Introducing a new bi-weekly series, a kind of Berkshire Poetry Protection Program that would offer cultural affirmation, a necessary degree of solace and uplift, and overall, a wealth of joy and pleasure in troubled times.
At this point, obsessed with grayness as I am and as are so many of the people I know, I'll stick to the weather, daily life, my neighborhood, Mutzl (my dog) and Hermes (my cat) bad politics and delicious food.
What succeeds best is Giannini’s elevated grasp of writing poetry that holds up the freedom and inventiveness of words, positioning words as Emily Dickinson might: spare, poignant and celebratory.
As a genre, spoken-word poetry has its roots in oral traditions and performance. Spoken word can encompass or contain elements of rap, hip-hop, storytelling, theater, jazz, rock, blues and folk music.
as if time could run backwards at their beckoning;
as if winter could recede from my fingers and the white gate swing wide,
with the fall riot returning to the bracketing treelimbs,
thence to turn verdant and alive, the schoolyard now summer-empty.
The following year, Bryant was 22 years old. He was living in Great Barrington, working for the town, and practicing law. He would remain in Great Barrington from 1816 to 1825—out of place and out of sorts.
