stranger @belljarbojack - Tumblr Blog

maybe with good luck we will find what eluded us in the places we once called home.

teddypng

Joan Baez performing at Culver Academies, 1962

nixscriptum

theinternetarchive

nina simone and james baldwin by richard avedon, 1963.

daffolou

Meeting the Man: James Baldwin in Paris (1970)

Hello tumblr again, every night before bed I think of a night when I wont think but kill myself

apoemaday

Being Boring

by Wendy Cope

‘May you live in interesting times.’ –Chinese curse If you ask me ‘What’s new?’, I have nothing to say Except that the garden is growing. I had a slight cold but it’s better today. I’m content with the way things are going. Yes, he is the same as he usually is, Still eating and sleeping and snoring. I get on with my work. He gets on with his. I know this is all very boring. There was drama enough in my turbulent past: Tears and passion–I’ve used up a tankful. No news is good news, and long may it last. If nothing much happens, I’m thankful. A happier cabbage you never did see, My vegetable spirits are soaring. If you’re after excitement, steer well clear of me. I want to go on being boring. I don’t go to parties. Well, what are they for, If you don’t need to find a new lover? You drink and you listen and drink a bit more And you take the next day to recover. Someone to stay home with was all my desire And, now that I’ve found a safe mooring, I’ve just one ambition in life: I aspire To go on and on being boring.

uwmspeccoll

National Poets Day

On this National Poets Day, August 21, we celebrate the work of Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941). Tagore began writing poetry as a child and remained committed throughout his life to exploring the natural and spiritual world through poetry and prose. He was known as the “Bard of Bengal” and in 1913 became the first non-European to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for his collection of poetry Gitanjali.

Within the Special Collections we hold the first edition of Moon, For What Do You Wait?, a collection of Tagore poems from his 1916 publication Stray Birds which consisted of 326 verses. Published in 1967 by Atheneum, Moon, For What Do You Wait? was edited by Richard Lewis, director of the Touchstone Center for Children in New York City, with illustrations by award-winning artist and author Ashley Bryan (1923-2022). Lewis manages to whittle down Tagore’s lines without losing any of the imbued wonder and delight present in the original publication. Accompanied by Bryan’s bold illustrations, readers are encouraged to let their eyes wander over the pages, getting lost in prose and imagery.

View more poetry posts.

-- Jenna, Special Collections Graduate Intern