Surely you jest
of course
On Fitting Words in Boxes
Words,
they all want lots of words
What does the poem mean?
what is the intent of the art?
why did you write that song?
I did it because I
had no words
We have no paragraphs
no dissertations
no great explanations
no answers
What was my intent?
To paint that deer,
wtf do you think it was?
to grab existence,
throw it over the fence?
What does this poem mean?
The same as any,
that I am nearly
speechless
but I squeezed this yearning out
this yearning
I have argued too often
with others and myself
when the world gives old men boxes
in which to type
and guitars to play
and paint to throw on
cloth primed with
paint and
glue
…..david M jackson
Janet Kuypers’ “Exploring Spring” 3/4/17 poetry feature/show with background music
Below are writing links, video links and images from a March 4th 2017 (3/4/17, or 20170304) poetry performance of Janet Kuypers’ Austin poetry feature through “Spring Awakenings” live at the Bahá’í Faith Center in Austin Texas.
[tubepress mode=’playlist’ playlistValue=’PLYa-AZK78_hqIFppkQsALnWqzHJq7fwn-‘ ]
The theme of the night with other features was about spring (ergo the “Spring Awakenings” title), so Janet Kuypers’ show “Exploring Spring” was also accompanied by recently recorded sounds of birds chirping outside, accompanying music by “Hotel Music” from the HA!Man of South Africa (Francois Le Roux, with “entering the ruines” from his “Hotel Music”), where she also had video of him playing his cello on a small screen joining her on stage.
Before the show started she also released copies of a chapbook of the writings she was performing in her show (in the order they were performed), and all of the pieces from this reading were also released electronically in a “Exploring Spring” chapbook, which you can download as a PDF file for free any time.
Read the poems from the show:
“Spring”
“Entering the War Room”
“Job that Only Paid the Bills”
“Killing the Survivor Bug”
“Springtime”
“Original Snowbirds”
Bonus videos in the above playlist include readings of these poems individually both before and after the feature presentation.
Some People Poem By Wislawa Szymborska
Some People – Poem by Wislawa Szymborska
Some people fleeing some other people.
In some country under the sun
and some clouds.
They leave behind some of their everything,
sown fields, some chickens, dogs,
mirrors in which fire now sees itself reflected.
On their backs are pitchers and bundles,
the emptier, the heavier from one day to the next.
Taking place stealthily is somebody’s stopping,
and in the commotion, somebody’s bread somebody’s snatching
and a dead child somebody’s shaking.
In front of them some still not the right way,
nor the bridge that should be
over a river strangely rosy.
Around them, some gunfire, at times closer, at times farther off,
and, above, a plane circling somewhat.
Some invisibility would come in handy,
some grayish stoniness,
or even better, non-being
for a little or a long while.
Something else is yet to happen, only where and what?
Someone will head toward them, only when and who,
in how many shapes and with what intentions?
Given a choice,
maybe he will choose not to be the enemy and
leave them with some kind of life.
Jacy? ludzie
Jacy? ludzie w ucieczce przed jakimi? lud?mi.
W jakim? kraju pod s?o?cem
i niektórymi chmurami.
Zostawiaj? za sob? jakie? swoje wszystko,
obsiane pola, jakie? kury, psy,
lusterka, w których w?a?nie przegl?da si? ogie?.
Maj? na plecach dzbanki i tobo?ki,
im bardziej puste, tym z dnia na dzie? ci??sze.
Odbywa si? po cichu czyje? ustawanie,
a w zgie?ku czyje? komu? chleba wydzieranie
i czyje? martwym dzieckiem potrz?sanie.
Przed nimi jaka? wci?? nie t?dy droga,
nie ten, co trzeba most
nad rzek? dziwnie ró?ow?.
Doko?a jakie? strza?y, raz bli?ej, raz dalej,
w górze samolot troch? ko?uj?cy.
Przyda?aby si? jaka? niewidzialno??,
jaka? bura kamienno??,
a jeszcze lepiej nieby?o??
na pewien krótki czas albo i d?ugi.
Co? jeszcze si? wydarzy, tylko gdzie i co.
Kto? wyjdzie im naprzeciw, tylko kiedy, kto,
w ilu postaciach i w jakich zamiarach.
Je?li b?dzie mia? wybór,
mo?e nie zechce by? wrogiem
i pozostawi ich przy jakim? ?yciu.