celebrate: a poem for Earth & Poetry Month
Here in the US, we’re closing in on the end of Earth Month and Poetry Month, April 2008, a time when we celebrate and pay more attention to both what it is to live and well on this earth.
celebrate
In honor of Earth Month and Poetry Month, I offer to you and riders on the poetry train and for readwritepoem (aren’t local names/places a form of jargon?) this poem which celebrates my watershed and bio-region. I’d also like to dedicate this my friend Jeff, burner, classmate since 7th grade, who died of a massive heart attack last Friday. His family plans a gathering on Thursday; his friends have something a little more wild with bagpipes playing Aerosmith’s “Dream On” set for Friday (contact me for more info).
dolphin play, steelhead run, pelican peer
Channel Island sail, Anacapa arch
salt lips, rock rolls, finch dawns, fog noons, moon climbs
sea, sycamore, sage, lupine, jeffrey scents
Topa Topa pink light, Pine Mountain star night
life, work, growth amidst our sacred landscape
I made the broadside by painting my body like the coastal hillsides in the spring and the sea, then pressed by body onto fabric in he shape you see here. I photographed the resulting image, ran it in blue then in green colored toner, signed and numbered them, and it was published in the 200th issue of ARTLIFE Limited Edtions March 1999:
Top 5 Posts of All Time
According to Word Press Stats, as of Saturday, April 26, these are the most read posts and pages on my blog of
All Time (from Nov. 2007 to April 26, 2008)
with the number of readers following the link…
| Title | Views | |
|---|---|---|
| Inspirational: Next Lunar Eclipse 2/20/0 | 4,484 | |
| Lunar Eclipse Poem | 196 | |
| spring poem | 188 | |
| >> whew! plus the best chocolate f | 175 | |
| Gamesh 315 Poem Aug 6, 2007 | 168 |
Al Young in Ventucky
Al Young on NPR 4/24 Morning Edition
yesiree-bob, Al’s on tomorrow, find your NPR morning edition and listen…it will be worth your while…I’ll be listening to it on KCRW 89.1 in Ventucky
if you missed it, you can listen at npr.org or read below; the links aren’t live so to hear his lovely, rich, melodious voice, Al Young
California Poet Laureate Al Young’s ‘Blues’
Listen Now [7 min 17 sec] add to playlist
EnlargeAl Young was born on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. He grew up in the rural South and in Detroit before moving to the San Francisco Bay area in 1960. Courtesy Al Young
Young Reads Young
Al Young reads two poems from his new collection, Something About the Blues.
Book Excerpts
Morning Edition, April 24, 2008 · Al Young took to writing poetry, as he describes it in one poem, “to make out the sound of my own background music.”
He’s now the poet laureate of California, celebrating National Poetry Month with a collection called Something About the Blues.
Though he’s lived in California for decades, the 68-year-old poet was born in rural Mississippi and had the good luck to find himself in one very special classroom in the second grade.
In the segregated South of the 1940s, Young attend a black-only school. “At the Kingston School for Colored, we put a lot of emphasis on things that would be now called African American, on Negro literature and Negro culture,” he tells Renee Montagne. “So we memorized poems by people like Langston Hughes, of course, and Paul Laurence Dunbar.”
Young moved to the San Francisco Bay area in 1960, “under the sway, all of the hullabaloo. The Beat Generation was sounding its horns … and there was just a lot of romance about it.” He had $15 and a guitar.
Young’s poems touch on not only blues and jazz music but also, not surprisingly, life in California. In “Watsonville After the Quake,” he writes about the Mexican immigrants forgotten in the aftermath of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. In “Blues My Naughty Poetry Taught Me,” Young observes the state through the window of an Amtrak train:
Sea-fences, industrial wash-ups, slushy tracks
and rickety light: skies so soulfully watercolored
you’d have to be an arts commissioner not to see it.
Seen across the Bay through trees and the undersides
of freeways San Francisco looks lonely at the end
of one bridge and the beginning of another…
Poems: ‘Something About the Blues’
NPR.org, April 23, 2008 ·
‘Watsonville After the Quake’
On Central Coast radio KTOM blasts
Eddie Rabbitt thru waves of air the sea
surrounds, & all the other country stars
come out (Claude King, Tammy Wynette, Shelley
West) & spread themselves in droplets.
The sacred moisture of their song is skin
to seal a pain that quavers in this ash blue night
coming on just now like a downcast motel date,
who’s warned you from in front that she’ll be coming
’round the mountain when she comes.
Whose tents are these? What’s with these shot
parking lot & alleyway families peeping around
the raggedy backs of undemolished fronts?
That brownskin kid on a grassy patch along Main,
catching a football & falling with joy
on the run, is his family up from Mazatlán,
up from Baja or Celaya—or edges of eternity?
Network TV didn’t do this news up right.
For all their huff & puff & blow your house down,
the mediators of disaster and distress
didn’t find this sickly devastation sexy.
Besides, who’s going to cry or lose sleep
over a spaced out, tar papered, toppled down town
by the sea, brown now with alien debris?
‘Los Angeles, Los Angeles:
One Long-Shot, One Cutaway’
1/
Inside your belly, a new beast ripens.
While all your twilit litters guard the door,
the ghost of Ho Chi Minh pours out a toast:
Here’s to old Saigon, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Beijing;
Iran before the Shah; to Port-au-Prince,
and Port of Spain, Tijuana, Kingston Town;
to Tokyo, Bombay, Tel-Aviv, Nairobi and Accra.
Not Ghana but the oldest Gold Coast drums
her thoughts out loud in not so cooling colors,
The darkest nights of Seoul turn into tunnels,
where rays of hope, spaghetti thin, break skin
and ream the veins of dreams so long deferred
that laser-lined Thought Police 100 years from now
still can’t decrypt the meaning of their blood;
their blues.
2/
A Stoly on the rocks, some rock cocaine,
a spoon of smack can crack the sound of barriers
and barrios alike. But light is hard.
‘The James Cotton Band at Keystone’
And the blues, I tell you, they blew up
on target; blew the roof right off
& went whistling skyward, starward,
stilling every zooming one of us
mojo’d in the room that night, that
instant, that whenever it was. Torn
inside at first, we all got turned out,
twisting in a blooming space where
afternoon & evening fused like Adam
with Eve. The joyful urge to cry
mushroomed into a blinding cloudburst
of spirit wired for sound, then atomized
into one long, thunderous, cooling downpour.
What ceased to be was now & now & now.
Time somehow was what the blues froze
tight like an underground pipe before
busting it loose in glad explosions; a
blast that shattered us—ice, flow & all.
The drift of what we’d been began to
shift, dragging us neither upstream nor
down but lifting us, safe & high, above
the very storm that, only flashing moments
ago, we’d been huddling in for warmth.
Melted at last, liquefied, we became
losers to the blues & victors, both.
Now that he’d blown us away with his shout,
this reigning brownskinned wizard, wise
to the ways of alchemy, squeezed new life
back into us by breathing through cracks
in our broken hearts; coaxing & choking
while speaking in tongues that fork & bend
like the watery peripheries of time; a
crime no more punishable than what the
dreaming volcano does waking from what it was.
Believe me, the blues can be volatile too,
but the blues don’t bruise; they only renew.
© 2008 by Al Young, from Something About the Blues. Published by Sourcebooks.
“Up Jumped Spring” a spring poem by Al Young
Al Young, CA Poet Laureate visits Ventucky College
12-12:45pm Poetry & discussion of poetics for change
1:30-2:30pm Poetry & Prose plus writing tips
both the above events take place in the Garden Patio
7pm Guthrie Hall with live music, art and living history performance by Suzanne Lawrence
From “Up Jumped Spring” by Al Young
California poet laureate, Al Young, was born in Mississippi and was reading by the age of three. He began publishing poems, stories, and articles in his early teens, and has lived most of his life in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has been a poet, writer, teacher and lecturer throughout his literary career and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California , Berkeley in Spanish. He has taught poetry and fiction writing at a number of universities nationwide, including the Universities of California at Berkeley , Santa Cruz and Davis ; and Stanford University . Versatile and prolific, his works have appeared in the New York Times, Chicago Review, Seattle Review, Rolling Stone, and the Norton Anthology of African-American Literature. As a screenwriter, Young has worked with Sidney Poitier, Bill Cosby and Richard Pryor.
Here we are, California State Poet Laureate Al Young and the Art Predator at the Santa Barbara Book Festival Sept. 2007–that’s Glenna Luschei, poet and publisher in the background.
On Monday, April 21, Al Young will do a live interview on NPR’s Morning Edition, then he will drive up to read at the college where I teach and share his work with my students and the community. While here he will participate in three events:
7-9pm–“A Celebration of the Earth:
Poetry & Performance featuring AL YOUNG “
in Guthrie Hall on the West side of campus; park near the gym; $1 to park
The evening begins with live music and a living history performance by Suzanne Lawrence as Anna Paquette on “One Hundred Years of Growth: 1815-1915–from remote agricultural Mission Town to car accessible county seat” followed by Theater Arts student KM Hageman and Friends who will sing Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land.”
At sunset, Al Young will perform backed by jazz musicians and with an accompanying slide show of eco-art images contributed by Debra McKillop, Steve Schafer, Dan Holmes, students, and others. The slide show is organized by student Art major Tanya Orozco. The evening will close with another song by KM and Friends.
For more about Al Young, author of over 20 books of poetry, prose, and fiction including the National Book Award winner in 2002, The Sound of Dreams Remembered go to alyoung.org.
A reception, funded by the Ventura College Foundation, will follow. Al Young’s performance in funded by Associated Students.
Al will give two readings during the day: a lunch time brown bag poetry reading in the Garden Patio between the new library (LRC) and the old library (SSC) from 12-1245p, and a prose and poetry reading with writing tips and techniques from 130-230 in the same location.
All events are free and open to the public.
The Art Predator is very excited!
LA’s Dengue Fever in Ventucky 4/17–CANCELLED!
you could have checked em out at Salzer’s 6pm 4/17–except the promoter canceled…too bad!!
they will be playing at Soho in Santa Barbara tonight at 8pm however
VCCool NEWS & Earth Month News
The Art Predator’s Pawprints will be all over some of these up coming events! Find out more about climate change, global warming, and what YOU can do to contribute to the solution instead of the problem. Attend Earth Month events in your commuity–show solidarity, grow, participate!
This newsletter can also be read on line.
VCCool Newsletter April 15, 2008
Dear Climate Activists,
It’s an Earth Day event smorgasbord, so get your calendars out, air up your bike tires, find the bus schedule, and call your car-pool buddies! It’s time to meet, greet, and cool the heat.
VCCool will have a booth at two of the events – so see you there.
Also in this issue – important policy information.
-From the folks of VCCool
www.vccool.org
Mid Town – Earth Day Expo and Green Home and Garden Tour
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
336 Sanjon Road,
Expo free – tour $10
Come out and see what your neighbors are doing to go green at home. The Midtown Ventura Community Council is sponsoring an Earth Day Expo and Green Home and Garden Tour. Visit the displays and pick up the map for the tour.
Updated Slide Show – An Inconvenient Truth
Saturday, April 19th
5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
EP Foster Library, Topping Room
651 E. Main St.,
Gretchen Lewotsky “Climate Jedi” will be presenting this Climate Project presentation. Gretchen is one of 1,000 people who trained with Al Gore. The slide show has been updated with new information and facts about our local communities.
This event is sponsored by Jorgensen for Congress. Marta Jorgensen is a candidate for the United States House of Representatives, 24th District, and will also be at the event.
Earth Day in Santa Barbara – CEC Style
Sunday, April 20
10 am – 5:30 pm
Santa Barbara County Courthouse
1100 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara
Sponsored by
the Community Environmental Council
Highlights include:
Green Car Show and Advanced Transportation Marketplace, Energy Village, Environmental Entrepreneurs and Innovators, Live Music and Entertainment on the Solar-powered Stage, Free Bicycle Check-ups, Children’s Area, Ride Free on MTD.
Ventura College Earth Action Day
Wednesday, April 23
10:00 to 2:30 p.m.
Ventura College
Free
car parking is $1 on campus, bicycles free
VC’s second annual Earth Day is about ACTION–taking action, advocating action–with an emphasis on actions related to global warming.
The event features two stages of entertainment, a film series, booths, a program by EATM, music, singer/songwriters, poets, writers, clothing swap, alternative transportation info, and speakers.
Carl Morehouse:
Creating Sustainable Communities
(a Ventura College Earth Week event )
Thursday, April 24th
12:30 to 1:20 p.m.
SCI 352 (the Science Building), Ventura College Campus
Off Telegraph
Carl Morehouse, Ventura City Council Member, previously Ventura’s Mayor, will speak on creating sustainable communities. This is an excellent opportunity to hear about city planning issues that affect Ventura citizens, and our ability to curb climate change.
Faith, Food, and Farming:
Presentation and Communal Supper
Saturday, April 26
1:30 – 5:30 p.m.
North Oxnard Methodist Church
1801 Joliet Place, Oxnard, 93030
$7 (no one turned away)
Presented by Progressive Christians Uniting
Environmental Justice:
Our Faith, Our Bodies, Our Neighbors, our Planet
How does what we eat really matter — and what does it really cost, now and in
the future? Join us for an afternoon of learning and action on the issues of how
our culture of food production and food choices impacts our bodies, our planet,
and our life together. Breakout sessions on organic farming, nutrition, farm
policy, and more. We’ll worship together and share a simple meal at 5 PM. Flyer
Californians for Solar and Clean Energy has just collected enough signatures to put the Solar and Clean Energy Act (SACE) on the California 2008 November ballot!
This act requires 50% of all electricity sold by California utilities after 2025 to be generated by clean, renewable sources including: solar, geothermal, wind, biomass, small hydro, and tidal. According to the group, “California’s major investor-owned utilities, as well as coal and nuclear interests have indicated they will vigorously oppose this ballot proposition.” press release,
SACE FAQ
Two More Green Events
Saturday, April 19th, 10 a.m. to Noon
Low Flow Irrigation practical workshop with John Lamar – 401 South Ventura Street, Ojai
Saturday, April 26, 3-7 pm
EcoLogic Life – green interior building store opens in Ojai – Refreshments and Harp Music Flyer
If you received this message from a friend, and you’d like to be on Ventura’s Global Warming email list, send a note to the action@vccool.org with instructions to add you to the global warming e-mail list.
TAXES: a poem from the 3:15 experiment
This poem is from the 3:15 experiment and was published in between sleeps: poems from the 3:15 Experiment 1993-2005.
Poets from all over the world wake up at 3:15 am every night in August and write!
For those of you readers who live in the US, you will know why I chose to post this…as taxes must be “posted” by Tuesday night April 15 by midnight. Wish us luck! We’re almost done with 2006, and found out we don’t have to get in 2007 by April 15 to get our rebate as long as we’re getting back money (which we should) thanks to our friend Charles and our friend Annie.
This is the version of the poem published in ARTLIFE Limited Editions April 2003; the version published in between sleeps: the 3:15 experiment 1993-2005 is exactly how I wrote it at 3:15 while this one is slightly different (I deleted a few lines and exchanged the placement of the first 2 stanzas).
Good luck, everyone getting your taxes in and getting your refunds and your rebates back! Maybe next year, we’ll see some real CHANGE, some real tax reform where corporations might actually carry their share (or more!) of the tax burden; these says, corps cover under 15% while in 1940 they paid 50%! While businesses complain that US corporate tax rates are the second highest in the developed world, when loopholes etc are factored in, it is the third lowest in the world when measured as a percentage of gross domestic product. The House of Reps passed a bill to end $18 billion in tax breaks to oil companies (like they need them when they are making obscene profits thanks to Bush’s policies!). These are mainstream facts, gathered from today’s Parade Magazine (that hot bed of Marxist journalism).
TAXES
taxes are like the carrot on the plate
i never wanted to eat they get
older & older & less appetizing
just eat your carrots someone might say
it’s not that simple
i have to get them done to get the loan
to keep my house from tumbling off what
little foundation it has & landing
in the bottom of the barranca to
wash to sea it’s gonna be an el nino
winter they say & i believe them i
can feel it, taste it is time again for
rain whether i am ready or not
the sea is hungry
taxes are a cacophony of chaos
bits & pieces of paper swim
with alacrity flutter up to the ceiling
dive down & kick up the silt
i am plankton & i can’t breathe
in the churning turmoil of these taxes
i dare the cats to take a dip they do
jumping on them rolling through them
simple things annoy me i hate to see
things digitized tile, sheets, every day
objects i am irritated immensely
by the swirly taxes the multiple piles
the endless pieces of receipt they
refuse to behave to get in line be
orderly i am embarrassed by their
ganglike swarming their lack of precision
they threaten to rise up take my throat
take my house no one understands the
power they have these are people who
balance checkbooks who possibly know
how much money they have it’s not that
i even owe in fact i was to live
the month of august on my return
return
return
return to a place where the taxes live
in peace domesticated instead
i live in the land of the wild taxes
i’m trying to shoot my way out with words
these numbers just aren’t mine
visit readwritepoem for some even more political poems
catch the poetry train
Education no longer the road to societal equity; bumps on the road dump students in streets
Schools begging, and we’re all the poorer for it
My column Wednesday about the growing cost of public education seems to have touched a nerve in a state where we’ve moved way, way beyond candy sales and pancake fundraisers.
If you missed it, I wrote about a meeting at the L.A. Unified elementary school my daughter will attend in the fall. More than 200 people attended, and leaders of the parents group asked us to reach for our checkbooks and help fill an anticipated $180,000 budget gap so the school doesn’t lose the literacy coach, math coach and computer guy.
Welcome to the club,” wrote Mitch Lane, who said he has been asked since 1997 to donate to his daughters’ public schools in La Cañada Flintridge. Without parental support, he said, “our schools would be seeking disaster relief. . . . Best wishes on shedding light on one of our state government’s most embarrassing blunders — not making education funding a priority.”
And what about schools where parents can’t come up with the dough, as they can at my school and Lane’s?”Our fundraising was not as fruitful,” said Cynthia Santos-Decure, whose son is a student in Long Beach. “We will lose our computer instructor, librarian and only have a nurse one or two days a week. Those are just the preliminary cuts. . . . I ask myself, what’s next?”
It’s anybody’s guess. What happened to the days when public education was not just valued, but was seen as a great equalizer in American society, offering a pathway to upward mobility for even the least fortunate students?
There’s more to his column, which you can read below. But as someone with a child entering kindergarten, and as someone who has worked with community college students who want to be educators or just get a decent job, I had to write him back in response to the above:
Hi Steve,
It’s not anybody’s guess as far as I’m concerned; in fact you identify it in that same paragraph when you point out that public education no longer serves as a “great equalizer in American society, offering a pathway to upward mobility for even the least fortunate students.”
Those with money and power no longer wish for an equalized society. They want to maintain their wealth and advantages for their offspring and friends, and they see nothing wrong with that perspective.
sincerely, The Art Predator
(and community college teacher)
The rest of his column follows–but I’m curious–what do you think? Do you agree that free educational opportunities should be offered to all? This is especially important to consider as it is tax time. Few people realize how little many big corporations pay in taxes; even Parade Magazine today had an article stating that 61% of US corporations paid no taxes between 1996 and 2000.
I don’t buy the argument that if you’re “smart” enough, you will get the educational advantages you need to have choices about life, careers and education. You have to have cultural capital as well. And who gets to decide who is smart?
art predator 