Tag Archives: poetry wednesday

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 →

Poetry Wednesday 09/09/09: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

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Gil Scott-Heron The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (1970) by Gil Scott-Heron You will not be able to stay home, brother. You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out. You will not be able to lose yourself on skag and skip, Skip out for beer during commercials, Because the revolution will not be televised. The revolution will not be televised. The revolution will not be brought to you by Xerox In 4 parts without commercial interruptions. The revolution will not … Continue reading →

Poetry Wednesday 08/26/09: Only Breath

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Only Breath by Jalaluddin Rumi Not Christian or Jew or Muslim, not Hindu Buddhist, Sufi, or Zen. Not any religion or cultural system. I am not from the East or the West, not out of the ocean or up from the ground, not natural or ethereal, not composed of elements at all. I do not exist, am not an entity in this world or in the next, did not descend from Adam and Eve or any origin story. My place is the placeless, a trace … Continue reading →

Poetry Wednesday 07/15/09: The Blues Poetry of Langston Hughes

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Spirit of Harlem Glass Mosaic located at North Fork Bank 280 West 125 Street in New York, NY. By artist Louis Delsarte, Manufactured in Munich, Germany by Gabriel and Franz Mayer Blues Fantasy By Langston Hughes Hey! Hey! That’s what the Blues singers say. Singing minor melodies They laugh, Hey! Hey! My man’s done left me, Chile, he’s gone away. My good man’s left me, Babe, he’s gone away. Now the cryin’ blues Haunts me night and day. Hey!….Hey! Weary, Weary, Trouble, pain. Sun’s gonna … Continue reading →

Poetry Wednesday 07/22/09: Montage Of A Dream Deferred

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A Raisin in the Sun is a play by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959. In 1960 A Raisin In The Sun was nominated for four Tony Awards: Best Play – Written by Lorraine Hansberry; produced by Philip Rose and David J. Cogan. Best Actor in Play -Sidney Poitier; Best Actress in a Play – Claudia McNeil; Best Direction of a Play: Lloyd Richards. The story is based upon a family’s own experiences growing up in Chicago’s Woodlawn neighborhood. A Raisin in the … Continue reading →