To just the beating of your heart
Just one man beneath the sky
Just two ears
Just two eyes
~David Gilmour
I wasn't sure what I wanted to share this week until I heard this. It hits the spot. David Gilmour:
And then I thought, "You know what could make this even better? Cartoonist Lynda Barry talking about poetry!" So...
A Teaching Life has the Poetry Friday round-up today.
Thank you for your threefold early Christmas present. Each part, on its own, was gift enough. All three--my cup is overflowing! Music speaks to me so powerfully; hearing the Shakespearean sonnet sung moved me in a way no other form of recitation of that sonnet ever has. It's as if the words took on new life, new meaning, touching sensitivities (hitting soul-spots) I didn't even know I had. God bless you! And multitudinous thanks.
ReplyDeleteThis post is such a gift! Beautiful word, music, and wisdom. So many quotable lines in Barry's talk, but I especially love "you can't wear poetry out." Thanks so much for sharing!
ReplyDelete"And we ignore it at our peril." Love both of these, Tabatha. I do wonder why poetry in school is always the 'extra'. I had a colleague stop me this week & tell me that he's ready to 'do' poetry now with the class & do I have suggestions? Thank you for sharing two different & loving pieces of poetry today.
ReplyDeleteBoth of these videos are such a treat -- and they're such a perfect pairing. Love what Lynda says about putting poetry to music, and how that offers a whole other dimension of meaning. Poems are definitely dynamic entities, and she's right about how memorizing the words enables us to appreciate and understand them in new ways.
ReplyDeleteGrrr. Wanted you to know I was here, but I'm at a stopover at Barnes & Noble for a coffee and quick Internet visit, so I can't listen yet. I'll have to stop back when I get home and will only be bothering the dog!
ReplyDeleteTabatha,these videos are just wonderful. I loved hearing David Gilmore sing Shakespeare and becoming aware of him and his delicious houseboat studio. Linda Barry's take on the importance of poetry - how it can time travel, that it's part of our mental health - makes so much sense. Lately, I've felt I'm losing the ability to memorize! But perhaps Dickinson's short poems... . Thank you for your incredible finds and for sharing them with us.
ReplyDeleteA lovely after-the-work-week is over treat! Many thanks.
ReplyDeleteAlways something surprising and interesting here. Really enjoyed those two videos. What a perfect set. Especially memorable for me are Lynda Berry's thoughts, on haiku (images), reflecting on the same lines in different settings, time-traveling poetry, memorizing poems, especially to music (who would otherwise think of looking for Gershwin rhythms in Emily Dickinson?) and poetry's connection with mental health.
ReplyDeleteTabatha, both parts of this are sending me the same messages:
ReplyDelete*no need to try so hard
*it means one thing, it means exactly that, until it means something else entirely
*it's not just a decoration; we need it for survival
Wow.
So glad you decided to share, Tabatha. Both of these were what I needed to hear today. Thank you. =)
ReplyDeleteThe one so lovely in its truth, and the other such big truths about loveliness.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
I somehow missed Sonnet 18 when you first posted it. I LOVE it.
ReplyDelete