A POETRY READING

DAY SEVEN WITH SEAN IN PASADENA

FRIDAY DECEMBER 17, 2004

Both Sean and Kathy write poetry and enjoy reading aloud. We had looked forward to having a poetry reading, and thanks to Sean's encouragment, it happened today. Here is a small sampling of what we did. The first poem is by Sean, copyright 2004

he woke

he dressed

in following the list of what to do when there was nothing to do
the playfulness became as calculated as the rest

there was something in the sunshine
warmth of summer and promise of becoming something fuller

tangled voices spoke in distant tongues within a barrage of compelling chaos
it took all of him to reason with each mutant strand

he rejected artificial freedoms yet could not locate the source
without the distant moan of commercial fervor,

of future real estate purchases and landscaping to perfect his piece of it

thinking if he could only stop thinking so the world could emerge on its own terms

electricities mayhem beckoned his body to transmit his sensory overload
he was in the world and then he was gone darkness
the rug of consciousness snapped out from his feet a reminder

that as much control we convince ourselves of it is always a breath away from meltdown ground zero

he is a child of the light returning to renewed hope

pray for his continuity

Kathy read selections from her book length manuscript, "Traveling Poems", by Kathleen Mary Wilson, copyright 2004. In this series, each poem is preceeded by "indications" as in a musical piece, instructions for reading.

Though Tentative

(Confidently, as if beginning a walk.)

Though tentative,
the act
falls securely
into the mirror.

When Kathy read the following poem, introduced by its "indications" Sean jumped to put them into action. It was a double, simultaneous reading. Later in the evening we performed it for Rick.

Have You Found Any Shelter

(Quickly and monotonously, yet energetically, like a persistent rain, and in only a few breathes. Both parts could be read aloud at the same time, and then repeated, with the different voices exchanging parts.)

Since last leaving you in the rain falling
knowing you would go knowing even then that you were
only passing very quickly
never feeling
have you found in the end
after speeding off for cover and then
panting for repose
have you found any shelter from the rain sound?

I have found no shelter in the end
from the pulse of the hours in the droning of the rain
I have wakened in the night to the beating on the shelter
which is never any shelter from the rain sound now
what you have done in the rain has made
me only a place for the rain sound to fill
in the end have you found any shelter from the rain sound?

Sean read a poem he likes by his uncle, Kathy's brother Stephen (1950—1994).

Continue on to Day Seven, Part Two
Go back to Back to Pasadena, Day Six, nieces Diana and Rachel
Go back to Grandma's birthday dinner (Sean's fifth day, part two)
Go back to Grandma's birthday lunch Sean's fifth day, part one
Go back to Sean's fourth day
Go back to Sean's third day
Go back to Sean's second day
Go back to Sean's first day
Go to Sean and Jamie's visit last August
Go to Kathy&Rick Home Page