KPFA - Cover to Cover with Jack FoleyAuthor: KPFA
A celebration of the art of poetry. A well-known poet himself, Jack Foleys considerable historical knowledge and his awareness of the current scene are incorporated into his radio shows and have made them a kaleidoscopic, always stimulating attraction for anyone interested in poetry. Language: en-us Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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KPFA’S 71ST BIRTHDAY POEM
Wednesday, 15 April, 2020
My mind returns always to poetry Not as a task but as a blessed relief It is the spontaneous, generous gift, “grace,” “Free, and totally unexpected, and Undeserved.” Someone remarked About Flannery O’Connor’s characters That they were all seeking grace But grace, like poetry, cannot be sought My mind returns to poetry Not as a task and certainly not as a job But as a sudden, spontaneous, often surprising Lifting of consciousness, a blessing surely, Like the moment when your sins are entirely forgiven Or the moment when you understand That the person looking at you Loves you entirely and without reserve And would, if it were possible, take on your death. “Poetry,” wrote W.H. Auden, famously, “Makes nothing happen,” but I think this is wrong. Poetry IS the happening, the chance encounter with the angel, The sudden blessedness. It announces itself as a “feeling,” A piece of “music” in the mind That tells you, “Now is the time.” It does not transform the world like a program to end unemployment Or a vaccine that will cure coronavirus, It transforms YOU–you become a beacon, a light, The sudden, submissive vehicle of a consciousness That holds you and forces you, often reluctantly, To stand unalterably in its shining. Today is the birthday of KPFA-FM. It is 71, nine years younger than I, Though I have been broadcasting on it since 1988. For more years than most people have been alive KPFA has honored not only the political, The transformation of the world, But the transformation that occurs within the listener, The transformation that comes with the infusion of words and ideas. Echoing Cocteau, Jack Spicer said the poet Was a radio. The device becomes the person When your ears are tuned to a channel of endless, eloquent hope. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO A COMMUNITY RADIO STATION OF VERY LONG STANDING The post KPFA’S 71ST BIRTHDAY POEM appeared first on KPFA.
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