Author Archives: Laura

Poetry Wednesday 07/08/09: Cabaret

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Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, and Barney Bighard star in “New Orleans”, 1947 New Orleans was a 1947 musical drama featuring Billie Holiday as a singing maid and Louis Armstrong as a bandleader; Holiday and Armstrong perform together and portray a couple becoming romantically involved. During one song, Armstrong’s character introduces the members of his band, a virtual Who’s Who of classic jazz greats, including trombonist Kid Ory, drummer Zutty Singleton, clarinetist Barney Bighard, guitar player Bud Scott, bassist George “Red” Callendar, pianist Charlie Beal, and … Continue reading →

Poetry Wednesday 06/24/09: When Malindy Sings

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  When Malindy Sings by Paul Laurence Dunbar G’WAY an’ quit dat noise, Miss Lucy — Put dat music book away; What’s de use to keep on tryin’? Ef you practise twell you’re gray, You cain’t sta’t no notes a-flyin’ Lak de ones dat rants and rings F’om de kitchen to be big woods When Malindy sings. You ain’t got de nachel o’gans Fu’ to make de soun’ come right, You ain’t got de tu’ns an’ twistin’s Fu’ to make it sweet an’ light. Tell … Continue reading →

Poetry Wednesday 07/22/09: Too Blue

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Blues Club by Steve Underwood Too Blue by Langston Hughes I don’t know where to turn. I don’t know where to go Nobody cares about you When you sink so low. What shall I do? What shall I say? Shall I take a gun And put myself away? I wonder if One bullet would do? As hard as my head is, It would probably take two. But I ain’t got Neither bullet nor gun— And I’m too blue To look for one. It is suggested … Continue reading →

Poetry Wednesday 07/29/09: Song

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Dancing to Jazz By T. Coleman Song By Gwendolyn Bennett I am weaving a song of waters, Shaken from firm, brown limbs, Or heads thrown back in irreverent mirth. My song has the lush sweetness Of moist, dark lips Where hymns keep company With old forgotten banjo songs. Abandon tells you That I sing the heart of race While sadness whispers That I am the cry of a soul. . . . A-shoutin’ in de ole camp-meeting-place, A-strummin’ o’ de ole banjo. Singin’ in de … Continue reading →

Poetry Wednesday 07/22/09: Ma Rainey

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Ma Rainey Ma Rainey By Sterling Allen Brown I When Ma Rainey Comes to town, Folks from anyplace Miles aroun’, From Cape Girardeau, Poplar Bluff, Flocks in to hear Ma do her stuff; Comes flivverin’ in, Or ridin’ mules, Or packed in trains, Picknickin’ fools. . . . That’s what it’s like, Fo’ miles on down, To New Orleans delta An’ Mobile town, When Ma hits Anywheres aroun’. II Dey comes to hear Ma Rainey from de little river settlements, From blackbottorn cornrows and from … Continue reading →

Poetry Wednesday 05/26/10: Heavenly Grass

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  Heavenly Grass by Tennessee Williams My feet took a walk in heavenly grass. All day while the sky shone clear as glass. My feet took a walk in heavenly grass, All night while the lonesome stars rolled past. Then my feet come down to walk on earth, And my mother cried when she give me birth. Now my feet walk far and my feet walk fast, But they still got an itch for heavenly grass. But they still got an itch for heavenly grass. … Continue reading →

Poetry Wednesday 05/19/10: In Early Spring

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Innocence Oil on canvas by Arthur Hacker, (1858 – 1919) In Early Spring by Alice Meynell O Spring, I know thee! Seek for sweet surprise In the young children’s eyes. But I have learnt the years, and know the yet Leaf-folded violet. Mine ear, awake to silence, can foretell The cuckoo’s fitful bell. I wander in a grey time that encloses June and the wild hedge-roses. A year’s procession of the flowers doth pass My feet, along the grass. And all you sweet birds silent … Continue reading →

Poetry Wednesday 10/21/09: I, Too, Sing America

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Langston Hughes, New York City I, Too, Sing America by Langston Hughes I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong. Tomorrow, I’ll be at the table When company comes. Nobody’ll dare Say to me, “Eat in the kitchen,” Then. Besides, They’ll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed– I, too, am America.   Langston Hughes wrote a great deal about the genre of … Continue reading →

Poetry Wednesday 09/08/09: Life is a Journey

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The Feast of the Rejoicing of The Law at the Synagogue in Leghorn, Italy. 1850. Oil on canvas. The Jewish Museum, New York, by Soloman Alexander Hart. The poem, “Life is a Journey” is recited every year at our Yom Kippur service on Kol Nidrei. It is a prayer to God to grant us atonement for our sins and pray for those who are in need of healing. It is read at funerals and services in Judaism. The author was a Rabbi in Chicago, Illinois … Continue reading →

Poetry Wednesday 09/09/09: Is That Jazz ?

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Gil Scott-Heron stands as a towering figure of black popular music. With a masters in creative writing from Johns Hopkins, the writer, poet, composer, pianist, and modern-day griot is a true artist in an industry lacking true artistry. Scott-Heron emerged in the early 1970s with albums such as What’s Going On and There’s A Riot Goin’ On. By 1970, there was a profound shift in the struggle for equality as the fight for civil rights gave way to the demand for Black Power. The Civil … Continue reading →