James Baldwin died November 30, 1987, twenty years ago today. I was having a traumatic semester and I did not take note of his passing, but he has always been one of my favorite writers, so I will take note of it today. This post is intended as a James Baldwin Video Aggregator. CSPAN Baldwin … More James Baldwin
Esta tarde llueve, como nunca; y no tengo ganas de vivir, corazón. Esta tarde es dulce. Por qué no ha de ser? Viste gracia y pena; viste de mujer. Esta tarde en Lima llueve. Y yo recuerdo las cavernas crueles de mi ingratitud; mi bloque de hielo sobre su amapola, más fuerte que su “No … More Heces de César Vallejo
Where has my language gone? The poet searches for words to wrap around these times Make them sense Make them pretty Make them useful Words from the past haunt our conversations Empire and Crusade Plans and Centuries All these words cleared understanding before Fall heavy now And weightless into this abyss of bad news I … More Beyond Words
It is the weekend, so we will sing! Convicts rest Like lizards on rocks. Same period, same region: In the Pines. Listen closely. Axé.
The Rose of the World Who dreamed that beauty passes like a dream? For these red lips, with all their mournful pride, Mournful that no new wonder may betide, Troy passed away in one high funeral gleam, And Usna’s children died. We and the labouring world are passing by: Amid men’s souls, that waver and … More W. B. Yeats
Check him out. Wouldn’t you like to have him come to speak at your school? I know I would. I would need to get several departments on board with me to organize this, though. Perhaps for next year. Meanwhile, following the advice of Unsane and inspired by Morphological Confetti and Wandering Caravan, I have been … More Geoffrey Philp
This week’s best and most beautiful post is by Liprap. Read it, then act. Carlos Pellicer, the modernist poet, was from Villahermosa, Tabasco. He wrote in 1943 of Tabasco in blood, water, earth, sun, and time. . . . /water of Tabasco, I come / water of Tabasco, I go / my lineage is made … More Agua de Tabasco
THE SPHINX (To Marcel Schwob in friendship and in admiration) In a dim corner of my room for longer than my fancy thinks A beautiful and silent Sphinx has watched me through the shifting gloom. Inviolate and immobile she does not rise she does not stir For silver moons are naught to her and naught … More Oscar Wilde
“[An] aching debut…[with] echoes of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings…” —Publisher’s Weekly “Reading Dedra Johnson’s Sandrine’s Letter to Tomorrow, I was fully in the presence of the mind, heart, and soul of a richly rendered, fascinating fictional character. I knew I was also in the presence of the brilliant voice and sensibility of … More Dedra Johnson
I I have lately been impressed because it has been in the high sixties at night and the high seventies to high eighties during the day. This is lovely, cool, October weather here, and civilized weather for me. But this evening it is raining and downright cold, certainly weather for long sleeves. It has not … More François Villon
