Dance

By Mary Dezember

His daddy had him dance. Being as it was the Depression, and being that they didn't have much of anything except children, for money his daddy had him dance.

Always it went like this: Saturdays before the sun set, his daddy collected him doing chores for old man Wright. His daddy, not saying a word, would take him to the corner drugstore. Inside, as usual, were the regulars—puffing and jawing, smacking and spitting—each having a hand crammed to the bottom of a trouser pocket, thumbing his just-got pay. From its hard case, his daddy would lift the fiddle with a tenderness the boy had never seen his daddy show for any other.

By Mary Dezember

A Review from Dr. Dezember’s View

Defying Time & Space: Response Poems

Recording—whether analog or digital formats—offers a type of communication that defies space and time.

The recording of one’s thoughts and creativity—such as in books, videos, photos—can reach anyone who is reading or viewing.

Even if the creator or person featured is no longer alive, it seems as though they are there speaking to us through the recording. In these cases, our predecessors can “reach” us from even centuries before. Think Shakespeare—as just one example, of course.

However, can a recording we do today reach back to those who have come before us?

If we are talking about poetry recorded (printed) on the page, recorded digitally, or performed, then, yes. By writing response poems, poets can, in a sense, defy time by reaching back to those poets who are our predecessors.

Response poems are poems that, in some way, “speak” to another poet, living or dead, as a form of homage or of parody or as a direct address.

The response poem can be an attribution to the form, style, or particular wording of a part of a poem or of an entire poem of another poet. The response poem, because it is a type of imitation, always credits the original poet and poem.

Ultimately, writing poems as responses to other poems demonstrates an engagement with poetry, a personal appreciation of recognized poems, a love for the art of poetry.
…
From silence to page to stage, poet and performer Don McIver proves time and time again his dedication to poetry.

By Mary Dezember

A Review from Dr. Dezember’s View

What IS a life of joy?

Billy Brown, featured Creative at Creatives in Conversation on Wednesday, June 1, 2022, chose the title of his presentation to be A Life of Joy : )

With anticipation and admiration, I am eager to hear what Billy has to say.

Multi-talented, open yet rather mysterious, Billy shares some of his thoughts about life and joy in his poetry, in the introductions to the anthologies he has edited, and even in his bio (see his bio below).

His writing shares his wit, kindness, achievements, family, love, and the greatest pain.

Billy’s skill in subtle poetic epiphanies and his love for music are perfectly illustrated in his poem "anger," which is "after Sonata for Solo Violin by Paul Hindemith.”

By Mary Dezember
A Review from Dr. Dezember’s View

Strong poetry, at its essence, is a musical, soul-event revealing originality and insight.

• The musicality of originality can come when the poet dedicates time to crafting.

• The musicality of insight can come when the poet allows the poem to lead.

Poet Hiram Larew accomplishes both.

Hiram’s fifth collection, Mud Ajar (Atmosphere Press, 2021), is a stellar achievement in the musicality of originality and insight.

You can discover these poems in any or all of the following four ways, all of which are a delight:

1. Listen to the audio book recording narrated and produced by T. A. Niles.

2. Read the poems aloud yourself.

3. Read the poems silently and allow your eyes to “hear” the music.

4. Read the poems in the book as you listen to the recording by T. A. Niles.

By Mary Dezember, Ph.D.

From Dr. Dezember’s View

Old Town Albuquerque, central to the arts and culture of Albuquerque, has a long tradition of mural art.

As an Old Town area resident, an arts scholar and arts and creativity advocate, I was shocked to learn that:

• the tradition of Old Town Albuquerque mural art is being threatened,

• two particular murals are being targeted for destruction,

• all murals might be destroyed.
  

Here, I am sharing a brief opinion piece with the following call to action to officially recognize:

• Old Town Albuquerque as central to Albuquerque’s art, culture and history;

• Murals in Old Town are integral to the strong tradition of murals within Albuquerque and must be designated as protected art;
  

• Existing murals in Old Town not be targeted for destruction;
  

• Clear guidelines for additional mural art in Old Town Albuquerque—after a series of public discussion and with by arts and culture personnel added to the Landmarks Commission and with well-documented research—are created and are widely and effectively disseminated.

Additionally, I will make a statement about public art.

After That Day

Poem by Mary Dezember

Achille-Claude Debussy is my favorite composer and Arthur Rimbaud is my favorite poet. There is another connection between these two artistic visionaries besides being my favs…

When they were children, Debussy and Rimbaud were guests at the same time in the same home—that of Debussy’s music teacher and her husband. Also living in the home was their daughter, Mathilde, and Mathilde’s husband, poet Paul Verlaine.

My poem is an imagined interaction that explores the question of what if…

What if, as children, Debussy and Rimbaud spoke?

After That Day

Her house was hers.

Her piano was mine. Every piano was mine.

After that day.

That day. The irony is

Hers was a home that fostered music and poetry.

Which is why he was there.

It’s also why I was there.

3 November 1871:

“Again, my protege. Practice your Chopin

I must attend to my daughter and her baby,”

My teacher says, as she lifts her blue-silked self

Softly from the stool of the piano.

Swept Away! Into the Poetic Musical Cosmos with Bébé La La!

By Mary Dezember, Ph.D.
A “From Dr. Dezember’s View” Review

I click “play” on YouTube to hear and see the Bébé La La first official music video, of their song entitled “Bébé La La.”

The video starts, the music enters…and I am swept away!!

Truly, Baby Wow!

Bébé La La takes me into the pure poetry of music, beyond the comprehension of lyrics into the scenery of soul freedom.

Vignettes fill my senses:

from the entrance of musical duo Maryse Lapierre and Alicia Ultan, slowly from invisible to visible,

onto the rocky hills and magical woods of the Land of Enchantment,

to wild horses running,

to dancers in the forests,

to the spiraling Milky Way,

to the performance stage,

to flowered fields,

to animation,

to wild clouds touching ocean waves,

to rushing brooks,

to the mechanical whirring of a clocks—

all wrapped in spirited wind,

sweeping me away

with Alicia’s guitar and Maryse’s lead vocals.

Ancestors as Poetry: Voices Given Breath Again by Voices of Woodlawn, Poets of Witness

By Mary Dezember, Ph.D.

A Review (and Poem) From Dr. Dezember’s View

On an August day in 2019, poets Ladi Di (Sylvia Diane) Beverly, Patrick Washington and Diane Wilbon Parks accepted the invitation from their friend, poet Hiram Larew, to meet him on the last day of his week-long poetry residency at Woodlawn Plantation and Estate and Pope-Leighey House in Alexandria, Virginia, a National Trust for Historic Preservation site and home of the Arcadia Farm for Sustainable Agriculture.

Based on his work on hunger and on his poetry, Hiram had been selected to participate in the Writers in Residency Program, a partnership program organized by Woodlawn and The Inner Loop writing community in the Washington D. C. Metro area.

While former Director of International Programs within U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Hiram guided several global hunger and farming programs in extension, research and teaching. Retired in 2015 and as a poet, he continued his work on hunger, founding the Poetry X Hunger initiative to, as stated on the Poetry X Hunger homepage, “link the power of poetry to the cause of hunger alleviation in the U.S. and around the world.”

But while at the historic plantation, Hiram realized, as he states, that his attention was on “the hunger of the soul more than hunger of the body.”

He found himself focusing on the American “history still haunting us today” as he wondered about the lives of the more than 90 people who had been captives there—and whose names had not been recorded—forced to serve and to build the wealth for the 9 relatives of George Washington living in the mansion.

To deepen his experience with better understanding, he invited his poet friends—Lady Di, Patrick, and Diane—descendants of enslaved Americans.

With trepidation and uneasiness, Ladi Di, Patrick and Diane walked onto the plantation, still unsure if they should take this journey in the footsteps of their ancestors, enslaved during America’s history of atrocity.

With their brave steps in the history of horrible tragedy, a blessed and unexpected experience happened:

They, while writing there and through poetry, became conduits for those enslaved at Woodlawn, imagining then creating stories of their ancestors, bringing forgotten lives into form as art.

From their experience walking in the footsteps of their ancestors and kinfolk on that August day, Ladi Di, Diane, Patrick and Hiram first questioned then imagined what the women, men and children questioned, suffered and endured. They were moved to write poetry on the spot.

Spontaneity Captured in Art: Creativity as Performance with Artist & Poet John Barney

A Review From Dr. Dezember’s View

by Mary Dezember, PhD

Creatives of the Modern Era—1800 to today—often aspire for their art to be like music.

In other words, rather than creating static scenes or narratives to imitate what is seen, visual artists and poets with a modern sensibility give—in addition to their talent—of themselves in expression.

They want to uplift us with an artistic flow. They instill into their works dynamic forces captured—and captivating.

As with a musical score peppered when performed with improvisation, artist and poet John Barney renders his visual and verbal art with an underlying structure enhanced by performance.

Exploring Where Visual Art & Poetry Come From with Denise Weaver Ross

By Mary Dezember

If you’ve ever experienced change, then poetry by Denise Weaver Ross is for you.

If you’ve ever enjoyed color, symbol and exquisite imagination, then art by Denise Weaver Ross is for you.

If you’ve ever wondered where poetry and art come from, then the presentation by Denise Weaver Ross at Creatives in Conversation on Wednesday, October 6 is for you.

Denise’s poetry, art and presentation offer a map for the journey we call life, with plenty of rest stops to refresh and rejuvenate.

Whether we must face the Storage/Garage Giant that has kept us captive for years with the stuff memories are made of, or whether we are reliving past joys housed in our minds and hearts, Denise’s poems are there saying, “I’m with you.”