~Karl Paulnack
Linda shared Welcome Address to freshman parents at Boston Conservatory, given by Karl Paulnack, pianist and director of music division at Ithaca College this week on Facebook and it is a long, moving read that goes well with today's poem. I encourage you not to miss it!
The Art Room
By Shara McCallum
for my sistersBecause we did not have threads
of turquoise, silver, and gold,
we could not sew a sun nor sky.
And our hands became balls of fire.
And our arms spread open like wings.
Because we had no chalk or pastels,
no toad, forest, or morning-grass slats
of paper, we had no colour...
read the rest here
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"10 Reasons to Support the Arts in 2021" from Americans for the Arts
Small Reads for Brighter Days has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Laura!
Dear Tab - you've done it again -- given me a great gift. I LOVE the welcome speech. I love Barber's Adagio and listen to it sometimes when I just need a release (or reordering!) of my interior. I think you could replace the word "music" in his piece with "poetry" and it would also be true. Thank you. xo
ReplyDeletep.s. I am learning a piece right now that really gets to me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m84iLSh56KU
I'm so happy that you loved that speech. I printed it out so I could return to it, when needed! The poem reflects it, what others do when needed! Thanks, Tabatha!
ReplyDeleteLove the opening quote and poem, and thanks for the link to the speech -- looking forward to reading it this afternoon. :) Happy Autumn!
ReplyDeleteI loved this speech, too, which came in front of me earlier this week. And thank you for this companion poem, which so well captures the creative knitting together of an existence. Love this.
ReplyDeleteI didn't read this speech the first time I saw it on FB, so thank you for putting it in front of me again (paired perfectly with a poem). Like Irene said, I can read it with the word "poetry" or "art" in the place of "music" and it is the answer to the sticker I placed where I can see it every time I sit down at the computer: "Remember Your Why." Thank you for this gift today, and all the others you give so freely.
ReplyDeleteI'm not on FB that much so I really appreciated reading this article by Karl Paulnack—"invisible internal hidden objects" and feelings I think also, that come out and flood us with emotions. Shara McCallum's poem tandems well with Paulnack's article, thanks Tabatha for introducing her to me, and for this moving post!
ReplyDeleteThat was wholly beautiful and unexpected -- and then I read the speech. WOW. Wow, wow, wow.
ReplyDelete"If there is a future of peace for humankind, if there is to be an understanding of how these invisible, internal things should fit together, I expect it will come from the artists, because that's what we do. "
And so I go back to my keyboard.
I was reading that quote and it was sounding familiar - and then I realized that it was, because I'd read the speech on social media this week! Thanks for sharing it - it is so good. I love the poem too!
ReplyDeleteYES, I shared that speech too, which we all realize has always been true even if we couldn't put it into words, which is what makes a welcome speech into a poem. And that Shara poem, my favorite of hers that I've read, oh my. Watch them walk into my classroom, little two-legged works of art/ists. <3<3<3
ReplyDeleteThe poem and the importance of art. What more is there to say?
ReplyDeleteHey! I'm an Ithaca College grad. I will need to read the speech. I've had a bit of a week. It's made me terribly grumpy. But, I come to the weekend's poems and it really helps. This poem about the sisters hits home. I have two sisters and we were so different but there were some things we all did. This poem makes me want to write about that.
ReplyDeleteTabatha - thank you for sharing that. We are a family of musicians. Reading that welcome address brought me to tears (and how perfectly the poetry captures the ideas of that speech). Thank you for bringing this to my attention, so I could share it with family.
ReplyDeleteMore to self to read the address. For now it is enough that I had this gorgeous poem! Thanks, Tabatha.
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