tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31168158249852587162024-03-12T17:22:54.763-07:00ponderings of a porcupinenaperville momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08830412152204085372noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3116815824985258716.post-37043332032162197762010-10-11T15:23:00.000-07:002010-10-11T15:40:12.924-07:00Whale Sound and Flaubert's Babies<a href="http://verylikeawhale.wordpress.com/my-work-online/">Nic Sebastian</a>, a poet and founder of <a href="http://whalesound.wordpress.com/">Whale Sound</a>, is "building an audio poetry collection of her readings of contemporary poets" and I'm so delighted to have her read one of my poems, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Flaubert's Babies</span>, <a href="http://whalesound.wordpress.com/2010/10/11/flauberts-babies-by-divya-rajan/">here</a> in her lovely voice with the right measure of pathos, as part of this collection. The posts which've garnered the maximum amount of hits on this generous project are <a href="http://verylikeawhale.wordpress.com/2010/10/05/top-20-whale-sound-posts-and-other-stats/">here</a>. Enjoy!<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Whale Sound Feeds will soon be downloadable as podcast series and made available through iTunes.</span>naperville momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08830412152204085372noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3116815824985258716.post-61300509797491943642010-04-23T09:44:00.000-07:002010-04-23T11:04:15.572-07:00Ocean DesiresMy artwork, titled <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.angelfire.com/zine/bluefifth/Winter2010/currentW10.html">Ocean Desires</a></span>, is on the cover of Art and Poetry journal, <span ste.com/zine/bluefifth/"><span style="font-weight:bold;">Blue Fifth Review</span></span>, Winter issue, 2010: <span style="font-style:italic;">Body</span> Series. Another work, also a part of this issue, is <a href="http://www.angelfire.com/zine/bluefifth/Winter2010/poems1W10.html"><span style="font-weight:bold;">Veilless Woman</span></a>.<br /><br /><br />I also am glad to share that <span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://tammyholaiming.com/2010/04/23/ocean-desires/">Ocean Desires</a></span> served as a source of inspiration for editor (of <span style="font-style:italic;">Asian Cha</span>), writer and poet, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Tammy Ho Lai- ming</span>, as part of the<a href="http://tammyholaiming.com/2010/04/05/for-you/">Poetry Project</a>, initiated by her. Please feel free to share your thoughts about Tammy's poem/ my artwork/ just about anything...naperville momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08830412152204085372noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3116815824985258716.post-68526412246829424862010-03-25T15:14:00.000-07:002010-03-25T15:31:13.582-07:00Peace be with Ai and Shvarts<span style="font-weight:bold;">Conversation
<br /></span>
<br />
<br />Words, you say, young girls in a circle, holding hands,
<br />and beginning to rise heavenward
<br />in their confirmation dresses,
<br />like white helium balloons,
<br />the wreathes of flowers on their heads spinning,
<br />and above all that,
<br />that's where I'm floating,
<br />
<br />
<br />- Ai
<br />
<br />
<br /><<span style="font-style:italic;"><a href="http://thebestamericanpoetry.typepad.com/the_best_american_poetry/2010/03/in-memoriam-to-ai-1947-2010-by-jerry-wiliams-.html">an excerpt</a></span>>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">What that street is called</span>
<br />
<br />
<br />You’re like a house-coat, you are worn, God is above you and inside.
<br />You’re delicate, frail, you crumble like a porcelain cup – God’s glow
<br />Is shining through it, probably, it’s all becoming clearer now.
<br />He’s pecking through your mortal shell before our very eyes,
<br />You’re stooping – and no wonder! – look who’s sitting on your shoulders.
<br />Oh! I’d accept that burden, but my name’s not written down,
<br />Let’s stroll along the boulevard, watch the band play in the rain,
<br />
<br />
<br />- Elena Shvarts
<br />
<br />
<br />(<span style="font-style:italic;"><a href="http://www.arlindo-correia.com/040904.html#What_that_street_is_called">an excerpt</a></span>>
<br />naperville momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08830412152204085372noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3116815824985258716.post-29027948604321145592009-12-13T11:05:00.000-08:002009-12-13T14:36:23.549-08:00Fireflies in the Dark<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_oWjhFzXnCRX7xxTGJMDyLPpDG6lF7jZ-jAQjLrIeyVOo3uKT8n8eP78KkHPx7UUkL8axqMLEPAuyYfKPu7BR4tUhWaXv1e8OTRgDik1X5RCmmseC-D2JHAcITFNp6PtqcQEbucQVTuU/s1600-h/fireflies.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_oWjhFzXnCRX7xxTGJMDyLPpDG6lF7jZ-jAQjLrIeyVOo3uKT8n8eP78KkHPx7UUkL8axqMLEPAuyYfKPu7BR4tUhWaXv1e8OTRgDik1X5RCmmseC-D2JHAcITFNp6PtqcQEbucQVTuU/s400/fireflies.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414800985033200706" /></a><br />"Friedl. We called her Friedl. Everything was forgotten for a couple of hours. We forgot all the troubles we had."- Helga Pollakova- Kinsky, <span style="font-style:italic;">Voices of Children</span>, a documentary.<br /><br /><br />Few Childrens' Books touch me the way, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Fireflies in the Dark</span>, did. It's the story of a Bauhaus- educated Viennese artist, Friedl Dicker- Brandeis, also a Jew, who was sent to the Terezin concentration camp along with scores of men, women and children, and eventually executed at Auschwitz. Although Terezin was not a death camp <span style="font-style:italic;">per se</span>, living conditions within the camp were still unhygienic and rampant with sickness.<br /><br /><br />Faced with deportation from Prague to Terezin, a ghetto established by the Germans in Czechoslovakia, Brandeis chose to bring art supplies and dyed sheets (which, later were altered into colorful costumes for a kids' play production of a Czech fairy tale called <span style="font-style:italic;">Fireflies</span>) to the camp and spent a considerable amount of time, goading kids to come up with creative outlets and discussing the way they viewed art. She was an ardent believer of using art as therapy and the kids loved her for that. She spoke about the importance of inculcating creativity in kids and how not to succumb to temptations of adhering to notions of producing mini- adults. "Childhood is not a preliminary, immature stage on the way to adulthood," she said. <br /><br /><br />At the end of every art lesson, her students signed their artwork with their real names as opposed to transport numbers (with which they were identified summarily). Susan Goldman Rubin, the author, goes into great detail, profiling the extent of Brandeis' determination towards making the kids' lives more bearable. Liberally illustrated with artworks by the Terezin children, this book reaffirms the ability of art to kindle hope in the minds of young. It's especially a good read (recommended for ages 6- 9) at a time when there's also renewed interest in Brandeis' philosophy, her paintings, interior decorations and stage designs.naperville momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08830412152204085372noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3116815824985258716.post-49893698109895836312009-06-17T09:32:00.000-07:002009-06-17T09:34:49.051-07:00A quote that caught my fancy!"You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions."<br /><br />- Naguib Mahfouz, Egyptian writer, 1988 Nobel Prize winner for literaturenaperville momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08830412152204085372noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3116815824985258716.post-84726832183974811772009-05-12T16:05:00.000-07:002009-05-15T08:31:40.175-07:00One word caption challenge<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYYdyIH9d-2__ZbwUPKUhV5_k4-LMhazVD5JEgIVBFuOPyaF7lu8TYI-SG8KS8-rjgP51RTxE-M5Q8rGZRMF3GSLw0OPXgUJ_fSonFdWF0xArqqdRAMVXT2jvLfPZERcVE8jjdAYRg5bg/s1600-h/Home-7474.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYYdyIH9d-2__ZbwUPKUhV5_k4-LMhazVD5JEgIVBFuOPyaF7lu8TYI-SG8KS8-rjgP51RTxE-M5Q8rGZRMF3GSLw0OPXgUJ_fSonFdWF0xArqqdRAMVXT2jvLfPZERcVE8jjdAYRg5bg/s400/Home-7474.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335078651803896898" /></a><br />Yesterday, I was going through some pictures that we'd clicked on our trip to Ile- D'Orleans, an idyllic location in Quebec city, Canada last summer (Yes, I'm into reliving the 'past' these days!). Somehow, I just couldn't get beyond this one... Can you try to describe this picture in one word? Please try... It'll be fun!naperville momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08830412152204085372noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3116815824985258716.post-11296711870383167822009-05-02T07:53:00.000-07:002009-05-13T07:48:18.048-07:00sipping a cup of hot coffeesome silence trickling down<br />a soar lane with no streetlights<br />warming, jostling alive, a breath escapes<br />steam whirs and i hear the sizzle<br />calm droning from inside the seashells<br />oysters squirming, a pearl descending<br />i remember the lady at Starbucks<br />the student with numbed shoulders<br />an icecreamy smile and i gulp more silence<br />don't wanna wake my family up<br />let them usher further into<br />blankets while i think about the muse<br />Zelda and her Save Me the Waltz<br />silence is good<br />sometimes<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">This poem has since appeared in Poetry Friends.</span>naperville momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08830412152204085372noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3116815824985258716.post-72852299275061784122009-04-29T08:10:00.000-07:002009-05-01T07:44:39.315-07:00Excerpts from "The Tattooed Conscience"<span style="font-weight:bold;">Open to interpretation</span><br /><br /><br />Old as the Vedas proof in Gilgamesh<br />Aristotle classified then kept in inner circles<br />Ancient coded heart murmurings<br />Screaming pleading for a release<br />Time traveling adapting evolving transcending<br />Dare we allow her to be caressed by strangers<br />who would dress her in outlandish garb euphemism?<br />At home among starving young souls<br />releasing volumes of pent up emotion<br />Soothing both listeners and it's new owners<br />She is a willing mistress sauntering about the terrain<br />Expressing emotions powerful even weak<br />hunger even starvation melancholy<br />Love laughter supreme satisfaction<br />Ancient treasures meet bountiful new harvest<br />She is all of us from inception to forever<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">"I Remember..."</span><br /><br /><br />Passing blades of grass flowing with the wind<br />A constant reminder of my past.<br />Fire rises and sits on the horizon<br />High noon gets me closer to you.<br />Which bridge will get me there?<br />What rivers will I need to cross?<br />Music is flowing in those blades of grass<br />generating excitement as it caresses the sky.<br />She's like those blades of grass<br />a solidly fixed part of my past.<br />Though long gone she's always been by my side.<br />Her smile her laugh and crazy ways<br />Fill the space outside my window.<br />She's there in the blades of grass<br />And I see her with each mile marker I pass.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">(c) Mark Granberry</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Published with the author's permission</span>.<br /> <br /><br />Interview with poet Mark Granberry coming up soon! Please stay posted!naperville momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08830412152204085372noreply@blogger.com1