Let Me Die A Youngman's Death by Roger McGough

Let me die a youngman's death
not a clean and inbetween
the sheets holywater death
not a famous-last-words
peaceful out of breath death

When I'm 73
and in constant good tumour
may I be mown down at dawn
by a bright red sports car
on my way home
from an allnight party

Or when I'm 91
with silver hair
and sitting in a barber's chair
may rival gangsters
with hamfisted tommyguns burst in
and give me a short back and insides

Or when I'm 104
and banned from the Cavern
may my mistress
catching me in bed with her daughter
and fearing for her son
cut me up into little pieces
and throw away every piece but one

Let me die a youngman's death
not a free from sin tiptoe in
candle wax and waning death
not a curtains drawn by angels borne
'what a nice way to go' death

Shakespeare's Sonnet XXIX

SONNET XXIX

1. When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes
2. I all alone beweep my outcast state,
3. And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
4. And look upon myself, and curse my fate,
5. Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
6. Featured like him, like him with friends possessed,
7. Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope,
8. With what I most enjoy contented least;
9. Yet in these thoughts my self almost despising,
10. Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
11. Like to the lark at break of day arising
12. From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;
13. For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings
14. That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

Collin Kelly list Poets on twitter

Recently the author Collin Kelley wrote a blog post that I think lovers of poetry will want to bookmark.

It is a list of poets who are on twitter. Please check it out at Poets on twitter.

I recently started using twitter myself. Although most of my tweets have been about music and my music blogs, every now an then something dealing with poetry catches my eye. You can check out my twitter stream here >> Fitzgerald @twitter

If the link above does not work then try clicking the title. Also Collin's blog is http://www.collinkelley.blogspot.com/ and the post is dated Monday, May 11, 2009.

The Jungle Line - H. Hancock, L. Cohen, Joni Mitchell

New York Jungle I (The Jungle Line - H. Hancock & L. Cohen)


Herbie Hancock and Leonard Cohen from the superb 2007 tribute album, "River: The Joni Letters" which won the 2008 Grammy Award for Album of the Year, only the second jazz album to win the award. This is a fantastic album!

Safaris to the heart of all that jazz
Through I bars and girders-through wires and pipes
The mathematic circuits of the modern nights
Through huts, through Harlem, through jails and gospel pews
Through the class on Park and the trash on Vine
Through Europe and the deep deep heart of Dixie blue
Through savage progress cuts the jungle line

In a low-cut blouse she brings the beer
Rousseau paints a jungle flower behind her ear
Those cannibals-of shuck and jive
They'll eat a working girl like her alive
With his hard-edged eye and his steady hand
He paints the cellar full of ferns and orchid vines
And he hangs a moon above a five-piece band
He hangs it up above the jungle line

The jungle line, the jungle line
Screaming in a ritual of sound and time
Floating, drifting on the air-conditioned wind
And drooling for a taste of something smuggled in
Pretty women funneled through valves and smoke
Coy and bitchy, wild and fine
And charging elephants and chanting slaving boats
Charging, chanting down the jungle line

There's a poppy wreath on a soldier's tomb
There's a poppy snake in a dressing room
Poppy poison-poppy tourniquet
It slithers away on brass like mouthpiece spit
And metal skin and ivory birds
Go steaming up to Rousseau's vines
They go steaming up to Brooklyn Bridge
Steaming, steaming, steaming up the jungle line

River: The Joni Letters

The Talking Back of Miss Valentine Jones: Poem # one

The Talking Back of Miss Valentine Jones: Poem # one
by June Jordan


well I wanted to braid my hair
bathe and bedeck my
self so fine
so fully aforethought for
your pleasure
see:
I wanted to travel and read
and runaround fantastic
into war and peace:
I wanted to
surf
dive
fly
climb
conquer
and be conquered
THEN
I wanted to pickup the phone
and find you asking me
if I might possibly be alone
some night
(so I could answer cool
as the jewels I would wear
on bareskin for you
digmedaddy delectation:)
"WHEN
you comin ova?"
But I had to remember to write down
margarine on the list
and shoepolish and a can of
sliced pineapple in casea company
and a quarta skim milk cause Teresa's
gaining weight and don' nobody groove on
that much
girl
and next I hadta sort for darks and lights before
the laundry hit the water which I had
to kinda keep an eye on be-
cause if the big hose jumps the sink again that
Mrs. Thompson gointa come upstairs
and brain me with a mop don' smell too
nice even though she hang
it headfirst out the winda
and I had to check
on William like to
burn hisself to death with fever
boy so thin be
callin all day "Momma! Sing to me?"
"Ma! Am I gone die?" and me not
wake enough to sit beside him longer than
to wipeaway the sweat or change the sheets/
his shirt and feed him orange
juice before I fall out of sleep and
Sweet My Jesus ain but one can
left
and we not thru the afternoon
and now
you (temporarily) shownup with a thing
you says' a poem and you
call it
"Will The Real Miss Black America Standup?"

guilty po' mouth
about duty beauties of my
headrag
boozeup doozies about
never mind
cause love is blind

well
I can't use it

and the very next bodacious Blackman
call me queen
because my life ain shit
because (in any case) he ain been here to share it
with me
(dish for dish and do for do and
dream for dream)
I'm gone scream him out my house
be-
cause what I wanted was
to braid my hair/bathe and bedeck my
self so fully be-
cause what I wanted was
your love
not pity
be-
cause what I wanted was
your love
your love

O Mistress mine, where are you roaming? by William Shakespeare

Twelfth Night, Act II, Scene III [O Mistress mine, where are you roaming?]
by William Shakespeare


The Clown, singing

O Mistress mine, where are you roaming?
O stay and hear! your true-love’s coming
That can sing both high and low;
Trip no further, pretty sweeting,
Journeys end in lovers’ meeting—
Every wise man’s son doth know.

What is love? ’tis not hereafter;
Present mirth hath present laughter;
What’s to come is still unsure:
In delay there lies no plenty,—
Then come kiss me, Sweet-and-twenty,
Youth’s a stuff will not endure.

Praise Song For the Day

Elizabeth Alexander recites "Praise Song for the Day: A poem for Barack Obama's Inauguration


The following is a transcript of the inaugural poem recited by Elizabeth Alexander, as provided by CQ transcriptions.

Praise song for the day.

Each day we go about our business,
walking past each other,
catching each others' eyes or not,
about to speak or speaking.

All about us is noise.
All about us is noise and bramble,
thorn and din,
each one of our ancestors on our tongues.

Someone is stitching up a hem,
darning a hole in a uniform,
patching a tire,
repairing the things in need of repair.

Someone is trying to make music somewhere
with a pair of wooden spoons on an oil drum
with cello, boom box, harmonica, voice.

A woman and her son wait for the bus.
A farmer considers the changing sky;
A teacher says, "Take out your pencils. Begin."

We encounter each other in words,
words spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed;
words to consider,
reconsider.

We cross dirt roads and highways that mark the will of someone and then others who said, "I need to see what's on the other side; I know there's something better down the road."

We need to find a place where we are safe;
We walk into that which we cannot yet see.

Say it plain,
that many have died for this day.
Sing the names of the dead who brought us here,
who laid the train tracks,
raised the bridges,
picked the cotton and the lettuce,
built brick by brick the glittering edifices
they would then keep clean and work inside of.

Praise song for struggle;
praise song for the day.
Praise song for every hand-lettered sign;
The figuring it out at kitchen tables.

Some live by "Love thy neighbor as thy self."
Others by first do no harm, or take no more than you need.

What if the mightiest word is love,
love beyond marital, filial, national.
Love that casts a widening pool of light.
Love with no need to preempt grievance.

In today's sharp sparkle,
this winter air,
anything can be made,
any sentence begun.

On the brink,
on the brim,
on the cusp,
praise song for walking forward in that light.

Video of Elizabeth Alexander Reading Ars Poetica No.92 and No. 100

I love Elizabeth Alexander's Ars Poetica. I was looking for a video of her inaugural poem, but found this instead.

Elizabeth Alexander's 'Ars Poetica'


Notes from YouTube; - American poet Elizabeth Alexander reads two poems in the Jerwood Centre at Dove Cottage: 'Ars Poetica #92: Marcus Garvey on Elocution' and 'Ars Poetica #100: I Believe' from American Blue: Selected Poems (Bloodaxe Books, 2006).

I, Too, Sing America by Langston Hughes

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,"
Then.

Besides,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed--

I, too, am America.

------------------
I think the above poem fits well for today.

Just The Facts: Understanding Literature - The Elements of Poetry

Just The Facts:
Understanding Literature
The Elements of Poetry

please click image

DVD Description - Just the Facts: Understanding Literature presents an innovative, lively, and contemporary approach to understanding the basic elements of fiction, drama, and poetry and fostering an appreciation of literature. In each program, a young host and hostess guide viewers through the basic elements of each genre with colorful graphics and an informative narrative from English professors. Question-and-answer sections throughout the programs reinforce the concepts presented. Just the Facts: Understanding Literature offers a unique learning experience and an effective teaching tool. The Elements of Poetry Figurative language, meter and rhyme, simile, and metaphor -- these are a few of the many topics explored in this lively video tour through the genre of poetry. Other elements illustrated in the program include: Oxymoron Assonance Alliteration Imagery Understatement Hyperbole And more... A young host and hostess guide viewers through the basic elements of poetry with colorful graphics and an informative narrative. In addition, professors of English provide insight to help viewers understand poetry. An interactive component of multiple choice questions reinforces concepts presented in the program and enhances understanding of the basic elements of poetry.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow at flickr

According to dbking @flickr ;

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet whose works include Paul Revere's Ride, A Psalm of Life, The Song of Hiawatha and Evangeline. He also wrote the first American translation of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy and was one of the five members of the group known as the Fireside Poets. Longfellow was born and raised in the Portland, Maine area. He attended university at an early age at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. After several journeys overseas, Longfellow settled for the last forty-five years of his life in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in a wood frame house once occupied during the American Revolution by General George Washington and his staff.

NPR post Inauguration Day — Hooray, Hooray! by Calvin Trillin

NPR's All Things Considered commissions poets to write a poem commerating Brack Obama's Inauguration. You can read and listen to the poem here >>> Anticipating The Inauguration Of Barack Obama.

Calvin Trillin wrote Deciding the Next Decider: The 2008 Presidential Race in Rhyme. He also writes The Nation's "Deadline Poet" column.

----------------------------------------

Deciding the Next Decider:
The 2008 Presidential Race in Rhyme

please click image for
info @Amazon.com

Rod Blagojevich and Rudyard Kipling

I was listening to the radio just the other day and could not believe it when I heard Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich quote the popular English poet Rudyard Kipling. It actually offended me in a small way.

I love the poetry of Rudyard Kipling, and over the years I have argued that he was not so much a racist, but a poet who wrote about the romantic and heroic times that he lived in. As for Rod Blagojevich, while I believe you are Innocent until proven guilty, I just found it odd that he would choose that poem.

And then I read NPR's Linton Weeks article titled Rod Blagojevich And The Poetry Slam. The article gave me a total new take on Rudyard Kipling and his poem It.

Rudyard Kipling @Amazon.com

NPR's All Things Considered Interviews Elizabeth Alexander

Click on this article at NPR.org Poet Calls Writing Inaugural Poem A 'Challenge', to hear an interview by poet Elizabeth Alexander.

I found her interview interesting and the comments at NPR.org amusing, can you believe there are people who do not understand the value of poetry. Or who think that poetry should stay the way it has been for thousands of years and never change.

Jackson Poetry Prize Winner Elizabeth Alexander Reads Work

Jackson Poetry Prize Winner Elizabeth Alexander Reads Work


In December 2008, it was announced that Elizabeth Alexander will read at the inauguration of President-Elect Barack Obama. Ms. Alexander will be only the fourth poet in history to read at a presidential inauguration.

Some books by Elizabeth Alexander @Amazon.com

The Black Interior

American Sublime

The Venus Hottentot: Poems

Power and Possibility: Essays, Reviews, and Interviews (Poets on Poetry)