right on the nose. I am retired, dont have a lot of money but I will tell people what you are doing. Ive been raving about your since the early nineties and know lots of people. I taught high school lin Northamppton Ma for twenty years. We got Lone Ranger and Tonto into the sophomore American lit, and some teaclhers also got into the 9th grade nglishf ourse The Part Time Diary. More later( Ill tell you what a great time we all had when I gave my Creative Writing class your amazingonepage story Scalp Dance of Spokane Indian, and also First Indian On the Moon( compared to a Simon Ortiz story about an elder watching dynamite). Be well. Keep going. Fock the Phillsteens who continue to choke on their smoke. also if you havent yet checkekd some of these South Korean poets, you aare in for a Huge TREAT - Vi Khi Nao, Mai Der Vang,, Kim Yideum, Don Mee Choi, Kim Min Jeong - run dont walk to wherever you order books fromv some of the best poetry in the World along with Mahmoud Darwish of Palestine, the US' own Cave Canem poets DougL Kearney, Tyoehimba Jess and Orme and two of my lifelong faves from 1967 on up- Sterling A.Brown and Gwendolyn Brooks, and one of the chieftanss of the whole schmear Pablo Neruda, and an early favorite of mine Pablo Nerduda
I have felt feelings like those, though they must have a peculiar intensity in these pandemically conditioned times. Longing will shed its misty garb and bloom fully into love though and there will be more than enough to go around, since the returnees will be bearing their own for you. Those now vacant-seeming rooms will overflow. Magi are coming!
The pandemic or the lock down was not much different than normal life in our house in terms of space and privacy. We are all private people and unless we are having a meal or doing something specific that requires other people, we are usually in our spaces enjoying our own company. We love each other but we don't require the constant companionship and chatter that others do. Even our one social butterfly can only take people in small doses and returns to her cocoon to recharge. I am usually home alone and thought it would be terrible but I barely knew others were in the house.
We all need the warmth, nurture and comfort found in relationship as well as individual time/space for the self to wander: to create and consider, develop new perspectives, reimagine old ones. To expand and fill up - to have something to keep and something to give.
Have enjoyed your work across decades, Sherman - so nice to have you back, to hear your voice, and to connect. Celebrating the Winter Solstice here in cold, foggy, bleak yet beautiful eastern Washington. ~ Kristi
Thank you, Jillian. As you might notice, I rewrote that dichotomy on the page but forgot to re-record it. So the voice-over has the slightly different earlier draft.
I didn't listen to the recording! I'm such a sucker for the printed word, I forget that audio is sometimes an option. But I will from now on. How lovely to hear your voice and the emotion behind the words. I love knowing about authors' processes, so I really enjoyed this glimpse into an earlier version of "Pandemic Love Song."
Well, I'm afraid I can't be very original here, all I can do is echo what others, such as Gaines, has said: that this poem gets right to the heart of the matter. So beautiful.
right on the nose. I am retired, dont have a lot of money but I will tell people what you are doing. Ive been raving about your since the early nineties and know lots of people. I taught high school lin Northamppton Ma for twenty years. We got Lone Ranger and Tonto into the sophomore American lit, and some teaclhers also got into the 9th grade nglishf ourse The Part Time Diary. More later( Ill tell you what a great time we all had when I gave my Creative Writing class your amazingonepage story Scalp Dance of Spokane Indian, and also First Indian On the Moon( compared to a Simon Ortiz story about an elder watching dynamite). Be well. Keep going. Fock the Phillsteens who continue to choke on their smoke. also if you havent yet checkekd some of these South Korean poets, you aare in for a Huge TREAT - Vi Khi Nao, Mai Der Vang,, Kim Yideum, Don Mee Choi, Kim Min Jeong - run dont walk to wherever you order books fromv some of the best poetry in the World along with Mahmoud Darwish of Palestine, the US' own Cave Canem poets DougL Kearney, Tyoehimba Jess and Orme and two of my lifelong faves from 1967 on up- Sterling A.Brown and Gwendolyn Brooks, and one of the chieftanss of the whole schmear Pablo Neruda, and an early favorite of mine Pablo Nerduda
Oh, yes, I can imagine that. Well written and beautiful poem. You make the love for your loved ones so recognizable and vivid. Brilliant.
The pleasures of economy, of less is more, of well-crafted bonsai. Take Care and warmest wishes for the New Year Sherman.
We introverts live in perpetual pandemics.
I so love my time alone and so love it when my people return.
I have felt feelings like those, though they must have a peculiar intensity in these pandemically conditioned times. Longing will shed its misty garb and bloom fully into love though and there will be more than enough to go around, since the returnees will be bearing their own for you. Those now vacant-seeming rooms will overflow. Magi are coming!
Yes, they are returning in stages!
To be alone and wish for companionship while cherishing the time alone~ I so understand <3
Yes.
Good rules. I don't have a previous relationship with Tommy, so I can say that I find his writing powerful and useful for teaching White students.
My translation is better:
I like it when you are silent because it's as if you were gone,
distant and sorrowful as if you were dead.
One word then, one smile is enough.
And I am delighted, delighted it's not true.
That kind of alienation is a theme, for instance in Tommy Orange's _There, There_.
As Neruda said, Me gustas cuando callas porque esta como ausente
distante y dolorosa como si hubieras muerto.
Una palabra entonces, una sonrisa bastan.
Y estoy alegre, alegre de que no sea cierto.
Was going to just give you the first two lines, but too hard to stop quoting.
Had to put that in the translation machine. Neruda's lovely poem about the absence and presence of a lover. A true, true poem.
The pandemic or the lock down was not much different than normal life in our house in terms of space and privacy. We are all private people and unless we are having a meal or doing something specific that requires other people, we are usually in our spaces enjoying our own company. We love each other but we don't require the constant companionship and chatter that others do. Even our one social butterfly can only take people in small doses and returns to her cocoon to recharge. I am usually home alone and thought it would be terrible but I barely knew others were in the house.
Yes, we're lucky to have our own spaces, too.
I love a crowded house. Must be my Mexican roots.
Until I was seven, I lived in a one-bedroom house with 14 people! I like space.
We all need the warmth, nurture and comfort found in relationship as well as individual time/space for the self to wander: to create and consider, develop new perspectives, reimagine old ones. To expand and fill up - to have something to keep and something to give.
Have enjoyed your work across decades, Sherman - so nice to have you back, to hear your voice, and to connect. Celebrating the Winter Solstice here in cold, foggy, bleak yet beautiful eastern Washington. ~ Kristi
Thank you, Kristi.
Lonesome and expansive! Beautiful dichotomy.
Thank you, Jillian. As you might notice, I rewrote that dichotomy on the page but forgot to re-record it. So the voice-over has the slightly different earlier draft.
I didn't listen to the recording! I'm such a sucker for the printed word, I forget that audio is sometimes an option. But I will from now on. How lovely to hear your voice and the emotion behind the words. I love knowing about authors' processes, so I really enjoyed this glimpse into an earlier version of "Pandemic Love Song."
Well, I'm afraid I can't be very original here, all I can do is echo what others, such as Gaines, has said: that this poem gets right to the heart of the matter. So beautiful.
Thank you, Terry.