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Arts & Life
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- Written by: Ted Kooser
Sometimes, when we are children, someone or something suddenly throws open a window and the world of adults pours in. And we never quite get over it.
Here’s a poem about an experience like that by Judith Slater, who lives in New York.
Zippo
I didn’t think handsome then, I thought
my father the way he saunters down Main Street,
housewives, shopkeepers, mechanics calling out,
children running up to get Lifesavers. The way
he pauses to chat, flipping his lighter open,
tamping the Lucky Strike on his thumbnail.
I sneak into his den when he’s out, tuck
into the kneehole of his desk and sniff
his Zippo until dizzy, emboldened;
then play little tricks, mixing red and black
inks in his fountain pen, twisting together
paperclips. If I lift the telephone receiver
quietly, I can listen in on our party line.
That’s how I hear two women
talking about him. That’s why my mother
finds me that night sleepwalking, sobbing.
“It’s all right,” she tells me,
“you had a nightmare, come to bed.”
American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation ( www.poetryfoundation.org ), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2011 by Judith Slater from her most recent book of poems, The Wind Turning Pages, Outriders Poetry Project, 2011. Poem reprinted by permission of Judith Slater and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2012 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. They do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.
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- Written by: Editor
CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – A unique music event takes place at Brassfield Estate Winery this Saturday, July 28, and Sunday, July 29, from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. to celebrate the Lake County Wine Adventure weekend.
Local musician/songwriters Lindy Day and Native American Music Awards nominee Kevin Village Stone, known more for their black-tie performances, will perform their rarely heard high-energy Jazz/Rock Fusion set that also includes their electric guitars, basses, and blues/jazz sax.
Teaming up with Kevin and Lindy for this special event are performers Kayla Bell (R&B/soul vocalist who recently sung the National Anthem at the Lakeport July 4 Fireworks show) and Nashville award-winning lead guitarist Jason Wright. Music will be from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
This is an indoor/outdoor public event so come enjoy the music, wine tasting, the beautiful Brassfield Estate grounds and great desserts. Better yet, participate in the Wine Adventure for the full experience.
For Wine Adventure information visit www.lakecountywineries.org ; for information about Brassfield Estate Winery visit at www.brassfieldestate.com , call 707-998-1895 or email
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- Written by: Editor
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Second Sunday Cinema will feature “Iron-Jawed Angels” at its next showing on Aug. 12.
The showing will take place at Clearlake United Methodist Church at 14521 Pearl Ave., near Mullen in Clearlake.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m., with the film to begin at 6 p.m. The showing is free, as always.
“Iron-Jawed Angels” is not a documentary. Rather, it is an engaging and exciting HBO feature film starring Hilary Swank as Alice Paul, a Suffragette adamant in her insistence that women must have the right to vote.
She had the company of many other strong, determined women who suffered much as activists suffer today.
They were belittled, physically attacked and even tortured in jail when these determined, non-violent activists refused to back down.
This film has been widely praised for bringing history vibrantly alive. It is also loved for its edgy, modern feel, its music, its fine direction and the vibrant acting not only by Swank, but by Frances O’Connor, Julia Ormond and Angelic Huston.
Following the film, Jan Cook, a Lake County resident who suggested this fine and moving film, will share information on Lake County connections to the Suffragist movement.
A member of her own family and a Lake County woman both stood silently in front of the White House. They were attacked by a violent mob of men, and were then arrested for “starting a riot.”
Don’t miss this absorbing and inspiring election-year movie.
For more information call Shannon Tolson at 707-889-7355.
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- Written by: Ted Kooser
Jane Hirshfield, who lives in the San Francisco Bay area, is one of our country’s finest poets, and I have never seen a poem of hers that I didn’t admire. Here’s a fine one that I see as being about our inability to control the world beyond us.
The Promise
Stay, I said
to the cut flowers.
They bowed
their heads lower.
Stay, I said to the spider,
who fled.
Stay, leaf.
It reddened,
embarrassed for me and itself.
Stay, I said to my body.
It sat as a dog does,
obedient for a moment,
soon starting to tremble.
Stay, to the earth
of riverine valley meadows,
of fossiled escarpments,
of limestone and sandstone.
It looked back
with a changing expression, in silence.
Stay, I said to my loves.
Each answered,
Always.
American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation ( www.poetryfoundation.org ), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2011 by Jane Hirshfield, from her most recent book of poems, Come, Thief, Alfred A. Knopf, 2011. Poem reprinted by permission of Jane Hirshfield and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2012 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. They do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.