Poetry Pairing: Technology and Conversation

Image via Randy Pertiet - Flickr

I'm fascinated by this article from The New York Times: "The Flight from Conversation" by Sherry Turkle about how technology has affected the ways we communicate with each other and what it means for the future of our relationships. Turkle concludes with, "So I say, look up, look at one another, and let's start the conversation." I've been fortunate to have a few of these face-to-face conversations this week and the power of the spoken word versus text amazes me. I have a greater appreciation for those who are willing to forgo a text conversation for an actual phone call lately too.

A few days after reading this article, I happened upon Anna Moschovakis' poem "ninth: a conversation between Annabot and the Human Machine on the subject of overpowering emotion."

From the poem:

ANNABOT: I cannot feel your hand.

HUMAN MACHINE: I cannot feel your heart.

--

I am going to work on doing more of the above going forward.

Anything else you can think to pair with these?

AND don't forget today's Poem in Your Pocket Day! I've got "Advice from La Llorona" by Deborah A. Miranda in mine. What's in yours?

Tomatoes and Other Good Finds

Tomato 1 by sfxeric via Flickr

Sorry I'm a day late with this post. My husband built me a small garden to plant in and we took advantage of the sunny Sunday we received. All in all, we've four tomato plants, two jalapeño, two cilantro, two basil, one rosemary, two strawberry, and one zucchini.

Because I'm still floating on new gardener air, I wanted to find a poem on gardening, or more specifically, tomatoes, and though this poem for the week isn't specifically on gardens or growing tomatoes, it does mention tomatoes in a dark yet touching sense: "Early Cascade" by Lucia Perillo.

Some other good finds:

How to be left alone to read while traveling (I got a good chuckle out of this write-up! I almost felt as if I was reading my own writing)

New video version of Taylor Mali's poem "What Teachers Make" via Jessie Carty

A favorite blogger of mine, Natalia Sylvester, on The Importance of Fictional Truths

Some Thoughts on the Lost Art of Reading Aloud via The New York Times - Do you read aloud anymore?


How was your week? Any good finds to share?

Happy Monday! Andrea

Poem Share and Other Good Finds Sunday

The poem I've selected for the week is "Poppies" by Jennifer Grotz. I came across the link to this poem along with a nice introduction by Ta-Nehisi Coates in The Paris Review. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. My favorite lines in the poem are:

when the moths perch on the white walls,
tiny as a fingernail to large as a Gerbera daisyand take turns agitating around the light.


What does this poem say to you? Any favorite lines?

Other good finds of note this week are:

Today is Elvis Presley's birthday! Happy birthday, Elvis! Are You Lonesome Tonight?  I'll keep you company. ;)

I'm a big fan of The New York Times' "Poetry Pairing" series. This week Jill Alexander Essbaum's poem "Precipice" is paired with a philosophy blog and a painting about time. Is there anything else you can think to pair with it?

A friend of mine, Jill Klein, has a lovely poem out in the new issue of Grey Sparrow: "My Breasts are A-okay." I love the sound in this poem!

Goodreads is holding a 2012 Reading Challenge. How many books will you pledge to read this year? I'm shooting for 64.

A funny comic for the week shared by Richard Fenwick via his Twitter account: Chicken Poetry by Doug Savage

How does your week look? Wishing you an inspiring one!

What Would Your Snapshot Be?

I'm a fan of The New York Time's "Poetry Pairing" series. This past week, Emily Dickinson's "Hope is the thing with feathers" was paired up with reader-submitted photographs as a "visual time capsule" of sorts. A creative and admirable pairing, I think.

What photo would you offer for this pairing?

Mine is a photograph of my Godchild Penelope creating her "mini-art" over the weekend. For me, she is a perfect pairing of hope and art in many senses of both words.