The House in My House

 Write Better Poetry's prompts have been a bit late these past few days, (allegedly due to working the kinks out of a new platform) so I did NaPoWriMo's prompt first: "Write [a] poem about living with a piece of art."  (I'll probably be back later with a poem in response to the other prompt.)

Painting of My House Inside My House
 
My friend Bob has become a “retirement painter,”
which is in no way a put-down.
He’s always been interested in taking up the brush,
but with time on his hands, he got more serious,
and his skills blossomed.
 
A realist with a dab of impressionism,
he stealthily studied our house from his car
one day, and went home to complete the job,
built it from the ground up with oils,
and presented the framed work as a surprise.
He rendered our modest white Cape Cod faithfully,
though he tweaked the curb appeal:
dotting our flower bed with more daffodils
than I think we had, and trimming my rhododendron
more neatly than it really was. Also, he said,
he couldn’t quite get the retaining wall to work,
the one fronting our lawn, so he deleted it.
Artistic license is like poetic license—
if you embellish the truth, it’s still basically the truth.
 
Now we admire it on the dining room wall,
but I can’t help but think of a variation
of that old multiverse paradox:
Is there a painting on the dining room wall
inside this painting of my house,
and is my house just a painting
on someone else’s wall?
And did Bob paint it?

                                            

                                            (Painting by Bob Rogers, 2022.)

P.S.: Here is my response to the Write Better poetry prompt, which is to write an "unexpected mess" poem. I thought of adding soomething to the first poem so it would satisfy both prompts, but I liked this idea better as a separate poem.

The Mess  Inside
 
He paints a picture of their house—
a neat little starch-white bungalow
with perfectly pruned hedges
and a garden with rows of flowers.
 
If only he had painted the inside—
immaculate rooms that belie
closets full of chaos
behind the thin doors of order.

PAD Day 3 Bonus: A Timely Limerick

 Here's a bonus off-prompt poem, a limerick to "celebrate" our fearless leader's declaration of April 2, the date of his oppressive international tariffs, as "Liberation Day."

Tariff-ic?
 
Liberation Day is now at hand!
Ring church bells all over the land
for skyrocketing prices,
a stock market crisis,
and allies who say, “Go pound sand!”

PAD 3: Sculpting Words

 Today's prompts from Write Better Poetry and NaPoWriMo: (1) Write a "short" poem (a short-form powm and/or a poem about something short), and (2) " write a poem that obliquely explains why you are a poet and not some other kind of artist – or, if you think of yourself as more of a musician or painter (or school bus driver or scuba diver or expert on medieval Maltese banking) – explain why you are that and not something else!"

II don't know how "oblique" my poem is today - it's a pretty starightforward metaphor - but here it is, in two verses of the Spanish short form called the shadorma (six lines with syllable count of 3/5/3/3/7/5.)

Why I Am Not a Sculptor 

If I were a sculptor,
But then again, no… Elton John
 
When I chip
and chisel down words,
grind, polish,
sand and buff,
there’s a luster to the form,
the shape of language.
 
But if I
tried all this with rock,
it would crack
and splinter,
my chisel just a weapon,
rubble on the floor.

Day 2: Epistle from the Basement

 Today's prompts from Write Better Poetry and NPWM: (1) Write a "from where I'm sitting" poem, and (2) write a poem that "directly addresses someone, and that includes a made-up word ,an odd/unusual simile ,a statement of 'fact,' and something that seems out of place in time."

My poem didn't come out that ekphrasitc today, but I did follow both prompts, more or less. I describe my basement environment, address Zeus, include a "made-up" word (a portmanteau, actually), have a slightly unusual simile, and I guess talking to mythical gods seems a bit "out of place and time."

Basement
 
Zeus chased me down here
with a couple of noisy thunderbolts.
These days we’re not allowed to say “climate change’
or have the government warn us about the weather,
so I just rely on the gods.
 
I used to cower down here during tornado warnings—
you, know, interior walls, away from windows,
that kind of thing—but now the powers that be
prefer the element of surprise, like the next pandemic.
 
This is my haven, a clutter-clysm of organized chaos—
boxes and crates, half of whose contents I forgot;
the laundry corner, never empty of a mountain of apparel;
and other things that ask to be sorted and sifted.
Instead I’m writing, trying to unclutter my brain of noise,
so much of which must be absorbed these days.
It’s not Next Great Poem, just a self-conscious ramble,
as I type away on a dinosaur PC
and wind-swept rain rattles the basement windows.
 
Suddenly, as a malicious bit of divine punctuation,
a loud boom scares the power out.
Come on, Zeus—
or Jupiter, Thor, Indra, Baal, Tāwhirimātea,
whatever you like to be called these days—
 I’m just trying to write down here.  
 

April PAD is Here Again! (Day 1)

 And another year of the April Poem-a-Day Challenge is upon us! I've been rotten about writing lately, so this will be once again my annual jump start for poetic production. I've been upset and depressed about the state of our nation lately, so pardon me if some of my poetry this month has a distinct political leaning.

Once again I'll be following Robert Lee Brewer's April PAD Challenge on the Writer's Digest website, and Maureen Thorson's NaPoWriMo blog as well. Maureen's blog will focus this month on ekphrastic poetry - that is, poetry inspired by a work of art or music - and she will share links to various museum sites and others for inspiration. She also had a "warm-up" prompt from yesterday to write a "portrait" poem, so here is my result:

          

Portrait of Trump in the Colorado Statehouse

Of course, he complains about it —
he may have preferred the pumped-up superhero
from one of his digital trading cards.
But he has a point.
There’s the feathery hair, the flag lapel pin,
and the trademark long red tie,
but it’s too warm and fuzzy, too soft-focused,
like a blurred-edge pastel, and that makes
his portly image even more rounded.
 
Sir, with all due respect,
you could have done so much worse.
Shall we review your gallery of caricatures?
Or perhaps your mug shot, which looks like
a Gotham villain about to blow up City Hall?
There is one detail of the painting I like,
and that’s the mouth, an almost perfect
horizontal line, lipless, that one could call
Resting Despot Face. It’s a precious moment,
one in which you are not shouting, grimacing,
lying, threatening, whining or insulting,
but perfectly neutral, silent, as though someone
has just told you to shut the hell up.

Today's dual prompts from Write Better Poetry and NaPoWriMo: (1) Write a "best of times" and/or "worst of times" poem, and (2) write a poem that uses an art or music term that you were not previously familiar with. I used the name of the early 20th century Dutch school of modern art called "De Stijl", most famously represented by Piet Mondrian. 

De Stijl (The Style)
 
It was the best of art,
it was the worst of art.
It was nature reduced to
Its barest simplicity—
 
perpendiculars, straight lines,
intersecting, primary colors,
composition distilled
to its most basic elements.
 
It is the best of times,
It is the worst of times,
depending on who you ask.
I suggest a new flag
 
that resembles Mondrian’s
Composition No. II,
with Red and Blue,
white with bold black lines
 
describing five quadrilaterals,
a square and a rectangle filled in—
one red, one blue,
corner to corner, no overlap,
 
to represent what we feel to be
the thick borders of our beliefs,
the irreconcilable compartments
of our ideologies.

 

Favorite Songs of the 21st Century (So Far)

 I usually share a year-end list of my favorite albums and/or songs of the past year around now, but this year I've had trouble even coming up with a top 10 list for either, I've listened to so little new music in 2024. (However, I'm trying to catch up as we speak, having just thoroughly enjoyed Waxahatchie's latest, Tigers Blood, and currently immersing myself in The Cure's triumphant comeback, Songs of a Lost World. I also plan to give a closer listen to Vampire Weekend's latest, Only God Was Above Us.)

Meanwhile, I have been inspired by my favorite public radio station, WXPN in Philly, to create a playlist of my favorite songs of the 21st Century (so far.) They have released a list of the 885 greatest songs of the last 25 years, as compiled from listener's votes. You can find their list here. I have responded with my own list of 100 songs that I feel are worthy of consideration as some of the "greatest" of that same period. I tried to give myself an additional challenge by limiting my list to one song per artist. This was particularly hard in regard to some of my favorite artists like Wilco, The Decemberists, Spoon, The New Pornographers and the Drive-by Truckers, but I think the resulting list has a fair amount of diversity, and when I listen to it on my Amazon Music app, either sequentially or in shuffle mode, I always think, "Damn, these were some good songs!" I hope you get the same impression, though I'm sure your opinions will vary. (As with the WXPN list, my tastes lean toward the "adult alternative" subgenre, although there are a few legitimate hits on it as well.) So here is my list of Favorite Songs of the 21st Century (So Far), 2000-2024. (Note: I compiled my list just before WXPN released theirs. Numbers in bold after each song indicate their position on the WXPN list. If there is no number, that song did not place in their top 885.)

      1.      Rolling in the Deep – Adele (2011) (7)
2.      Dad’s Gonna Kill Me – Richard Thompson (2007)
3.      The Bleeding Heart Show – The New Pornographers (2005) (378)
4.      Chicago – Sufjan Stevens (2005) (21)
5.      Impossible Germany – Wilco (2007) (6)
6.      Percussion Gun – White Rabbits (2009)
7.      Lippy Kids – Elbow (2014)
8.      Sister Jack – Spoon (2005)
9.      Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect – The Decemberists (2002)
10. Boy with a Coin – Iron & Wine (2007) (675)
 
11. Girl in the War – Josh Ritter (2006) (712)
12. Clocks – Coldplay (2002) (35)
13. Bassackwards – Kurt Vile (2018)
14. Hey Ya! – Outkast (2003) (4)
15. If We Were Vampires – Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit (2017) (5)
16. White Winter Hymnal – Fleet Foxes (2008) (117)
17. Happy – Pharrell Williams (2013) (47)
18. Poor People – Marah (2005)
19. Hurt – Johnny Cash (2002) (11)
20. Phantom Limb – The Shins (2007) (397)
 
21. Crazy – Gnarls Barkley (2006) (27)
22. Talking Backwards – Real Estate (2014)
23. Don’t Know Why – Norah Jones (2002) (71)
24. Leviathan – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (2019)
25. My Moon My Man – Feist (2007)
26. I Can’t Give Everything Away – David Bowie (2016) (171)
27. ’97 Bonnie and Clyde – Tori Amos (2001)
28. Slapped Actress – The Hold Steady (2008)
29. Pedestrian at Best – Countney Barnett (2015) (151)
30. Rococo – Arcade Fire (2010)
 
31. The Town Halo – A.C. Newman (2004)
32. Hallelujah – Rufus Wainwright (2001)
33. The Walls Are Coming Down – Fanfarlo (2009)
34. I Will Possess Your Heart – Death Cab for Cutie (2008) (149)
35. This is a Photograph – Kevin Morby (2022) (233)
36. Under the Pressure – The War on Drugs (2014) (18)
37. Tropic Morning News – The National (2023)
38. My Friend – Dr. Dog (2008)
39. Zebra – Beach House (2005) (816)
40. Be Here Now – Ray LaMontagne (2006)
 
41. Paper Planes – M.I.A. (2007) (30)
42. In My Heart – Moby (2002)
43. When My Train Pulls In – Gary Clark Jr. (2012)
44. 100 Days, 100 Nights – Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings (2007) (134)
45. Supercollider – Fountains of Wayne (2003)
46. Rose Rouge – St. Germain (2000)
47. Be Sweet – Japanese Breakfast (2021) (361)
48. Surrender Under Protest – Drive-by Truckers (2016)
49. The Rising – Bruce Springsteen (2002) (8)
50. Deep Red Bells – Neko Case (2002)
 
51. 10 A.M. Automatic – The Black Keys (2004)
52. The Cave – Mumford and Sons (2009) (197)
53. Slow Burn – Kacey Musgraves (2018) (79)
54. I and Love and You – The Avett Brothers (2009) (53)
55. Take Me to Church – Hozier (2013) (10)
56. My Girls – Animal Collective (2009) (347)
57. Falling Slowly – Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova (2007) (160)
58. Destiny – Zero 7 (2002)
59. Exile – Taylor Swift feat. Bon Iver (2020)
60. Afterburner – Panda Bear (2011)
 
61. Default – Django Django (2012)
62. Good Morning Aztlan – Los Lobos (2002)
63. Anyhow – Tedeschi Trucks Band (2016) (210)
64. Go! – Public Service Broadcasting (2015)
65. Little Talks – Of Monsters and Men (2011) (342)
66. Santa Fe – Beirut (2011)
67. Everybody’s Coming to My House – David Byrne (Live -American Utopia) (2020)
68. Tear Off Your Own Head (It’s a Doll Revolution) – Elvis Costello and the Impostors (2002)
69. Short Skirt/Long Jacket – Cake (2001) (129)
70. A-Punk – Vampire Weekend (2008) (97)
 
71. Hold On – Alabama Shakes (2012) (44)
72. Digital Witness – St. Vincent (2014) (302)
73. Photon – Pantha du Prince and the Bell Laboratory (2013)
74. Weird Fishes/Arpeggio – Radiohead (2007) (45)
75. All My Friends – LCD Soundsystem (2007) (22)
76. 1901 – Phoenix (2009)
77. Electric Feel – MGMT (2008) (131)
78. Uptown Funk – Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars (2014) (19)
79. Down Down the Deep River – Okkervil River (2013) (703)
80. I’m Writing a Novel – Father John Misty (2012) (833)
 
81. Gone Gone Gone – Robert Plant and Alison Krause (2007) (321)
82. Ship to Wreck – Florence + The Machine (2015) (168)
83. Lose Yourself to Dance – Daft Punk feat. Pharrell Williams (2013) (717)
84. Just Like That – Bonnie Raitt (2022) (750)
85. Measure – Field Music (2010)
86. Freedom – Jon Batiste (2021) (255)
87. Sugarfoot – Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears (2009)
88. S.O.B. - Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats (2015) (34)
89. Heaven – Los Lonely Boys (2004)
90. When the Tequila Runs Out - Dawes (2016)
 
91. Tailspin – Jayhawks (2003)
92. Young Folks – Peter Bjorn and John (2006) (125)
93. On the Wrong Side – Lindsey Buckingham (2021)
94. Sideways – Santana feat. Citizen Cope (2002) (431)
95. Anchor – Alejandro Escovedo (2010)
96. Arms of a Woman – Amos Lee (2005) (534)
97. Brother Down – Sam Roberts (2003)
98. Afterglow 61 – Son Volt (2005)
99. Skinny Love – Bon Iver (2007) (111)
100.  Pumped Up Kicks – Foster the People (2011) (167)

As you can see, 54 of my songs also ended up on the WXPN list, which is a pretty good percentage, although none of their top three made it to my list (Seven Nation Army by White Stripes, Mr. Brightside by The Killers, and The Story by Brandi Carlile.) Only five of my top ten made their list, although 13 of my top 20 did. I was disappointed that my #2 song, Richard Thompson's Dad's Gonna Kill Me, didn't even make their list, but I shouldn't be that surprised - he was a favorite artist of theirs through the 80s and 90s but his popularity seemed to wane going into the 2000s. There wasn't a single one of his songs in the top 885. I really didn't expect Percussion Gun by White Rabbits to make the list, and I thought Lippy Kids by Elbow was also a long shot (although a few of their other songs made it.) I was most surprised not to see Sister Jack by Spoon on their list, although the band did quite well with nine other songs posted. Likewise, the Decemberists placed nine songs, but not my choice from their first album, Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect. That song was the first I heard from them and I've been a fan ever since. The champion for multiple songs on the WXPN list, though, was Radiohead with an impressive 18 entries. The closest I got to matching the ranking of a song on the WXPN list was I and Love and You by the Avett Brothers (#53 on their list, #54 on mine) and Impossible Germany by Wilco (#6 on their list, #5 on mine.) Of my 100 songs, the majority (58) were from the first decade (2000-2009), 34 were from 2010-2019, and only 8 from the 2020s so far, and 15 of my top 20 were all from the first decade. I guess that's an indication of how it may take several years for a song to acquire "classic" status. 

Okay, enough geeking over music list stats. Feel free to comment if you have anything to share about what I should or shouldn't have included, and what your list may look like if you have one.

Shout-out to a Famous Friend

 I meant to do this during my April PAD posts, but I'm doing it now. I just want to bring to your attention Jane Hirshfield's splendid career retrospective collection of poems published last September, The Asking, from Knopf Press. Here's my Amazon review:

I have been a fan of Jane Hirshfield ever since hearing her read her poem "For What Binds Us" at the Dodge Poetry Festival twenty-some years ago. Until now she has resisted a "collected poems" volume, but finally decided it was time, and we are all the richer for it. This is a wonderful collection that spans a fifty-year career in poetry, from some of her very early work to thirty new pieces, with a generous sampling in-between of her eight previous books of poetry. Throughout these poems, her voice is clear: a passionate love for both humanity and nature, centered by her Zen training, a body of work that is stunningly beautiful with lyrical language and metaphor. In recent years she has become an even more impassioned advocate for Mother Earth, and the newer poems convey both a sense of alarm but also of hope, that things can still be all right if we only pay attention, listen, and act. Jane is truly a citizen of the world, an important voice, and one of our very best contemporary poets. Brava!

I have been friends with Jane since taking her workshop at the Palm Beach Poetry Festival in 2011. We've kept up email correspondence over the years, and I've seen her occasionally at poetry events. She has been a source of inspiration, encourgement and advice, and she is a patient, centered and compassionate person, a "good soul," as they say, not to mention a brilliant poet, translator and essayist. I'm blessed to know her. Here is one of the new poems from her collection:

TO BE A PERSON
by Jane Hirshfield

To be a person is an untenable proposition.

Odd of proportion,
upright,
unbalanced of body, feeling, and mind.

Two predator’s eyes
face forward,
yet seem always to be trying to look back.

Unhooved, untaloned fingers
seem to grasp mostly grief and pain.
To create, too often, mostly grief and pain.

Some take,
in witnessed suffering, pleasure.
Some make, of witnessed suffering, beauty.

On the other side —
a creature capable of blushing,
who chooses to spin until dizzy,
likes what is shiny,
demands to stay awake even when sleepy.

Learns what is basic, what acid,
what are stomata, nuclei, jokes,
which birds are flightless.
Learns to play four-handed piano.
To play, when it is needed, one-handed piano.

Hums. Feeds strays.
Says, “All together now, on three.”

To be a person may be possible then, after all.

Or the question may be considered still at least open —
an unused drawer, a pair of waiting workboots.

(From The Asking: New and Selected Poems, by Jane Hirshfield, Knopf Press, 2023. Used with permission of the author.)

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/715681/the-asking-by-jane-hirshfield/