The text in my mind this morning

 

December 18,2003  (I was 69)

 

The text in my mind this morning

was full of the assonance of O

I try to remember the words now

once occasion oppression overbearing

I don’t know now

but it had to do with us recognizing

the hour of America was over

We’ve immolated our witches

owned our slaves

bombed the biggest bombs

bombed cities bombed jungles

bombed deserts bombed mountains

of bombs drones of bombs

The world does not trust us

because we are not trustworthy

Our biggest citizens are corporations

Our little citizens are obsolete

Our biggest business is fighting fear

We make sure there is enough

to keep the economy going

Pilgrim Age

 

December 15, 2003  (I was 59) 

 

         Pilgrim Age

This is a journey of some experience,

travelers who have packed some bags…

have dangled from hot high voltage wires

separated the Constitution from political desires

who at times have lived from hand to mouth

nursed their way from the deepest South

ran the field and have lain on the table

hung onto the shaken until they were stable

Travelers of fine craft and detailed décor

all haunted by journeys traveled before.

They know when to walk and when to run

travelers rewriting what they’ve already done.

 

Acquainted With The Night

 

September 11, 2003  (I was 58)

 

Acquainted With The Night

Note from Jay Parini,

Robert Frost: A Life, Henry Holt 1999, p. 246

 

Acquainted With The Night:   “The poem was, Frost later

suggested, ‘written for the tune.’  Although a sonnet by

form, with a closing couplet, the poem has the fluid

repetitive aspect of a villanelle with the three line stanzas

mimicking the terza rima of Danté –appropriate for a

poem about the descent into darkness.”

 

I always read the poem to students mimicking the voice

of Bela Lugosi in Dracula.  It puts an appropriate spin to

the narration.  The movie and the poem are of a common

era.  The poem is circa 1927 and the film was released in

the U.S. on Jan. 1, 1930.  When I discovered the voice for

my interpretation, I wished the poem came after themovie,

hoping Frost too, had heard the voice and realized how

well it fit.

 

(Hear my reading of the poem at JohnKalllio.com)

Acquainted With The Night

 

Acquainted With The Night

Note from Jay Parini,

Robert Frost: A Life, Henry Holt 1999, p. 246

 

Acquainted With The Night:   “The poem was, Frost later

suggested, ‘written for the tune.’  Although a sonnet by

form, with a closing couplet, the poem has the fluid

repetitive aspect of a villanelle with the three line stanzas

mimicking the terza rima of Danté –appropriate for a

poem about the descent into darkness.”

 

I always read the poem to students mimicking the voice

of Bela Lugosi in Dracula.  It puts an appropriate spin to

the narration.  The movie and the poem are of a common

era.  The poem is circa 1927 and the film was released in

the U.S. on Jan. 1, 1930.  When I discovered the voice for

my interpretation, I wished the poem came after themovie,

hoping Frost too, had heard the voice and realized how

well it fit.

 

(Hear my reading of the poem at JohnKalllio.com)

West Running

 

October 29, 2003  (I was 58)

 

         West Running      

Things have changed Robert,

not so much on the old Derry farm.

What you wrote caused them to stop things there,

a sort of snapshot during one of your transitions,

like the set of a play after the actors have gone.

Though there was blue sky and full green of summer,

the memory is in sepia tones, the wood of the barn,

the wallpaper smell as I bent to read

the titles of your shelved books,

classics, and no surprises there.

I imagined the surrounding white of winter

as viewed from an upstairs window,

that strong-contrast theme again

and that working across the grain;

that contrary stream pushing away from the sea;

and that home burial dialogue

up and down the stairs.

Infamous Quotes

 

April 24

noted this week in 2003

 

More from the 8^th grade bulletin board

-posted over the years to 1966-2003

 

         Infamous Quotes

Life goes on within you and without you.  George the Beatle

I yam what I yam.  Popeye the sailor

Maybe I’m doing it wrong. Newman the pianist

Money doesn’t talk, it swears. Dylan the Zimmerman

I used to be disgusted.  Now I try to be amused.  Elvis the Costello

Art is the lie that reveals the truth.  Picasso the cubist

Changes in latitude, changes in attitude.   Buffett the pirate

The road to Hell is paved with good intentions. S. Johnson the Brit.

Take a picture, it lasts longer.  F Stop Fitzgerald the photo-novelist

I butchered rocks to free the men inside.  Michelangelo the quarryman

We have enough youth, where’s the Fountain of Smart?  Dunce de Leon

Like other surrealists, I am not a surrealist.  sign in a Salvador deli

The text in my mind this morning

 

December 18,2003  (I was 69)

 

The text in my mind this morning

was full of the assonance of O

I try to remember the words now

once occasion oppression overbearing

I don’t know now

but it had to do with us recognizing

the hour of America was over

We’ve immolated our witches

owned our slaves

bombed the biggest bombs

bombed cities bombed jungles

bombed deserts bombed mountains

of bombs drones of bombs

The world does not trust us

because we are not trustworthy

Our biggest citizens are corporations

Our little citizens are obsolete

Our biggest business is fighting fear

We make sure there is enough

to keep the economy going

Pilgrim Age

 

December 15, 2003  (I was 59) 

 

         Pilgrim Age

This is a journey of some experience,

travelers who have packed some bags…

have dangled from hot high voltage wires

separated the Constitution from political desires

who at times have lived from hand to mouth

nursed their way from the deepest South

ran the field and have lain on the table

hung onto the shaken until they were stable

Travelers of fine craft and detailed décor

all haunted by journeys traveled before.

They know when to walk and when to run

travelers rewriting what they’ve already done.

 

Acquainted With The Night

 

September 11, 2003  (I was 58)

 

Acquainted With The Night

Note from Jay Parini,

Robert Frost: A Life, Henry Holt 1999, p. 246

 

Acquainted With The Night:   “The poem was, Frost later

suggested, ‘written for the tune.’  Although a sonnet by

form, with a closing couplet, the poem has the fluid

repetitive aspect of a villanelle with the three line stanzas

mimicking the terza rima of Danté –appropriate for a

poem about the descent into darkness.”

 

I always read the poem to students mimicking the voice

of Bela Lugosi in Dracula.  It puts an appropriate spin to

the narration.  The movie and the poem are of a common

era.  The poem is circa 1927 and the film was released in

the U.S. on Jan. 1, 1930.  When I discovered the voice for

my interpretation, I wished the poem came after themovie,

hoping Frost too, had heard the voice and realized how

well it fit.  (Hear my reading of the poem at JohnKalllio.com)

revelation in Oberammergau

December 29, 2003  (I was 59) 

   revelation in Oberammergau

Non-Germans in the street

create spaces as they walk.

Women shop the windows,

men don’t know what to do;

they blow their noses and wait.

What does it mean?

To what does it allude?

Kofel was visible an hour ago,

the fog descends tree to tree,

skiers can’t see each other.

The Alps have disappeared,

the mist enters the village.

What does it mean?

To what does it allude?

People visit the theater

where no performance is held;

the look at props and sets

and at where the orchestra sits

during a very famous performance.

What does it mean?

To what does it allude?

Suddenly at thirteen hundred forty meters

the cross appears on Kofel

illuminated through sun-shredded cloud;

visitors who left to visit the Passionate Scene

return to report another passionate scene.

To what does it allude

and what does it mean?

West Running

October 29, 2003  (I was 58)

         West Running      

Things have changed Robert,

not so much on the old Derry farm.

What you wrote caused them to stop things there,

a sort of snapshot during one of your transitions,

like the set of a play after the actors have gone.

Though there was blue sky and full green of summer,

the memory is in sepia tones, the wood of the barn,

the wallpaper smell as I bent to read

the titles of your shelved books,

classics, and no surprises there.

I imagined the surrounding white of winter

as viewed from an upstairs window,

that strong-contrast theme again

and that working across the grain;

that contrary stream pushing away from the sea;

and that home burial dialogue

up and down the stairs.

The text in my mind this morning

December 18,2003  (I was 59)

The text in my mind this morning

was full of the assonance of O

I try to remember the words now

once occasion oppression overbearing

I don’t know now

but it had to do with us recognizing

the hour of America was over

We’ve immolated our witches

owned our slaves

bombed the biggest bombs

bombed cities bombed jungles

bombed deserts bombed mountains

of bombs drones of bombs

The world does not trust us

because we are not trustworthy

Our biggest citizens are corporations

Our little citizens are obsolete

Our biggest business is fighting fear

We make sure there is enough

to keep the economy going

Acquainted With The Night

September 11, 2003  (I was 58)

Acquainted With The Night

Note from Jay Parini,

Robert Frost: A Life, Henry Holt 1999, p. 246

Acquainted With The Night:   “The poem was, Frost later

suggested, ‘written for the tune.’  Although a sonnet by

form, with a closing couplet, the poem has the fluid

repetitive aspect of a villanelle with the three line stanzas

mimicking the terza rima of Danté –appropriate for a

poem about the descent into darkness.”

     I always read the poem to students mimicking the voice

of Bela Lugosi in Dracula.  It puts an appropriate spin to

the narration.  The movie and the poem are of a common

era.  The poem is circa 1927 and the film was released in

the U.S. on Jan. 1, 1930.  When I discovered the voice for

my interpretation, I wished the poem came after the movie,

hoping Frost too, had heard the voice and realized how

well it fit.  (Hear my reading of the poem at JohnKallio.com)

revelation in Oberammergau

December 29, 2003  (I was 59) 

   revelation in Oberammergau

Non-Germans in the street

create spaces as they walk.

Women shop the windows,

men don’t know what to do;

they blow their noses and wait.

What does it mean?

To what does it allude?

Kofel was visible an hour ago,

the fog descends tree to tree,

skiers can’t see each other.

The Alps have disappeared,

the mist enters the village.

What does it mean?

To what does it allude?

People visit the theater

where no performance is held;

they look at props and sets

and at where the orchestra sits

during a very famous performance.

What does it mean?

To what does it allude?

Suddenly at thirteen hundred forty meters

the cross appears on Kofel

illuminated through sun-shredded cloud;

visitors who left to visit the Passionate Scene

return to report another passionate scene.

To what does it allude

and what does it mean?

West Running

October 29, 2003  (I was 58)

         West Running

Things have changed Robert,

not so much on the old Derry farm.

What you wrote caused them to stop things there,

a sort of snapshot during one of your transitions,

like the set of a play after the actors have gone.

Though there was blue sky and full green of summer,

the memory is in sepia tones, the wood of the barn,

the wallpaper smell as I bent to read

the titles of your shelved books,

classics, and no surprises there.

I imagined the surrounding white of winter

as viewed from an upstairs window,

that strong-contrast theme again

and that working across the grain;

that contrary stream pushing away from the sea;

and that home burial dialogue

up and down the stairs.

More from the 8th grade bulletin board

April 24

noted this week in 2003

More from the 8^th grade bulletin board

-posted over the years to 1966-2003

         Infamous Quotes

Life goes on within you and without you.  George the Beatle

I yam what I yam.  Popeye the sailor

Maybe I’m doing it wrong. Newman the pianist

Money doesn’t talk, it swears. Dylan the Zimmerman

I used to be disgusted.  Now I try to be amused.  Elvis the Costello

Art is the lie that reveals the truth.  Picasso the cubist

Changes in latitude, changes in attitude.   Buffett the pirate

The road to Hell is paved with good intentions. S. Johnson the Brit.

Take a picture, it lasts longer.  F Stop Fitzgerald

I butchered rocks to free the men inside.  Michelangelo the quarryman

We have enough youth, where’s the Fountain of Smart?  Dunce de Leon

Like other surrealists, I am not a surrealist.  sign in a Salvador deli

Stealth, to steal away

from this week in February 2003  (I was 58)

Stealth, to steal away

a solitary dislocation, a remove

to claim privacy as absolute

I have always needed and arranged

in frequent but brief intervals

Not a cup of coffee but a walk in the woods

Ice skating in the dark on a night too cold for others

From some place gone long enough

to become unreal as a minor myth

The text in my mind this morning

December 18,2003  (I was 69)

The text in my mind this morning

was full of the assonance of O

I try to remember the words now

once occasion oppression overbearing

I don’t know now

but it had to do with us recognizing

the hour of America was over

We’ve immolated our witches

owned our slaves

bombed the biggest bombs

bombed cities bombed jungles

bombed deserts bombed mountains

of bombs drones of bombs

The world does not trust us

because we are not trustworthy

Our biggest citizens are corporations

Our little citizens are obsolete

Our biggest business is fighting fear

We make sure there is enough

to keep the economy going

Pilgrim Age

December 15, 2003  (I was 59)

         Pilgrim Age

This is a journey of some experience,

travelers who have packed some bags…

have dangled from hot high voltage wires

separated the Constitution from political desires

who at times have lived from hand to mouth

nursed their way from the deepest South

ran the field and have lain on the table

hung onto the shaken until they were stable

Travelers of fine craft and detailed décor

all haunted by journeys traveled before.

They know when to walk and when to run

travelers rewriting what they’ve already done.