If I were going to prom again, I would wear a huge skirt and plain cotton tank. A big, poofy, flotation-device-sized skirt. I wish I had done that.
~Leandra Medine
Happy Poetry Friday! I tried to find a poem that matched what is going on in our household (This weekend one of my kids is going to prom and one is coming home from a semester in Germany). There is a surprising dearth of poems about prom. I did find this video, which mixes dance and Germany, calling itself a "cinematic poem":
I love this poem by Jan Wagner, translated from German by Iain Galbraith:
SEE-SAW
make yourself heavier, they call. i close
both eyes, thinking
of sacks of cement, iron foundries
and elephants, an anchor sinking
in deep mud while a fleet of whales
manoeuvres above it, an anvil’s
bullish head. for a while
i hold my breath and wait. to no avail:
read the rest here
Two more:
TEA-BAG by Jan Wagner
QUINCES by Jan Wagner
************
Reflections on the Teche has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Margaret!
What wonderful mile stones you are celebrating! Enjoy every moment. Not enough poems about prom? We may need to fix that!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a weekend to remember for years and years, Tabatha. My grandson had prom last week, graduation this coming one, special times! I love the dance video, wow, on those high rocks! And I loved the 'see-saw' poem, smiling with the first line "make yourself heavier" & then the end, head will stay in the clouds. Thanks and have a marvelous weekend!
ReplyDeleteWhat celebrations at your house. I love the see-saw poem. There were such great images in the pome. I agree with Linda, we should have a prom night themed Poetry Friday.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the goodies. Those dance moves are amazing. Of course I loved the teabag poem :). Enjoy the celebrations this weekend!
ReplyDeleteProm was long ago for my kids. I remember the shopping for dresses that we could not afford and watching my casual girls get all dressed up. It's marvelous and ridiculous, a see saw.
ReplyDeleteWhat amazing imagery! Welcome home to Dash and I hope to see some prom pix on FB. :)
ReplyDeleteProm. And suddenly it is all over! Hoping your Promster has a great evening - and that you all enjoy the time back together as a family. That dance vid is amazing!! Love the transitions.
ReplyDeleteI thought I would sneak a quick peek at the video you linked, and instead got sucked right in. Wow! That's pretty incredible. I agree with Kat that the transitions are fabulous. I also love the layers of the poem, See-Saw. I'm always fascinated by the process of translating poetry. Enjoy the celebrations at your house!
ReplyDeleteI love the German name for the first poem: WIPPEE
ReplyDeleteAnd so clever the tea-bag poems.
Welkomen to your returning student &for the younger one, I hope prom was O.K!
I say that because my experience with prom was throwing up after dinner at the fancy restaurant - it was so hot here in Florida & I was way overdressed & another prom it was just - meh! I would have settled for an OK! for either of them :)
In any event, you are enjoying a mighty fine glorious time of year for your dear Family.
Oh, Tabatha, between the poem and the video, I think you did a wonderful job of capturing the mood and milestones of the weekend! Yay for all of you!
ReplyDeleteI am exhausted after just watching that dance video!
ReplyDeleteI happy for you to have your one child home and how exciting for the other to be going to prom. I hope both these events were wonderful. I remember when my son would go away from home to work in Korea or China. It was such a relief to have him return home safe and sound.
What a great "cinematic poem! Interesting, too, to think that those who danced on top of stones were dancing to the music in their heads.
ReplyDelete