Month: januari 2018

Reading: It’s been a long time by Joanne Kyger
Beat poetry is something different. Joanne Kyger (1934-2017), associated with the San Francisco Renaissance, was influenced by Zen Buddhism, lived in Japan, traveled in India with Ginsberg. I like this song of hers: It's been a long time _______________NOTES FROM THE REVOLUTION During the beat of this story you may find other beats. I mean ...
A birthday wish
One year ago, for my 38th birthday, all I could wish and hope for was the absence of toothache. Unfortunately for me, I didn't get it. 'If and only if', my daily mantra became, 'my mind is not distracted by that pain in the upper jaw, so very close to the brain, I will do ...
Reading: Aubade by Richard Kenney
Richard Kenney (b. 1948) is an American poet and professor of English. His work has been praised for his deft use of language and formal poetic forms. Today, I read an innocent morning poem: Aubade Cold snap. Five o'clock. Outside, a heavy frost—dark footprints in the brittle grass; a cat's. Quick coffee, jacket, watch-cap, keys. ...
Reading: November by Jane Shore
Jane Shore (b. 1947) is an American poet with a unique voice, often expressing her Jewish heritage. Don't confuse her with a love of King Edward IV :) I found a funny poem entitled 'November': November My north-exposed begonia the first frost got to, spunky in its porcelain pot splays out like spokes of an ...
Poetry is a kind of distilled insinuation. It’s a way of expanding and talking around an idea or a question. Sometimes, more actually gets said through such a technique than a full frontal assault. - Yusef Komunyakaa
Reading: Blood Oranges by Lisel Mueller
Today I read a poem by Lisel Mueller (b. 1924), another Pulitzer Prize-winning poet (in 1996, for her poetry collection Alive together), born in Germany who emigrated to the US as a child. She wrote a famous poem about 'things', but I prefer this one: Blood Oranges In 1936, a child in Hitler's Germany, what ...
We say to 'rise' to fame and to 'fall' in love. Correction. We fall in fame and we rise to love.
Reading: From Endings by Mona van Duyn
Today's poem is by American poet Mona van Duyn (1921-2004) who won all important literary prizes in America and presided over a unique literary circle in St. Louis, Missouri. I picked a poem with a typical 'Van Duyn' touch: From Endings Setting the V.C.R. when we go to bed to record a night owl movie, ...
Framing
Afgelopen donderdag was mijn dochtertje Miru voor de vijfde keer jarig. Wij vierden dat met een copieus middagmaal in een stijlvol Salad & Grill restaurant waar we ons tegoed deden aan het riante buffet van pizza, gorgonzolapasta, mosselen, geroosterde eend, potato wedges, grapefruitsalade, chocoladefondue, en een keur aan dranken. Het décor bestond uit popmuziekhelden en ...