Let's Hear It for the Non-Lit Poets

[Lyricalli]

No; But:

https://archive.org/details/audio_poetry_25_2006

and Yes:

https://media.sas.upenn.edu/pennsou...ress-Going-to-Bed_Studio-111_UPenn_3-9-12.mp3

Very nice! And thanks for the bonus ones, too

 

[Piscator]

My favourite Ferlinghetti, recited by Lawrence himself. Recently passed at 101,his life bookended by the two pandemics.

History of the Airplane

 

[Lyricalli]

My favourite Ferlinghetti, recited by Lawrence himself. Recently passed at 101,his life bookended by the two pandemics.

History of the Airplane

I can see why it's your favorite. Thank you for sharing this.

 

[Piscator]

Black Lace Bra Kind of Woman
by Sandra Cisneros

para la mujer de fuerza—la Terry

!Wachale! She’s a black lace bra
kind of woman, the kind who serves
up suicide with every kamikaze
poured in the neon blue of evening.
A tease and a twirl. I’ve seen that
two-step girl in action. I’ve gambled bad
odds and sat shotgun when she rambled
her ’59 Pontiac between the blurred
lines dividing sense from senselessness.

Ruin your clothes, she will.
Get you home way after hours.
Drive her ’59 seventy-five on 35
like there is no tomorrow.
Woman zydeco-ing into her own decade.
Thirty years pleated behind her like
the wail of a San Antonio accordion.
And now the good times are coming. Girl,
I tell you, the good times are here.
______________________________________________________________

Angeline's recording recording of this work seems to have disappeared. Here is my attempt and please pardon my mangled Spanish.

 

[Levitating_Bed]

One Art by Elizabeth Bishop, read by Amanda Palmer

Also, there's a podcast called Poetry Unbound over at On Being, where the Irish poet Pádraig Ó Tuama, reads a poem and then talks about the poem and then reads it a second time. At around, or a little more than, 10 minutes a pop, they might be more than this thread asked for, and while poets talking about poetry might not always be poetry, to me, these are more like poetic essays than criticism. It doesn't hurt that his voice sounds at least a little like your hand being held by your favorite person (by way of full disclosure, he sounds like my grandfather). This one is my favorite: Transubstantiation by Molly McCully Brown, read by Pádraig Ó Tuama

 

[Lyricalli]

One Art by Elizabeth Bishop, read by Amanda Palmer

I love this.

Also, there's a podcast called Poetry Unbound over at On Being, where the Irish poet Pádraig Ó Tuama, reads a poem and then talks about the poem and then reads it a second time. At around, or a little more than, 10 minutes a pop, they might be more than this thread asked for, and while poets talking about poetry might not always be poetry, to me, these are more like poetic essays than criticism. It doesn't hurt that his voice sounds at least a little like your hand being held by your favorite person (by way of full disclosure, he sounds like my grandfather). This one is my favorite: Transubstantiation by Molly McCully Brown, read by Pádraig Ó Tuama

This thread was dormant for five years, so I figure as long as there's audio poetry being posted to it, even podcasts count. And this was particularly lovely. There is poetry, I think, in the way he talks about the poem, and the poem itself is read so well.

I'm so glad you shared this, and I'll be listening to more episodes.

 

[Lyricalli]

I have a large poetry anthology, Staying Alive: Real Poems for Unreal Times, which someone who no longer posts here strongly insisted I get. I'm glad I listened to him. There are 500 poems in this book, and I'm pretty sure I haven't read most of them yet. Sometimes, I pick it up, open it to a random page and start reading what's on it. Occasionally, I'll take it with me if I'll be waiting for something and I'm in the mood.

Today, I went for my second Covid vaccination shot. Anticipating a bit of a wait, and knowing there was a 15-minute wait after, I took the anthology. It kept me company for the first shot as well.

This time, the only wait I had was after. Got in and got shot up real quick. As I say for my 15-minutes, I opened the book at Stephen Dunn's Sweetness. For so many reasons, it was just the right poem at just the right time for me, and I wanted to read it aloud right then and there. Perhaps I should have, maybe someone else at CVS would have appreciated it.

Instead, I came home and read it aloud to myself, decided to record it and share it here.

I am unfamiliar with Stephen Dunn; this is the first poem of his I've read, though I'll follow up by reading more of his work.

Sweetness - poem link

Sweetness - my audio recording

 

[Angeline]

I have a large poetry anthology, Staying Alive: Real Poems for Unreal Times, which someone who no longer posts here strongly insisted I get. I'm glad I listened to him. There are 500 poems in this book, and I'm pretty sure I haven't read most of them yet. Sometimes, I pick it up, open it to a random page and start reading what's on it. Occasionally, I'll take it with me if I'll be waiting for something and I'm in the mood.

Today, I went for my second Covid vaccination shot. Anticipating a bit of a wait, and knowing there was a 15-minute wait after, I took the anthology. It kept me company for the first shot as well.

This time, the only wait I had was after. Got in and got shot up real quick. As I say for my 15-minutes, I opened the book at Stephen Dunn's Sweetness. For so many reasons, it was just the right poem at just the right time for me, and I wanted to read it aloud right then and there. Perhaps I should have, maybe someone else at CVS would have appreciated it.

Instead, I came home and read it aloud to myself, decided to record it and share it here.

I am unfamiliar with Stephen Dunn; this is the first poem of his I've read, though I'll follow up by reading more of his work.

Sweetness - poem link

Sweetness - my audio recording

Moving poem and beautifully read. Thank you for sharing it and mazel tov on being vaccinated! Hope your next few days are smooth and free of side effects.

 

[Piscator]

Moving poem and beautifully read. Thank you for sharing it and mazel tov on being vaccinated! Hope your next few days are smooth and free of side effects.

Ditto - thanks Calli

 

[Lyricalli]

Moving poem and beautifully read. Thank you for sharing it and mazel tov on being vaccinated! Hope your next few days are smooth and free of side effects.

Ditto - thanks Calli

Thank you, I'm glad you both enjoyed it.

So far, no major side effects from the vaccine, so I don't think I'll be getting any. Little bit tired, have a headache that comes and goes, but that could be all or partially from allergies. Arm is sore, which is the only thing I can fully blame on the shot.

 

[Lyricalli]

And, I'm back, still wielding the poetry anthology, Staying Alive.

Last summer, I was asked to join in on a virtual poetry reading and discussion. The theme was epistles, and the first place I searched for one was the anthology, where I read For My Mother for the first time. I knew that if I could get through the reading of it, it's the one I had to do. Practicing in, thinking about it, preparing to talk about it was a new experience for me. The poem still touched me deeply after a week or so of practicing it, preparing to talk about it.

I don't know if I'd have written the poem about being at my mother's bedside for the NaPo thread without the influence of this one. The author, Ellen Bryant Voigt, gets right to the point of what is happening, the unanswered questions, feeling of helplessness, and the agony of just being there, waiting, witnessing the death of someone so very important. This poem came to mean a lot to me. Today, I decided to read it again, share it, and talk about it just a bit. I don't think I can read my own poem just yet, but I did manage to get through this one.


For My Mother

When does the soul leave the body?
Since early morning you have not moved -
only your head moves, thrown back
with each deliberate breath,
the one sound that matters in the room.
My brother is here, my sister,
two of your sisters, ripples
widening from the bed.
The nurses check and measure,
keeping the many records.

Are you afraid?
Are you dreaming of what is past, lost,
or is this sleep some other preparation?
My sister has put your rings
on my finger; it seems like your hand
stroking the white brow,
unable to release you,
not even after you have asked for death -

And we know nothing about such pain,
except that it has weaned you from us,
and from the reedy, rusted
sunflowers outside the window,
dropping over the snow like tongueless bells.


Ellen Bryant Voigt

My reading on Soundcloud












*Today is the tenth anniversary of my mother's death. I can't write about it today, but this poem has been playing on my mind the last week or so, and doing this was cathartic. Just wanted to share that part of the process as well.

 

[Piscator]

Wow an awesome reading. Thanks for sharing

 

[Lyricalli]

Wow an awesome reading. Thanks for sharing

Thank you, and thanks for listening