Sunday, September 11, 2011

I Zimbra: Issa's Sunday Service, #118





This week's song on the Service is the Talking Heads decidedly odd and amazingly hooky "I Zimbra." The song's lyrics are an adaptation of Dadaist Hugo Ball's poem "Gadji beri bimba." The original poem was a UK Guardian poem of the week back in 2009; the article is all you really need to know about the poem and, by extension the song.

For those who prefer their web experience sans click-through, suffice it to say that the poem, Gadji beri bimba, is one of the best-known examples of "verses without words."






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This week's featured poem comes from Lilliput Review, #71 way back in 1995. It is, as its title suggests, for Phil Levine, who all these 16 years later is our new poet laureate. So there you go, this one's for you, Phil:



The Performance/For Phil Levine
Outside the rain begins
in small hives of water
dancing where footsteps
make a spoon in the earth

there is even
a boy who plays
the violin in a field
no one has been
able to stop him
baloian








singing insects, too
make music
in this world
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 118 songs

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

An excellent post this morning!

Issa's Untidy Hut said...

Thanks much ... glad you liked. Don

Charles Gramlich said...

Singing insects make some of the most beautiful music.

Issa's Untidy Hut said...

Indeed, they do, Charles.

vazambam (Vassilis Zambaras) said...

Not to distract

one's self from
the singing

insects, one should not forget
the croaking

frogs.

Anonymous said...

HEY

I just was looking at my "frog" poem that was posted on

the Untidy Hut and went with a slight change in how I presented "pond"

so
many

frogs

in
one

pon d



croaking



(get it ?!? "croaking" is frog mating call/song
& "croaking" is also dyeing
dead)

also in 2004 I wrote the 'shortie' accuse several poet-friend had recently .... "croaked"

and

as you know their poems/croaks are their songs (psalms)

K.

Issa's Untidy Hut said...

vazambam, many thanks for the poem, seems croaking and singing insects win the day! Don

Issa's Untidy Hut said...

Kokkie-san: As always, thanks for the update, reminding us that, in fact, it is all one continual update, up until, and maybe even after, the croaking begins ... Don