Phenomenal

(picture from BBC.co.uk)

To end Poetry Month with a bang is one of my all-time favorite poems. I use to know almost all of this poem by heart. I have to go back and memorize it again. This poem is by the fabulous Maya Angelou called Phenomenal Women

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman

Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Can I get an Amen? Now that is some kind of strong and beautiful poem. This poem goes to all the Phenomenal women and men who have shared with me this month long celebration of Poetry. I'll be back with videos of me reading poetry. Sharing some of my own poetry and other favorite poets from time to time.

As always, Sweet Dreams to you all.

Come live with me and be my love...

Yesterday, I shared one of my favorite poems about courage and strength. Today I'm going to share one of my faves on romance. I imagine lying in a field of daisies, thistles and sunflowers while my beloved speaks this to me. This poem is from Christopher Marlowe , playwright and poet of the 16th century, called The Passionate Shepard to His Love.


Come live with me and be my love,
And we will all the pleasures prove
That valleys, groves, hills, and fields,
Woods or steepy mountain yields.

And we will sit upon the rocks,
Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks,
By shallow rivers to whose falls
Melodious birds sing madrigals.

And I will make thee beds of roses
And a thousand fragrant posies,
A cap of flowers, and a kirtle
Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle;

A gown made of the finest wool
Which from our pretty lambs we pull;
Fair lined slippers for the cold,
With buckles of the purest gold;

A belt of straw and ivy buds,
With coral clasps and amber studs:
And if these pleasures may thee move,
Come live with me and be my love.

The shepherds' swains shall dance and sing
For thy delight each May morning:
If these delights thy mind may move,
Then live with me and be my love.

Just makes my romantic heart sigh with pleasure. Hope you all enjoyed. Tomorrow, I'll be back with my last poem to close Poetry Month. It's a good one, I assure you.

As always, Sweet Dreams to you all.

Tuesday

Poetry Month is coming to a close. It has been a blast to share this month long celebration of poetry with all of you. In the the last remaining days, I'm going to share a poem or two which are my personal favorites.

If We Must Die written by the poet Claude McKay,one of the leading poets of the Harlem Renaissance, is a poem that has stayed me for over 20 years since reading it in one of my English Classes at Howard. If we Must Die was in response to deadly race riots in the summer of 1919. It is has endured because one time or another we all felt like this. Finding the strength to push back against those who try to crush or dominate us.

If we must die, let it not be like hogs
Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,
While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,
Making their mock at our accursèd lot.
If we must die, O let us nobly die,
So that our precious blood may not be shed
In vain; then even the monsters we defy
Shall be constrained to honor us though dead!
O kinsmen! we must meet the common foe!
Though far outnumbered let us show us brave,
And for their thousand blows deal one death-blow!
What though before us lies the open grave?
Like men we'll face the murderous, cowardly pack,
Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!

A serious warrior poem, right? Every once in a while, we must stand up for ourselves and what we believe in. I'll be back tomorrow with another poem.

As always, Sweet Dreams to you all.

Screwball Weekend

Here in the big apple over the weekend, it has been more like hot apple pie! Yesterday it hit 90! I'm not complaining, though I hope we have more spring like temps today. It has been lovely to walk around in a skirt and pretty blouse. Hear the birds singing; the fragrance of the beautiful spring trees glide in the air.

In the daytime, I focused on getting as much sun as I can. My nights were spent eating delicious klondike bars and watching screwball comedies with my friend Neo. We watched these two gems : His Girl Friday from (1940) starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell and It Happened One Night from (1934) starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert which won five Oscars including Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Actor.

Both films are classics full of wit, charm and outrageous fun. I'm not a big Clark Gable fan. He did win me over in It Happened One Night;Claudette Colbert is a personal favorite of mine especially since my mom is named after her. Our favorite of the two is His Girl Friday. It starts out fun and zany and never lets up. Cary Grant is in top form with his charming and scheming Walter in His Girl Friday. Rosalind Russell is just as charming and daffy as Hildy. What is great about these two films are not only the leads are great, it also chock full with a cast of hilarious characters in each film. (If you have never seen the movie Auntie Mame starring Rosalind Russell, that is a must see too.)

If you have any screwball comedies you love, share with me what your favorites are. I love to hear all. Here are my faves of the classic ones I've seen so far.
My Man Godfrey: William Powell and Carole Lombard (i do love William Powell, must do a whole post about him)
The Philadelphia Story: Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn, Jimmy Stewart
Arsenic and Old Lace: Cary Grant (again)

To start your Monday off right, here is a trailer for His Girl Friday.



As always, Sweet Dreams to you all.

Happy Birthday Ella

A Big Happy Birthday to the "First Lady of Song": Ella Fitzgerald. I love Ella's beautiful and clear voice. When I use to work at my boring law firms job, Ella's voice was always in my headphones to keep me swinging and dreaming. Whether I'm in a romantic, melancholy or happy mood, Ella is there to provide her wondrous voice to my feelings.

Here are some great words from the lady herself:
"Just don't give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don't think you can go wrong."
"It isn't where you came from, its where you're going that counts."

I also have a blog award to share. Tristan of Enchanted Reverly gifted me with this lovely and heartfelt award called The Renee award. Go here to learn the important story behind this wonderful award from one of the co-creators Bella. In Bella's own words this award was created in honor of Renee: the acorn, a small package becoming a tall and sturdy oak giving more acorns, becoming tall and sturdy oaks, giving acorns…



I'm passing out the love to these creative ladies: Gyspy of Daisy Yellow Blog
Marmee Craft of Marmee Craft
Sarah of Circles of Rain
If you don't know their blogs, go check them out.

And now, here is Ella to serenade you off. Hope your having a great weekend so far.



As always, Sweet Dreams to you all.

I had to put another song on. Just can't have one Ella Song.

Happy Birthday, Shakespeare!

Today is the birthday of my old friend, William. You know him better as William Shakespeare. In honor of his birthday, here is my tribute to him. Here are the sonnets I'm reading:116 and 43



As always, Sweet Dreams to you all.

Celebrating Mama Earth

My first introduction to Earth Day was at college. When I went to this huge Earth Day celebration on the Mall in D.C. It was a wonderful day of learning how to go green and respecting Mama Earth.Since then, I feel Earth Day is a important way to remember the place we all share and live together on. I'm happy to see more people understanding the Earth is alive just like we are. She is not a dead thing floating in space. She feels just like we do. By healing her, we heal ourselves.

Here are two poems I wrote yesterday dedicated in honor of Earth Day.

We have one mother
Mama Earth
She feeds us,
Clothes us
Provides shelter
What have you done
For her?


The Earth
Kisses me everyday
She has birds sing songs to me
The sun to warm my skin
The blue sky for to dream on
Dandelions and daisies to make me smile

Enjoy your Earth Day. I'll be back tomorrow celebrating Shakespeare's birthday.
As always, Sweet Dreams to you all.

P.S. Yes, I do really hug Trees. They have magnificent energy which they are always glad to share.

Rainy Monday

Hallmark moments so far in April:

1) Reconciling with my Dark Knight.

2) Going to see the play Mary Stuart on Broadway. Inspiring my own work on my monologue of Queen Margaret from Shakespeare's Henry 6.

3) Jumping in and taking on my first Drama Tutor gig.

Today has been busy for me. I decided to leave you with a small video that I whipped up on the spur of the moment. The poem is Acquainted with The Night by Robert Frost. It is read by the talented Ron Perlman from the album Love and Hope. If your a Beauty and Beast Fan or love to hear poetry read, it is must get cd.





As always, Sweet Dreams to you all.

Sunshine Friday

Happy Friday.



As always, Sweet Dreams to you all.

The Sky and poems

As I was blog surfing, I read the wonderful Milliande's great piece on how to translate inspiration to art. I thought yes, she's is so right. We see the finished product but rarely the process of joy and sweat that gives birth to our creations. Inspired by her words, made me want to share my creative process.


How do you write a poem?. Let me first say I'm not a Master Poet. I do have a love of poetry and have been writing poems since my teens. I can share how I get inspired, write and edit my poems. I write a poem the same way I do when I'm memorizing lines and creating a character.

1) Deep sky watching. My view from my apartment is fantastic. Depending on where I'm sitting it can look like I'm up in the clouds. I take advantage of this by allowing my mind wander when I can. Great ideas come this way.

2) Ideas form in a visual way. An image or a word will come into my mind's eye. Then I'm off and running to get to paper to write it down. Perhaps for you the ideas come in the form of one of your other senses: Sound, Touch, Feeling, Taste. Or a mix of two ways.

Here is an example of a part of a poem I wrote. This poem came about when I was writing another a post. The image of an elegant invitation and a woman walking alone in a long hall flashed in my head.

The music plays
As I enter
There is no one there
Save the band
Four elegant musicians
Dressed in tuxes and gowns
I look down at my invitation
To make sure this is the place
“It is the place.”
The voice is deep and melodious
Behind me
I turn to see HIM


3)The key is to follow how words sound and feel to me. Right now, I'm working on a monologue of Queen Margaret in Henry 6, Part 2., I let the words that I feel are key to the text help me get into the Queen. I do the same with the poems. When I read my poems in process. I look for the key words that open up the poem for me. Then drop words that don't feel right or over explain.

As I read this poem out loud, I can hear what words have to go. This is where I edit. I'm going to do it right here.

I enter
the lonely ballroom
there is
only a band
of four musicians
playing "Someone to watch over me"
I look down at
my gold inked invitation
"You are in the right place.”
A deep and familiar voice
speaks behind me
I turn to see HIM

Does this version of the poem appear better to you? Well this is open to debate. It sounds and feels better to me. Now my mind races is the song the right one for the poem? Should it be another song? Do i need more detail? I will take time to edit more. Then post it all when I'm done.

This is my process. Everyone's process is unique to us. As my acting teacher Hope would say : There is no one "Method", the only method is the one which we create for ourselves that works for us.

Now what is your creative process? I love to hear all. If you have a blog, maybe you like to share your creative process with others on how you create your art. Whatever our chosen mediums it's always fascinating and instructive for all of us.

Tomorrow or Friday, I'll be back with my musings on Pride and Prejudice. I promise. Have a beautiful Wednesday.

As always, Sweet Dreams to you all.

PS. Thank you Gemma and Gloria for sharing your lovely Haiku poems with me.

Haiku Heaven

It is a misty and gray day in New York. I'm still enjoying the beauty of the day because those April showers will bring us beautiful flowers in the weeks ahead. Yesterday, I got a whole stack of fashion magazines to use for my journals and collage tags from freecyle; then I got in a creative discussion with my friend, Lady A. Before I knew it, it was midnight. Today I'm back with a heavenly Haiku Tuesday. Inspired by the great Basho, I'm going to share some of mine own poems I wrote over the past two days. I did my best to get the 5-7-5 syllable combo right. It sounds easy but it can be challenging!


Pink candle burns
Kwan yin watches in silence
I pray for healing

He is like Ocean
True blue and deep he loves me
Happily I swim

Moon winks at me
Sunshine beckons me to play
Rain gives me comfort

Darcy walks with Pride
Elizabeth merrily mocks
True Love still overcomes all

On a starry night
I hear beating heart of Stars
Moon whispers secrets

Dolphins jump in sky
Translucent blue waves roar high
I dive in ocean

Drenched in Hendrix
I am free to be myself
He is my Angel

Are you all inspired to write some Haiku? If you do, let me know. I love to read them. I'll be back tomorrow with continued poetry delight. And also talk about my thoughts of Pride and Prejudice which I finally finished.

As always, Sweet Dreams to you all.

Basho

Many moons ago, when I was in my twenties. I found the 17th century Japanese poet Basho . I love how he used a few words to show us what he saw and felt. He influenced me greatly. I wanted to share some of his poetry.
He wrote in what we know today as haiku. I'm sure a lot of us in school had assignments to write haiku. I know I did. It is a three line poem that uses the 5-7-5 syllables for each consecutive line.

Here are a few of his poems:

I like to wash,
the dust of this world
In the droplets of dew.

Traveling this high
mountain trail, delighted
by violets.

Petals of the mountain rose
Fall now and then,
To the sound of the waterfall?

blue seas
breaking waves smell of rice wine
tonight's moon.

Aren't these beautiful? Tomorrow I'll be back with hopefully some of my own Haiku to share.(Please be kind, I'm no Basho!) Even another word pool later on this week. Who knows I may pop in with another video post of me reading poetry. If you missed me reading poetry, go to my Thursday post or go here

Happy Easter to all who celebrate this day. By the way, now you know the hunky guy up there isn't Basho. Who knows he could of looked like that? Basho walking around Japan looking all romantic and swoonworthy while he wrote poetry. He is actually a model/actor named Yukata Takenochi.

As always, Sweet Dreams to you all.

PS. Click on the link to learn about Yukata and you'll also find a lot more gorgeous Asian models on this site.

Sharing The Moon with Montgomery

I had this beautiful post about the Full Moon. The truth is I'm more fascinated in sharing my new acting love. I fall in love with actors all the time. Those alive and those passed on. In the past two weeks, I found a new one. He is one for the ages. His name is Montgomery Clift. Some of you I'm sure know him, others may just know the name.

I've seen Monty in The Misfits and The Judgment of Nuremberg years ago. Two weeks ago, I watched from Here to Eternity. I watched it for Burt Lancaster who I adore. As soon as Montgomery walked on the screen, I was hooked. He captured me in a way he never did before. Two nights ago, I saw A Place In The Sun with him and Elizabeth Taylor. I fell in love with Monty along side Liz. He is a beautiful man. That's now what drew me. There is a passion and intensity about his work which compels me to watch every move he makes. In his person life he struggled with his sexuality, depression and drugs. Perhaps some of that fueled his acting. The rest of it was his talent. He was a wonderful actor and I plan on looking for more of his films. I have already ordered two of his films from the library and they should be coming by next week.

Here is Monty and Liz falling in love. I will be back with more poetry fun this weekend. Maybe write a poem for Monty and The Moon. As always, Sweet Dreams to you all.

Poetry Revolution

How is everyone doing? Hoping your week is full of adventure and creativity. Thank you all for the love on the word pool idea. Big cheer to Gloria who wrote some cool poetry on her blog. If you are writing some poetry on your blog, please share. I love to read it. I'm ready to start this Poetry Revolution.

I'm back with more poetry from my word pool from Monday. Here is my word pool:
Dangerous, Ocean, Muse, Bloom, Coy, Dillydally, Enigma, Gossamer, Haunt, Icy, Love, Madly, Naughty, Vintage, Phoenix, Explore, Carousel, Melody, Wandering, Pool

This time I'm going to italicize the words I used from the word pool to show which words I used. Here are three more poems for you. Yes, one poem is dedicated to Shemar Moore. I had this beautiful dream about him last night! Oh,Shemar!!


"Reborn"
My heart is now
Being reborn as
A beautiful Phoenix
icy anger melting away
haunting grief subsiding
One day my heart
Will bloom again
Ready to love


"Shemar Dream"
Shemar and I
wandered
On the boardwalk
He held my hand
And madly kissed me
Again and again
We walked to the ocean
To wait to see the sunset
Our love bloomed
Till I awoke
Feeling his kisses
Still dangerously real…


"Down The Way"
I dillydallied
Down the way
Where the dandelions
Are in bloom
Where only on Wednesdays
they sing
Their melody
To the sun
For those who wander through

Here is one more poem. Sudden Light by Dante Gabriel Rossetti being read by me. Yes, I should have tidy up my bedroom a bit and you hear my cat, Mabel at the end. She came in, alas I couldn't get her on camera. I did this small video on the spur of the moment just now. Enjoy



As always, Sweet Dreams to you all.

Diving into word pools

So are you ready to dive into word pools? I've learned about word pools years ago;and,this is my first time using it with poetry! Better late than never. This is how I did it. I went to my handy Thesaurus. I picked 20 words randomly and used them to write poems. You can pick any number. You can search for words in any place: dictionary, encyclopedia, songs, etc. The way to find your words is endless. I say let your imagination run wild.

Here is the twenty words I picked:

Dangerous, Ocean, Muse, Bloom, Coy, Dillydally, Enigma, Gossamer, Haunt, Icy, Love, Madly, Naughty, Vintage, Phoenix, Explore, Carousel, Melody, Wandering, Pool

Here are three I did so far. I'll be working on more poems with this word pool and post them later on this week.

"Carousel"
I hear the Carousel
with it’s vintage melodies
start up again
at the edge of
secret pool for lovers
I wander over
dressed In my
ocean blue dress
I choose the battered Phoenix
to ride
as I madly wave
my hands in the air
feeling free...

"Him"
In dreams
he haunts me
with his dangerous eyes
and his coy smile
I awake aching
with love
I madly still have
For him.

"Time"
Death has ripped its icy hands
on my heart
I am left to wander
in an ocean of memories
I wish for more time
to explore
and wander the world
with Sean
but
our time has
flown away
on gossamer wings.

I encourage you to try your own word pool. You are welcome to use the word pool I did. Please do share your poems, I love to read them. I know there are other bloggers celebrating Poetry Month. I found Khaled posting his favorite poems every day for the month. Go on over and check out his wonderful blog.

As always, Sweet Dreams to you all.

Jane Eyre

Is everyone having a wonderful weekend? I do hope so. Have you been doing any found poems? I'll be back with more poetry fun on Monday. This time try poetry working with word pools. If you have no idea what a word pool, come back tomorrow.

I finally brought my own copy of the book Jane Eyre this week. I can't wait to read it again. Now I know if you seen the many version of Jane Eyre movies, you have your favorite. As I stated before, Mine is 1983 BBC version with Zelah Clarke and Timothy Dalton. Close second is the recent one from 2006. My mom prefers the one with Joan Fontaine and Orson Welles. She always goes on and on how handsome Orson was in it.

Here is a true confession for all of you. I did love someone who was similar in personality to Rochester. (No, he didn't have a wife locked up his apartment, thank goodness.) Was I his Jane? Maybe I was for a while..when I read or watch Jane Eyre I think of him. Seriously, Timothy Dalton was quite swoon worthy in this. I still have quite a crush on him even now.



As always, Sweet Dreams to you all.

Wandering in the rain with poems

It is an "April showers bring May flowers" day in New York. The rain is coming down and it's misty. From my view, it's almost as if I live up high in the clouds. I do adore my rainy days.

It is a perfect day to write poems. I'm going to show you a wonderful way to write poetry called Found Poems. You take words from various sources: books, songs, movies, conversations from people; then make them into poetry.

I'm going to use two examples to illustrate this. This paragraph is from the book: Sew Easy Papercrafting by Rebekah Meier.

"Remember how fun it was to color with crayons? Go back to your creative roots and rediscover the joy of crayons with this handmade card. With a little coloring here and a little embroidery there, your card is finished, already matted and ready to be framed. Iron transfers, used in this project for the butterfly design, can be found in the needlework department of any craft store"

Now, your wondering how can you make poems from this paragraph? I usually go intuitively with words that pop out of me. I'll be making these poems right on the spot. With little editing.

Found Poem#1
Go back to
Crayons
Remember
Rediscover
The Butterfly
in
your roots
of
Joy.

Found Poem#2
What is the color
of fun for you?
Does a little coloring
make you want to
be a Handmade person
or a Finished frame person?

I feel by now you get the idea. Let's try classic literature. Here is the first paragraph of my fave, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.

"There was no possibility of taking a walk that day. We had been wandering, indeed, in the leafless shrubbery an hour in the morning; but since dinner (Mrs. Reed, when there was no company, dined early) the cold winter wind had brought with it clouds so sombre, and a rain so penetrating, that further out-door exercise was now out of the question."

Found Poem#3
I wander in
possibility
of the clouds
and the winter wind
penetrating the question
of my mind.

Found Poem#4
In the taking of a walk
that day
There was no company
in the hour of rain
only the leafless
shrubs and sombre
door waiting for
my return.

I hope this weekend, you try your hand at writing found poems. It is fun and stretches your creativity. Of course, there will be more merriment with poetry as Poetry month continues. Have a fabulous Friday. As always, Sweet Dreams to you all.

April is Poetry Month.

I love this picture of James Dean and Marilyn Monroe. It is called Flutesong. There is a romantic dreaminess which speaks directly to me. It's by an artist named Paul Gassenheimer. James Dean was one of my heroes when I was a teen. Part of the reason that I studied Method acting is because of him.

Guess what? April is Poetry Month!! You all know my love of Poetry. All this month, I'm going to share some of my own poetry and more of my favorite poets. As well, as trying to do two videoposts of poetry this month.(Yes, I am being ambitious.) If it's been eons since you read poetry. Take time this month to search out poetry. You can explore online to places like Poets.org or go to your local library.

Here is a small list of my favorite poets off the top of my head: Nikki Giovanni, Basho, Shakespeare, Langston Hughes, Pablo Neruda, Sappho, H.D., Emily Dickinson, Maya Angelou, Pearl Cleage, Phillis Wheatley, Walt Whitman.

When I write poetry, I prefer the freedom of free verse. As I said before, I'm committed to writing a poem a day for the whole of 2009. Here are two of my poems I wrote this week.

Poem#1:
Sean lives
He is
In
the sky
the clouds
the moon
the bluebird's song

Poem#2:
Beaten and battered
Am I
He lifts me
up
He makes me
see
And heals my heart
He is
My treasured Knight
Irreplaceable
Original
Forever

If there are some closet poets out there, I do encourage you to share your poetry on your own blogs. I believe there is the touch of the poet in all of us. If your shy, I can even put it on my blog along with some of my other poems. (Of course, link it back to your blog) There is solidarity in numbers. Just as we need food to live, we need art to feed our souls! Poetry is an art form that feeds my soul very well.

As always, Sweet Dreams to you all.