So here I am at the McPherson Public Library buzzing on coffee from the Main St. Deli. Now seems like an appropriate time to post Marlon Brando reading “The Hollow Men.” Enjoy if you dare.
Posted on May 25th, 2007 by J.E.
Filed under: Art, Hollow Men, Movies, Nostalgia, Philosophical, Poetry, YouTube | 2 Comments »
Before National Poetry Month wanes entirely, here is another spring poem. This one is by D.A. Powell, author of Tea, Lunch, and Cocktails.
sprig of lilac
—for Haines Eason
in a week you could watch me crumble to smut: spent hues
spent perfumes. dust upon [...]
Posted on April 25th, 2007 by Shotts
Filed under: Books, Hollow Men, Love, Poetry | 2 Comments »
It IS National Poetry Month, so I shouldn’t let it get away without a current Poetry Post. This one from fellow Kansan Albert Goldbarth, who teaches at Wichita State University and who is the only poet to have twice won the National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry. This poem is from the “new” section [...]
Posted on April 14th, 2007 by Shotts
Filed under: Art, Books, Doppelgangers, Holidays, Love, Philosophical, Poetry, Winter | 3 Comments »
A necessary poem from William Carlos Williams for our first weekend of spring.
–Shotts
Spring and All
By the road to the contagious hospital
under the surge of the blue
mottled clouds driven from the
northeast-a cold wind. Beyond, the
waste of broad, muddy fields
brown with dried weeds, standing and fallen
patches of standing water
the scattering of tall trees
All along the [...]
Posted on March 23rd, 2007 by Shotts
Filed under: Poetry | No Comments »
Two poems for you this Saint Patrick’s Day weekend. The first from Seamus Heaney, his ars poetica. The second from Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill, about her decision to write in the Irish language, followed by an English translation by Paul Muldoon.
Slainte!
–Shotts
Personal Helicon
for Michael Longley
As a child, they could not keep me from wells
And old pumps with [...]
Posted on March 16th, 2007 by Shotts
Filed under: Books, Holidays, Poetry | No Comments »
Here’s a brief poem by one of my teachers, Mary Jo Bang. –Shotts
The Cruel Wheel Turns Twice
And tightens until language can’t bear this
Hollowing, crash cart, Please. In the silence,
A bus slithers by
A din. The aluminium morning moves like a train,
A metal rod
Exiting a tunnel, dropped in a gate groove.
Disappointment. And again The End gate
Opens [...]
Posted on March 8th, 2007 by Shotts
Filed under: Books, Poetry | No Comments »
Here’s a poetry post for Valentine’s Day. I recommend this one to give or read to your respective loves. Sadly, my beloved is in India for work, so we’re celebrating, as we can, from afar. I’ll be somewhere with a Guinness, remembering Galway…
Here’s to all of you and yours. –Shotts
Sonnet XVII by Pablo Neruda, translated [...]
Posted on February 14th, 2007 by Shotts
Filed under: Holidays, Love, Poetry | 1 Comment »
Here’s a poem by Carl Phillips, one that I’ve especially admired, from his book The Rest of Love.
-Shotts
Custom
There is a difference it used to make,
seeing three swans in this versus four in that
quadrant of sky. I am not imagining. It was very large, as its
effects were. Declarations of war, the timing fixed upon for a [...]
Posted on February 3rd, 2007 by Shotts
Filed under: Poetry | 3 Comments »
Just back from a tremendous week in the Caribbean. By way of a Poetry Post, here’s a review of a new book on T. S. Eliot that seems relevant and interesting. The idea of “the buried life” seems central to Eliot–perhaps, in some ways, to all of us in the Hollow Men. –Shotts
Books of The [...]
Posted on January 21st, 2007 by Shotts
Filed under: Art, Philosophical, Poetry | 3 Comments »
The last couple of days, I’ve been repairing a hole in our dining room ceiling, sanding, priming, and painting. Meanwhile, I’ve had on Minnesota Public Radio and occasionally CNN. Everything is abuzz with list of “The Top _________ of 2006″ (fill in the blank with “celebrities,” “movies,” “songs,” “albums,” “newsmakers,” and so on). Most of [...]
Posted on December 30th, 2006 by Shotts
Filed under: Art, Books, Hollow Men, Movies, Music, Nostalgia, Philosophical, Poetry, Time | 1 Comment »
And now, looking ahead, it must be asked: what do you foresee in 2007? This can either be predictions of important events or people, or it could take the form of personal New Years resolutions. It’s always such a reflective time. I’m reminded that the month of January comes from Janus, the Roman god of [...]
Posted on December 30th, 2006 by Shotts
Filed under: Art, Books, Food, Holidays, Hollow Men, Movies, Music, Nostalgia, Philosophical, Poetry, Time, Travel | 3 Comments »
Last night, Steph and I went to one of her friends’ birthday parties. She was turning 50 and wanted it to be a memorable occasion — it definitely was. She had the Marching Cobras come in and perform. They’re spectacular. At one point in the evening, the members ran up and grabbed everyone and had [...]
Posted on December 29th, 2006 by Tobias
Filed under: Art, Music, Philosophical, Poetry, Travel | 2 Comments »
Do not fret, soon Music Thursday will be posted. My computer went down this week, so I’m a little behind on things, so I am collecting candidates and will soon have them filtered down to a few choice Music Thursday selections.
In the meanwhile, enjoy this interview I heard today on NPR. This artist folds well-known [...]
Posted on November 16th, 2006 by Tobias
Filed under: Art, Music, Poetry | 2 Comments »
Following suit, here’s a poem of mine.
“They say not to anthropomorphize…”
It is the sin we all commit,
To make things in our image.
But how can I empathize
With you that have been shot,
Burned, poisoned, demonized,
Hunted, trapped, and hung for hides,
Born into this Manifest demise.
It is not human inclination
To leave things untouched;
But between us, I know,
There can [...]
Posted on October 11th, 2006 by Ned
Filed under: Hollow Men, Love, Poetry | 3 Comments »
Summer Clearing
We pick locusts sliding fresh from the dunes like little Saint John the Baptists wandering in our wildness. Our little wilderness, sanctuaried by a wheat truck and a chain, arrives each time the metal-gray auger slips under the patch of dust- blue prairie sky.
Posted on October 10th, 2006 by Tobias
Filed under: Hollow Men, Nostalgia, Poetry, Time | 3 Comments »
