Verses

Around 9/11 this year I was listening to a live album of Ani Difranco and found the hairs on my arms sticking up again over her poem "Self Evident." Then I found a video of Ani reading the poem from her poetry book, Verses. (I highly recommend watching the poem. It is quite long, but truly chilling.) I found a used copy (score!) of Verses and dipped into the poems slowly, until I got towards the end and began a more frantic pacing. In case you don't know about Ani Difranco she is a prolific musician who started her own record label when she was eighteen and has released over 20 albums, many which include a poem. Her song lyrics and poems are amazing and I do feel like she has had more influence on my work than any other writer, even though prior to reading this book I had only heard her recordings, rather than sitting down and reading her words. The book does include many of her songs, which I read an online review that said it was a disappointment to someone looking for new material to see most of the poems in this volume have been recorded in some fashion throughout the years. And yet there is so much power in these poems/ lyrics, so much depth that I appreciated reading them in a more reflective manner than simply listening to them. It's definitely a book I will be returning to again and again.
         

Who Walks Among the Trees With Charity

Last month I had the honor of being invited to read my work with other local women writers at a literary event. It was a group of tremendously talented women, including the poet Christine Swanberg. She had her books available for purchase, but I wasn't in the position to buy anything that day. She read a poem from her 2005 book, Who Walks Among the Trees With Charity, called "Summer Solstice." I loved the poem (along with everything she read) and wanted to read one of her books, so I checked the library and found Who Walks Among the Trees With Charity. I haven't read a collection of poems in quite a while, perhaps an embarrassingly long time for a writer. I forgot how nice it is to dip into poems, to not rip through a book but to nibble on a bit and wait, to let it digest and get under your skin. And Swanberg has huge talent. Her poems are largely narrative, which I love and find much more accessible. She skillfully twists and weaves words and metaphors in a way that I felt helped me with my writing. A while back, I wrote about Julia Alvarez's book Something to Declare, in which she talks about how she'll read poetry prior to writing prose. I thought it sounded interesting, but I often tell myself that I don't really care for poetry. Christine Swanberg reminded me that my assertion is false and showed me the virtue of a well-written poem.

The Dead Emcee Scrolls

I read The Dead Emcee Scrolls: The Lost Teachings of Hip-Hop by Saul Williams because in the story I'm writing, a character loves the author's work and I was trying to understand the character better. My brother is a big fan of Saul Williams as well and lent me his two books of poetry years ago. This book is different, with poetry as well as prose, all revolving around hip-hop. Williams confesses to having found this old scroll hidden in the New York City subway system in a graffiti-like writing he was unable to read. After meditating, he took a pen and wrote in his notebook while studying the letters. Words flowed out, ones he was sure were on this scroll and those words made up the poems that sprung his career and acclaim as a poet. This book is his attempt to make sense of it all, to rhapsodize about the power (and problems) of hip-hop, and to share his journal writings from after finding the scroll that changed his life. It's interesting, though I wasn't crazy about the book's organization and some of the language. (I cringe reading what I still call “the 'n' word.”) I recommend this book to fans of hip-hop and Saul Williams, but not sure it's the best intro to his work for those unfamiliar with him.