Poetry & Music

Whew! What a week. Here are two highlights:

Susan Deer Cloud Reading on March 18, 2009.

It was a pleasure working with Susan. She's a kind and generous artist, with strong politics and insight. Her reading was a mix of lyric and lyric-narratives, poems from The Last Ceremony (Foothills Publishing) and other poems that will be included in a new chapbook. Her poetry is retrospective and introspective. Poems shift focus from the personal to the world and back to the personal. She speaks from her whole life experience. I loved her explanation of her Bear medicine bag. It was a beautiful hand beaded bag,(the bead design looked like earth, sky, water and fire), and inside she had a secret "medicine" pouch (The one I wanted to hold-- it was wrapped in a turquoise cloth-- not open, mind you. Just hold, but I know better. The bag was a gift just for her).

The following day, we had a picnic outside to celebrate Spring. We ate and talked about many things. We listened to each other. Spent a couple of hours together. Then, she headed back to Binghamton. It was a gorgeous day to drive. Head strong blue skies. When she got home, she sent me an email to say that she had arrived safely. I think our conversations will continue.

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Went to the RPO on Thursday night with my Encounters class and we heard Haydn's Creation.
It intrigues me, trying to imagine this work performed in the late 1700's. I'm sure the audience then was as impressed as we were when they heard the bold brilliance of the music at God's command: let there be LIGHT!


I believe I heard musical phrases that pay tribute to Handel's "Messiah." (Is that right, Rebecca?) I like its connection to Milton's Paradise Lost too. The appearance of Adam and Eve, even though it demonstrates their love, made me moody. I'm not keen on the vow of obedience.


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