Sunday, November 4, 2012

The Dangling Conversation: Issa's Sunday Service, #142


The Dangling Conversation by Simon & Garfunkel on Grooveshark 
 
In case of wonky widget, click here to listen


When I thought about this song the other day, I was sure that it had appeared on a previous edition of the Sunday Service. Still, it nagged me, so I decided to check the Litrock from Issa's Sunday Service website, only to find out I was wrong.

How could I have missed this one? "Your Emily Dickinson," "my Robert Frost," hmn. Asleep at the switch again.



The Dangling Conversation

It's a still life water color,
Of a now late afternoon,
As the sun shines through the curtained lace
And shadows wash the room.
And we sit and drink our coffee
Couched in our indifference,
Like shells upon the shore
You can hear the ocean roar
In the dangling conversation
And the superficial sighs,
The borders of our lives.
 
And you read your Emily Dickinson,
And I my Robert Frost,
And we note our place with book markers
That measure what we've lost.
Like a poem poorly written
We are verses out of rhythm,
Couplets out of rhyme,
In syncopated time
Lost in the dangling conversation
And the superficial sighs,
Are the borders of our lives.

Yes, we speak of things that matter,
With words that must be said,
"Can analysis be worthwhile?"
"Is the theater really dead?"
And how the room is softly faded
And I only kiss your shadow,
I cannot feel your hand,
You're a stranger now unto me
Lost in the dangling conversation.
And the superficial sighs,
In the borders of our lives.



So, here's my Emily Dickinson and my Robert Frost. How's about you?  



Never Again Would the Birds’ Song Be the Same - Robert Frost

He would declare and could himself believe
That the birds there in all the garden round
From having heard the daylong voice of Eve
Had added to their own an oversound,
Her tone of meaning but without the words.
Admittedly an eloquence so soft
Could only have an influence on birds
When call or laughter carried it aloft.
Be that as may be, she was in their song.
Moreover her voice upon their voices crossed
Had now persisted in the woods so long
That probably it never would be lost.
Never again would birds' song be the same.
And to do that to birds was why she came. 



#320

There's a certain Slant of light,
Winter Afternoons –
That oppresses, like the Heft
Of Cathedral Tunes –

Heavenly Hurt, it gives us –
We can find no scar,
But internal difference –
Where the Meanings, are –

None may teach it – Any –
'Tis the seal Despair –
An imperial affliction
Sent us of the Air –

When it comes, the Landscape listens –
Shadows – hold their breath –
When it goes, 'tis like the Distance
On the look of Death –  




Here's a song that will never make the litrock list but, hey, while we're here (and is that really Pat Metheny taking the solo, and Duck Dunn on the bottom?):
 
 
 
 
---------------




the ducks have gone--
peace and quiet
of the willow
Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue



In memory: Donald "Duck" Dunn




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 142 songs

Friday, November 2, 2012

Ronald Baatz: 3 Poems - Small Press Friday

Photo by Kormoran


I love the work of Ronald Baatz, as evinced by this review of his chapbook, Bird Effort, from Kamini Press. He writes great, brief poems without any constraint as to form. They are what they are, natural as a morning glory found twirling its way through the world. 

Recently Ronald sent along three poems that I enjoyed so much I asked and received permission to share them with readers of The Hut. He kindly acquiesced.

Often when I think of his work, the word delicacy comes to mind, not just in execution or image, but a certain delicacy of feeling, more implied than stated, running just beneath the surface. 

Here are 3 poems that grabbed me for a variety of reasons, with one uniting element: the eye and sensibility of Ronald Baatz:


By the river
I find a wooden flute
with holes rotted in it



Consider this a meditation haiku. You have your assignment.




A crow lands
in its shadow-
I land in this poem





At first glance, this appears to be glib, a post-modern ditty of sorts. Look again, at crow, at shadow, at person.


Her lips
soft as
ant dirt



Six words and the lump in my throat won't go away. Every time I read it.


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




looking younger than me
the scarecrow casts
his shadow
 
Issa 
translated by David G. Lanoue





 Photo by Gerry Lewis





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 139 songs