Posts tagged ‘Death’

March 7, 2010

RIP Mark Linkous

by jhon baker

Damn.

go here.

why do only the brightest/the genius have this sort of Chaos reign in their heart/head.
May the pain be past, may the chaos be calmed. May your family, friends find peace.

KING OF HALF SLEEP AND OPEN WINDOWS
          – For those Hors de Combat

not a man, but
      a boy.  perhaps
next to open windows where
birds come to sing, where
wind & breeze comes to play;
in loose curtains where moon
lies gently tickling the arms
of youth and kissing the forehead
of prayer.

here, the faces of clocks tell no hour.
here, our eyes & lips have no looks.
here, the silence of childhood exists.
here, those cloths are at your feet
and not dreams.

– I wrote this

a flood of tears for Mark Linkous.

February 22, 2010

death in the afternoon

by jhon baker

There has been a death. Our second hamster gave up the wheel and parades now in hamster wherever.

This has nothing to do with that like so many things in life.
If I locate it I will put out my translation of “Lament for Ignacio Sanchez Mejias” which, as you may know, was Written by Federico Garcia Lorca and where the title of this post comes from. Great poem with a lot of poor translations out there. You need to be a poet to create a good translation of a poem. It is more than trying to stay true to the meter and words – you need to stay true to the lyricism as well – even more importantly you need to convey the emotion of such a poem which most out there do not.
I love to translate poetry like the first stanza of a poem that is to be published this week – link forthcoming. Translation is harder for me as I only speak my own language well and just dabble in others all while Spanish speaking poets tend to be my favorites.



the whole of earth

the whole of earth is
beautiful and I carry
a broken watch,
waiting for it to move.

the whole of earth is
beautiful though
we still drop bombs
on weddings and taxi drivers.

the whole of earth is
beautiful;
I am holy in it.

I keep impoverished in
my pockets.

the whole of earth is
beautiful and
I remember when I first
got laid.

               the whole of
earth is beautiful, we
watch home movies to remind.

the whole of earth is
beautiful regardless
of telephone poles,
regardless of
pornographic billboards.

the whole of earth is
beautiful, hearing
children play in the streets.

the whole of earth is
beautiful,
never to spite that which
vainly tries to
take its beauty.

– I wrote this

February 10, 2010

in memoriam

by jhon baker

I don’t think the importance of some lives can be measured. Some lives have altered the path of so many others that their passing can only be comprehended on it’s surface and not truly grasped even by the most intelligent of gods, the most compassionate of gods. These men leave such a perfect impression on our will that all we have to do to remember them is look at those who surround us and our selves for we are all better for having known that person.

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