Friday, February 24, 2012

Saski-Naski

Life has been your art. You have set yourself to music. Your days are your sonnets.
~ Oscar Wilde


Langston Hughes by Brandy Kayzakian-Rowe

Poetic saski-naski for you today (Google Translate says that "saski-naski" means "miscellany" in the Basque language).

* I made an African American Poets word search. Can you find Maya, William Stanley, Gwendolyn, Lucille, Countee, Gayle, Rita, Paul Laurence, Cornelius, James, Nikki, Eloise, Angelina Weld, Yusef, Claude, Marilyn, Ntozake, Charles, Alice, and Phyllis?

* Also, here are resources for teaching African American poetry from the Poetry Foundation.

* Ever thought about trying Storybird? I talked about it earlier this week. Their site is worth a visit.

* And lastly, a bit of healing for you:
Come Healing
by Leonard Cohen

O gather up the brokenness
And bring it to me now
The fragrance of those promises
You never dared to vow

The splinters that you carry
The cross you left behind
Come healing of the body
Come healing of the mind
Read the rest here.

Our Poetry Friday round-up is being hosted by Check It Out.

7 comments:

GatheringBooks said...

Oh what a truly beautiful poem, Tabatha. We could always do with a little bit of healing of the body, the mind, the spirit.

Author Amok said...

Tabatha, dear friend. Your post is timely for me. We lost my aunt yesterday, an unexpected death. I am sharing the link to these lyrics with my family. Thank you.

jama said...

Beautiful lyrics, Tabatha. I need more Cohen songs in my life! And I love the Oscar Wilde quote at the beginning. You always find the coolest things to share. Thank you. :)

Diane Mayr said...

Oh, and I love saski-naski. Where did you find that?

Tara said...

The one and only Leonard Cohen...this poem reminds me of his "Anthem" - so beautiful. As Jama say, you find the coolest things - I've tried Storybird for writing workshop but never for poetry. I'll have to give that a try!

Heidi Mordhorst said...

Hi, Tabatha--

Yes, how did you come across the Basque-i saski-naski?

I went to check out Storybird and clearly it takes time to explore. I couldn't quite make out how to begin. But your "To Flute, from Violin" certainly worked well. Did you write the poem as you selected the artwork, or was a it a poem you already had going? My favorite page is "holding back the wind/to hover here,/longer,/longer." Lovely music indeed.

Tabatha said...

Thanks, all. I'm so sorry about your aunt, Laura.

I discovered Saski-Naski because I particularly like Basque. It's a language with a lot of character.

Heidi, I wrote the poem first and then tried to find art that would fit. I think it might be easier to do it the other way around!