Diameter and Distance

I've been meaning to post this for a long while...

Diameter and Time

The dark thick earth
supports the stalks
of living things,
but sometimes they fall
and scrape the bark
or pull with them
the roots of close neighbors.
Horizontal they begin to decay,
but only slowly with time
and it takes longer
then the lives of the others
to be completely consumed
and returned
to the source.
The larger ones
hollow out and leave a useful shell,
and those in a rich mud
fossilize forever.

-Robert L. Jackson III, 2010


From http://grandpacliff.com/Trees/Img-Trees/rotten-log.jpg

Top 25 Most Poetic Songs part 2

Top 25 Most Poetic Songs...Continued from Previous Post

Sorry it has taken so long for me to add more to the list:

23. Great song and the video is synchronized to one of a great movie:

THE BYRDS - Turn ! Turn ! Turn !
Uploaded by danadi33. - Watch more music videos, in HD!

22. Jim Croce was sadly taken well before his time.

Jim Croce - Time In A Bottle 1972
Uploaded by tch47. - Watch more music videos, in HD!

21. "Kids" by MGMT: Newer Band and song...I feel for the poor kid in the video being tormented




More to come...eventually.

Blizzard '09

A new poem inspired by travel during the season.

Blizzard '09

The cotton bloomed
on brittle brown stalks,
still standing, waiting for a late harvest.
The pale fog materialized,
too thick for us to see
the concrete bridge and migrating island.
From morning to dawn
the dense humidity would not relent,
blurring the horizon and the coast.
After the pummeling of hurricanes
over geological history,
the tides and currents
still deposited the white pure quartz.
The wind broke the fog
to rape our eyes with abrasive
and pile the broken crystals
along ridges, corners and features.
The pixels reported
of a white storm
able to stop mechanical man,
destroying our precision schedules
until melting into life.
Colorless glowing satin draped itself
over flesh now promised.
Despite the cover,
white is not an effective
camouflage,
as it contrasts all colors
and flows past the smooth curves
while accentuating
the imperfections.

-Robert L. Jackson III

Movies and Books

I've watched a few decent movies lately that I thought I would mention.

First, I just finished watching The Legend of 1900 which contains some quite poetic moments in the film. It blends music with the realization of these significant moments and the journey that is life. The film is about a man whom is born on a cruise ship in 1900 and never sets foot on land (a literary situation if you ask me, I am sure you can make all sorts of metaphors and symbolic meaning from it). Here are some the quotes that I liked from it:

"You rolled out in front of me a keyboard of millions of keys, millions and billions of keys that never end. And that's the truth Max, that they never end. That keyboard is infinite... and if that keyboard is infinite, then on that keyboard there is no music you can play. You're sitting on the wrong bench... That is God's piano."

"Land? Land is a ship too big for me, it's a woman too beautiful, it's a voyage too long, perfume too strong..."

"Why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why? I think land people waste a lot of time wondering why?. Winter comes, you wish it was summer. Summer comes, you live in dread of winter. That's why we never tire of travel."

I also watched Gran Tourino by Clint Eastwood. I have really enjoyed all of his movies that he has directed. They really have a human realism too them that connects as all (as is especially shown in this film).

Finally, we decided to see the Time Traveler's Wife. Unfortunately I was not as enamored with this one. The could probably be considered a great book and is genius. However, I felt like the movie was a watered down chik-flick version (the graphic parts were left out mostly). It wasn't that bad though and might still be enjoyable to see.

RJ

Eclipse 7/22/09

I saw the eclipse in Korea (about 80% of total). Talk about dumb luck for scheduling a trip at this time. I was running around the park showing the locals my pinhole viewer (a piece of paper with a pin hole in it). Here is a poem inspired by the subject:

Eclipse 7/22/09
The sun
tried to darken
and return
to my natural state
on the other side.
The moon’s shadow
fit perfectly
over the sun’s bulb
as if designed
for this moment.
The light, though dimmed,
still burned
my blue eyes.
Sometimes white clouds
would filter it enough
to reveal the sharp crescent.
Barbarically pierced,
a thin sheet
also projected
the image on the ground
and others saw
and defaced their newspapers
to see the spectacle
without damage or language.

-Robert L. Jackson III

Poem From Korea

Started writing this on the plane and then finished it when I could not sleep early in the morning:

arbor on arc

On all global surfaces
the statically flailing limbs
always grow toward the light
and the roots
always grow into the dark
core of the Earth.
The mirrored green trees
grow apart
and away from the Earth's center.
Their roots are the closest
but still distant.
Some branches
seek to strangle the sky,
while some droop
in return,
and others float
parallel to the ground.
Except for their trunks
they follow no artificial law
but are punished
by the pruning
around power lines,
unlike the strict hedges
aligning the road

-Robert L. Jackson III

Top 25 Most Poetic Songs

Well, for lack of anything better to post, I've decided to list the Top 25 Most Poetic Songs. They have to be the most poetic rather than simply the best to stay inline with the subject of this blog. However, because poetry and song are very closely related, an actual list could go on and on. In addition, any such list really depends on the taste of the individual who makes the list. To be on the list the song also has to have a video on Youtube, so it has to be fairly mainstream and popular. I've also limited one song per an artist or band. Therefore, in actuality, this is Rob's Favorite Poetic Sounding Songs that are available on Youtube. Remember, its just for fun.

I will undoubtably forget some good ones, so I'd like to here your suggestions of songs that I might leave off.

Here are the first two songs on the list:

25. Radiohead: No Surprises
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgzeqwhNTDk
24. Jimmy Hendrix - All Across the Watchtower