Happy Weekend!
POETRY
I was particularly moved last week by this lovely poem, in the form of a letter from a woman to her late-brother:
WHAT THE LIVING DO
By Marie Howe
Johnny, the kitchen sink has been clogged for days, some utensil probably fell down there.
And the Drano won't work but smells dangerous, and the crusty dishes have piled up
waiting for the plumber I still haven't called. This is the everyday we spoke of.
It's winter again: the sky's a deep, headstrong blue, and the sunlight pours through
the open living-room windows because the heat's on too high in here and I can't turn it off.
For weeks now, driving, or dropping a bag of groceries in the street, the bag breaking,
I've been thinking: This is what the living do. And yesterday, hurrying along those
wobbly bricks in the Cambridge sidewalk, spilling my coffee down my wrist and sleeve,
I thought it again, and again later, when buying a hairbrush: This is it.
Parking. Slamming the car door shut in the cold. What you called that yearning.
What you finally gave up. We want the spring to come and the winter to pass. We want
whoever to call or not call, a letter, a kiss—we want more and more and then more of it.
But there are moments, walking, when I catch a glimpse of myself in the window glass,
say, the window of the corner video store, and I'm gripped by a cherishing so deep
for my own blowing hair, chapped face, and unbuttoned coat that I'm speechless:
I am living. I remember you.
MUSIC
“New Ansonia” by the Patchwork Jazz Orchestra in isolation (only a few minutes but really special): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXo0B_rHVgk
Bob Badal recommended the aria “Lascia ch'io pianga”, from Händel's opera Rinaldo). The version I’ve chosen is Voices of Music, on original instruments, with Kirsten Blaise, soprano: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKo_EmfEPWs&list=PLwG9LBwHMOE7T3b_qeNxWqhx9UbOqwqjf&index=2&t=0s
BLOG AND LISTS
All the Musings (from last March to today) can be found here: https://glennsonnenbergblog.wixsite.com/mysite/about
By popular demand, also available at this site are the lists of movies, non-fiction books, fiction, published articles, and policy rants.
Best, Glenn
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