Editor’s Note: Ms. Ledbetter is a classically trained musician who plays together with her husband in the orchestra of Broadway-style productions. Many full-scale Christmas pageants begin rehearsals in September and the cast and crew begin to consider the meaning of the holidays around early fall, as this poem conveys.
While I gesture in such minute ways
Taking notes, making comments
Your life is lived
So large
You could clean stables with a river
Banish nasty creatures
Charm a beautiful girl
The club in your hand is in mine
Simply a pen, the bald spot on my head
For you is covered with strong hair
I am not impotent, but to live
A hero’s life as you do–
My heart would explode with tension
–Thomas Park, 2009
Empty Again
The creature, given the gift of expression
First draws the bars that kept it captive
In the same way, for the artist, it’s the empty shell,
The cage, the structure’s skeleton
Maybe the poets had hoped
To achieve notoriety
By abandoning the lines they had written
I, too, have been guilty
As advice is cheap and beauty elusive
Of making a kind of vacuum
Music that is a hum of static, no more
When it came on the radio, then
I had this question– Is this
The program in fact, or did
The station suddenly lose power
So I will try to dig deeper
In a time that seems post everything
To find thoughts worth sharing
–Thomas Park, 2009
To M.
In the old stories, even the Gods
Made mistakes. This time, there were no
Gods, only human judges– and I was
Rewarded a title of sorts, called
“Pithy”.
Back then, I measured success
With high school grades then college, planning
Ahead that far, no further,
However with some degree of intensity.
But you, M., wrote for the age
We were in, not for some sleepless future
Grad student. Your stories were
Impassioned yet restrained.
To really understand a poem, see
As it unfolds, how things change.
Similarly, I, with my small South Side
Apartment, and modest income
Marvel at your success as a lawyer
And wonder once and again
For though you were not deemed best student
Perhaps you were the best practitioner
–Thomas Park, 2009
Thomas Park has been writing for many years. He studied English literature at Northwestern University in the early ‘nineties. At this time, Thomas enjoys writing and reading clear, thoughtful poems. He can be reached at: mystifiedthomas (at) gmail (dot) com.
Born in some country that no longer exists, Landkee’s first years were spent in various classes; becoming, as one of his teachers liked to say, “all-around underdeveloped”. Teen years were spent in the Bay Area, partially forgetting one language and not fully acquiring the other. Taking few more foreign languages in high school didn’t help either. However, lack of linguistic ability didn’t deter Landkee from traveling; visiting, oddly enough, central parts of geographic regions or countries. Mostly interested in looking at art, ideas were penned up in deep consciousness until they burst out. Hence the explanation of artist’s collages: random, absurd or nonsensical.
Landkee on his work: I was doing a little bit of everything, but ended up with collages. When I see an image, sometimes I’ll have an idea how I want to use it – and if the original is not lost by the time I find a complementary image – I’ll create that. But most of the time I just create collages and ideas emerge out of them on their own.
Landkee’s collages are at http://www.landkee.com and all of them are available for purchase (unless stated otherwise.)
Posting on Craigslist from some people interested in writing a wiki for information regarding starting and running nonprofits. Many readers would have a lot to contribute, so the post’s linked here, with contact information: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/com/1330561916.html
Volunteers needed to build a Nonprofit-sector WIKI that will cover everything anyone would want/need to know about starting or running a nonprofit, so that people can stop reinventing the wheel. Help needed from front to back, particularly anyone with solid Drupal expertise and content developers.
Also, here’s a lovely site dedicated to collecting images of paintings and poetry from obscure nineteenth century artists and writers, or hard-to-locate works from well-known painters: http://www.artmagick.com. Includes work from Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Waterhouse, Lord Byron and others, and aims to celebrate imagination.
From the website: ArtMagick is an ongoing personal project by Julia Kerr dedicated to the continual quest of seeking out obscure 19th century artists, poetry, books and long-forgotten paintings showing a “magic world of romance and pictured poetry.”
Everyone here is invited to Synchronized Chaos Magazine’s anniversary party and networking mixer for those interested in the arts, creative writing, journalism, nonprofit management/entrepreneurship. We’re getting together next Friday, August 28th, in Castro Valley at Knudsen’s Ice Creamery – drop-in anytime from 5 to 10 pm.
This is a reception for our artists, writers, musicians, and featured community and world leaders, as well as a networking and celebration event for all of us. Lots of eclectic flavors of ice cream (including dairy-free options) available, as well as hot sandwiches and cider.
We have a Facebook page for the event, or you may simply email cedeptula@sbcglobal.net to RSVP – or just show up! Please call me at 510-589-8252 for directions…the Creamery’s website is here: http://www.icecreamery.net/
If the longer, warmer days have inspired you to do your Spring Cleaning, please set aside your new or gently used artwork for “Raising Monet for the Arts,” the annual fundraiser for North Tahoe Arts. This summer, North Tahoe Arts will accept donations of painting, photography, sculpture, ceramics, and other collectibles to be auctioned at its fifth annual sale and silent auction.
“If you’re ready to part with any artwork from your home, office, or studio, please set it aside now for this exciting event that helps North Tahoe Arts to fulfill its mission of supporting the arts throughout the North Tahoe and Truckee communities,” said NTA fundraising chair, Anne Chadwick. “Mark your calendars for the Raising Monet kick-off on Friday, September 4, 2009.”
Donations of all types of art will be accepted – framed or unframed, new or gently used, two or three-dimensional – this summer at the Art Center next to the Fire Station in Tahoe City (380 North Lake Boulevard). If necessary, arrangements can be made to have donations picked up. A tax receipt will be provided for each item received, and all proceeds will benefit North Tahoe Arts, which relies primarily on fundraisers and contributions to operate its art center and provide numerous programs and services to the community. Activities include monthly exhibits at the Art Center, Tahoe ARTour, ARTisan Shop, ART in Public Places, Tahoe Plein Air, and Kids ART Camp.
NTA is looking for volunteers to assist with planning “Raising Monet,” as well as storage space for donations this summer. To donate or volunteer, please contact the Art Center at 530-581-2787 or email info@northtahoearts.com.
