Well, I got through last Sunday and then petered out. Just got all caught up in lesson plans and such.
So here are seven short poems to get me caught back up.
Land of Chin
and Han
Shang
Chou
T’ang
dynasty built on dynasty
relics and art intermingled
(China)
Manet
Monet
Debussy
Saint-Saens
Rodin
Louis the Saint,
Louis the Sun King,
Louis-the-Last —
strange juxtaposition
art and conflict
(France)
island
to island
the waves
and the stars
navigators of far places
reading the map
of nature
(Polynesia)
I was born
in the high hills
in a valley
between inaccessible peaks
I grew
in the high hills
in a valley
between inaccessible peaks
I lived
in the high hills
in a valley
between inaccessible peaks
until I climbed the nearest peak
chasing the yak that wandered off
and I saw to the other side:
in the high hills
in a valley
between inaccessible peaks
(Nepal)
tundra and lichen
the herds
graze before the spring thaw
(Siberia)
in the time
of the ancient ones
when we carved
the heads
and the glyphs
of our esteemed elders
the land gave
and we returned
life
(Mexico – Olmec)
lights
laughter
love
the big city
calls the peasant still
come, savor
of metropolitan nights
excitement
danger
lingers
in alleyways
far from the benevolent eyes
of authority
while far away
the fields
the herds
the silent barns
rest
and provide
the insatiable needs of the city
(France)