Category: art

from “identity repairman” by thomas sayers ellis

in the “identity repairman” thomas sayers ellis narrates the transition from african to african american in 6 quatrains. here r the last 3:

COLORED
I am weary of working
to prove myself equal.
I will use education
to make my children superior.

BLACK
My heart is a fist.
I fix Blackness.
My fist is a heart.
I beat Whiteness.

AFRICAN AMERICAN
Before I was born,
I absorbed struggle.
Just looking
at history hurts.

thomas sayers ellis

“this changes nothing” by jason crane

I could tell you how many civilians
were killed today in Iraq or Afghanistan
or Gaza or Pakistan or Yemen
by us or by our allies or with our weapons
but what’s the use?
a new season of your favorite show
will start soon and you’ll plop down
on your couch with some popcorn
or a nice plate of nachos
and go back to sleep

Complete poem here.

howards end

watched “howards end” again – love the book and the film. it was the first film i ever saw with my husband after we got married. myrtle beach, south carolina. after a day at the beach. perfect.

ankle deep he waded through the bluebells…

ankle deep he waded through the bluebells…

Scene from “Close-Up”

kiarostami’s “close-up” is ingenious. the story unfolds as seen thru the eyes of diff characters and the audience is allowed to piece together their own understanding of what happened based on info gleaned from diff perspectives/locations/times. that’s not how films r usually structured. throughout the movie, there is this tug and pull b/w truth or lie, real or unreal, culprit or victim. v reminiscent of life.

Imagine the Angels of Bread

this is the year that police revolvers,
stove-hot, blister the fingers
of raging cops,
and nightsticks splinter
in their palms;
this is the year
that darkskinned men
lynched a century ago
return to sip coffee quietly
with the apologizing descendants
of their executioners.

complete poem.