music

Blessed be the suckers and losers

  Blessed by Lucinda Williams   We were blessed by the minister Who practiced what he preached We were blessed by the poor man Who said heaven is within reach We were blessed by the girl selling roses Who showed us how to live We were blessed by the neglected child Who knew how to […]

More

Minute Five

Day five of commemorating the last moments of George Floyd’s life—     I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free song by Billy Taylor and Dick Dallas     I wish I knew how It would feel to be free I wish I could break All the chains holding me I […]

More

Tale of two pianos

  To His Piano by Howard Nemerov   Old friend, patient of error as of accuracy, Ready to think the fingerings of thought, You but a scant year older than I am With my expectant mother expecting maybe An infant prodigy among her stars But getting only little me instead–   To see you standing […]

More

Bridge over troubled Washington

  Come. And Be My Baby by Maya Angelou   The highway is full of big cars going nowhere fast And folks is smoking anything that’ll burn Some people wrap their lies around a cocktail glass And you sit wondering where you’re going to turn I got it. Come. And be my baby.   Some prophets […]

More

Summer report from a lazy Poem Elf

I’m still a schoolgirl when it comes to summer’s end.  I dread the fall.  Pumpkins and football games make me anxious. Give me hot, humid weather, a little body odor, and a good book every time.   Speaking of good books, there’s still a few weeks to enjoy summer reading.  On a friend’s recommendation, I’ve […]

More

Gentle medicine for the holidays

    When I was a teenager, and like other teens suffering from an awkwardness in inverse proportion to my romantic longings, I liked to sit by the fire during the holiday season and listen to sad music till tears rolled down my cheeks.  It was great.  Certain inchoate desires—to live a happening life, to […]

More

Laissez les bons temps rouler!

Tomorrow, March 8, is Fat Tuesday, a single day of excess before forty days of sacrifice and deprivation.  Here in Michigan the holiday is called Pazcki Day in honor of the jelly doughnuts everyone gobbles down.  But not for me.  The day I say It’s Pazcki Day! instead of Yes, I’m eating five Peppermint Patties […]

More

If you’re tired of Christmas music

I’ll be slowing down on the blogging for the next few weeks (which sounds a little like Lady Gaga saying she’s going to put more effort into her costumes), but I wanted to share my new favorite song.  Here’s Jamie Lidell with “Another Day.” (I’m not crazy about the video—best to hear and not see.) […]

More