I came to poetry through music. My mother was very musical and loved to sing. She had a broad taste and, instead of lullabies, she would perform popular songs of the day to get me to sleep, songs by Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Frank Sinatra; Harry Belafonte’s ‘Scarlet Ribbons’ (which reminds me of mum) and ‘Island in the Sun’; or A. A. Milne’s poetry put to music, such as ‘Vespers’. I had copies of A.A. Milne’s books of poetry and enjoyed the jaunty rhythms and rhymes. But the poetry that really got to me was introduced to me at school when I was eight or nine by our teacher, Miss Pile. I fell in love with Tennyson’s ‘The Lady of Shallot’ and Blake’s ‘The Tyger’ and ‘Jerusalem’, which was set to music and sung as a hymn in school assemblies. When my favourite hymn, ‘Morning has broken’, originally a poem by Eleanor Farjeon, was recorded by Cat Stevens in 1971, I was a teenager. I listened to the album ,’Teaser and the Fire Cat’, non-stop – I still have it on CD. I was also strongly influenced by the lyrics of Joni Mitchell and the poetry of Leonard Cohen. That was when I started writing my own poetry, as a way of exorcising my teenage demons. And releasing my angel wings.
new buds on fruit trees
vernal breeze in the wind chimes
music of the past
Kim M. Russell, 2018
My response to dVerse Poets Pub Haibun Monday: Who? What? Why?
This Monday Toni is back to host and she’d like us to write haibun about what/who inspired us to write poetry, including age and other circumstances; the who poets who influenced or still influence us and what it was about them that grabbed our interest; and the most difficult part is why we write poetry?
So we are writing one to two paragraphs of non-fiction, ending with a classic haiku which has a seasonal reference, and interchangeable first and third lines.
releasing your angel wings….that is so wondrous. I actually didn’t read Milne until I was an adult and feel head over heels in love. Music I think leads to poetry – poetry leads to music….I like hearing this why and how from you. It tells me so much. Scarlet ribbons…I haven’t thought of that song in years.
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‘Scarlet Ribbons’ always makes me cry.
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Love the release of the angel wings.. what a wonderful way to express it… sometimes I think my wings are more like those of a bat, but they make me airborn. Music has always been important for me, and maybe some of the poems diffused into me…
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Nothing wrong with bat wings, Bjorn – they are excellent gliders!
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The poetry in music is something really special. Love all of your references. Scarlet Ribbons was one of the first songs I learned to play on the guitar many years ago. The poetry of Bob Dillon and Simon and Garfunkle remain unmatched in my opinion. Great haiku…Love the idea of spring winds being recurring music from the past!
Dwight
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Thank you, Dwight. Your comments are always much appreciated.
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My mum liked Harry Belafonte too, and she sang and played the piano. It’s all words and our relationship with them;
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Fly those angel wings Kim ~ Love your personal share of listening and being exposed to the world of music, and then to the world of poetry by your teacher ~
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Thank you, Grace.
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quality and classics!
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Thank you, Margaret!
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And such lovely poetic wings you have, too!
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Thanks Misky!
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This is amazing. Some really forgotten oldies. Island in the Sun. I had forgotten about that one. Thanks for the memories.
Happy you linked to Monday WRites
Much🌼love
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Thank you, Gillena!
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How lovely to have been sent to sleep with singing. By the way I have nominated you for the Liebster Award. Should you wish to see what it is please follow this link. https://wordpress.com/view/englepip.wordpress.com
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Thank you so much! I’ll check out what it is.
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You had great influences Kim and its good you started to write your own.
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Thank you, Michael.
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Oh, yes. I didn’t think of this until reading your haibun. How some musicians really created poetry. Lovely haibun!
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Thank you, Sascha!
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Music is probably my first introduction to poetry as well.
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Well you could have had no better start in life and a life of poetry than that. Meanwhile I had Humpty Dumpty and Little Bo Peep; such is life!
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🙂
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How beautiful that you came to poetry through music. xoxo
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Thank you, Annell. 🙂
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What an inspired challenge is this! Pure pleasure to read of everyone’s poetic journey. I loved your story!
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Thank you, Bev!
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Cat Steven’s rendition of “Morning Has Broken”…a favorite of mine too, thanks for stirring musical memories, Kim!
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I was tempted to include ‘Morning has broken’, Lynn, but ‘Scarlet Ribbons’ won this time. Thanks for reading and commenting!
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Another Groovy piece.. 😎🥀😎🥀😎🥀
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🙂
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Ah! You’ve got music in your soul…Love this..”vernal breeze in the wind chimes”
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🙂
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I love Belafonte. Thanks for reminding me!
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Thanks for reading!
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Wow!!!! This is amazing…….Following you for more.
This is my blog https://annadinecharles.wordpress.com/ if you are interested….
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https://notyourpoetry.wordpress.com/
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Reblogged this on SEO.
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It’s funny, I’ve been writing music in some capacity for 15 years now, and have only recently started regularly writing poetry. Though, if I think about it, music is a form of poetry and vice versa. Both have rhythm and both have a raw and eloquent way of expressing emotion. All this to say, it makes sense that your poetry came from your musical background. The two flow so naturally from each other.
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Thank you so much for reading and commenting.
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Sure thing!
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♥️♥️♥️👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
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