sjrozan

Well, even in a world like this, there's room for art. This is NYC's 6th Annual Poem in Your Pocket Day, where NYer's are walking around with poems in their pockets. People really are, too. It's very cool. Mine, written for political prisoners in Poland and in my pocket for political prisoners everywhere, is Joseph Brodsky's "Martial Law Carol." I can't reproduce the whole thing here -- copyright issues -- but here are the first and last verses and I commend to you Brodsky's COLLECTED POEMS.

One more Christmas ends
soaking stripes and stars.
All my Polish friends
are behind steel bars
locked like zeros in
some graph sheet of wrath:
as a discipline
slavery beats math.

...

Powerless is speech.
Still, it bests a tear
in attempts to reach,
crossing the frontier,
for the heavy hearts
of my Polish friends.
One more trial starts.
One more Christmas ends.

sjrozan I'm a writer, at work on my 11th book. This blog is a record of random and less-random thoughts. If you want to know more about me, check my website, linked here. I also had a blog going from spring through late fall 2004 about the publishing process for my 9th book, ABSENT FRIENDS. That blog's called "Progress" and you can find the link here. I won't make any more entries but I'm leaving it up in case anyone's interested; the process is more or less the same from book to book.
:: JOURNAL HOME :: SUBSCRIBE TO THIS JOURNAL :: MY WEBSITE :: MY PHOTOS :: SIX-WORD STORIES :: KEITH SNYDER :: WILLIAM GIBSON :: DAVID CORBETT :: ERIC STONE :: LAURIE KING :: TANEYA'S BABY BLOG :: NEVER TOO LATE BASKETBALL :: NEVER TOO LATE BASKETBALL BLOG :: ATLANTIC CENTER FOR THE ARTS :: ASSISI WRITING WORKSHOP :: BLOG HEAVEN :: VELVETEEN RABBI :: MUSEUM OF CHINESE IN AMERICA :: THE JEW AND THE CARROT :: MY SISTER'S ORGANIC FARM :: NATURE CONSERVANCY :: URBAN NATURALIST :: FOR THE BIRDS :: BIRD CINEMA :: RETURNTOTHECENTER :: TALKING POINTS :: EMAIL ::
Previous Entry :: Next Entry Read/Post Comments (0)		2008-04-17 10:51 AM Poem in Your Pocket Day Well, even in a world like this, there's room for art. This is NYC's 6th Annual Poem in Your Pocket Day, where NYer's are walking around with poems in their pockets. People really are, too. It's very cool. Mine, written for political prisoners in Poland and in my pocket for political prisoners everywhere, is Joseph Brodsky's "Martial Law Carol." I can't reproduce the whole thing here -- copyright issues -- but here are the first and last verses and I commend to you Brodsky's COLLECTED POEMS. One more Christmas ends soaking stripes and stars. All my Polish friends are behind steel bars locked like zeros in some graph sheet of wrath: as a discipline slavery beats math. ... Powerless is speech. Still, it bests a tear in attempts to reach, crossing the frontier, for the heavy hearts of my Polish friends. One more trial starts. One more Christmas ends. Read/Post Comments (0) Previous Entry :: Next Entry Back to Top