And willingly could waste my time in it.
~Shakespeare
I'm making Poem-Song Match-Ups (something I first did in 2011 after reading about it in a list of National Poetry Month activities). Matt Forrest Esenwine is helping me kick things off with a match between his poem "The Apple Tree" and the Crowded House song "Into Temptation," connected because they both talk about temptation and consequences.
The Apple Tree
by Matt Forrest Esenwine
An old tree
in the field across the road
stood in solitude amidst the sawgrass
and goldenrod
and a few errant wildflowers,
so full of precious fruit
I surmised it must be
in wont of a visitor
with whom to share
its treasures.
Desirous of the beauty
I beheld, I journeyed
through green-amber weeds
high to my waist, urgent
soft steps growing
quicker, quicker
and more deliberate.
Read the rest here.
Sharing a cover version of Into Temptation:
***********
I matched Liz Steinglass' "A Winter Wish" with "Winter Song" by Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson because they both feature friendship and making the best of cold, dreary days:
***********
I matched Amy LV's "Wisdom" with "Stressed Out" by Twenty One Pilots not because they were similar thematically but because they are opposite! No one is less stressed out than Amy's dog-friend. I like the juxtaposition of the two.
There's a lot we can learn from our pets, although their attitude isn't super helpful vis a vis making money :-) ("Wake up, you need to make money!" ~"Stressed Out")
As you can see from the post title, this is just the first set of Matches. Feel free to send me yours! Kids are welcome to join in. You don't have to use Poetry Fridayers' poems, although feel free to do so! Here are links to Donna Smith's poems, Michelle Heidenrich Barnes' poems, Matt's poems, and mine. I am happy to add more PFers to the list, just send me a link to your poems.
A Teaching Life is the Poetry Friday round-up host. Thanks, Tara!
16 comments:
Thanks for the opportunity to share our poems, Tabatha - it's a great idea, and I hadn't come across thees poems before, so it was nice to get a chance to enjoy them all!
Enjoyed these matches! I can see I will be learning a lot of new songs with this series. The winter pairing is especially apropos for this weekend. Thanks!
So much talent--yours and all the PF'ers whose poems you skillfully matched with music! Thank you!...When I read Michelle's DOM invitation to write about "nothing," I immediately thought of Frost's "Desert Places," especially the last stanza:
They cannot scare me with their empty spaces
Between stars—on stars where no human race is.
I have it in me so much nearer home
To scare myself with my own desert places.
I thought, too, of writing in response, but chose not to. Given that the first stanzas of the poem refer to snow, and snow is on the mind of so many of us this morning, maybe a more talented PF'er than I will take the pairing challenge--especially if snowed in with nothing more challenging to do this weekend:) God bless you!
http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/robertfrost/691
This is really fun, Tabatha. Each match delightful in its own way, and fun that you matched opposites, too: Amy's poem and the song "stressed out".
Tabatha! What a blast this game is, and I am smiling incredibly widely that you matched my dog poem with "Stressed Out." Funny! Our son Henry LOVES 21 Pilots, he played this song for me just a few weeks ago, and I just bought him tickets to hear them in concert come June. It's the best when things all collide. Each of these match-ups is fabulous (love Sara and Ingrid), and while all week I've been thinking about this game, now I'm going to look for a match-up myself. Thank you for the delight! xo
Thanks, all! What a funny coincidence, Amy :-) I figure there must be a Diane Mayr poem to match with Twenty One Pilots' Guns for Hands.
This challenge will be like a treasure hunt! I'll keep my eyes and ears open!
Tabatha, This is so fun! I love "Winter Song." It's perfect for me today. The storm has just started, and I'm holed up with the people closest to my heart. Thanks for the match!
Holy wow, these are great, Tabatha! twenty one pilots is a new favorite in our household, too. (I think it's the spoken word poetry influence.) Thanks for the match-ups and for sharing. =)
Man, you're good at this matching business, Tabatha. (All that administrative experience with poetry swaps, perhaps?) I was in a coffee shop the other day with Carrie Clickard and she said, "Do you hear what's on the radio?" It was a song about nothing, wouldn't you know. I forgot to inquire who the artist was, but they kept repeating, "It's nothing... it's nothing... it's nothing...." Nothing is following me everywhere! I think I'll find a different topic for my music-poetry pairing, however. Thanks for the inspiration, T. :)
Oh, such fun Tabatha! - you wove all this together - one piece just led into the other. I loved that cover version of Crowded House - one of my favorite bands.
Fun indeed! I just sent you an obvious one all matched up already, but I see that you also enjoy the challenge of starting with a poem and finding a complementary song.
All three poems are outstanding--from Matt's baroque diction to Amy's (dog's) simple desires, but the pairing I enjoyed the most here is Liz's "Winter Wish" with "Winter Song." You've also inspired me to see how I can make the poems published on my blog more searchable...but that might be a goal for the summer.
This match up idea was a very good one especially since I got to go back and read some PF poets' poems. I have used Winter Song before when writing but I would like to add it to the winter song section of my newest gallery, Winter Wanderings, that I am inviting everyone today to join in. I will say that the song was submitted by you. I also hope that you will offer a winter poem to the gallery.
Great pairings, Tabatha. I'm enjoying reading the poems and listening to some great music. Thank you!
Do I send a poem and you match it to a song?
Hi Jone! I'm inviting people to make their own matches (matching a poem and a song). You are welcome to send me one! Otherwise, you will have to wait and be surprised :-)
Post a Comment