The Yearby Ella Wheeler WilcoxWhat can be said in New Year rhymes,
That’s not been said a thousand times?The new years come, the old years go,
We know we dream, we dream we know.We rise up laughing with the light,
We lie down weeping with the night.We hug the world until it stings,
We curse it then and sigh for wings.We live, we love, we woo, we wed,
We wreathe our brides, we sheet our dead.We laugh, we weep, we hope, we fear,
And that’s the burden of the year.
Johanny Vazquez Paz has a book release party for her new poetry collection Querido Voyeur.
The party starts at 6pm at the Institute of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture (3015 West Division Street), and admission is free! Go hear some poetry and congratulate Johanny!
And congratulations to Alberto Aguilar, named a 2012 Breakout Artist by NewCity Magazine.
And congrats, too, to Caroline Shoenberger, who has been honored as a 2012 DePaul “Women of Spirit and Action.”
And, if you still get Time Magazine, maybe you saw Megan Ritt’s byline on the review of the new Rufus Wainwright album, which she reviewed for the music blog she writes for called The Consequence of Sound. Check it out
Have you ordered/recei
ved your poster yet? Have you been reading your poem a day all year long?
Have you had a chance to look at the glorious book of poetry gathered up by educators from across the country in a book called, “Teaching With Fire”? Do yourself a a favor and check it out. It’s magnificent.
Have you read a poem lately?
Better yet, have you heard one read, a poem that will make you laugh? Or one that might make you cry?
If not, what the hell are you waiting for?
Yes, today is Valentine’s Day. Enjoy it with family and/or friends.
As a service to those who need an inspirational word for that special someone, we at The Lounge are here to help.
Finish the poem (or in the spirit of CCC, reinvent it).
Leave a verse, take a verse.
Roses are red, Violets are blue, …
February is Black History Month. I posted this poem at the end of BHM last year, but it fits better at the beginning, I think.
“BLK History Month” from Nikki Giovanni’s Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea:
If Black History Month is not
viable then wind does not
carry the seeds and drop them
on fertile ground
rain does not
dampen the land
and encourage the seeds
to root
sun does not
warm the earth
and kiss the seedlings
and tell them plain:
You’re As Good As Anybody Else
You’ve Got A Place Here, Too
And don’t forget the kickoff event today featuring Martin L. King, President of Operation Push (2-3:30pm, rm 103)!
Oh, sure, you’ll hear a lot about the Dream speech today, and (don’t get me wrong) it’s a great speech, but I vastly prefer “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.”
If you haven’t read it in awhile, give it a read today. It will be time well spent…
I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial “outside agitator” idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.
