I Dream a World — Margaret Noodin (Nimbawaadaan-akiing)
Stargazer by George Bilgere
Safe Harbor in Enemy Homes by Rasha Abdulhadi
Birth of A Clinched Fist by Enzo Surin
What the Day Gives — by Jeanne Lohmann.
Will there be Peace in the Holy Land? (See Notes on "Safe Harbor)
https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/2021/summer/there-will-be-peace-holy-land-naomi-shihab-nye
Nutshell:
I Dream a World — Margaret Noodin (Nimbawaadaan-akiing) https://poets.org/poem/nimbawaadaan-akiing-i-dream-world?mc_cid=08bd486fc2&mc_eid=248758c95e About this poem: inspired by Martin Luther King, who was inspired by Langston Hughes: https://allpoetry.com/I-Dream-A-World. As she says, “perhaps we should all sit down and dream harder and more often with more clarity and infinite diversity.” I was glad people connected the second stanza as response to the very difficult poem by Rasha Abdulhadi.
Stargazer: : Jim's story of the Trump supporter with a glass of Pinot Noir, reciting Fox News-- not a word that reflected who he was... just conveying Fox News, which he had become. Sharing that with group 2, David said, that's a shame to cast a bad rap on a good wine...
Jim showed the first group an astounding visual from APOD (Astronomy Picture of Day) with Monument Park https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html — but with a little photoshopping done to add a river of car lights!
Here’s another picture of the Milky Way with just one car… http://fredwasmer.com/w7902-978e-ba428.htm just in case you want to contemplate inconsequentiality. I added Dover Beach which very much influences Bilgère, although he keeps his wry Billy Collins type of wit!
It is refreshing to read a poem that pokes fun at the difficulty of being human, navigating one's sense of self in the larger complexity of the universe! Indeed, like "A dog barking at the cosmos" echoes an image of those in a Barcalounger, "in which one hopes to have an immense thought of two". David stressed that verb, "hope" -- a step away from having the thought. Attaching the adjective "immense" to a thought which appears 2 stanzas down as one of insignificance (first looking up at the glittering god-haven [new word for Heaven]; then two more lines of what one sees (with clear conditions, not too much light pollution, etc. not mentioned in the poem) if taking the time to look up at the night sky ) underscores a pleasant sarcasm. The juxtaposition of "bright furnaces of Orion" with a contemplation of inconsequentiality is side-splittingly funny.
It is the next line that promoted a lot of discussion. First of all, due to the formatting of the poems on the page, "It is a good feeling too have for several minutes," looked to be the final line of the poem. Those who viewed this with a positive spin, felt the comfort of being reminded, briefly, hence not too painfully, that no one is alone in thinking such a thought... Others were reminded of the problem of those who have "too much ego in your cosmos" to quote Kipling. Bernie elaborated on the balancing act of what gets us out of our small human self, yet not feel overwhelmed by the smallness -- a sort of "sweet expansive and shrinking". We are both soul and Earth "dust", part of infinite and yet an individual self...
A few people saw the poem as providing a play or theatrical drama... the detail of holding the glass
of pinot... not necessarily drinking it... perhaps looking at the color of it... smelling it... perhaps like Jim's character reciting Fox News... Jan suggested a positive possibility that the news is at least local, therefore
with a possibility of personal engagement, as opposed to the idea that one's place is as observer of a
world someone else is reporting. How do you, to whatever degree, get your significance back?
Safe Harbor in Enemy Homes: https://dcs.megaphone.fm/POETS1181188201.mp3?key=408601dac6b5622d6183dbbac3a5a7b8
The next poem was quite a contrast! Group 2 had an excellent discussion, delving into this personal statement of agony. Group 1 bought up the question of whether strong alliterations make up a poem. Judith felt it lacked the "oar" of rhythm one hears
in Viking poetry. Perhaps because of the complexity of the subject, it was easier to dismiss as yet another political polemic
as Judith called it, referring to the Muddle East.
Certainly, it is helpful to know the background of the poet, who is described as "queer, Palestinian Southerner", having lived in both Damascus, Syria and near northern Georgia (US). The problems of racism, victimhood, similar-looking people, even cousins, brothers fighting are difficult subjects indeed. As Jan put it, on first reading, it is a poem that is powerful, but unclear.
Marna looked up the retreat referred to in the second stanza and believes it might be Hambidge. https://www.hambidge.org/; David suggested that some KKK Clan member's portrait shaking a President's hand might be on the walls of a retreat center devoted to peaceful meditation and the arts. This might explain the anger in the poem-- here I am in the retreat... and even here,
"starched southerners sponsor apartheid..." what was to house travelers "merely means meetings for the organizers and fundraisers of b'mai b'rith. (Marna recommends this article: B'nai B'rith's ADL: 100 Years of Deception: Leo Frank, Abe Foxman, & Minister Farrakhan http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/Perspectives_1/article_9823.shtml
Jim, having grown up in the South, said there were very few Jews, and Atlanta, a piece of transplanted North.
This article touches on some of the problems of lumping one religion as identity: https://www.fpri.org/article/2009/08/zionism-and-jewcentricity-in-american-history/ Were the puritans not also feeling they were "chosen people"? And how many different aspects come up in a discussion of zionism vs. Judaism? As David pointed out, faith is one thing, unshakeable, religion quite another.
Carolyn drew attention to the opening lines-- how can something living, like a tree, be complicit in the blame?
Although this is not a poem about the web of life... but rather, the problem of humans choosing sides... who is the victim and who is the victimizer?
The poet has two books cited by the Academy: Who is Owed Springtime (Neon Hemlock, 2021) and Shell Houses (The Head & Hand Press, 2017)
Barbara brought up books for her reading group for Social Justice. I am hopeful to receive her list. She recommended "Biting Bitterness" which addresses the troubles in Ireland.
4. Birth of A Clinched Fist by Enzo Surin : We did not have time for this poem in group 2. Please try this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4MKELmKw-4 (the poem starts at 1:07 ends at 2:07 but he goes on to explain)
Group 1 had a difficult time with this poem. Good rhetorical cadence. We had fun swapping mnemonics --
All Cows Eat Grass (spaces on the bass note stave); Every Good Boy Does Fine (lines on the treble stave).
HOMES to remember the Great Lakes...
We had to look up orography, that machine for making a topographical map... what a precise word --
"what was dealt... mnemonic so strong // I kept it in my mind like one rehearsing lines in an orography for pain..."
The poet here is also dealing with a world of guns, drugs, ghettos, the horrors this country has hosted ...
Those of us who are white and privileged have been protected from seeing everything "as enemy"-- one's face as "fair game".
5. What the Day Gives:
This is an uplifting gratitude poem-- hurray for seasons... and hang on as we rollercoaster in an uneasy world plunging from hope to despair, to hope and back again. Hurray for Ruskin who reminds us to be present to all-- to have the courage to pursue "that difficult duty of delight" . We discussed briefly families, society pressures that condition us to take negative views,
increase stress, worry... and that the courage to break out of this, is a type of self-preservation.
As Ginny shared, "social worker Doris Day would merely call tribulations of the day, "Interesting".
Marna shared Bobby McFerrin's "Don't Worry be Happy" which is an immediate mood lifter. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-diB65scQU
This inspired Bernie to share a list of good songs to move around to to take a break in a zoom meditation/mindfulness meeting. (see Nov. 10 post) They come from : Playing For Change | Song Around the World
As ever, I remain grateful for the sharings of everyone's takes on these poems-- Indeed, our invitation
to have a conversation with the world.
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