Reading/video of a poem by French Symbolist and so-called Decadent, Paul Verlaine (1844-1896)--translated by Richard Greene:
Thursday, October 8, 2020
Wednesday, October 7, 2020
"On the Nature of Love," by Rabindranath Tagore
One of the better known poems by Tagore (1861-1941), poet, composer, philosopher, fiction writer, artist--astoundingly talented. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1913.
Reading/video:
Tuesday, October 6, 2020
"Musical Instrument," by Luis Cernuda
Reading/video of a short poem that, in a flash, presents a theory of creativity. Luis Cernuda was a Spanish poet who spent much of his life in exile from Franco's regime.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Lsiw5zTWf8
"Sonnet XIII: The Light That Rises from Your Feet to Your Hair," by Pablo Neruda
Reading/video of a poem by Neruda, translated by W.S. Merwin:
Monday, October 5, 2020
Emily Dickinson writes of hauntings: "One Need not be a Chamber to Be Haunted"
Video/reading of a poem by Emily Dickinson--number 407 or 670, depending upon the numbering system.
Duty
After a life, or most of one,
of doing his duty, meeting
his responsibilities and obeying
their orders, he found he couldn't
relax as others did. He made
too much even of small tasks,
compelled himself to follow
through, stay strong, be there.
Voices of authorities past
gabbed in his head. He vowed
that one day he would not do
what he was supposed to do.
But would he follow through?
hans ostrom 2020
A Thin Smile in the Rain
When you wait a long time
for something that will never arrive,
you're not waiting. You're
hoping. You're pretending.
Or: something about you
likes that feeling of disappointment,
the sense in which the world
is unforgivably hard
but you're not giving in.
You find it's a bit like walking
in rain without hat, coat, or
umbrella and not minding--
your hair, face, clothes,
and shoes soaked. People
look at you and look away.
They act like you don't know
you're wet. You set your
thin smile. And keep walking.
hans ostrom 2020
"Ghosts," by Elizabeth Jennings
Just in time for Halloween, a poem by British poet Elizabeth Jennings, "Ghosts," video/reading:
Wednesday, September 30, 2020
"I Loved You," by Alexander Pushkin
Reading/video of a short poem by the great Russian writer. The poem was translated by Babette Deutsch, American writer, critic, poet, and translator.
Monday, September 28, 2020
Saturday, September 26, 2020
"Devotion," by Robert Frost
Reading/video of a four-line poem (I think we call that a quatrain) by Robert Frost:
"Gift," by Czeslaw Milosz
Reading/video of a short poem by Milosz, the Nobel Prize winning Polish poet:
Thursday, September 24, 2020
The Pink Pistil
a resting cat
opens its mouth
wide so I
can see its
narrow wet tongue
lengthen then curl
like the pink
pistil of a
tropical flower and
I hear hordes
of birds singing
chirping laughing safely
in the canopy.
hans ostrom 2020
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