Motto by Langston Hughes
July 4, 1974 by June Jordan
The Woman on Court St. Bridge by Celeste Schantz
George Floyd by Terrance Hayes
Aubade by W.s. DiPiero
That was Already True by Kurt Luchs
I love that we “delved” into the “dig” from so many angles. It gives us a shared “code” for what Langston Hughes meant by “Motto”. We agreed it sounds simple… let’s like each other… like and be liked… but thanks Doug for the extra references such as the Black Magazine, Jive, and layers of meaning in
“jive”.
Carolyn reminded me about a wonderful essay by June Jordan in the book, Poetry in Person edited by Alexander Neubauer.
Like the Hughes, Jordan elicits multiple layers with her choice of details and craft. A little “O say can you see by the dawn’s early light” sung for the national holiday, contrasts
sharply with Jordan’s son. Admirable line breaks which separate Long… from Island, Atlantic Av/Brooklyn from New York… the cryptic parentheses about facts which do not prepare the reader (do they) //line break// for him // (birthed); the urgency of his running, years later “through the darkness with his / own
and the double duty of “his /own/becoming light.
I will be glad to forward any questions to Celeste. I did leave her a message to tell her how much we appreciated all the different angles and to ask if this was indeed based on the story of
Trevyan Rowe https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2019/03/08/trevyan-rowe-death-rochester-ny-what-happened/3070767002/
and ask about how she sees the “Lynched apparitions jerk on railroad ties”.
Thank you Kathy for picking up on the strong verbs “howl” and “wrestling”, Bernie for picking up on the fact, even in full sight, no attention is paid… and o so much more.
The sounds, the horrifying insinuation of a person’s life as “someone’s garbage”, the threading of the constitution, America the beautiful, the alliterations, rhymes all poignantly underline more than the personal tragedy of one teenager, but those “falls running black” hint at what can befalls someone if black.
Celeste answers:
I’ve written numerous versions of this poem but the basic dedication is to all mothers, especially those of black sons who died for no reason due to racism. In particular I was motivated by the death of Philando Castile and listening to his mother speak out.
Celeste answers:
I’ve written numerous versions of this poem but the basic dedication is to all mothers, especially those of black sons who died for no reason due to racism. In particular I was motivated by the death of Philando Castile and listening to his mother speak out.
The juxtaposition of lines from The Gettysburg Address with an image of lynching on a railroad bridge is what sparked the line about “Lynched apparitions.” I had read about Woody Guthrie’s father Charley and a lynching that took place https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynching_of_Laura_and_L._D._Nelson.
I also had read the incredible poem “Black Confederate Ghost Story” by Terrance Hayes and thus had submitted the poem to the contest he judged for Solstice Magazine.
And also Haye was influenced by Gwendolyn Brooks “Two Gay Chaps at the Bar” with its line “to holler down the lions in this air.”
All of this came together and became “The Woman on Court Street Bridge” as I sat at the library downtown looking out the window at the river . .
All of this came together and became “The Woman on Court Street Bridge” as I sat at the library downtown looking out the window at the river . .
I’m so glad everyone caught so much from the long, no-room-for-breathing-sentence with its sliding meanings. Thank you Doug for bringing up the “magic bullet” reference to JFK
If you want to check out the tune : Stormy Weather, you’ll find several YouTubes of fine singers … here are the lyrics with Lena Horne: lyrics to stormy weather by lena horne
I don’t know if I would say “dispassionate” is the way Terrance Hayes reads it with his low, melodic voice, but the contrast with the sliders, the repeats is uncanny and powerful.
dye and die… Dennis Rodman blue/ blue in the face… in the face of the music… the whole poem building up to the repeat, three times of “till”, not capitalized like Emmett’s last name,
unlike the first word, “You”, no period to end.
We ended with Aubade from the Mar. 23, 2020 issue of the New Yorker.
Indeed, listening to DiPiero, the voice is soft, gentle and the poem resembles a prayer. I hear a great kindness in it.
Martin had shared it with his wife Catherine and I want to share FROM the email he sent me. 'For her this poem is about inclusiveness everybody counts. She read the beginning as its not going to talk about the old things, that were difficulties, but be lighter.”
I think agree. Yes — to quote him, “this fair hour/we want to feel as hope” and he ends shouting blessings — on everyone (and I do love that he picks unionists as example in his list of “everyone” — the sound of unity). And asking that protection not just be for him, but for “our common”.
I think my mis-placed sensitivity about the final 2 words, is that “Sponsor us” at first seemed out of place as a business vocabulary. How is a day capable of “sponsoring” ?
If it’s the second meaning of sponsor, "a person who introduces and supports a proposal for legislation” indeed, I take back everything I said —
for the bill to be sponsored is protection of everyone!
Doug’s point about how we would read the poem 50 years from now provided a different angle to explore it. Hopefully a poem like this would intrigue the reader to research it.
Could it have been written 50 years ago? What are the universals? Plainer talk…to address the truth. I love that “unionists” are among the list of the common.
Thank you all for the union of voices and insights! I look forward to our “re-union” next week.
Whoops: forgot Kurt Luchs: That was Already True
Thank you Bernie for saving the reading from disaster by having 13 voices unmute and make a cacophony of rhythms and noises by having a choral response of the title.
We noted the opening and closing sentence -- the truth of the matter... and what's in between... like small mirrors of reflection sandwiched in before that final word.
Marna was pleased that she had the line, "What comes next is a mystery".
Soothing repetitions… but how are you doing to say “That was already true”? Is it dismissive in the second stanza? Overly eager to generalize? Cliché? How long does it take to arrive at the sentence, “Every life matters — and every death.” Bernie brought up the sad response to death in an old person’s home, where the room in which a human being lived, was “cleaned up, emptied and readied for the next” with little regard for the life of the one who passed away.
You all matter to me enormously!
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