R.I.P. 2017

Here are the poets—and those I consider poets in their own fields—who I knew personally, as they say—some slightly, some very well—who passed away in 2017 (in no particular order):

Joanne Kyger
William McPherson
John Sjoberg
Denis Johnson
Austin Straus
Harry Dean Stanton
John Ashbery
Tom Raworth
Jack Collum
Sam Shepard

[you can look up who they were
to me on my blog archives, and
if you don't know their writing,
you can go find some and read it
and be grateful, as I am, that they
lived to share what they created]

and two who I never met but saw perform
and whose lyrics were an early introduction
to, and influence on, what poetry could do:

Jon Hendricks and Chuck Berry

May they all Rest In Poetry

PURE POETRY

my new hero, my new favorite speech, poem, expression, articulation, wake up call, inspiration, ignition....if you watch it to the end and aren't moved (even to tears as I was), well, I'm sorry for you...

GOOD QUOTE

I don't like to post quotes that don't have the place the quote is from, because there are so many obviously incorrect quotes attributed to famous people all over the web, but this sounds like it definitely could have been said or written by Georgia O'Keefe:

ONE LAST PLEA (FOR NOW)

One more day left for the seed funding phase of Rachel E. Diken's documentary about me and my life and poetry, thank you mucho for any contribution already made, and if not and you can spare something or know someone or some fund that maybe can, here's the link:

https://www.gofundme.com/lallydocumentary

THE SHAPE OF WATER

Directed by Guillermo del Torro (who also came up with the story and co-wrote the script with Vanessa Taylor), THE SHAPE OF WATER has his signature scenic lushness, with sets stuffed with ornate details and lighting dimmed to soften edges and the color palette mostly dark or drained so that the whole movie seems seen through a glass darkly...

...meaning the art direction is the dominant factor, which plays into the watery theme of the flick, a riff on THE CREATURE FROM THE DARK LAGOON, set at the height of The Cold War when that notorious creature feature first saw the light of the projector. But that's not the reason to see THE SHAPE OF WATER. The main reason, as for any movie she's in, is Sally Hawkins.

Once again her screen presence and acting chops allow her to have a maximum impact with what seems like minimum effort. She's a minimalist actor for sure, doing more with a slight half smile or twinkle in one eye (how does she do that?!) than most actors can do with an explosion of sobs or toothpaste-ad teeth-locked grin. (But is that a body double in her nude scenes or is she just aging better than anyone ever!)

And she's abetted by the almost always uniquely spooky Michael Shannon as the vile villain of the piece, and the almost always uniquely sympathetic Richard Jenkins as the hapless companion, not to mention the always uniquely perfect Octavia Spencer and Michael Stuhlbarg.

Talk about works of art, this is definitely one.

[PS: But it's important to remember, it seems, that this tale is a fantasy (I actually heard an audience member on the way out complaining to his female companion that some aspect of a nonexistent (in real life) creature "wouldn't be able to exist outside water for that long" etc.!)]

SAVING LIVES

I always say "Poetry saved my life," because it did, and still does. Though I really mean all the creative arts do. So I'm going to try and spend even more time posting about individual and group creative efforts.

Below is a link to a new composition from one of the great creative forces of my lifetime and in my life, the composer Rain Worthington. Her first self-taught compositions back in the 1970s were mesmerizing and moving, for me, and her ongoing creations post music degree are always strikingly and unexpectedly familiar, or familiarly unexpected.

Her latest piece is an elegy for her recently deceased mother, who was a force of nature herself, a fiercely intelligent and independent woman back when that was almost a crime and continuing into her decline until dementia took its toll.

Here is the beautiful tribute to her mother's spirit from Rain Worthington (and listen to the end to get the full impact, it's only a little over five minutes):
https://rainworthington.com/works-catalog/paper-wings/

MERRY CHRSTMAS EVERYONE

[I would change "HATE" to 'DENY" but still...]