L'aura del Campo

Rose-day and 'Skunk hour'

SPRING: 17 Jalál (25 April)

         Fifth Day of Ridvan          

Weather where I am: 52º and cool.

Weather in Kuwait this evening: 75º

Academia

At times it feels good to live in a university town. There are opportunities that are not found elsewhere.

I sat down with Maryam today and went over "Skunk Hour", a poem Robert Lowell wrote for Elizabeth Bishop. We spoke about the use of language, the humor, the contrast of upper and lower class images, the use of spondees, the metaphoric language, the lack of similies, the unexpected phrases and images, the odd rhyme scheme that seemed more in keeping with Bishop herself.

And then we spoke about the environmental impact of a proposed parking lot. The use of ephemeral collection pools, french drains, landscaping for people or animals, mono-culture versus diversity, air, noise, smell, etc.

An odd thought I didn't share with Maryam: if this location were the home of the endangered albino one-eyed-robin, would the analysis be different?

Sometimes there are advantages living in a college town.

Elizabeth Bishop

Bishop (1911-1979) was quite the writer and apparently is still read and highly regarded. At PoemHunter she is rated #10. (Langston Hughes is #1, Pablo Neruda #2)

A student of Marianne Moore, it probably shouldn't be surprizing that both wrote a well know poem called "The Fish". The rhyme in Moore's poem and the imagery of "until everything was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow!" at the end of Bishop's poem are memorable.

The poem can be found here:

http://www.poemhunter.com/p/m/poem.asp?poet=6705&poem=29370

Correspondance (doesn't this remind you of our reviews, our blogs?) between Moore and Bishop re "The Fish":

http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/a_f/bishop/letters.htm

A way of analyzing the poem:

http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/virtualit/poetry/select.html

What amazes me is the fact that so much information is now on-line that simply wasn't available when I was in school in the 70s.

Ridvan = roses

Ridvan is a season, a festival. For many it is connected to the scent of roses. I really like this quote of 'Abdu'l-Bahá:

Therefore, man must be the seeker after the Reality, and he will find that Reality in each of the Sanctified Souls. He must be fascinated and enraptured, and attracted to the divine bounty; he must be like the butterfly who is the lover of the light from whatever lamp it may shine, and like the nightingale who is the lover of the rose in whatever garden it may grow.

Checking the Bahá'í reference site: there are over 394 references that include the word 'rose'; 64 for nightingale; 108 for flower; 164 for bird; 847 for tree; 104 for dove(s). These tend to be positive points of reference.

SENSED

Pink roses; pink peony; leaves and small limbs strewn everywhere; dented cars; mist; grits.

Not much to report about me personally today. I went to bed last night; I got up this morning! Had some coffee; want some more! It is a chill grey day.

Last night it tried to storm again. The clouds and lightning chased me 'home'. Had some of Kami's wonderful soup. Called Robin, nice chat. He's working on yet another computer. Neither Chris nor Brendan answered their phone .

A humorous? sketch from 4/23:

Self-immolation


Hold the paper till it burns
past tips, the mix of phosphorous
and flesh is fragrant in a way
that racial memory cannot forget. We
humans burn the same.

Blue flames of gas,
green boron blast, the charcoal's
what remains of bone.
Be wary
of the flicking match
that lights the paper,
fingertips.
So catch your breath,
suck in your pain
and never light yourself again. [163.73]

Over 2,715 views for this blog! Poetry, however, is not being read. Need to work on that.

Partyof5's comment about coffee reminds me that Tuesday is 2 for 1 at La Prima Tazza. And that is better than McDonalds any day. I'll probably get a free cup at the Oread; although, I should go check my car for dings from the hail Sunday night. Maybe not. They'll still be there tomorrow !