A million years ago I was scheduled by my good friend, Ahmos Zu-Bolton, to read at a very large poetry festival being held at Xavier University in New Orleans. It was very much a 'busman's holiday' where there were 500 in the audience sat ready to confront and enjoy other poets.
My biggest shock, though, was to realize that Ahmos had scheduled me AFTER the key note appearance by Jayne Cortez for freakin' sake. I tackled him in the hall and asked what the heck he was thinking!? 'Awee you can do it grrrlll...go get 'em.' Yah right...all I could do was come running onto the stage after her performance clapping my hands like mad and yelling, 'Let's hear it again for Jayne Cortez and her band.'
Well my poetry was a lot less edgy than Jayne's but I'm really glad I got to hear her and to chat with her a bit. I hope you click the links for she and Betty Carter as you read Joanne's poem in honor of them.
Women of the Wind and Rain
(for Jayne Cortez and Betty Carter)
Who says this sound of wind and rain
pattering the face of the earth
is not the voice of women singing
in a garden of blue gardenias?
You women of the wind and rain
I have felt the melody of your music
sung words to flow with the rhythm of your walk
and tasted a love as soft and warm
as that fiery glow in your eyes.
You women of whirlwinds
and mountains and trees
have come here magical and black
in your snakeskin and feathers,
your hair of grass twisting,
twisting int he salt sea air.
. like my mama
up from Carolina, fish heads and rice,
her mellow mouth wide open, smiling
in the face of the sun, lighting the sky.
I say you came here
with your grigri and john de conquer'
speaking in the way of the trees
the air around you
blue as this sea flowing
through from you to me.
****************************************
I hope you enjoyed the poems and if anyone is contact with Joanne let her know about this and ask her to get in contact with me.
Meanwhile check out Betty Carter and Jayne Cortez
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8S_ZW9iAbk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wB3SY8xZtVk
My biggest shock, though, was to realize that Ahmos had scheduled me AFTER the key note appearance by Jayne Cortez for freakin' sake. I tackled him in the hall and asked what the heck he was thinking!? 'Awee you can do it grrrlll...go get 'em.' Yah right...all I could do was come running onto the stage after her performance clapping my hands like mad and yelling, 'Let's hear it again for Jayne Cortez and her band.'
Well my poetry was a lot less edgy than Jayne's but I'm really glad I got to hear her and to chat with her a bit. I hope you click the links for she and Betty Carter as you read Joanne's poem in honor of them.
Women of the Wind and Rain
(for Jayne Cortez and Betty Carter)
Who says this sound of wind and rain
pattering the face of the earth
is not the voice of women singing
in a garden of blue gardenias?
You women of the wind and rain
I have felt the melody of your music
sung words to flow with the rhythm of your walk
and tasted a love as soft and warm
as that fiery glow in your eyes.
You women of whirlwinds
and mountains and trees
have come here magical and black
in your snakeskin and feathers,
your hair of grass twisting,
twisting int he salt sea air.
. like my mama
up from Carolina, fish heads and rice,
her mellow mouth wide open, smiling
in the face of the sun, lighting the sky.
I say you came here
with your grigri and john de conquer'
speaking in the way of the trees
the air around you
blue as this sea flowing
through from you to me.
****************************************
I hope you enjoyed the poems and if anyone is contact with Joanne let her know about this and ask her to get in contact with me.
Meanwhile check out Betty Carter and Jayne Cortez
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8S_ZW9iAbk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wB3SY8xZtVk
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Comments
with your grigri and john de conquer'
speaking in the way of the trees..."
that is as profound and beautiful as it gets, for me! ~R~
R~
Chuck: It is profound, isn't it? I wish I had written it. She is an amazing talent.
Scanner: It was worse reading my own poems! Thankfully that is what radio is for, no one can see you pale out and a really good engineer can cover a multitude of sins. I did make my brother a casette of the program since he had written some music for me to use in the series and he tells me he's about worn it out and can I do another tape for him off the master? Doofus--he doesn't realize we don't do casettes anymore and I have no idea how I'd go about transfering the program from a casette to either an MP3 player or???
Anyhow y'all thanks for stopping my and taking a look.