Among the revelations of the weekend release of “Lemonade: A Visual Album by Beyoncé” is the poetry of Warsan Shire.
Today’s post for National Poetry Month features Warsan’s poems. In fact, the seven poems composing “warsan versus melancholy” cover today (Day 26) and also six of the 13 days this month when I failed to post a poem. Actually, a single one of her poems could sweep the entire month.
Listen.
Poems, Day 26 and other days
(h/t Michelle L)
Poem, Day 25
my alter-ego:
at times valaida wouldn’t,
ergo ava wood.
I am through with him.
At least that’s what I told him.
Truth…lies…between them.
— ava wood
Poem, Day 24
Haiku again, in the nick of time, just before midnight. I have numerous make-up days for the April days that I missed. I’ll catch up in time. — VF
Gave away my soul
Giving back to get it back
Given what I know
Poem, Day 16
After returning from the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff (UAPB), which held a reception and program in conjunction with The Soul of Philanthropy exhibit, today I’m re-posting a featured haiku from my book and exhibit. I wrote this one about five or six years ago on a day I was playing around with various idioms and conjugated forms of the verb to give. The haiku emerged pretty quickly and effortlessly and it perfectly sums up my thoughts, then and now.
The UAPB exhibit in Hathaway-Howard Fine Arts Center was beautiful and filled with students wandering through. Below are some photos from my Arkansas visit. — VF
Funny how this album cover and the songs within made such an impression on me at such a young age. Fans of Al Green’s music, my parents of course had this hit album in the Seventies. At the time, that white wicker chair was the most regal thing I had ever beheld. Al’s cool, confident pose, the white shag carpeting, the hanging asparagus fern and everything pictured on the cover fed my budding notions of style and romanticism. To this day, Al Green remains my favorite soul singer, every song on the album can move my tender heart to tears, and I’ll forever consider myself Al’s greatest fan.
Apparently, I’m hardly the only one influenced by the album. Rolling Stone has ranked “I’m Still In Love With You” among the greatest albums of all time.
Today, April 13, is Al Green’s birthday and coincidentally I find myself en route to The Soul of Philanthropy exhibit opening in Arkansas, the home state of my beloved soul singer. Since it’s National Poetry Month (and I’m behind on my daily poem posts), below is an inspired haiku. And I bet you can guess who I’ll be listening to during today’s flight to Little Rock. — VF
Poem, Day 13
Love and Happiness
Joys never to be without
yet found first within
Today’s poem is by German poet and playwright Bertolt Brecht and is one of my favorites. I was first introduced to it during a Civic Reflection workshop a decade ago. The poem stirs wide-ranging and seemingly infinite questions about homelessness, generosity, philanthropy and social reform. It’s fantastic fodder for philanthropic discussions (perhaps even debates) and insights.
“The snow meant for them falls on the roadway,” a most striking phrase, paints a vivid and layered scene. This line actually appears twice, affirming it as a pivotal point. I could linger on that line alone for a week.
Which line from this poem intrigues you most?
A BED FOR THE NIGHT
I hear that in New York
At the corner of 26th Street and Broadway
A man stands every evening during the winter months
And gets beds for the homeless there
By appealing to passers-by.It won’t change the world
It won’t improve relations among men
It will not shorten the age of explotation
But a few men have a bed for the night
For a night the wind is kept from them
The snow meant for them falls on the roadway.Don`t put down the book on reading this, man.
A few people have a bed for the night
For a night the wind is kept from them
The snow meant for them falls on the roadway
But it won’t change the world
It won’t improve relations among men
It will not shorten the age of exploitation.— Bertolt Brecht
Poem, Day 7
one and twenty days
thoughts tick mercilessly
mocking my mind unceasingly
each hour searches increasingly
minutes second-guess me so easily
every trace of time misses you.
ava wood
Poem, Day 5
What a difference a day makes—for better or for worse. Happenings months ago inspired this piece and since then my emotions have come full circle and are now tilting toward one-eighty. Funny how time does that.
Poem, Day 4
Give it a real go.
Give it everything you got.
And give it some time.
ava wood
♦
This month, on April 27, I’ll mark nine years since the idea for the Giving Back Project seized upon me while attending a philanthropy conference in Seattle.
If nothing else, this journey of nearly 3285 days has taught me the three points composing the haiku above, which was posted in observance of National Poetry Month. So when you choose to pursue something meaningful, dream big, prepare well, go hard…and hang on tight for the dizzying roller coaster ride! — VF
Poem, Day 3
Nearly ran out of time today, so I’m re-blogging this poem titled “Passage” from 2014. Enjoy!
Never feels quite right
Too long bundled and uptight,
like a Nubian entombed or plainest Mennonite.
Tension risen, watch the bite
Mind churning, so burst it might.
Eternal tunnel absent a whisper of light
Sun conceded to perpetual night.
Well-plumbed valleys, nary a heavenly height
Nearly convinced no mercy in sight
Then, I write.
— Ava Wood
There she goes again. And why not, it’s National Poetry Month!
Poem, Day 2
In 2008, I commissioned longtime friend and poet Quentin “Q” Talley to create a group performance piece for a community philanthropy conference. Later, he refined it and then came and delivered it at one of my giving circle‘s planning retreats. It was 2009 or 2010 when I asked Q to edit the poem for inclusion in the book I was writing. Now Full Circle is featured using kinetic typography in Giving Back: The Soul of Philanthropy Reframed and Exhibited. Delighted to share it here again for National Poetry Month!
To hear Q recite his poem, listen here.
valaida 