The talented Ronaldo Antonio Dent Stainforth, better known as
R.A.D. Stainforth, of Manchester, U.K., has been kind enough to audio record my poems, and post them to YouTube. I send him the weekly text, and his velvety-voiced interpretation is flawlessly spot on every time. He recently suggested the exciting notion of making video clips of my poetry, taking my words to a new dramatic level. Stay tuned for various and sundry poetical venues, dear readers. Thank you, R.A.D.
Cull
I
sunburn
under
your
late-summer
eyes,
our
tongues hinge,
then
come apart
like
two rakes,
side
by side.
We
cull essence,
swallow
brine
with
the tang
of
Russian vodka
in
your mouth,
the
silvery-cold taste
of
well water in mine.
tk/March 2012
image: Uzengia Aleksander Nedic
i think you're being franchised! yikes!
ReplyDeleteAnd the Cro Magnon reading... a full length Hollywood film?
ReplyDelete"the silvery-cold taste
ReplyDeleteof well water in mine."
perfect metaphore.
Wonderfully sensual!
ReplyDeletePoems? forget the poems, I want to see more of that sexy RAD. Just the kind of looks I adore. Wowsie.
ReplyDeleteJust kidding though. The poem tastes of spring and renewed love. Very sensual.
Suki stay tuned...the sexy R.A.D. tells me the video will be a regular feature...yum...
ReplyDeletethe silvery-cold taste of well water in mine.
ReplyDeleteExcellent words!
Fantastic! I have tasted that well water.
ReplyDeleteCull may be my all time favorite Tess poem ~~ magnificent. All the more so with the voice and image of the great R.A.D. (and the cigarette of course, bad boy)
ReplyDeleteThis is exciting! Now we have more than one way to enjoy your words. But what is the significance of the cigarette? I watched several yesterday and he is smoking in each one.
ReplyDeleteGary the cigarette is Stainforth's trademark...a sexy-literary Peter Cook sort of thing...
ReplyDeletei agree...this must be one of your best ever....absolutely wonderful words.
ReplyDeleteUm... yes, please!
ReplyDeleteThought and feeling crystallized.
ReplyDeletePoems seldom come closer to perfect than this.
Ah....
ReplyDeleteIt works!
Beautiful words, Tess and what a great reading, that works so well:)
ReplyDeleteAhhh...well water...I remember it well:)
ReplyDeleteLaurel we have well water at Willow Manor...icy cold and delicious...
ReplyDeleteThank you, Tess, for all you do. This poem is of course among your best.
ReplyDeleteSomething expressively creative floats inside the aquafer that feeds the Scioto River and your well. Brilliantly penned, dear friend. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteour tongues hinge
ReplyDeleteand
we cull essence
are both very nice lines tess
Very sensual. I don't know whether I should have a stiff drink or go pester my wife.
ReplyDeleteWonderful poem! Like Brian I love the hinged tongues!
ReplyDeleteYou know I am an attorney in my real life, which makes it very hard for me to really cut loose in the blog! I am thinking of starting something anonymous!
Thanks for this--lovely. K.
Oh wow, first off ... that guy did a phenomenal job with your poem. His delivery is perfect in his verbal interpretation and expression of your words. I know you are in awe of what he created; the smoking interspersed and his sideward glances ... whew. I am taken aback.
ReplyDelete"sunburn under summer eyes" is a brilliant expression of his heat, the determined glare wearing you down and penetrating your outer layers
"we cull essence" ... mmmmm, this is yummy and fills my well with liquid soul
Loved the contrast between your mouth and his, your essence and his, you and him ... rakes pulling each other apart.
This is so hot. :)
~Shawna
rosemarymint.wordpress.com
Very sensual. Lovely prose.
ReplyDeleteExquisite poem, Tess-- lyrical and unexpected, brand new as in make it new imagery.. bravissima! mine's up and you might enjoy the one I posted before it titled Bad-Ass.. xxxj
ReplyDeleteI'm in love!
ReplyDeleteAs powerful as ever, Tess. And you're right, the videos take your work to a new dramatic level.
ReplyDeleteWell water ! -can't drink vodka any more- but this is a familiar memory; thanks.
ReplyDeletegorgeous...
ReplyDeleteI sunburn
under your
late-summer eyes,
today I seem to be destined to read words I would I'd written... :)
Tess has the ultimate lover ! . Cant wait to see the clip, got blown away when i saw the animated version of Ginsbergs Howl, poetry is something very powerful when brought to screen. Even while im writing this Beowulf springs to mind.
ReplyDeletePassion Poem .
Verrrry nice!
ReplyDeletewhat can I add to what's already been said? not a whole lot ... wonderful poem, wonderful performance ... made me thirsty beyond belief ...
ReplyDeletetook a whole different track ... great prompt Tess and lovely poem
mine's up at THE WAY EYE SEE IT if you're so inclined ...
http://aleapingelephant.blogspot.com/2012/03/in-dawn.html
Lovely stuff!
ReplyDeleteAnna :o]
Beautiful read, Tess! Hey, that guy did a good job! We'll be seeing more definitely!
ReplyDeleteHank
fabulous imagery!
ReplyDeleteWow! sensual.
ReplyDeleteDear Tess: Oh how sexy is the Mr. Ronaldo~! Suddenly I have this urge for Russian vodka?
ReplyDeleteOnly if it includes a private reading~! Great sensualism~!"cull" oh never heard it quite that way~hmmmm...
How seductive can you get? This is what poetry can do!
ReplyDeleteSmoking? Sexy? No..
very sensual loved it thank you x
ReplyDeleteDo I see a media-empire in your future! ;-)
ReplyDeleteWonderful news, great poem, fantastic interpretation!
Wow...that is one amazing kiss Tess!!!! Wonderful writing as always!! :-)
ReplyDeleteThis is just overwhelmingly beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThanks Tess, good poem!
ReplyDelete"cold tast of well water in mine" Very good line, cant tell you why I like it so much, but I do...
Wander
The harsh and the gentle (you burned by his gaze, melting)
ReplyDeleteThe pure and toxic (your water, his liquor).
A melding of spirits - the yin and the yang.
Wonderful imagery, sweet friend. (Hugs)Indigo
Another wonderful poem, but have to admit I like just the voice best.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's the cigarette?
so unsexy for me
very nice imagery...thanks for this
ReplyDeleteSo sensual, I love it.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely adored the first stanza!
Thanks for the read =)
It not only works, it does things to me! Thanks indeed!
ReplyDeleteTess, I just had to share (in case you haven't been by my blog yet)...
ReplyDeleteIn celebration of the 70th anniversary of the movie Casablanca, it is being shown ON THE BIG SCREEN once more! All over the USA!!! One night only: March 21, 2012.
Visit my blog for a link to a list of participating theaters.
I'm so excited, I'm telling everybody!!!
May I thank everyone who commented on this reading? I love all of you!
ReplyDeleteOh my! Well written and extremely well read!
ReplyDeleteMy girls swear their excellent immune systems derive from the cold clear well water they were raised on:)
Superb, as always. An added delight, the vid...
ReplyDeleteWonderful, wonderful writing as always and now the added goodie of not just the voice but the view of 'the voice'. A perfect combination Tess and RAD and it has to be a pleasure for you Tess, to have your beautiful poetry read (and he didn't read it - he knows it!) by such a talented man. (Shades of John Osbourne......)
ReplyDeletetres sensual.
ReplyDeleteNice! I especially like that last stanza.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to your Stainforth Tubes.
perfect match
ReplyDeleteTess - I love that! Reminds me of my old summer vodka kisses...muah! :-)
ReplyDeleteYour words and his reading combine to form the essence of perfection! Why doesn't MY well water taste that good?!!
ReplyDeleteI forgot to comment on your exciting news. Congrats. Keep us posted.
ReplyDeleteHow fantastic -your blog, banner & photography are simply stunning (as of course are your words) tone of love from the gang from 29 Black xoxo
ReplyDeleteJust thinking of all you do is amazing to me. You manage a life AND all of this. You create poetry, find appropriate photos to post on more than one blog, do Facebook entries, etc., etc. How is it that you can have all this time and energy?? I am amazed and in awe!
ReplyDeleteTeri, I do? I was just thinking what an idle blob of jelly I am! Thank you, dear friend...I so needed to hear that today...
ReplyDeleteDearest lovely readers, thank you! Thank you for not only reading my stuff, but leaving such generous comments. Thanks, too, for appreciating the talented Mr. Stainforth. I know I always say this, but you are the best. You really are.
ReplyDeleterussian vodka -> you must know my dad
ReplyDeletedepth of field
Yowza!
ReplyDeleteI'm in love.
Lurve the poem. Sexy, intimate, evocative but the title? Cull suggests a discarding. Is that what the poem is saying?
ReplyDelete(Feeling like an editor today).
Note: I love specific criticism myself. It forces me to change or to defend, but I do get the choice and the outcome is the better for it. :-)
My word - very sensuous:-)
ReplyDeleteStafford I used "cull" here in a "picking and choosing" kind of way...I think it works nicely with the concept of the rakes...
ReplyDeleteMy fave lines are:
ReplyDeleteour tongues hinge,
then come apart
I'm a big fan of tongues becoming hinged ;) Less a fan of them coming apart...can't be hinged forever though...
Thanks for the visit to my blog and your kind comments.
r.m. @ newviewfromhere.wordpress.com
I could almost taste the vodka and water in my mouth. Perhaps some poets here are aware, yet I will mention it, that "water" is "voda" in Russian. So, it's just a letter away from vodka and, in fact, vodka sounds like a diminutive of water, like "smaller water" :-) so, even linguistically, you have a hit!
ReplyDeleteMariya, I didn't know that "water" is "voda" in Russian. It makes it even more special then, since I linked the two. Thank you for that!
ReplyDelete