen, his graduation work at the Communication University of China.”

7even3hreeTv

&

Angst ~

It’s Raining In Baltimore ~ The Counting Crows ~ album August and Everything After

RennieChew

&

Compassion ~

Slumdog Millionaire ~ rain scene

&

Loss ~

“like tears in rain” ~ Vangelis ~ Blade Runner

OpenEyeVisuals

&

On a lighter note ~

It’s Raining Men on Baker Street ~ The Weather Girls

lotrfan2888

~~~~~

Please do not hesitate to shower our ears with your  choice rain songs.

~~~

Bear selected this Rain song theme.

For May 22, I select —  Night.

——–

Bear http://bearspawprint.wordpress.com/2014/05/15/rain-music-theme/

Johnny

Lisa

Poets & Poetry ~ A ghost of this and a slam of that, with a little sexy to top it all off.

From the serious to the slam to the silly to the sublime songs about for and by poets.

&

Does poetry ever haunt you? No? What’s that song you can’t get out of your head? What are lyrics without music?

Poets of the Fall ~ The Poet and His Muse

agusacro

&

Hey, I’ve heard that tune before!

Poetry Classics to Funky Hit Beats

bestgreatvideos

Music video features segments from several of the 56 songs included on the album Poetry Classics To Funky Hit Beats, Vol 1. . . . . The producers state: “We sought to create poetry with music that would attract the roots, Mos Def, Common, Immortal Technique, El-p, Jean Grae, Rakim, The Coup, Dead Prez, Public Enemy fans as well as fans of classical, pop, rock, Salsa and Reggae. “

If you click-through to watch on YouTube there is more information about the contents of this video. Enjoy.

&

What poets and poetry do–or aspire to do.  Or not so much.  Still, 1874 connects with  1979–poetry travels through time much like Dr. Who.

We Are the Movers and Shakers

Tedham Porterhouse

(c)1874 Lyrics Arthur William Edgar O’Shaughnessy
Born in London 14 Mar 1844, died 30 Jan 1881.
Music Jake Riviera (1979)
Produced by Ingo Schantz
Engineered by Andy Lunn

&

A film for anyone even thinking of ‘teaching’ poetry –or anything else for that matter.

Keating’s Triumph ~ Maurice Jarre ~ Dead Poets Society

ElMiusikman

&

Poetry and music playing politics with a dash of subversion on the side.  Call it what you like.

Seattle Poetry Slam –Define Music

seattlepoetryslam

 

Rachel Rocky Bernstein’s unique blend of music and poetry has been delighting audiences since she started in slam at age 17.

She was a member of the 2006 Youth Speaks Seattle slam team, taking 4th in the Brave New Voices international competition, and coach of the 2010 Seattle Collegiate slam team which placed in the top ten. This year, she will be representing Seattle at the National Poetry Slam, and is honored to be on a team with greats Tara Hardy, Karen Finneyfrock and Maya Hersh.

Rachel is also an elementary school music teacher and spends her days singing, dancing, inspiring, and playing music with kids . Seattle will be sad to see her go this August when she moves to Barcelona, Spain to teach music at an International School and pursue her life-long passion for opera. http://www.seattlepoetryslam.org

 

&

Hear, it’s not all about the tough stuff.

Billy Bragg & Wilco ~ Walt Whitman’s Niece

gruszk4

&

For the shameless fun of it.  🙂

Devil of a Deal ~ animated poetry & gothic jazz

Clinton John Leon

&

A poetic dance between poets playing with a poem.

Leonard Cohen ~ Take this Waltz  ~ One poet singing the poetry of another poet– Lorca Garcia

&

All this barely nicks

the vinyl edge of the record

of the dance

between poets, poetry

and music

 

~~

 

LInk attractions forthcoming asap~

Bear

http://bearspawprint.wordpress.com/2014/04/24/poets-and-poetry-and-music/

 

Johnny

http://johnnyojanpera.wordpress.com/2014/04/24/the-music-of-poets/

up we go

~

shedding husks unfurl

shoots curling staff seedlings gasp

silk sheath sun sight spreads

~

Below Above

Below Above

@eva

The Rose

How do you like your thorns?

I’m not entirely satisfied with my choices for a variety of reasons that have nothing to do with the quality of any of these selections. My dissatisfaction stems more from the elusive quality of the rose itself as a symbol which extends far beyond wild and cultivated flowers. So often the rose represents a human in song, poetry and art.  Often it references a state of mind, an awareness both secular and mystical. There are two poets represented here – Tupac Amaru Shakur and William Butler Yeats–two vastly different men from very different parts of the world who both knew the power of poetry. Both poets immediately came to mind when Bear selected The Rose for this round. Each turned to the rose for inspiration and communication.  I discovered Shakur’s poetry in text form before ever hearing his voice or knowing anything of his persona. In this sense the focus was centered entirely on the words, the text, and the meaning striving for conveyance. Interestingly enough there is an entire album of his poetry posted on the tubes of you–but the poem I was after has been deleted from the mix due to corporate issues–ironically it is the poem which serves as the album title.  What shall we make of that?

Shakur on poets and poetry–and by the usual extension of words paired with instruments creates music. I sincerely doubt W. B. Yeats would disagree with his perceptions which could easily relate to Ireland’s issues in his time.

2009  kabrasblack

&

Tupac the rose that grew from the concrete

reshardcliett16

&

The Rose That Grew From The Concrete with music Everyday by Carly Commando

Ricardo Bracamonte

2pac poem…”Rose That Grew From Concrete”… Young boy skates through his urban neighborhood faced with the obstacles of society.

I realize this is a 2pac poem over a biggie beat, this choice was intentional. My goal for this project was to disregard the personal feuds of 2pac and Biggie and portray a struggle which is bigger than all of us

&

The Name of the Rose

WildTh1ngs

&

The Rose Upon the Rood of Time ~ W.B. Yeats ~

BosleyMusic

This is poet Stella Shakerchi reading Yeats’ poem to musical accompaniment by Mark Bosley. The performance was part of their ‘Days’ show which was an anthology of songs and poems relating to different days of the year. It was part of Oxfringe, the Oxford arts festival on 26th March 2010.

&

2draw Animation Music video for Salvador  Dali’s “Meditative Rose”

Christy Reserva

&

La vie en rose  ~ Edith Piaf ~ English version

felipe salvador arias

&

La vie en rose ~ Edith Piaf ~ French version

NostalgiaClassical

&

The Rose by Amanda McBroom

Bernhard Deykowski

The Rose was written by Amanda McBroom in 1979 for the same film in honor of Janis Joplin. And she sings her own well-known song herself.

 

~~~

The Rose garden grows in delight and complexity:

BEAR:     /http://bearspawprint.wordpress.com/2014/04/17/music-of-the-rose/17/music-of-the-rose/
____________
JOHNNY: http://johnnyojanpera.wordpress.com/2014/04/17/the-rose-music-theme/comment-page-1/#comment-4334

http://johnnyojanpera.wordpress.com/2014/04/16/the-roses/

 

 

seven little blue bird haiku tweets

 little bird blues sings

sweet haiku twitters all day

cites poetry cries

&

dandelions know

roots deep leaves sun eat all wells

no weeding pleases

&

coy moon winks sun spring

Persephone steps upward

below Hades sighs

&

control a strong hold

power princes addiction

brain breast brawn beat down

&

eye pouring concrete

iron bars doors fixing space

no outside options

&

two heron journey

 eye guide far sight mindful nest

streaming feeds sole light

&

whence goes March’s Ides

cold shouldering yet blood pours

poppy red blossoms

~

~

~

@eva2014

Dots? Did he say “dots”? Why yes, he did.

She Creates @eva

~

slate white or black blank

dots everywhere solar flares

midnight she creates

~

Why?

It’s all about the DOTS, of course.  Since much of my art is composed of tiny dots–a technique called stippling--Michio Kaku’s little chat about his new book caught my attention. Once I lay eyes and hands on The Future of the Mind hopefully I’ll have more to say about it than the fact that my curiosity is highly aroused by Kaku’s notions.  What’s brewing in your mind?

~

The Future of the Mind by Michio Kaku

Knopfdoubleday

~~

Michio Kaku’s official site –>> http://mkaku.org/home/publications/about-the-future-of-the-mind/

An excerpt from the book:   http://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/excerpt-the-future-the-mind

Sans A Murder

crow alone does not

a murder makes no sky sense

singular tragic

What’s in Betty Medsger’s ‘ The Burglary’? Crow-bars, COINTERLPRO and Naughty FBI Spy Games.

what lives in a book

inked leaves unfurling words

secrets detecting

&

 Hmm, how’s that poem working for you? May not make the publishing book grade, but it does the introduction rites job today. Sort of. Books are strange things. Never know just what you’ll find between their covers–hard copy or electronic, it makes no difference when the words are what make the mental meat of the matter. I have no clue how good or bad Medsger’s brand spanking new book reads. Yet. It’s literally a NEW release by Random House-as in publication dated yesterday.  Ironically the historical story it features is decades old. New book for an old untold story about American citizens taking things into their own hands in order to get to the truth of what matters.  According to the interview on Democracy Now! this morning, the newspaper media nearly failed them. The truth was very HOT to handle. Some political folks so feared the FBI that they turned their backs on the right to information regarding illegal activities by the FBI. One mailing of copied documents never reached its destination. Can we say “intercepted”? Or maybe just an honest mistake on the part of the postal service. I wouldn’t bet a penny on that.

Clearly history is repeating itself in current events. The stakes are just as high regarding freedom and civil liberties. A portion of the public is very paranoid. J. Edgar Hoover would be proud of the media spin on all things of politics regarding the military industrial complex and corporate personhood for inducing much paranoia–according the old documents stolen and “released.” Some times it’s just no fun having a theory proven. My next observation might seem like a side issue, but it’s not. How many ‘cop’ shows are on television? How many feature all sorts of fancy surveillance techno toys? How many feature terrorist threats week after week? How many evoke sympathy for the hardworking agents no matter what their flaws? Have you gotten used to the sound of gunfire from watching crime shows on television? Ever notice the lack of emotion from the people doing the shooting and the characters giving and recieving the news that someone has been killed?

Side note: At the opposite end are the medical heroes who do everything they can to save lives and then seem to suffer a sense of loss when their patients die. Hmm. I’ve yet to encounter any such doctor in my life experience. I’ve managed to send a couple running in a panic. I guess that proved those well educated individuals were human after all.

“Excuse me, doctor, but that’s not his sense of humor.  At the moment, he really thinks you’re all aliens out to kill him. He’s a lot stronger than he looks. I advise exercising caution when handling.” Watch doctor run back to ER room.

Back to the regular word flow:

I wonder if there’s a television program in the works about TSA folks in order to show us just how good all their intentions are as they intimidate, strip search, x-ray, hassle and belittle people everywhere with impunity in order to keep people safe.  The irony of TSA is a steak so thick an axe is needed to cut the meat.

What’s your paranoia meter reading? I know people who freak out every time there’s a plane crash and others who fear the sight of police people wearing gun holsters. I also know a fair number of folks who don’t give a flying f&*^ about anything except their daily routine and money-making. As long at those boats are not rocked, all is well in their universe.

Is there a safety lock somewhere?

Is this piece fully loaded?

Careful with the drones~

Make sure they fly right~

Status quo depends on the system flowing, flowing, flowing…..

*

The Context:

Stealing J. Edgar Hoover’s Secrets

The New York Times

The Book:

The Burglary by Betty Medsger

click cover for Random House

*

The Motive:

“It Was Time To Do More Than Protest”

democracynow·

Published on Jan  8, 2014

http://www.democracynow.org – One of the great mysteries of the Vietnam War era has been solved. On March 8, 1971, a group of activists — including a cabdriver, a day care director and two professors — broke into an FBI office in Media, Pennsylvania. They stole every document they found and then leaked many to the press, including details about FBI abuses and the then-secret counter-intelligence program to infiltrate, monitor and disrupt social, political movements, nicknamed COINTELPRO. Calling themselves, the Citizen’s Commission to Investigate the FBI, no one was ever caught for the break-in. The burglars’ identities remained a secret until this week when they finally came forward to take credit for the caper that changed history. Today we are joined by three of them — John Raines, Bonnie Raines and Keith Forsyth; their attorney, David Kairys; and Betty Medsger, the former Washington Post reporter who first broke the story of the stolen FBI documents in 1971 and has now revealed the burglars’ identities in her new book, “The Burglary: The Discovery of J. Edgar Hoover’s Secret FBI.”
Watch part 1 of this interview: http://youtu.be/GMWuJipChs0

For more of the interview and links to related items –> http://www.democracynow.org/2014/1/8/it_was_time_to_do_more

&

Radio:

NPR  coverage –> http://www.npr.org/2014/01/07/260302289/the-secret-burglary-that-exposed-j-edgar-hoovers-fbi

How’s your day? What’s in your mailbox? Have you fumigated lately?

Yes, I am looking forward to reading Medsger’s book.

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