Claudine Nash's "That True Voice" and "Talk Radio"

At the end of a weekend spent grading papers, I'd like to post Claudine Nash's wonderful poems, both of which appeared in her recent full-length poetry book Parts Per Trillion, which is available through Aldrich Press.  The first is "That True Voice."  This poem is for the early risers who persevere despite late sunrise, cold, and fog.

“That True Voice”

It stirs upon waking,

a hypnopompic hallucination

of a song heard

from a distance by muscles

not ears. Always,

it’s moving,

scattering about one’s body

before its lyrics can be

fully known.

For that first hour each morning,

before the household rises,

before the tasks of rushing and

receiving the hoarse sounds

of the day’s business, before

it can be out-sung by

those cold opinions from

without and within,

it hums in hopeful

resistance,

this self that is trying

not just to live,

that true voice

that dares to thrive.

The next poem is for those of us who still listen to music even if it is "only" on YouTube.  

“Talk Radio”

Music affects me in ways you

wouldn’t understand. I think “I

feel fine today. Nothing seems

amiss.” But then a singer-songwriter

recaps the story of his shattered

heart and I sink when he gets to

the verse about smoking too many

cigarettes while waiting for the

ache to lift. Right there on the

interstate in between exits, I think

“he’s moved the sorrow nobody

sees, he’s named the grief I carry

in secret.” Then I regroup at the

commercial break and it

strikes me that you probably

don’t get any of this because

you only ever listen to talk radio.

Bio:

Claudine Nash’s collections include her full-length poetry book Parts per Trillion (Aldrich Press, 2016) and her chapbook The Problem with Loving Ghosts  (Finishing Line Press, 2014). She also recently edited the collection  In So Many Words: Interviews and Poetry from Today’s Poets (Madness Muse Press, 2016) with Adam Levon Brown.  Her poems have won prizes from Avalon Literary Review, Eye on Life Magazine, Lady Chaos Press, and The Song Is… and have appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies including Asimov’s Science Fiction, Cloudbank, Haight Ashbury Literary Journal and Yellow Chair Review amongst others. She also has a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and is a practicing psychologist. Website: www.claudinenashpoetry.com.

I know I want to post a link to Ahmad Jamal's "Saturday Morning."  He is another jazz musician born in the 1930s, so I encourage you to listen to his music and write!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1WhcWatKVw

Here is his "I'll Always Be With You," also from his recent CD Saturday Morning:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3i1c5KfcfA

His "Morning Mist" is from Blue Moon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wi2MuKvNSq0

"Autumn Rain" is a little different: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qkaEf4C6FI

I'll finish with some songs from the Roy Assaf Trio whom my husband and I saw recently.  They are amazing!!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SES8YF6bs4U