Come what may(a)...

i am sitting here...the last day of may...and thinking about the passing of maya angelou...and her legacy both culturally and spiritually...and have to admit...that although i call myself a poet...i have read only some of her work...as is the case with many great poets...it is really not something that i do out of laziness...but more out of fear...that i will immerse myself in the beauty of great poets and my own pen will be silenced...or i will lose my voice when i write when trying to emulate another's...in april i had the good fortune to attend the academy of american poets "poetry and the creative mind" event at lincoln center...it was the second year i went...the event celebrates national poetry month by inviting actors, poets, chefs and other celebrities from various paths to read some great poetry...anyway, i opened this year's program and there it was...miss angelou's "still i rise"...to be read by rosie perez...i know some of you are grinning...rosie perez?!?..she had to excuse herself for the first half of the program...a coughing fit...she made it back and it was her turn to hit the podium...the beginning was a bit tentative...the signature nasally full-on-new yawk voice almost afraid of the task...but midstream something happened...and the words were not just on the paper...or from memory...but from somewhere deep inside...and when she finished the applause...thunderous...and that is the real beauty of poetry...great poetry...the chord it touches within each of us...still i rise...perhaps the greatest gift miss angelou bestowed was a voice for the mute among us...an introduction to the masses to what poetry can be...and a kick in the ass to this writer to keep writing...the poetry of our stories will always rise...

a price above rubies....

coming home from mom's (nj) to me (long island)...sans auto, so I could take care of some "city" things...I found myself thinking...quite a bit...the thoughts were an extension of a poem I recently wrote about how it feels at this moment being a woman in her fifties...about how difficult it can be to stand tall when society tries to diminish my worth with each candle on the cake...it's easy to sell yourself short...the media slams us everyday with images of our Hollywood counterparts..."wow, see how she looks at 40, 50, 60..." blah blah blah...I'm thinking yeah, she's had more work done than the belt parkway...to add to these feelings...many of us find ourselves in the job market...again...trying to reinvent ourselves...again...competing with our own children and their contemporaries...ouch....and so I thought about the beautiful phrase...a price above rubies...and became a little introspective...and thought of so many of my friends...close and even casual...all of a certain age...and thought...never let anyone or anything compromise your feelings of self-worth...age is beauty and our worth is far above the prices of rubies...yeah...put that on the resume!