~ Nationality: United States ~
Shooting Rats at the Bibb County Dump by David Bottoms
Poem by David Bottoms, video by Chris Lee.
Thanks to Laura Sorrells for the find.
Living and loving with HIV in Jamaica: four poems by Kwame Dawes
I’m going to break my informal rule against featuring slideshows today, because I think these are exceptionally well done. The poet is Kwame Dawes, and the photographer is Joshua Cogan. The slideshows were produced by the Pulitzer Center, and are only one facet of a multimedia website, Live Hope Love, which includes interviews, audio of many other poems, and more. Dawes took three trips to his native Jamaica to collect materials for the project; it resembled a regular work of investigative journalism in every way, except for the fact that one of the final products was a collection of poems. His mission, according to the Pulitzer Center: “to explore the experience of people living with HIV/AIDS and to examine the ways in which the disease has shaped their lives.”
Death of the Ball Turret Gunner by Randall Jarrell
Poem by Randall Jarrell, read by the author
Video by picardposer
Music: “Elysium,” from the Gladiator soundtrack by Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard
A tad on the literal side, but nicely done, I thought.
Diving into the Wreck by Adrienne Rich
A masterful treatment of Rich’s poem by YouTube vlogger U2bianSynic (a.k.a. Syd). The choice of music (by Tryad Listen) was particularly inspired. The recitation by the poet is from Audible.com.
Blink by Morton Marcus
Poem (“Blink”) by Morton Marcus
Video by Rachel Burnham with Media Mike Hazard and David Bengtson from Listen Up! youth media network
A nicely minimalistic treatment, though I’m not sure why they changed the title. Hearing it in a kid’s voice really adds to the impact of the poem for me.
En la calle San Sebastian by Martín Espada
Poem and reading by Martín Espada
Animation by Kwok Tung Shuen for the Poetry Foundation’s Poetry Everywhere series
Spacebar by Heather McHugh
http://youtu.be/1sXiMz9q1TI
Poem and reading by Heather McHugh
Animation by Braulio Garcia for the Poetry Foundation’s Poetry Everywhere series
Meta-Free-Phor-All
| The Colbert Report | Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Meta-Free-Phor-All: Shall I Nail Thee to a Summer’s Day? | ||||
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Something for April Fool’s Day — and the first day of (Inter-)National Poetry Month — from a king of fools. This episode of the Colbert Report aired on April 19, 2007. Colbert seems to genuinely like poetry, and has interviewed a number of poets on his show. I like the way this skit plays off the misconception popular with people who “just don’t understand poetry”: that a poem (or metaphor) is basically a code with one correct solution. I’m also impressed by Robert Pinksy’s stage presence and acting skills.
Incision by Jillian Weise
Poem by Jillian Weise, from An Amputee’s Guide to Sex
Animation by John Roberts
From the publisher’s description:
The Amputee’s Guide to Sex is an authentic exploration of disability and sexuality. Tired of seeing “cripples” appear as asexual characters in all forms of media, Weise took on a subject close to home: her own disability. This does not mean that these poems “happened” to Weise in real life. While based on the experience of an above-the-knee amputee, the poems have a life of their own.
Lullaby by Anne Sexton
Poem by Anne Sexton
Video by Jeff Doud
