Sunday, January 29, 2012

Walking the Dog: Issa's Sunday Service, #128



Walkin' The Dog by The Rolling Stones on Grooveshark


Being of a certain age and musical persuasion, the first version I heard and fell in love with of this song was by the Rolling Stones. Rufus Thomas, however, wrote it, sang it, and had a top ten hit with it and it is his song all the way. So, for purists everywhere, here's the original:





The literary connection in this one is the nursery rhyme "Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary," the lyrics of which he beautifully inserted wholesale into his song.

Mary Mack dressed in black
Silver buttons all down her back
I know, 'cause I love her so
She broke her needle now she can't sew

Walkin' the dog
Walkin' the dog
Now if you don't know how to do it
I'll show you how to walk the dog

Ask my mama for fifty cents
To see the elephant jump the fence
It jumped so high it hit the sky
Never got back 'til the fourth July

Walkin' the dog
Walkin' the dog
Lord, if you don't know how to do it
I'll show you how to walk the dog

Mary, Mary quite contrary
How does your garden grow
You got silver bells and little white shells
Pretty maids all in a row

Walkin' the dog
Walkin' the dog
Well if you don't know how to do it
I'll show you how to walk the dog

Ask my mama for fifty cents
To see the elephant jump the fence
It jumped so high it hit the sky
Never got back 'til the fourth July

Walkin' the dog
Walkin' the dog
Well if you don't know how to do it
I'll show you how to walk the dog


Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells, and cockle shells,
And pretty maids all in a row.

Historically there are lots of explanations for the rhyme; Wikipedia puts forth a parcel. In any case, it makes it into the LitRock pantheon by virtue of the rhyme, whatever the "true" story behind it.

The last line "and pretty maids all in a row" was used to continue a violent interpretation of the rhyme in a Roger Vadim film concerning a serial killer called "Pretty Maids All in a Row."

The first two verses, "Mary Mack" and "Ask my mama" also originate somewhere else - a song used in a clapping game, which, according to Wikipedia, has many variations. The clapping game also was used as a jump rope song.

Which brings us to the chorus (and title): though I've seen a lot about the song here and there on the net, including some scurrilous interpretations of the title, the fact is that this song was one of many popular songs named after or coining a term for a particular type of dance popular in the music of the time.

The one obvious fact I've seen nowhere on the net is how Thomas came up with the idea to use lyrics from a nursery rhyme and a song that originated in a children's clapping game. But when you think about it, it's common sense.

What would a songwriter out walking his dog be most likely to see (and hear) in the early 60s on the streets of America - children playing jump rope, for which they used a wide variety of old nursery rhymes and clapping games passed down from generation to generation.

Now, where is that jump rope app when I need it most (when I typed this words, I was being facetious - guess I should have known better)?

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



a long day--
the dog and the crow
quarreling

Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue




best,
Don



Send a single haiku for the Wednesday Haiku feature. Here's how.

Go to the LitRock web site for a list of all 128 songs

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Kristyn Blessing and Tom Blessing: Wednesday Haiku #53

Photo by D-Katana





morning evening
darkness comes too early
to this life
Tom Blessing





Photo by Robin Drayton
 






copper mines closed
tote-bags filled with apples
from their orchards
Kristyn Blessing












Mother eats
the astringent part...
mountain persimmon
Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue

 
 
 
 
best,
Don



Send a single haiku for the Wednesday Haiku feature. Here's how.

Go to the LitRock web site for a list of all 127 songs

 
 

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Don Wentworth: an Interview, by Christien Gholson


If you'd like to know what it was (& continues to be) like to edit a small press poetry magazine (Lilliput Review) for 22 years and then publish your first book at age, well, old ... this is the place:

Christien Gholson's noise & silence

Christien, a long time favorite poet and, now, novelist, managed to ask all the right questions that elicited responses which informed me about my own work.  Usually it is the interviewer that is grateful; in this case it is the interviewee. 

To complement the interview, here's a review of William Hart's Home to Ballygunge: Kolkota Tanka I did recently for simply haiku.



all of a sudden
he shuts up...
crow
Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue





best,
Don



Send a single haiku for the Wednesday Haiku feature. Here's how.

Go to the LitRock web site for a list of all 127 songs

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Heart Sutra / Scott Watson



The following text was sent out by friend Scott Watson, from Sendai, Japan, to his email list.  Scott sends along all manner of material, keeping friends up to date with things lyrical, political (particularly the current nuclear situation), and biographical.  After this moving piece, he sent along some poems.  I asked his kind permission to reprint his news and to append one of the poems as I know readers of the Hut would be interested.  He graciously granted it.


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

HEART SUTRA

My daily correspondence begins after breakfast. Today there is an email from Mark in Nevada who is on his way to West Virginia to his grandmother’s funeral. Then I listen to music on Youtube, post Love, Devotion, and Surrender on Facebook. Possibly in some connection with Mark’s grandmother I find some sutra chanting and listen. It’s the hannya shingyo (The Heart Sutra).

This evening Morie and I have dinner with a former student at a Thai restaurant downtown. We take a subway part of the way home. We part with Keiko at Asahigaoka Station and get on a bus heading for Tsurugaya. An old woman, long white hair, boards with difficulty and sits in a red upholstered bench seat designated for elderly passengers.

Not long after we are on our way the woman’s shopping bag falls onto the floor. A teenaged boy standing in the aisle looks down at the bag, looks over at the woman. He thinks she is sleeping. He picks up the bag and replaces it one the seat next to the woman who is slumped against the bench’s back. From where I’m sitting I watch the woman closely to see if she is breathing. It is hard to tell. But all of a sudden her body slightly moves with a start. I’m satisfied that she is asleep.

At a bus stop in Tsurugaya a younger woman in a white coat is moving along the aisle towards the exit. She seems concerned about the elderly woman. I imagine that the younger woman knows that this is the stop the elderly woman gets off at; she tries to wake her. The old woman does not wake up. The younger woman reports this to the bus driver.

At the same time a man who is early old age, silver hair, gets out of his seat  and goes over to the old woman. He moves her upper body down along the bench so that he can perform CPR. He seems to know what he is doing. I get up and go to help, picking the woman’s legs up in my arms and holding them so that her body is level.

He asks if there isn’t something we can put under the woman’s head. I pass him a bag with a neck and shoulder warmer Keiko has given me. This goes under her head.

I mention that the Tsurugaya Open Hospital is just up the road at the next stop and that they have an emergency room there. The man performing CPR agrees and suggests this to the bus driver, but he has his mobile phone out and is about to call for an ambulance.  I take it that this is the procedure he has been instructed to follow.

The elderly fellow continues CPR and I continue holding the woman’s legs, at times massaging her hands where the thumb joins with the pointing finger. When I first do this I notice that her hands still have some warmth but while we wait for an ambulance crew to arrive her hands become colder. Her calves too.

Between 10 and 15 minutes later an ambulance and rescue unit arrives and their crews takes over. I can’t say whether going straight to the emergency room one stop away would have saved the woman’s life. Maybe. Maybe not. She would have been able to receive treatment 10 minutes sooner.

The ambulance and rescue unit crews carry the woman off in a stretcher into one of their vehicles. Meanwhile another bus has arrived and passengers from our bus transfer to that. Our bus driver will need more time to fill out an on the spot report.

Morie and I get off at our stop. I say to Morie that this woman’s is a good death. Quick and seemingly without pain. In her sleep. I tell her about listening to The Heart Sutra this morning. She chuckles.


--- Scott Watson




in my arms
all her goodbyes
unsaid
Scott Watson










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






the master being dead
just ordinary...
cherry blossoms
Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue








best,
Don



Send a single haiku for the Wednesday Haiku feature. Here's how.

Go to the LitRock web site for a list of all 127 songs

 

Monday, January 16, 2012

2011 Touchstone Distinguished Book Awards: The Shortlist

Photo by H. Zell


The shortlist for the 2011 Touchstone Distinguished Book Awards, presented by the Haiku Foundation, has been announced and here it is (with the original post):

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

Beyond the Reach of My Chopsticks: New and Selected Haiku; written by Fay Aoyagi, published by Blue Willow Press

Haiku Roadsign: Axle Contemporary; edited and designed by Matthew Chase-Daniel and Jerry Wellman, published by Axle Contemporary

Penguins/ Pingviner; written by Johannes Bjerg, published by Cyberwit

A Narrow Road/ Uska Staza; written by Ljubomir Dragovic, published by Liber Press

The River Knows the Way; edited by Cynthia Cechota, et al, published by Haiku Dubuque

Dreams Wander On: Contemporary Poems of Death Awareness; edited by Robert Epstein, published by Modern English Tanka Press

A New Resonance 7; edited by Dee Evetts and Jim Kacian, published by Red Moon Press

My Favorite Thing, written by Michael Ketchek, Bob Lucky and Lucas Stensland , edited by Stanford M. Forrester, published by Bottle Rockets Press

Few Days North Days Few; written by Paul M., published by Red Moon Press

St. John’s Wort; written by John Martone, published by Samuddo / Ocean

The Neighbours Are Talking: Haibun; written by Mike Montreuil, published by Bondi Studios/Baby Buddha Press

An Unmown Sky/ Nepokoseno Nebo; edited by Boris Nazansky, et al., published by Haiku Association Three Rivers

Things Being What They Are, written by John S. O’Connor, published by Deep North Press

The Future of Haiku: An Interview with Kaneko Tohta; trans. from the Japanese by the Kon Nichi Translation Group, published by Red Moon Press

Past All Traps; written by Don Wentworth, published by Six Gallery Press

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

I couldn't find relevant links for three of the books.  If anyone knows of any, please send them along this way and I'll update the list.

Best of luck to all ...





stone still
he lets the snow fall
colt in the pasture
Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue






 Photo by Thduke







best,
Don



Send a single haiku for the Wednesday Haiku feature. Here's how.

Go to the LitRock web site for a list of all 127 songs

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Dylan on Writing: "Someplace Else is Always a Heartbeat Away"


There is a great interview from the early 90s with Bob Dylan by Paul Zollo of American Songwriter.  The following three questions are from that interview and may be of interest to writers particularly fascinated with inspiration.  Definitely check out the full interview here, as well as material leading up to the interview here.  


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

When you write songs, do you try to consciously guide the meaning or do you try to follow subconscious directions? 

Well, you know, motivation is something you never know behind any song, really. Anybody’s song, you never know what the motivation was. It’s nice to be able to put yourself in an environment where you can completely accept all the unconscious stuff that comes to you from your inner workings of your mind. And block yourself off to where you can control it all, take it down. Edgar Allan Poe must have done that. People who are dedicated writers, of which there are some, but mostly people get their information today over a television set or some kind of a way that’s hitting them on all their senses. It’s not just a great novel anymore. You have to be able to get the thoughts out of your mind.

How do you do that?

Well, first of all, there’s two kinds of thoughts in your mind: there’s good thoughts and evil thoughts. Both come through your mind. Some people are more loaded down with one than another. Nevertheless, they come through. And you have to be able to sort them out, if you want to be a songwriter, if you want to be a good song singer. You must get rid of all that baggage. You ought to be able to sort out those thoughts, because they don’t mean anything, they’re just pulling you around, too. It’s important to get rid of all them thoughts. Then you can do something from some kind of surveillance of the situation. You have some kind of place where you can see but it can’t affect you. Where you can bring something to the matter, besides just take, take, take, take, take. As so many situations in life are today. Take, take, take, that’s all that it is. What’s in it for me? That syndrome which started in the “Me Decade,” whenever that was. We’re still in that. It’s still happening.

Is songwriting for you more a sense of taking something from some place else? 

Well, someplace else is always a heartbeat away. There’s no rhyme or reason to it. There’s no rule. That’s what makes it so attractive. There isn’t any rule. You can still have your wits about you and do something that gets you off in a multitude of ways.

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

Here's Bob Dylan's performance to honor Martin Scorsese this week at the Critic's Choice Awards.  Getting old, the voice is crusty, but the heart is on fire:









the mountain road's
twisting, winding
heart
Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
best,
Don



Send a single haiku for the Wednesday Haiku feature. Here's how.

Go to the LitRock web site for a list of all 127 songs

 

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Pat Nelson and Michael Newell: Wednesday Haiku # 52


Photo by  Taliesin





sunlit
       graffiti wall
                 the lovers
       the haters
       Pat Nelson






 Photo by Ronnie B







distant hills through rain
all my yesterdays
fading to night
Michael L. Newell














the peony falls
spilling out yesterday's
rain
Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
best,
Don



Send a single haiku for the Wednesday Haiku feature. Here's how.

Go to the LitRock web site for a list of all 127 songs


Sunday, January 8, 2012

Some News


I received news this week that Past All Traps has been shortlisted by the Haiku Foundation for the "2011 Touchstone Distinguished Books Award."  Info on the awards may be found here, with links to past winners in all categories.

In addition, Past has made some end of the year reading lists, including one from Joe Hutchison and one from Kris Collins.  I am very grateful, indeed, for all the recognition.




Taking the heart
from Buddha's hand, arranging
it in this vase.








A Love Supreme by Carlos Santana & John McLaughlin on Grooveshark 
 
 
 

a little tiresome
these blooming flowers...
the Buddha sleeps
Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue





best,
Don

PS A signed copy of Past All Traps may be purchased via Paypal along the right side bar or direct from me for $8 postpaid, or an unsigned copy may be had from amazon.com for $10, plus $3.99 shipping.


Send a single haiku for the Wednesday Haiku feature. Here's how.

Go to the LitRock web site for a list of all 127 songs


Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Pat Nelson and James Krotzman: Wednesday Haiku, #51


 Photo by Peter Barr






            near the dark currents small eddies gather sunlight
                                                       Pat Nelson





Photo by Vaderluck






the carp
its ripple caught
on a snag
James Krotzman







Photo by Turtle Hawk







winter raincloud
every day snagged
in the nettle tree
Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue
 
 
 
 
 
best,
Don



Send a single haiku for the Wednesday Haiku feature. Here's how.

Go to the LitRock web site for a list of all 127 songs

 

Monday, January 2, 2012

Chen-ou Liu: New Year

 Photo by N A Sirkhan




New Year
a dewdrop holding
the morning sun
Chen-ou Liu





This wonderful New Year's greeting arrived in my inbox yesterday from the poet Chen-ou Liu, who lives in Canada.  I asked his gracious permission to share it blog readers here and he was kind of enough to grant it.






if someone asks
answer: it's a dewdrop
OK?
Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue







 Photo by Rick Lamesa
 
 
 
 
 
 
best,
Don



Send a single haiku for the Wednesday Haiku feature. Here's how.

Go to the LitRock web site for a list of all 127 songs

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Another Sunday Interlude: A Trane Trio

Photo by Don Hunstein





Spiritual by John Coltrane on Grooveshark 
 
 

Heading into the new year, "Spritual" is as fine a composition, at once detailed and melodic, complex and basic, as one can imagine, rendered live by one of the best improvisatory ensembles as there ever was.  This was the first album with the classic John Coltrane Quartet: Elvin Jones, Paul Chambers, and McCoy Tyner.  For this selection the incomparable Eric Dolphy on bass clarinet makes this piece levitate.

And below is "an outake" from the original album, with Coltrane and Dolphy ascending to amazing heights of musical transcendence:





 
 
 

The mind is, of course, the most complex instrument of all, certainly proven by these stellar tunes. For those who prefer their transcendence a tad more melodic, here are two of my favorite recordings from Coltrane's Atlantic years, "Equinox" and "Central Park West":






Finally, to get the new year started with a little look back, a recent poem of mine featured on tinywords:




Slime trail—
glancing back at
the glinting







little snail
facing this way
where to now?
Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue








best,
Don



Send a single haiku for the Wednesday Haiku feature. Here's how.

Go to the LitRock web site for a list of all 127 songs