White Rabbit: Issa's Sunday Service, #27

This past week was the birthday of rock great, Grace Slick, from one of my favorite 60's bands, Jefferson Airplane (a choice for which I took much flack from close friends). This week's selection is "White Rabbit," which is the second Grace Slick number to land on the Litrock list (here's the first, in case you missed it). Whether it's James Joyce or Lewis Carroll, Slick was always on the, umm, high end of things and this is a classic that just keeps on giving. It's presentation by the band is unusual for a song that hit the charts with staying power; the music builds dramatically, centered around the words and Slick's voice, in a style almost perfect for poetic presentation.


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Heading back to March 1993 and dipping into Lilliput Review #41, I found a couple of poems not previously featured. Enjoy.





The Center Of Evolution

the silence of a field
that points through the depth of a leaf
that formed all that potato
frying in your face

Stacey Sollfrey

this

isness of monarch
on lantana bloom,

two horny toads spied
in one week, late heat ...;

a sprinkle of rain
to prove the phenomenon

is all there is,
and is enough

Sylvia Manning

And one from the master:





eyeing the potato
on the banked fire...
crow

Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue

best,
Don

Issa's Sunday Service, #2

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Here's a song that puzzled the bejesus out of many a now aged acid head upon it's initial release. Rejoyce, penned by Grace Slick and performed by Jefferson Airplane on their fine After Bathing at Baxter's disc, is this week's contribution to the legacy of LitRock.

For trivia buffs and Joyce aficionados, ReJoyce was also the title of an excellent introduction to the work of James Joyce by Anthony Burgess.

If you didn't get a chance (or want to give it another glorious spin), check out last week's Summertime in England by Van Morrison.

This week's poem comes from issue #2 of Lilliput Review, sometime in 1989. Enjoy.

D. C. Dance Steps

Entering the crowded floor,
You are pulled left
And I am lured right
To travel on my own.
While you seek poetry
Body rocking in the rhythm of meter
--------and soul
I smile and sway, deep in the heart
--------of Borneo.

Laurie Anderson

best,
Don

PS. If anyone has suggestions for future songs in the LitRock category, particularly those dealing with poems/poets, just drop it in the comment section or send me off an email. I've got a nice list of titles so far, but group-think would be great for this little project.