A poem by poet, scholar, and professor James Emanuel (1921-2013). Reading/video:
Friday, August 14, 2020
Tuesday, August 11, 2020
Monday, August 10, 2020
"maggie and milly and molly and may," by e.e. cummings
One by cummings from later in his career, reading and video:
Sunday, August 9, 2020
A Song about Regrets
For your listening pleasure (maybe!), a song about regrets, music and recording by Roger Illsley, lyrics by Hans Ostrom (who he?) and Roger Illsley:
Friday, August 7, 2020
Poem by Borges
"I Ask Myself," better known as "Poem Written in a Copy of Beowulf," by Jorge Luis Borges--reading and video:
Tuesday, August 4, 2020
"Meeting Poets," by Eunice de Souza
de Souza was a well known Indian poet, fiction writer, and professor who taught at Xavier University in India. She earned an M.A. from Marquette University and a Ph.D. from the University of Mumbai. This is a wry little poem.
"Words," by Kamala Das
A good poem from the renowned Indian poet, Kamala Das, whose family name was Surayya. Reading/video, short:
Sunday, August 2, 2020
From a Diary of the Plague Year (17)
I'm not supposed to leave the house.
So while you're out,
could you pick up one
of the 49 copies of the Gutenberg Bible?
(It can be a partial copy.)
Thanks. Also, I need a feather
from the small golden-crowned
manakin from the Amazon rain forest.
(It's a hybrid bird.) If you have
time, you might bring back
the original arrangement
for Duke Ellington's "Warm Valley."
And some bread and apples.
I'll be here all day! So
take your time.
hans ostrom 2020
New Stuff
my favorite river
kept running from me
as if I were a drought.
my favorite birds
migrate with the rest
and send impostors back
the next year.
yes, and my favorite hammer
became a pacifist,
refuses to clobber nails.
also, I forgot where my
favorite tree stands in
the forest. that's embarrassing
and hurtful to the tree,
I'm sure. I need some new stuff
to admire.
hans ostrom 2020
Saturday, August 1, 2020
"Tawny," by Carl Sandburg
Reading/video of a very short poem by Carl Sandburg concerning a color category, a season, and a memory of a face. From his book Smoke and Steel (1922).
Friday, July 31, 2020
"Gratitude to Old Teachers," by Robert Bly
A poem in blank verse--not typical of Bly. But it has his characteristic surrealism, offering a striking comparison, to say the least, all in the context of walking across a frozen lake, no doubt in Minnesota. Bly's book about surrealistic poetry, Leaping Poetry, is terrific.
Thursday, July 30, 2020
One by Goethe: "I Think of You"
A 50-second reading/video of "I Think of You," by one of the titans of German literature, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe:
Tuesday, July 28, 2020
"Loving Some is a Heavy Cross," by Boris Pasternak
A poem about how easy, in this case, it is to live with someone whom you love. From the online book, From the Ends to the Beginning: A Bilingual Anthology of Poetry, russianpoetry.net. It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway, Pasternak was the author of Doctor Zhivago, led eventually to one of my very favorite films, directed by David Lean.
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8oaaP68i4s
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8oaaP68i4s
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