Posts By Dave Bonta
Triple Sonnet of the Plush Pony Part 3, by Anne Carson
Poem by Anne Carson, from Possessive Used as Drink (Me), a lecture on pronouns in the form of 15 sonnets
Video by Sadie Wilcox
See “Recipe” for more information on the production.
Cadáver by Daniel Iván
Poem and video by Daniel Iván
The Ruin (anonymous Anglo-Saxon)
Anonymous Anglo-Saxon poem
Film by Stuart Lee (including the reading and translation)
The anachronistic contrast between modern ruins and Anglo Saxon language and costume is extremely effective here. Kudos to Mr. Lee, and I hope more Anglo-Saxon poetry videos are in the offing.
Haiku by Ryôkan
Video illustration by erikdegroot88 of a haiku by Ryôkan Daigu
The Heat of Autumn by Jane Hirshfield
Poem by Jane Hirshfield (reading by Flora Coker)
Animation by Adam Deniston for the Poetry Foundation’s Poetry Everywhere series
The Aftermath of Magic by K. R. Copeland
http://www.vimeo.com/3697438
A video collaboration between K. R. Copeland (poem) and Donna Kuhn (video). The text may be read here.
Umeed-e-Sahar (Hope of the Dawn) by Faiz Ahmed Faiz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8gJcwh4k88
Poem by the great Faiz Ahmed Faiz.
Music and video by Laal.
Love the interplay between the text of the poem and the drama in the video. The Wikipedia article linked above says that Laal are
known for singing socialist political songs, especially those written by leftist Urdu poets such as Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Habib Jalib and Ahmed Faraz. The band received mainstream attention during the Lawyers’ Movement, in which it led support to the reinstatement of the then deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad. […] Laal has not only managed to reconnect the people of Pakistan to the forgotten revolutionary socialist poets, but also introduced them to the youth
—which should serve as a reminder that, in some cultures, poetry still retains considerable power.
Angkor Wat by Remy Mansfield
Video and poem by Remy Mansfield
The Orange Girl by Odysseus Elytis
Poem (“Portokolenia”) by Odysseus Elytis
Video by gobraingo, who also provided the following English translation:
THE ORANGE GIRL
She became so intoxicated by the sun’s juice
That she bowed her head and consented
Slowly slowly to become: the little Orange Girl!And so while the seven skies glittered with blue
And so while the crystals touched a fire
And so while swallow-tails flashed
Angels above were bewildered and girls below
Storks above were bewildered and peacocks below
And all gathered together and saw her together
And all together called her: the little Orange Girl!Vineshoots and scorpions reel drunkenly the whole world is drunk
But the sting of dawn will not leave pain alone
The dwarf heron says it amid the earthworms
The drip-drop of water says it amid golden moments
And the dew says it to the lips of the good North Wind:Get up O small small small Orange Girl!
No one knows you as the kiss knows you
Nor does the laughing god know you
Who with his hand open to the flaming glare of the sun
Exposes you naked before his thirty-two winds
Miss Dix Opens a School for the Indigent by Ren Powell
Poem and animation by Ren Powell
For a higher-quality version of the video, see here.
