February 20, 2007
From Vietnam to UMass Boston
The journey of Kevin Bowen, poet, veteran, and director of UMB’s William Joiner Center.
Shea Mullaney: How’d you get started writing poetry?
Kevin Bowen: Well, I wrote a bit when I was younger, then I went into army and went to Vietnam. I didn’t write when I came back; I didn’t have to words to capture that experience and writing about anything else didn’t seem to have any meaning.
Actually, both my parents were writers. My father wrote plays and wrote for the Catholic Worker and my mom directed for the Blackfriars, a local theatre company.
Continue reading "From Vietnam to UMass Boston"
Posted by shea at 11:47 AM
February 2, 2007
Ballad of a Haunted Oak
The following lyrics were adapted from Paul Laurence Dunbar's "The Haunted Oak." When I first read this, I thought to myself "this is a Blues song." So, I've monkeyed with the original. Dunbar gets the credit, though.
"Ballad of a Haunted Oak" by S. Donovan Mullaney
CHORUS:
So bare, so bare, is the old oak tree;
so bare is the old oak tree.
It's dried and dead; it's burned with dread
where a guiltless man swung free.
A guiltless man swung free.
And when I go through the shade it throws,
a shudder runs over me.
Continue reading "Ballad of a Haunted Oak"
Posted by shea at 1:12 AM
February 1, 2007
The Equation of Love Doesn't Add Up
So, I turn ABC's Good Morning, America on every weekday morning first thing. It's the right balance of fluffiness to keep me from starting the day as a coach potato, but enough serious journalism, snippets of local news (plenty of time for that,) and weather to start my mind moving toward the upcoming day. This week, I caught a segment about an online test that predicts the solidity of your relationship. Oh god, I thought to myself, it's one of those stupid Cosmo quizzes a lot of women like.
Continue reading "The Equation of Love Doesn't Add Up"
Posted by shea at 10:03 AM
Letters from the Jalopy (CD) by Ksenia Mack
This woman's got a mochaccino in her voice and lightning in her hands. Letters from the Jalopy is a self-produced studio album from Medford, MA guitar-teacher and folk-singer, Ksenia Mack. Mack's voice has at times the lilt of Joni Mitchell, the warm low tones of kd Lang, and the blues of old Bonnie Raitt, her style blends such disparate influences with old-fashioned songwriting and scorching guitar-work. She's more incredible in her live performances than on this album, but Jalopy's well worth a listen.
Posted by shea at 10:00 AM
January 31, 2007
Black Coffee
Boot black, chicory black,
deeper than dilated pupil,
darker than a power outage,
blacker than the mood of Monday morning drivers
and late-night Friday office-workers.
Why do you water me down?
Whiten me up?
Pour sugar down my throat?
I'm not meant to be sweet,
Not meant to be yes ma'am or yessir
or any way you like it.
I'm vitality
squeezed, dark nectar
of roasted beans; I'm supposed to sting
and burn a bit as I go down.
I'm your cup of coffee
and I'm meant to be drunk black.
Posted by shea at 9:56 PM
