Monday, January 9, 2012

Jules





I dreamed
he was my father;

that I came
from hard water
tucked in his timeline
between New York
and Hollywood,

a summer
of root crops
and soy beans,
wild oats sown
in a Hoosier farm girl.

I craved a king,
some kind of Ramses
from heaven,
to strut clean,
make good the role.

Maybe I understood
the Mongol,
the far-off Tartar,
as not so magnificent
a number as seven.



tk/January 2012


Listen to R.A.D. Stainforth read this poem:


Image:  Lee Friedlander

51 comments:

  1. that's a fine tribute. my favorite was the king of siam, with ramses a close 2nd

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  2. Oh, it would never do to have Yummy Yul as my daddy... there are laws against that sort of thing! *wink*

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  3. Nice work! Oh my gosh, I love this new reader that you have! His voice is amazing a makes your poems pop! I also like it when you read as well! :)

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  4. 'that i came from hard water tucked in his timeline'....stunning line,xx

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  5. Excellent words and great meaning.

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  6. I like this a lot, especially how you've woven the cultural references with the mythic, built a story from so few words. Wonderful!

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  7. Tess,
    As King Mongkut and RamesesII he exuded a regal bearing. As Chris the Magnificent he could maintain the same aura even in cowboy garb. Such was he an actor! Great verse!

    Hank

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  8. A wonderful tribute Tess.

    Anna :o]

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  9. Nicely captured a conjunction in space and time that, although slipped into the stream of the past, is rapidly returned by your verse.

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  10. oo la la nicely written tess...love the city back drop in the pic...and very nice blend you put in there of culture and fantasy

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  11. One of Friedlander's best photographs ... packed like your poem is with images ...

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  12. Ms. Geek, Stainforth's voice is amazing. He delivers my poetry on a silver platter!

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  13. R.A.D. delivers per usual,
    of course it is lovely to hear
    him tackle "Hoosier" with an
    extra syllable dangling; reminds
    us that a half a planet apart,
    there are still things to share.
    Really, this is a naughty tribute
    for you still worked in some
    randy and lusty images that
    only a stepdaughter could get
    away with. I have to find out
    the derivation of "Jules" yet.

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  14. I love the wonder in this, the ray of hope the girl gets from imagining it as her father.

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  15. How odd. I wrote the same poem in my way without seeing yours.

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  16. Quite the paean to Mr.Brynner. I like the distance you stress between king/magnificent and common/hoosier farm girl

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  17. What a great take on that picture!

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  18. Glenn, I rather like Stainforth's charming pronunciation of Hoosier. There's nothing dangling about it, in the least. I'm not a stepdaughter, by the way.

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  19. This is incredible, Tess! I love "that I came from hard water" and "wild oats sown in a Hoosier farm girl."

    ~Shawna
    (rosemarymint.wordpress.com)

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  20. Marvellous Tess.

    And I saw him in the London run with Deborah Kerr.

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  21. Thank you for the prompt I had fun with this one...and I realy liked your poem.

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  22. Goodness, the stepdaughter mention
    refers to the lady of the verse, finding
    such attraction for the king, and
    I certainly would never make a
    derogatory comment about the
    R.A.D. narrations, the pronunciation
    just tickled me is all.

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  23. All so interesting. k.

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  24. Beautiful, Tess.I loved this.(Actually, my first thought was "Damn, girl. That's good stuff!" but that sounded glib, so I started to revise it, but it was a true response.)

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  25. Oh yes. He was such a powerful actor. The first person (I think) I knew of to have a shaven head.

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  26. i do love the Friedlander photos you have been using. Yes, the dream of a farm girl's mom having a romance with someone like this. sort of Oz
    like though I am getting that from my imagination.

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  27. i love the anything is possible feeling!

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  28. Love this...He was a commanding figure. Nice tribute to his work.

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  29. love this image- so much can be found in it- and your poem is divine!

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  30. You always capture the spirit...

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  31. did u really dream he was your father? my dad and he were born in the same town, in the same time. my dad's cousin was best friends with his sister.

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  32. Zongrik, yes, I had a vivid dream in which my grandfather called the family together to tell me that Yul Brynner was my biological father...crazy...

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  33. Love this tribute to a favorite of mine. What a great shot too.

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  34. So intriguing. I always learn here at Willow Manor.

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  35. Great poetic tribute to a fine actor!

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  36. Why is it that so many other Blog poets bore me after a time, but you never do? This is not a rhetorical question - I demand an answer (in verse, if possible)

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  37. Alan

    It gives a quiet
    little thrill
    to know I satisfy
    you still

    enough to draw
    you back for quirk
    and wordy craw
    my friend.

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  38. A glorious tribute and write Tess!
    :-).....gotta love Yul! :-)

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  39. Dear Tess: Incredible magic you weave in this dream of Yul! Me too; yah he's hot tartar!

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  40. The King would have been proud to call you offspring .....

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  41. He was a handsome man and that Russian bearing made him irresistible

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  42. dreams of a hoosier girl
    wonderful, Tess

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  43. Oh, Tess, this is truly wonderful!

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Inject a few raisins of conversation into the tasteless dough of existence.
― O. Henry (and me)