Poor Little Rich Boy: Issa's Sunday Service, #42

This week's Issa's Sunday Service feature is "Poor Little Rich Boy" by Regina Spektor. She references both Hemingway and Fitzgerald in this catchy little number and manages to give us a bit of a break from all the old school that's been happening around here lately.

There have been other songs with this delightful title, from songwriters as diverse as Randy Newman and George Jones. In fact, the poor little rich boy seems to be something of a stereotype across the cultural spectrum. But, for the purposes of this post, let's just say this one's for F. Scott and poor little rich boys everywhere.

And just in case you were thinking that maybe this little tune doesn't rock enough, this live performance should tip the scales:





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It is a bittersweet irony that this week's feature poem comes from Lilliput Review #66, an Albert Huffstickler broadside entitled Circles Within Circles. Ironic because of its deep red color and the inclusion of the following poem on this day of days:

Valentine

A stone-shaped
heart.
A heart-shaped
stone:
Choose one

Albert Huffstickler

And a little valentine for us all from Issa, one which I believe Huff would have loved:

traveling geese--
the human heart, too
soars

Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue

best,
Don


PS And in case you'd like to read a review of a book I recently read and loved, head over to Eleventh Stack for "Hermann Hesse: The Fairytales."

Also, you will notice in the sidebar that I reconfigured "Issa's LitRock Jukebox" of all 42 songs so that the most recent songs play first and work their way back in time. The separate standalone page for the Jukebox is also the same.