Editor’s Note: “Poems to Listen By” is an audio series where over time we will explore some of the themes in the Poet Laura checklist, as well as Tweetspeak’s “Generosity” theme throughout 2021.
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Poems to Listen By: Moonstruck 04—Delicate
Presented by Laurie Klein
Audio Script:
Welcome! This is Poems to Listen By. I’m Laurie Klein, your reader and host for our new series: Moonstruck.
Our ancient moon has no wind, no moving water: it’s an erosion-free, astronomical body. Neil Armstrong’s famous footsteps, made when I was a girl, remain intact all these decades later.
To honor those steps—and the ensuing leap in knowledge for humans the world over—Marjorie Maddox composed a concrete poem in the shape of a vintage TV complete with rabbit ear antennae.
Scientists tell us the moon holds many secrets. Recent studies revealed something massive lurks beneath her south pole crater, roughly the size of Hawaii’s Big Island. No one knows what it is.
With a nod to the moon and the creative enigmas within us all, listen to this vividly invitational list poem, by L. L. Barkat. It begins with a dedication: “To Martha, Christine, Jim, Johanna, Wendy, and facilitator John Fox at the Mariandale Epiphany workshop.”
Delicate
A poem waits
for the mystery
in you—
girl at the window
apple blossoms, orchard
the horses you don’t own
Hope at the way station
the sail you have not found
the dance you have, as yet,
only done in dreams.
Pour in what calls,
“Let me out.”
The gift. The limb. The sun. The moon.
A poem waits
for the mystery
in you—
Pour in, pour in.
Nothing can break the delicate
glass of its
holding.
—L.L. Barkat
Earthbound as we are, sometimes moonstruck, let’s lift a glass or a teacup today to mystery and to one another. As a poet from the Honan Empire wrote during the 1500s, “Were all the light of day poured in the moon’s silver crescent, it would be as brilliant as you.”
Poetry lovers, long may you shine!
You’ve just heard “Delicate,” by L. L. Barkat.
I’m Laurie Klein. Thanks for listening!
Photo by Ajay Goel, Creative Commons license via Flickr. “Delicate,” by L.L. Barkat, Every Day Poems. Used by permission. Audio and script by Laurie Klein with thanks to Pat Stien for direction. “Simple Gifts” (public domain). Musical performance, recording, and mastering, by Bill Klein.
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L.L. Barkat says
Oh, Laurie, this is *beautiful*! Thank you for such a… delicate… reading of “Delicate.” Quite lovely.
I wonder what lurks below the moon’s southern hem. 🙂
Laurie Klein says
L.L., thank you! As always, it’s a pleasure to immerse in your words.
Including these: her “southern hem.”
intriguing! Speculation is stirring . . . : > )
Katie Brewster says
Laurie,
Thank you for this lovely reading of Laura’s poem and for sharing Marjorie’s “Sixteen Inch Black & White.” I just love that she made it a concrete poem shaped as a TV!
Marjorie’s line: “every mother, father, sister, brother huddled about a set,” reminded me of this one I wrote in 2019 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the moon landing:
Cheering Eagle
20, July, 1969
I’m pushing open the sliding door –
Stepping out onto the patio,
Looking up into the night sky.
I spot the moon.
Can they really be on it?
The Apollo Astronauts.
I’m just three weeks shy of my
10th birthday – a whole decade!
NASA has probably been at work on this
Mission for longer than I’ve been on Earth.
I watched the rocket launch
From Cape Canaveral, Florida
On TV with my family –
And, now, those guys are up there.
Looking back inside the house
I see the fuzzy screen
On my aunt’s and uncle’s television set.
It’s time, it’s on!
This is IT! It’s for real –
They’re doing it!
I take one more glance up at the moon
Before stepping back through the door
From the patio to the den
Where family is sitting on the edges
Of the couch and chairs
Eyes glued to the screen
Jaws dropped, holding our breath – waiting.
Then, it happens –
Astronaut Neil Armstrong
Comes out of the Lunar Module,
He backs down the stairs
Onto the surface of our moon
And we’re all on our feet . . .
As he steps down –
We jump up.
Bethany R. says
What an incredible experience to get to watch this on TV live! Thanks so much for sharing your poem with us.
Laurie Klein says
Katie, I love the voice in your poem, youth, brimming over with tingling anticipation, and then the final turn. You bring the moment—the era!—back for me. Exhilarating, thank you!!
Katie Brewster says
Thank you,Laurie.
Glad you caught the spirit of my poem.
That’s just how I felt at the time and again when I shared it an an open community microphone local reading:)
Gratefully,
Katie
Laurie Klein says
Katie, it delights me on this rain-gray morning to imagine that setting, the listeners transported in time, freshly wonderstruck by the event as well as your spirited interpretation.
Bethany R. says
Your voice, choices, and delivery are such a gift to the Tweetspeak Poetry community, Laurie. What a beautiful piece, and poem by L.L.. I Love the apple blossom image and am mulling over this thought:
“A poem waits
for the mystery
in you—”
Laurie Klein says
Bethany, thank you. That touches my heart today.
May L.L.’s apple blossom image increasingly unfold for you in tender, unexpected ways . . .
Bethany R. says
Thank you, Laurie.