authenticity | Arlene Corwin Poetry

The Songbird 1997

11 Nov 2008 Leave a comment

by arlenecorwin in 1997, lessons to be learned, vaguely about music Tags: 1997, authenticity, excellence, jazz, lessons to be learned, music, performing, processes creative meditative thinking, processes creative thinking meditative, processes:creative, singing, special people, sue raney, vaguely about music

The Songbird

I heard a singer and was moved,

Which proves not much.

We’re touched by mediocrity,

The second-rate,

The bait of glamour.

Hers was honesty,

Simplicity dug deep in skill.

Talent and ability.

Oh, so good, voice many-hued.

Interpretation, even the

Pronunciation, woven in

The loveliness.

A jazz parfait: a marmalade,

Jade luminesence

Honesty, simplicity,

Substance in each nicety;

Who wouldn’t want to sing so well,

That those who heard would feel compelled

To tell the world what you exude

Though under-known and undervalued?

(such a gift might give me hubris where, too satisfied,

I’d have to watch for sins of pride.)

For now, there’s happiness-near-bliss,

Aesthetic saturation

Having heard this songbird sing.*

The Songbird 97.10.4Special People, Special Occasions; Vaguely About Music;

Arlene Corwin

* Sue Raney

The Courage To Say This Is The Way My Soul Sounds 2006

11 Nov 2008 Leave a comment

by arlenecorwin in 2006, lessons to be learned, vaguely about music Tags: 2006, art, authenticity, courage, creativity, I Is Always We Is You, jazz, lessons to be learned, music, processes creative meditative thinking, processes creative thinking meditative, the creative processes, the real you, vaguely about music

The Courage To Say This Is The Way My Soul Sounds

Now you start,

Discarding all neurosis

Grounded in the fears of failure,

Certain in your heart

“I am creating as I speak”

Avrah kedabra!” – Aramaic.

I will lose the seven deadly sins

Or use the seven deadly sins,

Converting them to sharp discernment,

Wit and wisdom, common sense,

Clear thinking and refinement.

And singing out, and when you pen,

And when the music of your days marooned

Is opened,

These will spring from courage that says

This, my prize, my non-disguise,

My jazz, my phrase – these are the ways

In which my soul sounds

And has sounded in its silence

Since its cause.

©The Courage To Say This Is The Way My Soul Sounds 06.7.28

I Is Always You Is We; Vaguely About Music; Definitely Didactic;

Arlene Corwin

Special People 2008

10 Nov 2008 Leave a comment

by arlenecorwin in 2008, lessons to be learned, life, vaguely about music Tags: 2008, authenticity, lessons to be learned, life, lying to yourself, music, sad stories, small stories book, special occasions, special people, vaguely about music

Special People

I talk to him about himself;

He ‘yes-es’ with, “I get it, yes” –

He yes’s me to death

Preferring really, stories stored.

It challenges inventiveness

To get him to mature.

Famous once upon a prime,

Drinking all that time

And smoking.

Now… a shut-in,

He leaves bow untouched,

The bass against a wall;

He’s got his memories and fantasies

And loosened teeth, some royalties,

Stomach problems.

Looking out the window

Of his ground floor flat.

Is ‘where he’s at’.

I carry on our te

tes a têtesTo see what, when and if…

Small Stories Book; Special People, Special Occasions; Vaguely About Music;

Arlene Corwin

Small Lies 2003

10 Nov 2008 Leave a comment

by arlenecorwin in 2008, definitely didactic, lessons to be learned, vaguely about music Tags: 2008, authenticity, creating, definitely didactic, lessons to be learned, music, processes creative thinking meditative, vaguely about music, vanity

Small Lies

Too much pedal,

Run redundant;

Hackneyed chord-

Arpeggioed.

Hazy thought;

Lazy will.

Lies so small

They wall you in

In need of praise.

The Processes: Creative, Thinking, Meditative; Vaguely About Music;

Arlene Corwin

Small Changes 2008

10 Nov 2008 Leave a comment

by arlenecorwin in 2008, autobiography, definitely didactic, lessons to be learned, pure nakedness, vaguely about music Tags: 2008, Add new tag, authenticity, autobiographical stuff, autobiography, bebop, creativity, definitely didactic, evolutionary change best, jazz, lessons to be learned, processes creative thinking meditative, pure nakedness, song, vaguely about music

Small Changes

(Stick To Your Essence)

I just do the honest song.

Born ’34, exposed to bebop jazz in ’50,

Took it in and went from there

Using changes in the air, my hair,

The wars, the weather –

Any/every- bringing on the songs

Borne from soul-meant-to sing.

Review of Morrisette said,

“Driven, pushed, experimental…

Great but lost…

Put your money on her past.”

Revolutionary changes,

Quirky works sold prematurely –

Ready change that branches out

Is evolution-steady,

Never artful, not a standstill.

I re-make, re-work, relent.

Change seems to do me,

I assent and ‘be’ – content

Continually.

The Processes:Creative,Thinking, Meditative; Vaguely About Music; Pure Nakedness;

Arlene Corwin

Arlene Corwin Poetry

The Songbird 1997

The Courage To Say This Is The Way My Soul Sounds 2006

Special People 2008

Small Lies 2003

Small Changes 2008

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