faulker020

"Isn't This a Lovely Day," by Irving Berlin was written for the movie Top Hat (1935), starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The song has been recorded by many of the jazz greats, including the incomparable Ella Fitzgerald. -

Tomorrow, the nation celebrates the life of Dr. Martin Luther King. Here in Birmingham, Alabama, we will have our annual Unity Breakfast downtown. there will also be a number of hands on service projects throughout the city on that day. We have all heard snippets of King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech , but it is important to stop and listen to the entire speech from time to time. Today, as we hope for some glimpses of the better angels of our nature, here is the speech delivered in its entirety by Dr. Martin Luther King in 1963. It takes about 17 minutes to view. -

a murder of crows there is safety in numbers collective wisdom ______________________ Photo: A Murder of Crows (term for flock of crows) Credit: Varminter.com Online Magazine -

Photo from Orion Magazine There are some people who, when they die, all you can think of is the light that they imparted. It was sad to hear of the death of Pulitzer Prize winning poet, Mary Oliver. She said in an interview on National Public Radio that "The two things I loved from a very early age were the natural world and dead poets, [who] were my pals when I was a kid." To read or listen to NPR's recollection of the widely loved American poet,  visit the link at " Beloved Poet Mary Oliver, Who Believed Poetry 'Mustn't Be Fancy,' Dies At 83 " -

I just finished reading a beautifully written novel by Attica Locke, Bluebird, Bluebird .  I heard about it when I listened to an interview with the author on NPR while driving to work over a year ago. I was intrigued by the interview and the discussion of the book. As soon as I parked the car, I took a notepad that I keep near the dashboard and wrote, “Bluebird, Bluebird, Attica Locke.”  Time passed and I came across the note. Remembering that is was a good interview, and that the book held some insights into race relations in the South, I decided to find the book. Since my wife and daughter had given me a Nook last Christmas, finding the book was as simple as a search on Nook’s shopping page.  The novel is something of a crime drama, or a mystery detective story involving an African American Texas Ranger who is caught up in one unsolved murder as he goes down to investigate another murder in the rural East Texas town of Lark. That one is actually two murders. The body ...

Just because it is the middle of January, here is some winter music.  The lyrics  are from Shakespeare ( As You Like It , Act II, Scene VII), and the music by John Rutter. -

"icy finger waves ski trails on a mountain side snowlight in Vermont*" *From the lyrics to "Moonlight in Vermont," by John Blackburn. The song is unique in that there is no rhyme, and each verse is in a haiku format. For my favorite rendition of the song, go here . *   *   * For five years I have been posting a new haiku each Saturday. Today's post is the first one that I have not written myself. ______________________________ Photo: "A winter drive in Vermont"  Credit: LJ Corliss on BetterPhoto Found on Pinterest at Winter in Vermont

Rumi's poem recited in his native Farsi, with written English translation -

From the movie, The Five Pennies , Danny Kaye & Barbara Bel Geddes singing "Lullaby in Ragtime" (music and lyrics by Sylvia Fine , who was Danny Kaye's wife)). -

On this, the Feast of the Epiphany, what better time to sit back and listen to Alec Guinness read T.S. Elliot's poem, "Journey of the Magi." For a bit of commentary on the poem and to hear T.S. Elliot read the poem himself, check out Michael Rennier's blog post at Dappled Things . -

full moon bathes the pines as light glows from the farmhouse the fields are at rest ___________________________ Image: "Full moon in Magome Artist: Kawase Hasui  (1883 - 1957) Medium: Japanese woodblock print -

For my first post of the new year, here is a repeat essay, "On Poetry, Prayer, and Gratitude." A version of it was first in April of 2011. Looking to the year ahead, we will always be well served by finding that place of gratitude. I mentioned in one of my one of my past blog entries that my own experiences of mystery and wonder led me first to poetry then to theology, and later back to poetry. I think poetry is a more primary response.   Theology, like philosophy and psychology are secondary responses in that they require categories, definitions, rules, and analyses. With poetry, one can find genuine reflections on life as it is lived as well as authentic expressions of the soul.  Billy Collins, U.S. poet laureate from 2001 to 2003, says that every poem is about death and gratitude. The awareness of death heightens the beauty of the world as we see it. As one who attempts to write poetry, I heartily agree with that notion. Poetry conveys that sense of awareness and grat...

An updated version of a cartoon by  José María Nieto   (originally published in 2017, but I think it is a great vision for 2019) -