Poetry
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The Virtuous Black IX: Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou, born Marguerite Annie Johnson on April 4 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A., is the poet, memoirist, and actress whose several volumes of autobiography explore the themes of economic, racial, and sexual oppression. Although born in St. Louis, Angelou spent much of her childhood in the care of her paternal grandmother in rural…
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The Life You Give: Patti Smith *1946
Punk rock’s poet laureate Patti Smith ranks among the most ambitious, unconventional, and challenging rock & rollers of all time. When she emerged in the ’70s, Smith’s music was hailed as the most exciting fusion of rock and poetry since Bob Dylan’s heyday. With her androgynous, visual presentation echoing her unabashedly intellectual and uncompromising songwriting,…
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The Life You Give: Rudyard Kipling *1865
Rudyard Kipling, born Joseph Rudyard Kipling on December 30, 1865, in Bombay [now Mumbai], India, is the short-story writer, poet, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, his tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907. Life Kipling’s…
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The Life You Give: Heinrich Heine *1797
Heinrich Heine, born Dec. 13, 1797, Düsseldorf, Germany, was a poet whose international literary reputation and influence were established by the Buch der Lieder (1827; The Book of Songs), frequently set to music, though the more sombre poems of his last years are also highly regarded. Heine was born of Jewish parents. His father was…
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I died for beauty but was scarce
I died for beauty but was scarceAdjusted in the tomb,When one who died for truth was lainIn an adjoining room. He questioned softly why I failed?“For beauty,” I replied.“And I for truth, the two are one;We brethren are,” he said. And so, as kinsmen met a night,We talked between the rooms,Until the moss had reached…
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“When the music’s over”
When the music’s overWhen the music’s over, yeahTurn out the lightsTurn out the lightsFor the music is your special friendDance on fire as it intendsMusic is your only friendUntil the endUntil the endCancel my subscription to the resurrectionSend my credentials to the house of detentionI got some friends insideThe face in the mirror won’t stopThe…
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The Life You Give: Rainer Maria Rilke *1875
Rainer Maria Rilke, born December 4 1875, in Prague, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary [now in Czech Republic] was the poet who became internationally famous with such works as Duino Elegies and Sonnets to Orpheus. Rilke was the only son of a not-too-happy marriage. His father, Josef, a civil servant, was a man frustrated in his career; his…
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The Life You Give: Stefan Zweig *1881
Stefan Zweig, born November 28, 1881, in Vienna, Austro-Hungarian Empire [now in Austria] was a writer who achieved distinction in several genres — poetry, essays, short stories, and dramas — most notably in his interpretations of imaginary and historical characters. Zweig was raised in Vienna. His first book, a volume of poetry, was published in…
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Reduction, expansion, fragility, and protection
This thing we call life is just a live-performance. It is not one reality, for we go through only one version of it — the individual one. An instruction booklet to life can not be printed, not ahead of birth, not during the performance, not while getting off the stage. The first couple of years…
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Creativity amidst destruction
To employ a spice is to ignore nature’s admonishments. We humans intentionally gather plants with high concentrations of defensive chemicals or warning aromas and add them to our food, typically in small doses. The Chemicals associated with the bitter tastes of dandelions and dill, for example, are poisons. The fragrant aromas of garlic, mint, thyme,…
Sila Blume 