poetry – Page 2 – Lena Corazon

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ROW80: Starting Fresh With Strength, Courage & Wisdom

January 7th marks the start of a new round of A Round of Words in 80 Days, “the writing challenge that knows you have a life.” For those of you looking for more information about the challenge, you can find it here.

I’m waving a wildly enthusiastic hello to all my old ROW80 friends, and offering the warmest of welcomes to all the new folks joining in on this round. This community is one of the most supportive and welcoming that I’ve found online, and is one of the reasons that I’m participating in my 7th (!!!!) round.

For anyone who may have missed my first post of the year, I’ve declared that 2013 will be my year to “stop the cray.” I’m pulling the plug on negative thinking, nasty energy, and all the habits that cause me to sabotage my own success.

To aid me on this journey, I’m blasting my anthem song for the year, “Strength, Courage, and Wisdom,” by India.Arie. As she sings,

It’s time to step out on faith, I’ve gotta show my face
It’s been elusive for so long but freedom is mine today
I’ve gotta step out on faith, it’s time to show my face
Procrastination had me down but look what I have found

With a little strength, courage, and wisdom in my life, I’m launching myself towards two giant goals for the year: (1) completing (at least) one novel and (2) finishing the first draft of my dissertation.

I won’t lie. Just typing those giant goals makes me want to do this:

But if there’s anything I’ve learned with ROW80, it’s that identifying small, achievable goals goes a long way to helping me conquer seemingly insurmountable tasks. With that in mind, here are my overall goals for Round 1:

DAY JOB:

Finish dissertation proposal and have quarterly meeting with committee
Complete preliminary archival research at 4 out of 6 locations
Continue to write rough sketches of research memos based on collected data

WRITING:

Write 2-3 poems each week
Revisit TELL ME NO LIES and THE PEACOCK QUEEN; identify what needs to be tweaked/fixed/written in order to finish first drafts
Figure out Ultimate Editing Battle Plan (and which novel I feel like hanging out with–or if the answer to this question is “both”)

SOCIAL MEDIA:

Write 1 ROW80 check-in post each Sunday, along with 2 non-ROW80 posts each week
Respond to all blog comments
Use weekends for catching up with Google Reader, Twitter, and Facebook
Visit 10 blogs each week to read, comment, and promote posts

SELF-CARE:

Journal daily
Read 1 novel each week
Unplug when necessary

So there you have it, folks! Is everyone feeling rested and ready to go? Anything special y’all are looking forward to this year?

Tell me all about it in the comments, and be sure to swing by and wave hello to everyone else participating this round.

Hard Truths for the New Year

January 4, 2013 / Lena Corazon / 31 Comments

It’s been pretty quiet over here at Flights of Fancy over the last few months, and for good reason. For me, 2012 was a blur of deadlines and responsibilities, punctuated by my Big Move over the summer from Santa Barbara to San Francisco, and the transition to living with my parents once again.

I finished my MA thesis and earned my long-awaited degree at the beginning of March, switched dissertation topics at the end of May and hustled like crazy to write all the papers necessary to advance to doctoral candidacy by mid-September, packed up all my worldly possessions and moved at the beginning of July, and spent the last three months of the year collecting data for my dissertation.

Oh, and I won CampNaNo back in August and NaNoWriMo in November, started working on my physical health, somehow squeezed in time to have a semblance of a social life, and rediscovered my love for writing poetry.

It’s not a bad list of accomplishments, to be honest, even if the day job did take precedence over my blogging life, and even if I still haven’t gotten around to finishing any of my WIPs. But as I look at this list, I know that the successes I made in 2012 were weighed down by the horrible encroaching monster of negativity that has been slowly taking over my life.

Tangling With the Doubt Monster
(Or, How I Am My Own Worst Enemy)

I am, as most of you are probably aware, a perfectionist. I’m a Type-A personality, and I’ve been speeding along the racetrack for academic success for as long as I can remember. My life has been one long series of coursework and papers and extracurricular activities and, these days, research and teaching. And I love this. I am good at it. But I’d be a helluva lot better at it if my head wasn’t filled with all sorts of crazy bullshit that tells me that I am an utter failure.

I used to laugh my little Doubt Monster off. Y’know, because feeling like a failure in the midst of a life filled with success and a lot of blessings seems absolutely ridiculous. But if I’m being honest with myself, I have to admit that I spent most of 2012 (and 2011, and 2010…) trapped in a horrible paralyzing world of grey, where fear and anxiety leeched away the excitement I should feel for life, leaving me with a mess of despair and a tangle of emotions.

But it is a new year, and I have decided that I’m through with living this way. I could accomplish so much more, and be so much happier, if I kicked my Doubt Monster to the curb and ditched all the crazy that has taken hold of my life.

With that in mind, I leave you with my intentions for 2013, summed up in poetic form. Here’s to a safe, healthy, and wonderfully creative new year for us all!

“Poem for a New Year”

2012 has been a painful lesson
that the way I live–
all smiles on the outside
shattered and broken on the inside–
cannot be allowed to continue.

This last year taught me
that I can’t keep living in the grey world
of can’t–
too stupid
too slow
too trite
too cliche
too untalented–
where I self-mutilitate
not with razor blade and substances
but with words weighed down with negativity
words that pollute and poison
till everything that lives in my soul is mutated, ugly–
foul-looking with missing eyes and extra limbs
savage mockeries of all that was once beautiful and clean and real.

In my brief moments of sanity
where perfectionism and the hideous monster of not-good-enough are silenced
I know my worth,
see the shadow of the woman I know I could become
if I stopped the cray,
banished the negative,
trashed my doubts,
and stepped into the light.

I want a soul free from toxic waste
returned to its former glory
all shiny and sparkly and spangled with glitter
riotous with color, suffused with the glow of a million gems–
a soul that can breathe, one that can create,
one filled with all the glorious dreams I’ve allowed
to fall by the wayside.

And so 2013 is my time
a chance to seize back my life
return to a place where prayer and creation are
second-nature
where my wings have strength to soar off on new adventures
and my fingers are able to seize hold of new opportunities.

I rejoice in this new beginning
revel in the promise of days to come.
“Strength, courage, and wisdom” is my mantra;
transformation is my goal.

For Those Who Have Ever Been Afraid to Speak: The Poetry of Audre Lorde

October 15, 2012 / Lena Corazon / 6 Comments

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

My October celebration of poetry, sparked by the wonderful October Poetry Writing Month challenge, continues on. Today, I profile the great and wonderful Audre Lorde (1934-1992).

Lorde is an inspirational and illuminating figure, a scholar, poet, activist, and outspoken feminist. She is notable for a million reasons, not the least of which was her lifelong battle against social inequalities, inequalities that she identified as endemic and embedded in the very structure of American society.

Race, gender, and sexuality were ever-present in her work, as were her scathing critiques of the feminist movement of the 1970s and 1980s, which she decried for perpetuating a single definition of “woman,” one that took whiteness and heterosexuality as the norm. In refusing to acknowledge difference, Lorde argued that feminism could never reach its longed for goal of gender equality, for it would continue to reproduce other forms of inequality.

When it came to individual experience, Lorde also explored the dynamic of multiplicity that we encounter in our own selves. A self-proclaimed “black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet,” her poetry and prose explored her struggles with reconciling the various aspects of her identity.

Lorde’s work on identity, inequality, and difference has resonated with me since I first encountered her as an undergraduate. It is her writing on silence, fear and courage, however, that truly inspires me. Silence, she reminds her readers time and again, is seductive. Silence is easier, safer, than speaking out, but that is both false and dangerous.

For Lorde, silence is tantamount to death. In order to live, we must speak our truth. Fear never fully fades, but as she wrote in her memoir, The Cancer Journals,

When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.

Although she died from breast cancer in 1992, her work continues to live on. This clip from “A Litany for Survival” (hyperlinked in case the embedded video doesn’t play), a documentary on Audre Lorde’s life and many contributions, illustrates her intense passion and creativity.

I end with with poem for which the documentary is titled. “A Litany for Survival” is, in my mind, the perfect expression of Lorde’s fierce exhortations to live, to write, and to speak.

-oOo-

A Litany for Survival

For those of us who live at the shoreline
standing upon the constant edges of decision
crucial and alone
for those of us who cannot indulge
the passing dreams of choice
who love in doorways coming and going
in the hours between dawns
looking inward and outward
at once before and after
seeking a now that can breed
futures
like bread in our children’s mouths
so their dreams will not reflect
the death of ours:

For those of us
who were imprinted with fear
like a faint line in the center of our foreheads
learning to be afraid with our mother’s milk
for by this weapon
this illusion of some safety to be found
the heavy-footed hoped to silence us
For all of us
this instant and this triumph
We were never meant to survive.

And when the sun rises we are afraid
it might not remain
when the sun sets we are afraid
it might not rise in the morning
when our stomachs are full we are afraid
of indigestion
when our stomachs are empty we are afraid
we may never eat again
when we are loved we are afraid
love will vanish
when we are alone we are afraid
love will never return
and when we speak
we are afraid our words will not be heard
nor welcomed
but when we are silent
we are still afraid

So it is better to speak
remembering
we were never meant to survive

ROW80: The NaNoWriMo Brainstorming Has Begun!

October 14, 2012 / Lena Corazon / 12 Comments

Happy Sunday, everyone! It’s time for another update for ROW80, the writing challenge “that knows you have a life.” My life, thankfully, has slowed down a bit over the last few days. Progress towards my goals feels fairly steady, and given my love of structure and routine, this is a very good thing.

As I’ve mentioned in past updates, I’ve been doing a lot of brainstorming and journaling. I’ve been thinking about quite a bit about creativity, in particular how the creative impulse must be satisfied in order to have a full and healthy life. I’ve also been thinking about the crucial nature of community, like our group of wonderful ROW80 participants. This quote from WOMEN WHO RUN WITH THE WOLVES by Clarissa Pinkola Estes really hits home for me:

Creativity is not a solitary movement. That is its power. Whatever is touched by it, whoever hears it, sees it, senses it, knows it, is fed. That is why beholding someone else’s creative word, image, idea, fills us up, inspires us to our own creative work. A single creative act has the potential to feed a continent. One creative act can cause a torrent to break through stone.

I love the thought that “a single creative act has the potential to feed a continent,” especially on those days when all I can manage to write is a small haiku, or a couple of sentences towards the WIP. It’s the little stuff that matters, and even if I can’t devote hours to honing my craft, it feels so darn good to write just a little.

And with that, here’s how the past week went:

Day Job: Work in the archives continues. I’ve been writing up research memos based on my findings so far, which are further refining my research interests. This week’s highlight: I got a chance to sit in on a meeting of all the archivists from the Catholic sisterhoods here in the Bay Area. They represented the oldest communities in the area, all of the founded in the 1850s and 1860s. Listening to their discussions of the joys and challenges of maintaining archives was fascinating, and gave me a few dozen more ideas for future research. 😛

Writing: I finally started brainstorming my NaNoWriMo novel! Better yet, I even created a Scrivener file for it and laid out the first 14 scenes, complete with summaries and the bits and pieces of dialogue that keep cropping up in my head. At the moment the story lacks both a title and, er, a middle, but I know how it starts and how it ends. I figure the rest will fall into place by the time November begins.

The poetry challenge continues, and so far I’ve written 11 out of 14. I had a couple of favorites this week: “Stolen Morning,” which was just sweet and gentle and lovely to write, and “The Old Mysteries,” which reminded me how useful poetry can be for expressing those feelings that can’t be spoken or written in prose.

Exercise: I walked a total of 4 days this week, and it feels sooooo good. The trick, of course, is to stick with it and not slack off, the way that I always do. But I have decided to take it one week at a time, and hopefully that will help.

Social Media: I wrote 1 non-ROW80 blog post this week, and I was really pleased with it. It was about what happens when an author falls in love with her creations, and it gave me a chance to celebrate my favorite character’s birthday. 😀

It was a slow week with Twitter, etc., as I am settling in over at WANAtribe (my profile’s here, so feel free to friend me!). I’m retaking Kristen Lamb’s “Blogging to Build a Brand” course, so I’ve been trying to get to know all of my classmates.

Self-care: I’m going into hibernation mode, my way of recovering from all the fun social time I’ve had over the last couple of weeks. There is still lots of writing and soul-searching happening, with quite a few breakthroughs. All of this is very, very good (and will potentially keep me from having a super horrible quarter-life crisis, lol).

ROW80: Fleet Week and Fairs and Other Exciting Things

October 7, 2012 / Lena Corazon / 14 Comments

I think it’s official: this past few days is the most relaxed I’ve felt in weeks, if not months (maybe years?). After the cray-cray summer, and the even crazier school year, it is such a relief.

The Blue Angels, instagram-style.

I write this post in the midst of one very exciting weekend in San Francisco where it seems like every event in the world has descended upon us: a Madonna concert, two baseball teams (the SF Giants and Oakland A’s) in the playoffs, a football game, Fleet Week, the annual Columbus Day festival, the 2-day “Hardly Strictly Bluegrass” concert… the list (found here, for anyone curious) goes on. I’ve spent the last two days ooohing and aaahing over the US Navy Blue Angels air show (and, er, ogling men in uniform), and in a few hours I’m off to the Castro Street fair, held in the city’s historic LGBT neighborhood.

The Blue Angels flying over the SF Ferry Building

Needless to say, I haven’t gotten much done as far as goals are concerned. Here’s how things have played out since Wednesday:

Day Job: I’m back in the archive, spending 3 hours/week digging through the Sisters of the Presentation’s old 19th century documents. Given that their convent was all but destroyed in the 1906 earthquake and fire, it’s astonishing to see all of the material that has survived. I’ve made my way through the order’s “Book of Customs” (a guide to expected conduct and deportment for the sisters of the community), and another “Guide to Religious Practice”–all very interesting, given my background in prescriptive literature (the topic for my MA).

Haven’t touched that big list of “things to-do by Sunday” that I posted in my last update, so that’ll be my big to-do for next check-in.

Writing: Managed to write 6 out of 7 poems for #OctPoWriMo, and may dash off an extra one at some point so I can meet my goal of 31 poems in 31 days. A number of surprising things have emerged from my pen this week, but there are two that stand out: “Recalled to Life,” where I’ve finally managed to describe the creative drought caused by grad school, and “The Dangerous Weird,” which celebrates all the wacky, weird, and wonderful people in my life.

Exercise: Fell a little short overall–walked 4 days this week, though the last day was only for 1 mile because I wasn’t feeling too well. The total mile count for the week: 13.

Social Media: I fell a little short here as well (I haven’t actually been in front of a computer for too long in the last few days), but hopefully the week to come will be a little more stable.

Self-Care: I haven’t been in front of a computer, but I’ve had a lot of journaling time. I’ve been dealing with some old hurts and demons, and realizing that they’re not as painful as I thought they once were. Putting them to rest and moving forward is my big goal right now.

-oOo-

And that’s the long and short of it! I will say that I am grateful to be enjoying some very fine autumnal weather (October is SF’s warmest month of the year), but I am more grateful that the insane temperatures of 90 degrees and up, which we saw at the start of the week, have dissipated. I think Napoleon is happy as well. He wasn’t too thrilled with the heat, as is plainly clear:

Not a fan of the heat.

Hope everyone’s had a great first week! Don’t forget to wave hello to the other ROW80 participants here.

A Little Progress, and A Very Special Birthday

October 4, 2012 / Lena Corazon / 5 Comments

It’s Wednesday (or at least it was when I started writing this post), which means that it’s time for the mid-week ROW80 check-in. But before I get to that shiny list of goals and progress, I wanted to pause and say a big, fat HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the WANA1011 class!

The WANA1011 Hall of Fame (Image created by Rachel Funk Heller)

A little background: Back in October 2011, the awesome dipped-in-glitter Kristen Lamb, author of We Are Not Alone and writer/blogger extraordinaire, offered a two month course called “Blogging to Build Your Brand.” 100 people signed up, and we made our way through social media bootcamp. Somewhere along the way, we also became a fantastic group of friends, staunch allies, and a warm and welcoming community to which I’m proud to belong.

I’m not exactly sure how a year has gone by so quickly, but we’re celebrating all over the web for the next few days (okay, okay, I say “few” because the birthday was technically October 3rd and I’m not going to get this posted till the 4th).

And now, onto the progress from the first few days of ROW80:

Day Job: I’m easing slowly into this. By the end of the week, I’d like to accomplish the following:

review notes from my “little conversation” and hammer out a rough outline for my revised dissertation proposal
create a preliminary reading list for my 2nd round of research
look at upcoming grant and scholarship applications, and figure out if applying for any of them is feasible
contact dissertation committee with plans for our next meeting, which will hopefully come in January 2013

Writing: #OctPoWriMo is going really well. I’ve written a poem each day (found here on tumblr), and I have a whole list of ideas and drabbles for future poems. For those of you who write poetry, or even who have been thinking about trying to write poetry, I encourage you to visit the website and get involved. This community of writers is supportive and nurturing, and Morgan and Julie have been posting some fantastic prompts.

By next check-in: I should have 4 more poems written. I’d also like to get a little more brainstorming on the #NaNoWriMo project done.

Exercise: Mom and I walked three days so far this week, 4 miles each day. I may have indulged in one too many sweets yesterday (mmm, pistachio-flavored French macaroons!), but I won’t be making that a habit.

By next check-in: 2 more walks, hopefully at 5 miles each, but it depends on the weather.

Social Media: I’m still pretty quiet on Twitter, but I’ve managed to comment/RT/like at least two blogs each day. I also posted about 20th century poet May Sarton on Monday, and included a couple of her poems.

By next check-in: Hopefully a Friday post, which is partly drafted but needs lots of polishing. Not sure if it’ll get done, as my Thursday is a little packed.

Self-Care: My 7 am wake-up sessions are still working. Taking time for free-writing and journaling has done a world of good for helping me to feel grounded, deliberate, and present in my life, instead of flailing around like a headless chicken, the way I usually do. 😛

Are you easing slowly into Round 4, or diving in headfirst? Be sure to swing by and visit the other ROWers checking-in this week!

“Now I Become Myself”: The Poetry of May Sarton

October 1, 2012 / Lena Corazon / 4 Comments

When I can, I like to use Mondays to cover anything and everything that can be termed “inspirational.” To celebrate the kick-off of #OctPoWriMo, Mondays in October will feature some of my favorite poets.

It’s not the first time that I’ve done so here on Flights of Fancy. Back in January, I included an awesome clip of Maya Angelou reading “Still I Rise.” And in February, I included a clip of Broadway star Audra MacDonald performing James Baldwin’s poem, “Some Days,” set to the music of Steve Marzullo.

May Sarton (Source: Wikipedia)

Today I’m featuring twentieth-century poet May Sarton (1912- 1995). Sarton was a prolific writer, penning over 50 works including novels and books of poetry, along with journals and personal memoirs.

Throughout her long career, she touched on a wide range of topics, including nature, love and relationships, women and feminism, as well as aging, solitude, and the challenges of creative life. Though a lesbian herself, Sarton resisted being labeled a “lesbian poet.” Instead, she wanted to focus “on what is universally human about love in all its manifestations” (Wikipedia). Today, over forty of her books are still in print, and her work continues to be studied in university classrooms across the country, particularly in Feminist Studies departments.

Here are two poems by Sarton. First, an audio clip of the poet herself reading “My Sisters, O My Sisters,” and second, “Now I Become Myself.”

Enjoy! I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below.

“My Sisters, O My Sisters”

“Now I Become Myself”

Now I become myself. It’s taken
Time, many years and places;
I have been dissolved and shaken,
Worn other people’s faces,
Run madly, as if Time were there,
Terribly old, crying a warning,
‘Hurry, you will be dead before-‘
(What? Before you reach the morning?
Or the end of the poem is clear?
Or love safe in the walled city?)
Now to stand still, to be here,
Feel my own weight and density!
The black shadow on the paper
Is my hand; the shadow of a word
As thought shapes the shaper
Falls heavy on the page, is heard.
All fuses now, falls into place
From wish to action, word to silence,
My work, my love, my time, my face
Gathered into one intense
Gesture of growing like a plant.
As slowly as the ripening fruit
Fertile, detached, and always spent,
Falls but does not exhaust the root,
So all the poem is, can give,
Grows in me to become the song,
Made so and rooted by love.
Now there is time and Time is young.
O, in this single hour I live
All of myself and do not move.
I, the pursued, who madly ran,
Stand still, stand still, and stop the sun!

-oOo-

For more on May Sarton, visit the following sources:

“May Sarton, a Poet’s Life“

“About May Sarton”

Gearing Up for October Poetry Writing Month

September 27, 2012 / Lena Corazon / 9 Comments

October is almost upon us, bringing with it all sorts of excitement. Autumn is in the air, Starbucks’ pumpkin spice latte is back in stores, and my beloved San Francisco Giants have clinched a spot in the playoffs (whoo, Orange October!). On the writing front, all my WriMos know that NaNoWriMo is just around the corner, and are starting to think about the projects that they’ll pursue in November.

I’m giddy about all of the above, but right now, it’s October Poetry Writing Month (#OctPoWriMo on Twitter) that’s tickling my fancy. The challenge, spearheaded by the lovely Morgan Dragonwillow and Julie Jordan Scott, is simple: write 1 poem a day, every day in October (more info, plus tons of poetry-writing tips, here). You can find the list of participants (or sign up yourself!) at the linky.

31 poems in a month is a daunting task, but I can’t wait to start. As much as I love flash fiction, short stories, and novels, there is something about poetry that allows me to give voice to all of the emotions that I bottle up inside. Writing it can sometimes leave me feeling raw and exposed, but at the end of the day the process is intensely therapeutic.

I’ll be posting my entries for #OctPoWriMo over on my tumblr, but I’ll link to my favorites each week in my check-ins for A Round of Words in 80 Days (yet another thing to look forward to in October!). In the meantime, I will leave you with a trio of haikus I wrote this morning in preparation for the challenge. There’s nothing like scribbling a few itty bitty gems of goodness to get the day started right. 😀

-oOo-

“melts”

stone is unyielding

diamond can’t be destroyed, but

my heart melts for you

“san francisco”

gray mists shroud the land

hiding the face of the sun

when will summer come?

“morning benediction”

fill me with fierce strength,

open my eyes, Great Mother,

take my soul and heart

-oOo-

Any other exciting events happening in October? What fun things are y’all gearing up for?

“You Are a Child of the Universe”: Max Ehrmann’s “Desiderata”

April 16, 2012 / Lena Corazon / 17 Comments

Max Ehrmann (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Happy Monday! Today I wanted to share one of my favorite poems: “Desiderata” by Max Ehrmann (1872-1945), a US-born lawyer, writer, and poet.

“Desiderata” came to me during my last year of high school, a period when I was struggling with the fear of change, endings, and new beginnings. Amidst the uncertainty of my future, Ehrmann’s words served as a welcome reminder to let go of my stress and anxiety.

It’s no accident that the title of the poem is “things desired” in Latin. Here, though, Ehrmann seems to say that the things that we should desire are intangible and immaterial: inner peace, quiet confidence, happiness and contentment.

As we start a new week, let’s keep in mind his call for appreciating the present, embracing the messiness of life, and fostering interior strength.

Pleiades Star Cluster (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

-oOo-

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass.

Take kindly to the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Monday Inspirations: “Some Days”

December 12, 2011 / Lena Corazon / 18 Comments

Today’s Monday Inspirations post is a wonderful example of the gems that can be found while aimlessly surfing YouTube — Broadway star Audra McDonald performing the song, “Some Days.”

Audra McDonald is one of my personal heroes. She studied classical voice the Julliard School and has gone on to have an incredibly full career. She’s won four Tony awards for her work on Broadway, making her one of three actresses to do so. She’s also performed countless concerts across the country and appeared on television, most recently as Naomi Bennett on ABC’s Private Practice.

What makes this song special is that the lyrics are taken from a poem by James Baldwin, the African-American poet, novelist, and social critic who is remembered for his frank discussions of race, class, sexuality, and oppression during a period when such topics were considered taboo. The poem is incredibly moving, and made all the more beautiful by Audra McDonald’s magnificent voice.

1.

Some days worry
some days glad
some days
more than make you
mad.
Some days,
some days, more than
shine:
when you see what’s coming
on down the line!

2.

Some days you say,
oh, not me never ⎯ !
Some days you say
bless God forever.
Some days, you say,
curse God, and die
and the day comes when you wrestle
with that lie.
Some days tussle
then some days groan
and some days
don’t even leave a bone.
Some days you hassle
all alone.

3.

I don’t know, sister,
what I’m saying,
nor do no man,
if he don’t be praying.
I know that love is the only answer
and the tight-rope lover
the only dancer.
When the lover come off the rope
today,
the net which holds him
is how we pray,
and not to God’s unknown,
but to each other ⎯ :
the falling mortal is our brother!

4.

Some days leave
some days grieve
some days you almost don’t believe.
Some days believe you
and you won’t.
Some days worry
some days mad
some days more than make you glad.
Some days, some days,
more than shine,
witnesses,
coming on down the line!

Lena Corazon

Flights of Fancy

Tag: poetry (page 2 of 3)

ROW80: Starting Fresh With Strength, Courage & Wisdom

Hard Truths for the New Year

For Those Who Have Ever Been Afraid to Speak: The Poetry of Audre Lorde

ROW80: The NaNoWriMo Brainstorming Has Begun!

ROW80: Fleet Week and Fairs and Other Exciting Things

“Now I Become Myself”: The Poetry of May Sarton

Gearing Up for October Poetry Writing Month

“You Are a Child of the Universe”: Max Ehrmann’s “Desiderata”

Monday Inspirations: “Some Days”

Lena Corazon

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