Poetry (and sometimes music) Friday
Fridays are special days here at the blog. We set aside some time to revel in the arts. I regularly link to the photography of Steve McCoy, Joe Thorn, Alex Forrest, Timmy Brister, and Joe Kennedy as well as the history musings of Will Turner. I also take time to highlight a specific poet and include at least a couple of poems since we’re all about using language, it’s nice to see it done well! I also try to highlight a different musical artist that has music available for free downloading.
This week’s poet is Carl Sandburg (1878-1967). During his career, Sandburg won two Pulizter Prizes for literature. Much of his poetry focused on life in Chicago where he lived. And now on to the poetry:
Lost
Desolate and lone
All night long on the lake
Where fog trails and mist creeps,
The whistle of a boat
Calls and cries unendingly,
Like some lost child
In tears and trouble
Hunting the harbor’s breast
And the harbor’s eyes.
To a Dead Man
Over the dead line we have called to you
To come across with a word to us,
Some beaten whisper of what happens
Where you are over the dead line
Deaf to our calls and voiceless.
The flickering shadows have not answered
Nor your lips sent a signal
Whether love talks and roses grow
And the sun breaks at morning
Splattering the sea with crimson.
Today’s music downloads come from a band I was just recently introduced to (I don’t remember how). They are an instrumental folk band from Sweden called Det Gamla Landet (literally meaning “The Old Country”). Their simple sound consists of banjo, guitar, melodica, and the occasional drum and organ. Sometimes resembling the instrumental pieces of Halifax Pier or Max Avery Lichtensten, this band has a tremendously warm and inviting sound. Definitely one of my favorite recent instrumental finds. Enjoy.
- Download Tolv Under
- Download Åtta År Av Krig Är Värt Ett Bröllop
- Download När skåne slocknar
- Watch a three minute live video from Le Le, Malmö, 6th March 2004.
- Visit Det Gamla Landet’s official website
- Buy Det Gamla Landet’s music
