Books, Music, and Film to Wake Up Your Muse and Help You Change the WorldLeave a comment

In Conversation With Jacob Scheier, Part I

wandawaterman@themindfulbard.com

“Suffering is permanent, obscure and dark, And shares the nature of infinity.” – William Wordsworth Jacob Scheier writes essays, poetry, and journalism. His book More to Keep Us Warm won the 2008 Governor General’s Award for poetry. He was born in Toronto because his parents, on returning from an activist mission in Palestine, were not allowed to re-enter the United States. His poetic landscape is made up of memories of New York, Judaism, his family’s radical communism, and the tragedy of his mother’s early death. His most recent book of poems, Letter From Brooklyn, was just recommended here in “The … Continue reading In Conversation With Jacob Scheier, Part I

Books, Music, and Film to Wake Up Your Muse and Help You Change the WorldLeave a comment

Poetic Nonfiction in Iraqi Kurdistan

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Poetic Nonfiction in Iraqi Kurdistan Book: Echo Gods and Silent Mountains Author: Patrick Woodcock Publisher: ECW Press “From being mere labels for material objects, words gradually turn into magical charms. Out of a catalogue of material facts is developed–thanks to the efforts of forgotten primitive geniuses–all that we know today as ‘poetry’.” – Owen Barfield A guide leads the poet to a small rectangular hole. They climb down to see where the Kurds hid, four families to a cave, when Saddam Hussein was bombing them. It smells terrible, it’s dark and dank and teeming with bugs. Although the bombing has … Continue reading Poetic Nonfiction in Iraqi Kurdistan

Books, Music, and Film to Wake Up Your Muse and Help You Change the WorldLeave a comment

Le Havre

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The Mindful Bard Le Havre Books, Music, and Film to Wake Up Your Muse and Help You Change the World Wanda Waterman Volume 20 Issue 36 2012-09-21 Film: Le Havre (Janus Films 2011) Writer/Director/Producer: Aki Kaurismäki Cast: André Wilms, Kati Outinen, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Blondin Miguel “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” Hebrews 13:2 (NIV) God Smiles on Port City Ghetto Saints Marcel’s wife, Arletty, is in the hospital to undergo a series of cancer treatments. On his way home Marcel is stopped by the … Continue reading Le Havre

Books, Music, and Film to Wake Up Your Muse and Help You Change the WorldLeave a comment

The Unbearable Beauty of the Open, Hurting Heart

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Letter from Brooklyn Poems by Jacob Scheier Publisher: ECW Press Yes, there is joy, fulfillment and companionship—but the loneliness of the soul in its appalling self-consciousness is horrible and overpowering. – Sylvia Plath I don’t normally like postmodern confessional free verse, but this tome caught my attention because of the sheer density of its “aha” moments. You know how that feels; it’s when you hear something new and you say to yourself, “I never thought of it that way, but now that you mention it, it really is true.” Another remarkable aspect of this work is the story arc behind … Continue reading The Unbearable Beauty of the Open, Hurting Heart