We may not be done with winter yet (although I did see some purple crocuses poking up in my neighbors' yards), but the fall/winter poems are drawing to a close. Enjoy poet-activist-psychologist Claudine Nash's riff on the color orange! As Claudine notes, this poem "was inspired...by Dean Martin's version of Pablo Beltran Ruiz' Latin song "Sway" (or "Quien sera?" as it was known in the original Spanish version)."
“Clean Up”
I
started leaking orange
again.
Today, in four
different
ways. No need
for
alarm or urgent
care;
as unpleasant as
it
is, I’m told fatality is a
seldom
occurring event.
A
drop of marigold escapes
me
when I group
a
bouquet of seasonal
leaves.
Another seeps
from
my wrist after an
article
on waning
solar
storms. Chance
images
of you bathed
in
black and white are
always
good for a minor
saffron-infused
spill. But
even
I admit
it
gets a bit awkward
when
an old-fashioned
lounge
piece like
the
type Dean Martin
might
have sung
drips
from the overhead
and
I hemorrhage
a
sunset.
Claudine Nash’s collections include The Problem with Loving Ghosts (Finishing Line Press, 2014) and Parts per Trillion (Aldrich Press, forthcoming). Her poems have won prizes from the Avalon Literary Review, Eye on Life Magazine and have appeared in numerous publications including Cloudbank, Asimov’s Science Fiction, Haight Ashbury Literary Journal and The Westchester Review. She is the submissions editor at SolarNation, an organization that utilizes art and writing to draw consciousness to climate change. She also has a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and is a practicing psychologist.
Websites: www.claudinenashpoetry.com
www.solarnation.com
Websites: www.claudinenashpoetry.com
www.solarnation.com
Next I'd like to post a new poem by Alex Conrad. You may remember his poems from last summer: http://thesongis.blogspot.com/2015/08/poems-by-alex-conrad.html It is wonderful to see how his poetry is evolving.
 |
| "Dans le ciel Je rêve" - Alex Conrad |
By Alex Conrad
In the sky
There is a house
Within which weathers while the wind
blows
A young child holding a serpent.
The serpent whispers holistically to the
child
About the wonders of the world.
That city on a hill
Is hidden poorly.
The earth shall be ridded
Of the wretched souls
Who believe they are better than thee
But are clearly not.
When will the people realize
That they are not here
For the rest of their lives
But are obviously headed somewhere else.
A beautiful city,
Not of bricks and stones,
But of men standing around
Looking at the sky.
Let's finish up with a little music. Of course, I have to include "Sway," the Dean Martin song that Claudine mentions:
I'm going to include a little Frank Sinatra, too. "The Way You Look Tonight":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9ZGKALMMuc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9ZGKALMMuc
Erykah Badu sings "Orange Moon" here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bvdnS_eBCg
Charles Mingus and his Quintet play "Orange Was The Color of Her Dress, Then Blue Silk": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNlQ0lrIEMs
