That’s our theme… GO!
We’ll start with a Jack Kerouac quote from On the Road: “…the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes ‘Awww!’”
Dylan Thomas, Welsh poet and writer. He worked briefly as a reporter for South Wales Daily Post, published his first book at 20 and was an anti-aircraft gunner in WW2. This celebrated poem is considered one of his finest works. Hear it. He sounds so musical.
Do not go gentle into that good night
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Next… One of my favorite spoken wordists: Anis Mojgani. Anis lives in Portland, Oregon but actively tours with such groups as the Elephant Engine High Dive Revival. This is Shake The Dust. For a more dramatic version, you can see his performance at the Seattle Grand Slam ’06. It starts about 2/3 the way through this video.
Gregory Orr, master if short verse, is an American poet. He had a turbulent childhood, accidentally killing his brother on a hunting excursion, unexpectedly losing his mother, and watching his father succumb to addiction shortly after this. Perhaps this makes the following poem more acceptable to me. He teaches at University of Virginia and has published several books of poetry.
To be alive
To be alive: not just the carcass
But the spark.
That’s crudely put, but…
If we’re not supposed to dance,
Why all this music?
Tags: anis mojgani, def poetry, dylan thomas, gregory orr, jack kerouac, poetry, spoken word
