Farewell?

Farewell

“Farewell” carries with it . . . a fi-nal-i-ty,

Not intended to happen again;

Thus, when applied to a favorite thing,

We prefer “a bientôt,” “until then.”

© Forrest W. Heaton  September 2018

I have filled my life with poetry and music. Thus, when writers and artists come along whose poetry and musical artistry help fill our lives with joy, we try hard to pass along that joy to others, sometimes with our guitar and singing, sometimes with the gift of a songbook, poembook or poem, sometimes with our website and blog. In this case, Mary & I are using our blog to pass along to readers the joy we experienced Saturday 29Sep18 at the Durham Performing Arts Center attending the “Farewell Tour” of poet/writer/activist/performer, Joan Baez!

My Mom & Dad were accomplished musicians/singers, Dad having taught me how to play his favorite instrument, the ukulele. When I was in high school, a friend two years ahead of me, Alan Sonner, began teaching me how to transfer those uke chords to a guitar and how to sing what were becoming known as “folk songs,” songs such as “I Ride An Old Paint,” “You Are My Sunshine,” et. al. I’ve not seen Alan since high school; however, we reconnected a few years ago by phone and email and learned we both still play our guitars and sing. When Mary & I realized that Joan’s Farewell Tour included Durham (a short half-hour away), we purchased four tickets and invited Alan and his friend, Barbara Hall, to join us—thereby guaranteeing double joy: supporting Joan in her Farewell Tour as well as reconnecting with Alan and Barbara to honor that musically/poetically formative time all those years ago. We reveled together at the concert and again the following day in our home, singing/playing together for the first time in sixty-three years! 

Here’s a partial summary of some of Joan’s accomplishments as listed in a 2016 performance bulletin at a concert we attended at Duke University: “Joan remains a musical force of nature. She marched on the front line of the civil rights movement with Martin Luther King, inspired Vaclav Havel in his fight for a Czech Republic, sang on the first Amnesty International Tour, and stood alongside Nelson Mandela celebrating his 90thbirthday in London’s Hyde Park. She shone a spotlight on the Free Speech Movement, took to the fields with Cesar Chavez, organized resistance to the Vietnam War, then forty years later saluted the Dixie Chicks for their courage in protesting the war in Iraq. Her earliest recordings fed a host of traditional ballads into the rock vernacular, before she unselfconsciously introduced Bob Dylan to the world in 1963, beginning a tradition of mutual mentoring that continues to this day.”

We’ve included two photos: the covers of Joan’s first three vinyl albums that my wife, Sally, & I purchased on their release dates in 1960 – 1962—all having achieved gold record status and all of which we still have; the second is of Joan during her 2018 Farewell Tour. The link takes you to a songsheet of “Gospel Ship”, an African-American spiritual which became part of white spiritual/gospel in the 20’s and 30’s; Joan chose this song to lead off Side Two of her “Joan Baez in Concert” album. Mary & I prepared this songsheet utilizing Joan’s lyrics for the first three verses and chorus and wrote a fourth verse for Stephen Ministry, using that songsheet to lead the singing of our University Presbyterian Church Stephen Ministers in training, 7Oct03. Later that same evening, we caught the last half of Joan’s performance in Chapel Hill, after which we had a lovely chat with Joan and she signed our songsheet! Joan Baez is clarity in voice and guitar: a story to learn, a message to act upon, a presentation to celebrate! We encourage you to attend her Farewell Tour, enjoy her recordings, support her causes, and celebrate her life!

Photo from the New York Times

October

October

April is the cruelest month, breeding lilacs

Out of the dead land, mingling memory

And desire.

T. S. Eliot, The Wasteland

October is the kindest month of all,

When breeding April’s hint of hope has passed.

No lilacs offer their enticing call

And early, urgent longings fade at last.

October is an interlude of peace

Between the fervid burgeoning of Spring

And those white days when life appears to cease,

When wisdom learns at last what time must bring.

October’s ebbing light is edged with gold

In token of its plenty, parting gift

Before the final coming of that cold

In which the circling stars are set adrift.

Having lived through April’s hope and fear,

I am content to know October’s here.

© Thomas Allen Little, Jr.

New Wine In Old Skins, 2004

Poetry is a key focus of this Blog. Since the topic of “Poetry” is diverse—poetry taking on many forms of expression, presentation, meaning—our periodic posts on poetry attempt to bring to our readers examples of that diversity. Today’s post deals with depth—the extraordinary depth that a writer can achieve with poetry that is often illusive when writing in prose. The example we’re using is a poem written by a close friend, Tom Little, who passed away in 2005. Tom’s wife, Shirley, has given us permission to post Tom’s poem in this way. His poem, entitled “October”, is a powerful example assisting readers’ understanding of poetry’s limitless depth.  

In 1912, when founding Poetry Magazine (the leading monthly poetry journal in the English-speaking world and still maintaining its original purpose), Harriet Monroe, stating the magazine’s raison d’être, wrote: “. . . . while the ordinary magazines must minister to a large public little interested in poetry, this magazine will appeal to, and it may be hoped, will develop, a public primarily interested in poetry as an art, as the highest, most complete expression of truth and beauty.” One will have to travel a very long way to find a poem which does a better job of embodying “the highest, most complete expression of truth and beauty” than Tom’s “October.”

Mary & I had joined University Presbyterian Church upon moving to Chapel Hill in 2002 and immediately met Tom & Shirley through Stephen Ministry, Shirley a UPC Stephen Minister at the time. In 2004, when Tom learned of my love of poetry, he gave us a copy of his book, New Wine in Old Skins, encompassing fourteen poems “celebrating the past and the timeless,” which he had just published that year. Mary & I read through the poems a number of times and did some research on the topic of sonnets, the form in which “October” is written—difficult to achieve but beautiful when achieved. We were enthralled . . . and we told him so. Subsequently, on one of our Stephen Ministry Hospital Visitation visits to members of UPC in UNC Hospitals, Tom was among the patients we visited. Knowing this in advance gave us the opportunity to bring along our copy of his book. What a special evening that was, reading Tom’s poems to Tom & Shirley, experiencing more closely their artistry, their love, connecting on a deeper level. 

Tom died 10 June 2005. Shirley advised that in the ten years prior to Tom’s passing, he had been wrestling with, as Tom explained in his introduction to this poem, the issues of “. . . aging, and the acceptance of death.” For Tom, this poem was among his favorites of his writings. Shirley asked me if I would read his poem at Tom’s Memorial Service 13 June 2005 at University Presbyterian Church. I advised it would be a privilege . . . and it was a privilege . . . to explain to the congregation something of Tom’s amazing talents as a man, a pastor, a poet, a friend. We love you, Shirley. We love you, Tom. Thank you, Tom, for your wisdom, your talent, your friendship, and letting us know you were content to know “October’s here.”

Celebration?

Celebration!

When something’s big to celebrate,

Drive a stake in the ground, routine to shake,

Special & different, a trip to take,

Gathering family & friends—Memory to make!

© Forrest W. Heaton  September 2018    

This blog post is about Celebration, in this case, two celebrations. The first was in the summer of 1978 when my wife, Sally, & I took our three kids, Matt, Sara & Mandy, on a seven-week “Western Trip” to visit the great western national parks including Grand Teton to celebrate the kids getting ready to go off to college! The second was forty years later, this time gathering our sixteen-member Heaton Clan back in Grand Teton to celebrate my eightieth birthday!

The first photo was taken by a Montgomery Village MD neighbor as we packed our Buick for the long drive, each of us “allowed” one duffel plus much camping gear, some of which met a difficult fate at the hands of a bear one night at 8,600 feet elevation camping in Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite. The “kids” will tell you many stories about the trip; this is just a teaser for you to ask them for more.

A staff member at Jackson Lake Lodge took the second photo, our Heaton Clan including: Son Matt Heaton & Ondrea Hall, Hampton VA; Daughter Sara Heaton & Eric Helman, Waynesboro PA; Daughter Mandy Heaton & Steve Erts, Portland OR; Granddaughter Claire & Rachel Gillespie & Great Grandson Joshua Guisasola, Springville UT; Granddaughter Amber & Jeff & Great Grandson Bryan Fehnel, Frederick, MD; Granddaughter Christine Heaton & Ian Rogan, Cary NC; Gramie & Grandpa, Fearrington Village NC. Our celebration visit included both Grand Teton and Yellowstone, with river run, hikes, ranger programs and meals together throughout. Since Mary & I have already posted a Yellowstone Park Visit covering our Dec16–Jan17 New Year’s celebration, we’ve written up this 25Jun-2Jul18 Grand Teton visit separately, per the link below. We hope you enjoy! We hope you go yourself to celebrate!

Wall Poetry?

Wall Poetry

A reader was thinking about Mary & me,

And wrote to let us know;

That just down the road is “Wall Poetry,”

And recommended we should go.

In downtown Charlotte, just a two-hour drive,

North Carolina poets on display;

“Murals that bring poetry to the people”

In the midst of their work and play!

© Forrest W. Heaton  July 2018

Every so often a blog should start out with a test just to see who’s paying attention. So, here goes: 

1 How many walls in downtown Charlotte NC sport a huge poem by a North Carolina poet?

2 When did Leiden, South Holland, Netherlands first start their wall poem project? How many wall poems currently exist in Leiden?

3 What has been the reception of bringing poetry to the people in this way?

4 How many of these projects have you personally seen?

Well, Mary & I have some idea of the answers to numbers 1 thru 3 but must confess to our “None” for number 4 . . . but not for long! 

Beth Cooper, friend and neighbor and blog subscriber, having read our 9Jun18 blog “Blog Readers = Poetry Leaders,” wrote to us asking if we were aware of the wall poems of Charlotte NC, expressing it was a “lovely idea” and providing a link for us to check out. No, we were not aware of either Charlotte’s wall poems nor the wall poetry projects around the world. We do, however, love the idea—bringing poetry into places of work and play for poetry to become important in the lives of people everywhere. 

We’re in hopes many of you will have as much fun as we did learning about these projects and will consider including them in your travels. Below are two links to get you started.

World Ranger Day?

World Ranger Day

It’s 31 July and we’ve come to say . . .

Thank You Park Rangers on World Ranger Day!

Bill Smith, brother of my Albion College roommate, Rick Smith, sent out an email this past Tuesday, advising that 31 July was World Ranger Day and congratulating Rick and colleagues on that recognition! Here’s Bill’s email: Thank you to Rick, Roger and park rangers everywhere who help protect our planet’s most valuable and scenic treasures as well as the people who visit them. On World Ranger Day, our deepest heartfelt thanks go out to those rangers who gave their lives in service to the public while protecting the earth’s lands, wildlife and natural resources.

I called Rick to congratulate him and advise that, considering the outstanding job park rangers perform, often under difficult circumstances, it seemed to me this recognition should be longer than one day, perhaps 31 days, one day for each of Rick’s 31 years in his distinguished NPS career.

Rick & I first met as incoming freshmen, Albion College Michigan, September 1956, roomed together during our Albion years, and have been friends ever since. After careers in the Peace Corps and in teaching, Rick joined the National Park Service for what became a distinguished thirty-one-year career, starting out in Yellowstone, the photo above taken in Yellowstone when he was around 24/25. Rick completed his NPS career as Acting Superintendent of Yellowstone! As readers of Mary’s & my e-book, The National Park Service Turns One Hundred, know, Rick wrote the Forward for our book and has helped our family become well-travelled in the parks. 

The United States was the first nation to set aside lands as a national park, President Ulysses S. Grant signing Yellowstone National Park into law in 1872. In 1916, the United States became the first nation in the world to create a National Park Service to manage the growing number of parks which, in 2018, number 417 locations. Of the approximately 20,000 current U.S. National Park Service employees, approximately one-third are NPS Park Rangers. In addition to helping build our National Park Service, a number of retired rangers have assisted other countries in creating their own protected areas, the nations having officially set aside such areas currently numbering approximately 145.  

Regarding the conditions under which these rangers work, many are operating in countries experiencing dangerous conditions, many are poorly paid, and many are poorly supported by their governments. Sadly, many have died during their service to their nation. These men and women dedicate their lives to protecting the land, sea, air, animals, plants, people, culture and history that make up these parks/protected areas—the natural and cultural patrimony of our fragile spaceship planet Earth! They deserve our applause, our gratitude, our setting aside 31 July to honor them, and our visits to the glorious places they serve! 

Trying to post a comment on our blog?

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It's Nelson Mandela’s 100th birthday!

Today, 18 July 2018, is Nelson Mandela’s 100th birthday! President Obama is in South Africa representing the American people expressing our admiration/gratitude for Mandela’s courage, wisdom and example he set of how one can lead a life of bringing people together as opposed to splitting them apart. He was  one of the best examples Mary & I know of modeling how to rid fear and revive reconciliation. Below is a reprise of our 26 June 2017 Blog Post on Mandela and my poem gift to him on his 95th birthday. Happy Birthday President Mandela! Happy 100th Birthday! 

June 26, 2017

Your Poem As Your Gift?

Mandela

Twenty-seven years he was in jail.

Yet all that time his holy grail,

Was reconciliation.

Though restricted, he chose to get word out,

That compassion, understanding he was about,

Bridge-building communication.

Though wounded, we each have our time.

To express our love in prose or rhyme,

Even to build a nation.

© F.W. HeatonMarch, 2013

This blog post is on the subject of how, if you work at it, your poetry can become a gift, even a particularly important gift, one you might wish to share with others.  To illustrate this opportunity, I’ve chosen my March, 2013 poem I sent to Nelson Mandela to celebrate his 95th birthday.  Thinking on the subject of attitude, focusing particularly on the saying “Life is ten-percent what happens to you and ninety-percent how you react to it,” I meditated on Mandela’s life under South African apartheid. He endured a twenty-seven-year imprisonment, and, upon release in 1990, dedicated his life to reconciliation, the dissolution of apartheid, the forming of a democracy and becoming the first President of democratic South Africa 1994-1999.  Time and attitude are two precious commodities.  We have little control over the first other than attempted wise use; we have considerable control over the second, having the opportunity to choose, as did Mandela, one’s life approach.  I wrote this poem in March, 2013 when Mandela was hospitalized, his fourth hospitalization since December, 2012.  With prayers from family, friends and admirers around the world, Mandela recovered to the point of release from hospital July, 2013.  I sent this poem to Mandela and to the media as both a prayer of thanksgiving and as a birthday gift 18 July, 2013!  Mandela died that following December.

Blog Readers = Poetry Leaders!

We are thrilled to write that our Blog has single handedly increased poetry readership. Ok, maybe not single handedly, but this is an awesome start and great news! 

We thank you! You are part of this statistic! Read the story below...

Our government is hiding truth, telling lies?

Hide Truth, Tell Lies

Hide truth, tell lies,

The people receive;

Do it often enough,

The people believe!

© F.W. Heaton  May 2018

Two Polar-Opposite Responses to Global Climate Change/Rising Sea-Levels. We write this blog post as a follow-up to our April/May trilogy of Global Climate Change posts, this post discussing two polar-opposite responses to the same phenomena—global climate change, more frequent and more violent storms, and rising sea-levels. Most climate change deniers postulate that, since its inception, planet Earth has gone through heating/cooling/heating cycles and we are currently experiencing just another cycle. Their lack of study into the causes and current rate of acceleration as well as their lack of empathy for the life/ways of life threatened by these changes is staggering. It is because life itself is so threatened all over the globe that we place such emphasis on the citizens of the world to demand TRUTH rather than fiction from their elected representatives and to take ACTION, to the fullest extent possible, to save life/ways of life NOW!

The first response to Global Climate Change/Rising Sea-Levels that we would like to highlight is from the The Southeast Florida Climate Compact.  Established in 2009, this intergovernmental collaboration between Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe counties is working in partnership to address the climate change challenges threatening the region. The lessons being learned, actions taken and actions in planning stages will be of immense value to the Southeast Florida region as well as to other regions of the U.S. and around the world who might be less advanced in addressing these challenges. Civic leader and recipient of numerous environmental and community involvement awards, Harvey Ruvin, has written an instructive Miami HeraldOp-Ed article summarizing the work and plans of the Southeast Florida Climate Compact. Should you search his credentials on the internet, you will be impressed.  For his Op-Ed article, please click the below button:

The second outlook on Global Climate Change/Rising Sea-Levels that we want to highlight is from The National Park Service under the current administration. Mary’s & my most recent visit to Everglades National Park was February 2018. This visit was exceptional for two primary reasons: 1) the threats to life/ways of life from global climate change/rising sea-levels are on full view for all to see and 2) we experienced first-hand the hiding of the truth/telling of lies by the current administration under Mr. Trump and Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke. The Everglades itself remains spectacular; it’s just that some people are messing it up. We’ve just published our Park Visit summary in the “Parks” section of our website; to access the visit summary, please click the below button: 

Climate change?

Climate Change

Hasn’t the Earth been through this before?

Made it through fine without “Climate Change” galore!

This is fake news I consider a bore;

And no I don’t care what my kids have in store!

© F.W. Heaton April 2018

Melting icecaps. Photo Credit: livejournal.com

This is the third in our April/May 2018 trilogy of posts on the subject of global climate change, this one dealing with an organization with whom some of you may be unfamiliar—the Environmental Defense Fund (edf.org). The organization has been in existence for over fifty years and is an extraordinary group working in partnership with others in making a difference for their four areas of focus: Climate, Oceans, Ecosystems and Health. The organization has earned a sterling rating of 92.89 (maximum 100) from Charity Navigator (charitynavigator.org), the respected watchdog that examines/rates organizations asking for your donations.  

Scientists at EDF recently listed six “climate tipping points” which “could contribute to mass extinction of species, dramatic sea level rise, extensive droughts, and transformation of forests into vast grasslands,” events of catastrophic proportions: “1) Artic sea ice melts, 2) Greenland becomes ice free, 3) West Antarctic ice sheet disintegrates, 4) El Niño becomes more permanent climate fixture, 5) Amazon rain forest dies back, 6) Boreal forests are cut in half.” “How do we keep from tipping over,” they ask: “We know from measurements that the Earth has had many climate-related tipping events throughout its history. Today’s situation is different, because humans are now driving these changes and the warming is occurring at a faster rate.” 

Much work worldwide needs be done in a hurry. We believe you will be struck with how succinct are EDF’s statements of each issue and their plan of attack on each. Please click on the web link below to learn more about EDF's new satellite as well as their action plans.

Scientists. What do they know?

Safe Home Planet Yearned

“Vital Signs for the Planet:” What can be learned?

How long, for our politics, can solutions . . . be spurned?

Who’ll take the lead, high tides to be turned?

Six-point-five billion people: safe home planet yearned!

© F.W. Heaton  April 2018

This is the second in our April/May 2018 trilogy of posts on the subject of global climate change, this one dealing with two organizations: the first the National Aeronautical & Space Administration (nasa.gov) and the second the Natural Resources Defense Council (nrdc.org). It is likely all have knowledge of the first and fewer are aware of the second. 

Whereas NASA doesn’t need much of an introduction, when you click the NASA button at the bottom, it will take you to the portion of their website focused on Global Climate Change. The site provides detailed information on “Global Climate Change: Evidence, Causes, Questions, Resources, Carbon Dioxide, and Graphics/Multimedia.” A study of this information will measurably improve your ability to assess the broad subject of global climate change—what many believe to be the central issue of our time. The phrase in the first line of our poem above, “Vital Signs for the Planet,” comes from NASA’s Global Climate Change webpages, an outstanding resource available to all who are learning to become more “scientifically literate” (more on this in future posts). 

In contrast with NASA, the NRDC, like Earthjustice featured in our first post on Global Climate Change, is an organization with whom you may be less familiar. As with Earthjustice, the NRDC similarly focuses on putting top flight lawyers in courts every day in support of the environment and conservation. In existence since 1970 and having achieved a sterling rating of 96.56 (maximum 100) from Charity Navigator (charitynavigator.org), the NRDC, like Earthjustice, provides a very large bang for your environmental buck.  For a stunning review of the scope of their work, please click the NRDC button below. For a comprehensive NRDC survey of the Global Climate Change issue, click on the link below and read Melissa Denchak’s 23 February 2017 NRDC article “Global Climate Change: What You Need to Know.”

High water ahead?

Global Catastrophes

What happened to the man who felt the water at his knees?

What happened to the woman who ignored the rising seas?

What happens to our planet if only ignorance sees?

Humans pass the “tipping point”: global catastrophes!

© F.W. Heaton. April 2018

This is the first in our April/May 2018 trilogy of blog posts on the subject of Global Climate Change. The “tipping point” phrase in the fourth line of our poem above refers to “components of the climate [disappearing Arctic summer sea ice, melting Greenland ice sheet, dying boreal forests, et. al.] that may pass a critical threshold, or ‘tipping point,’ after which a tiny change can completely alter the state of the system,” possibly inciting “catastrophes ranging from widespread drought to overwhelming sea level rise.” (Quote taken from Environmental Defense Fund article.)

Mary & I recently returned from a trip to Florida to visit with family & friends and work in discussions with officials/persons deep (sorry, for the pun) into the subject of global climate change. When you’re in coastal Florida, Virginia or Louisiana, it doesn’t take long to internalize that cities built over the last two hundred years at sea level will have their way of life/existence threatened if sea levels rise even a few more centimeters, let alone the possibility of a few meters. The immediacy of global climate change demands effective, worldwide action now. The world needs the United States to be an informed, committed leader in this effort now. Sadly, wealthy and powerful individuals in our country within industry and government, many closely tied to or supported by the oil, gas and coal industries, have helped split the “United” States along ideological lines, making a united attack on these forces more problematic.  

Our hope? We hope to encourage our readers to demand our national, state and local government officials commit to and achieve effective/sustained “United” States climate change leadership. In previous blog posts, we’ve recommended you consider supporting Earthjustice (earthjustice.org), an organization with top flight lawyers in court every day in support of environmental protection and conservation. They have achieved a sterling rating of 93.37 (out of 100) from Charity Navigator (charitynavigator.org), the respected watchdog that examines/rates organizations asking for your donations. For those of you who might be so inclined, please click the below button; it will take you to fascinating studies in progress on these topics along with suggestions as to how you might help.

The Number One issue of our time?

Fire Brigade

In the days of the fire brigade,

All grabbed bucket and pitched in;

It mattered not one’s belief or trade,

Save structure and all therein!

Though goal’s the same, fire’s global in grade,

Covers planet and all therein;

Six billion at risk without this brigade,

Tipping point: sun’s fire doing us in!

The evidence is clear, you cannot duck it,

This is urgent, you’re needed now;

Accept the science, grab hold of your bucket,

Do your part and teach others how!

©  F.W. Heaton April 2018

Blogger Neven Curlin, an environmentalist who began his Arctic Sea Ice blog in 2010, has advised he has stopped writing about climate change because “it’s too depressing”: “It’s like watching a train wreck in slow motion.”

Ninety-seven percent of scientists agree that humans are causing the acceleration of the heating of the planet, predominantly through the use of fossil fuels—coal, gas, oil—for the production of energy. Sadly, when the United States should be leading all nations in addressing this challenge, we have elected an Administration and Congress (beholden to oil, gas and coal industry donors) who are taking us and those in the world who would follow in precisely the opposite direction. Whereas the six and a half billion people living on the earth are dramatically aware of major changes in their living conditions—changes in temperature, weather patterns, storms, agricultural production, etc.—many or most are uneducated as to the causes and science behind the causes. All living things on the planet are at risk.  

We have written three blog posts as a trilogy on the subject of Global Climate Change that we intend to follow this one, each to publish perhaps two weeks apart. We feel this is the Number One issue of our time. Thank you for your interest and work on this challenge.

A whole month devoted to poetry?

April is a time to break out of the mold,

Feel the warm Spring as we shed Winter’s cold;

It is also a time for new skills to unfold,

Fresh approach to expression: age-old and bold!

© F.W. Heaton March 2018

April is National Poetry Month in the United States! For those of us who spend a fair amount of time reading and/or writing poetry, this is a big deal!  For those of you who may not have made such a plunge, we’re writing this blog post in hopes it might prompt a few of you to jump in. We promise, the water is fine!

So, what is this thing called National Poetry Month? Organized by the Academy of American Poets in 1996, this is a rapidly growing celebration all across the country, the purpose of which is to increase awareness and appreciation of poetry.  Here’s what they say in their online post: “Over the years, [National Poetry Month] has become the largest literary celebration in the world with schools, publishers, libraries, booksellers, and poets celebrating poetry’s vital place in our culture.” 

The organizers could not have chosen a better month for this celebration: as our poem above suggests, April is a natural time to shake off the chill of winter and celebrate the coming of Spring—a newness of life, a grand time to learn new skills and develop new passions. Those who enjoy poetry have worked hard to offer you uncounted opportunities in almost every community in our country to test the waters and see if you might not surprise yourself enjoying poetry in a whole new way.  We hope you’ll give it a try! The two buttons below will take you on exciting journeys! Let us know about your travels! Bon poetic voyage!

Are song lyrics literature?

Song Lyrics As Literature?

Song lyrics as literature? We agree:

They share style and power, literally.

Congratulations Nobel Academy,

Awarding Literature Prize to Dylan’s poetry!

© F.W. Heaton  February 2018

Some reading our recent blog posts may not know that there is a significant group of people, some of whom are quite vocal, who hold the position that song lyrics should not be considered literature.  Although we respect each person’s right to hold and express opinions different from ours, we feel those arguing that song lyrics are not poetry or literature are missing the point.  It seems to us the argument 1) is unnecessary at best and 2) at worst diverts people from a deeper involvement in poetry of any kind.  For us, the poetry you found in the songs you explored in The Great American Songbook or the poetry you found in the lyrics of songwriters such as Taylor Swift, Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, John Denver, Kris Kristopherson, Paul Simon and countless others are the best arguments for dropping this discussion and moving on.

Chosen to help us state our case, we’ve included Dylan’s 1962 classic “Blowin’ in the Wind.”  Think this poem through. Let it sink in.

(Verse 1)

How many roads must a man walk down
Before they can call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
How many times must the cannonballs fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind

(Verse 2)

Yes, how many years can a mountain exist
Before it is washed to the sea?
Yes, and how many years can some people exist
Before they’re allowed to be free?
Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head
And pretend he just doesn’t see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind

(Verse 3)

Yes, How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, and how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, and how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind

For those of us who feel song lyrics are an important body of poetic work, it was gratifying to see the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016 awarded to Bob Dylan. Our hope is his poem above makes the point if none have previously that poems have the power to express the gentlest of emotions or the most momentous of social issues.  This poem moved mountains in 1962 and remains as relevant today as the day Dylan wrote it.  A few moments ago, I picked up my guitar, started singing the song, and felt the same rush of emotions I felt on first singing it when I was twenty-four.  Thanks, dear readers, for sticking with us on this journey.

Did we know they were poems when we were young?

“Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are.

Up above the world so high,

Like a diamond in the sky.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are!”

Poem by English poet, Jane Taylor (1783-1824), the poem titled “The Star,”

published in 1806 in a collection entitled “Rhymes for the Nursery.” The poem was

later put to a French tune entitled “Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman” (“Ah, will I tell you, Mom”),

1838 being the earliest known publication of the poem and music together.

“Isn’t it funny

How a Bear likes honey?

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

I wonder why he does?”

A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh, 1926

“The sun did not shine.

It was too wet to play.

So we sat in the house

All that cold, cold, wet day. . . .”

Theodor Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss), The Cat in the Hat, 1957

In our post prior to this one, we stated: “. . . we are surrounded with and participate in poetry every day.” Now you can not only better see the truth of the statement, but that it has been going on since you were born!

Mary and I were finishing up this blog post when we were treated to a last-minute visit from Wilmington NC by our six-year-old granddaughter, Linda Leigh Holt, and her Mom and Dad. We asked Lindi to read the draft post, which she did. Thanks to her Mom and Dad reading to her every day and her reading to them and herself every day, she is very good at it. We asked Lindi what she would write for the last paragraph of this post. Here’s what she said: “Oh, in school, we sang a poem for Valentine’s Day! Do you want to hear it?” As Lindi started to sing her song, my brain flashed—iPhone—Video! With a little help from her Dad, we videoed her singing—see below. We hope we all hang on to those grand memories of singing poems when we were six and keep singing them past a hundred and six!

Are you surrounded with poetry?

Surrounded with Poetry

Are you surrounded with poetry?

With you every day?

Expanding definition,

Enriching word play!

© F.W. Heaton February 2018

When I was writing The Sixty-Minute Poet in 2013, I had asked a number of people to review the manuscript at various stages of development. One of those people was a then UNC undergraduate senior majoring in English who had never previously written a poem. During one of our discussions, she advised that her English professor was of the opinion: “If the words are in a song, it’s not poetry.” I asked her to take a few of Cole Porter’s songs to him without the music and see if he still maintained such a position. She did so and, in our next meeting, she advised he didn’t change his opinion. Happily, however, she changed. As she re-read the manuscript and thought through our discussions, she found herself becoming increasingly confident in her poetry writing as well as enjoying the poetry of others. It was helpful for me as well; I better realized that I needed to include in my writing the need for people to better see what poetry is, what it can do, and how powerful it can be.

One of the first steps in expanding one’s definition of poetry (and a major one at that) is to realize: we are surrounded with and participate in poetry every day! Most of us just do not recognize it as such. Examples include: song lyrics, children’s books, advertising jingles, poems by poets, every day correspondence, and so much more.

Today’s post deals with song lyrics. Almost all song lyrics are poems (a contentious statement for some but a truism for us). Some were written as the music was composed, intended to work together, while some were written completely apart from the music composition. Examples of lyricist/composer teams include the works of Ira (lyricist) & George (composer) Gershwin, Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II (lyricists) & Richard Rogers (composer), and many more.  Examples of composer/lyricist in one person include Cole Porter, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Jimmy Buffett and countless others. An example of the poet writing the poem and someone else writing the music is Robert Burns’ poem, Auld Lang Syne, written in 1788 and later put to the melody of a well-known Scottish folk song, the song still sung (by you) at midnight on New Year’s Eve around the world over two hundred years later. Another example is The Star-Spangled Banner, a poem written by amateur poet and Washington DC attorney, Frances Scott Key, 14 September 1814 during the night of the British bombardment of Fort McHenry. Key’s poem was later put to a popular British song written by John Stafford Smith, the new song, The Star-Spangled Banner, inspiring rousing patriotic singing and becoming our National Anthem.

So, how did you do with your homework?  Any surprises when you began to dig into The Great American Songbook?  Did you look at the poems (lyrics) possibly in a new way? Any memories stirred as you re-read lyrics by Dylan, Simon, Buffett and others? We’ll spend time in an upcoming post on the subject of “Song Lyrics as Literature” and later study the works of particular lyricists. For now, enjoy your expanded knowledge of “What is poetry and how can I have more fun with it?” Hold on, you’re not done. Homework to accomplish before our next follow-up post: either go online, visit your library or explore your own library and begin to study the words on the pages of books by authors including Dr. Seuss and A.A. Milne.  See you at the next post!

Have we put poetry in too small a box?

More Treasured Thought

Have we put poetry in too small a box?

Is it BIGGER than what we have taught?

Our answer: Yes, a Treasury it unlocks!

Poetry: More Treasured Thought!

© F.W. Heaton February 2018

If you were to estimate approximately what percent of the U.S. population pays close attention to poetry, might your answer be 15%, 10%, 5% or less? We believe most would reply 5% or less. Why do we think this is? Simply put: Not in all cases but in most, “poetry” is too narrowly defined as esoteric communication, requiring “rhyme” and “meter”, written by persons mostly now dead—Keats, Wordsworth, Longfellow—hard to write for one’s self, a subject in school to get over/put in a not-to-be-reopened box/and move on.

We feel there is a need for teachers and parents to teach poetry in a different style of teaching and with a larger understanding of its power. We’ve decided to spend some time in our early posts of 2018 to explore this; we hope you will stick with us, explore this with us, and see if we can jointly end up with a LARGER definition of poetry and a feeling that is it is more FUN than previously realized!

Sing this (out loud) to the tune of the “Happy Birthday to You” song:

In the long run

I’ll have more FUN

If I write/read p-oems

With this I’ve be-gun!

Easy, right?  A bit of fun, right?  Hardly esoteric. OK, it has a bit of rhyme and meter, but neither is necessary.  We feel many or most of you will, with a little work, come away with a much broader view of “What is poetry and how can I have more fun with it?” To have this happen, we feel you kind readers have an active part to play in this exploration versus a passive reading role. If you were to agree, your homework, prior to our next post on this topic, is: please go online and learn about (or add to your learning about) The Great American Songbook. For those of you who’ve not heard of this before, we feel you have an exciting gift in store. For extra credit, while you’re online, learn about the lyrics to your favorite songs written by Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, and Kris Kristofferson. We feel, as you do your work and read our work over the next few months, you will find information and skills which will enhance your life! More to come in follow-up posts.

This image is the cover of Hal Leonard Publishing’s book, The Great American Songbook – The Composers, comprising the lyrics and music of over a hundred songs which became known as “Standards”—songs by great American composers in the 20’s through the 40’s, immensely influential popular and jazz songs of that era.  We’ll develop this more in future posts.

A New Year’s comment on your comments?

We found it much fun writing blog posts to you,

We loved learning you had fun too;

A poem with each helped our deeper reach,

New year’s posts we’re now thinking through!

© F.W. Heaton 31 December 2017

The start of the new year is a good time to look back on 2017and think through what went well, what might not have gone so well, what changes one might try to make in the year coming up—this is true for others and true for Mary & me.  We’ve been thinking through comments from readers in preparing the topics on which we intend to write in this coming year.  We’ll start with the topic of your calling and writing us:

A call we took an hour ago—2:00pm New Year’s Eve Day—advised: “I read every one of your blog posts, but your post on Auld Lang Syne was the first on which I’ve responded.  I’ve sung that song over my lifetime and I never knew Robert Burns wrote the lyrics, nor did I know what most of the lyrics meant.  I’ll now know for our singing tonight!  Thank You!”  Dear readers, we LOVE hearing from you—each and every one of you!  It is a simple process; write to HeatonPublications@gmail.com or comment on our blog.  We learn from you: what you like, may not like so well, look forward to, recommend.  We post some comments but try to respond to all.  Thank you for reading and (when the spirit moves you) responding!  Have a Great Year!

Governing?

Visitors to our website and readers of our blog understand that, among the issues stirring Mary’s & my passions, among the top are 1) protection/conservation of our nation’s land, sea and air, 2) protection/conservation of our natural and cultural resources via the U.S. National Park System, and 3) governing for all the people as opposed to a narrower slice. 

We understand that governing in a democracy can be messy. Over the course of human history, there have been notable experiments in democracy, ours currently in process being one. Now, at the 242 year mark, many of our readers share our feelings that what we previously felt were bedrock USA values are swiftly slipping away. We’re not simply referring to just the past year; we’re referring to a steady deterioration of federal, state and local governance over the last thirty years encouraging increased money and gerrymandering creating increased polarization. 

Our readers kindly send us articles they feel our readers may have missed and might find of interest regardless of their political persuasion. We’ve included the links to two that were sent to us this week as well as a link to an email we received today from Theresa Pierno, President & CEO of the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA). Thank you to all for your continuing interest and support.