nor is it valid

to discriminate against “business documents and

school-books”; all these phenomena are important. One must make a distinction

however: when dragged into prominence by half poets, the result is not poetry,

nor till the autocrats among us can be

“literalists of

the imagination”

from "Poetry" by Marianne Moore

Poetry is everywhere, ya just gotta learn how to read the stanzas of crinkled plastic wrap caught in a raspberry bush, in the car horn symphony of Memorial Drive, in the mysterious bird calls of a nation which no longer exists, or perhaps never ever did.

Or in the bones of an ancient deer, backlight by stained glass windows in a chapel wearing the clothes of a museum.

Here, let's listen to some literalists of the imagination, bards of observation, and songsters with shards of reality for plectrums.

Enjoy a sprawling ramble, my sonic rovers!

Playlist:

• Mariya Stokes - Patron Saint
• Allison Au with the Migrations Ensemble, featuring Laila Biali - I Dream A World
• Friendly Rich - Birds 1-39
• Siach Hasadeh - Avinu Malkeinu
• Mary Ancheta - The Harvest
• Pascal Languirand - Atlantis
• Theresa White - The Murder Of Ann O'Brien
• Eikichi Kazari - Two Children's Songs
• Gabriel Pick, featuring Emily Steinwall - SHAPESHIFTER
• Bono Gaspare - Country Polka
• Francisco Federico & Antonio Gonzalez - La Tolota
• Woody Guthrie - Deportee - Woody's Home Tape
• Buffalo Nichols - Belly Of The Beast
• Billy Bragg, featuring Wilco - Walt Whitman's Niece
• Isipini Na hEireann - The Silver Spear / The Congress Reel / The Gleanntan Reel
• Osian Ellis - The Old Man's Ballad (Pan Ceddwn I Gynt Yn Fachgen)
• Motherlode - Lilac Wine
• Albert Collins - Funky
• Lemon Bucket Orkestra - Marsa Reel
• Magnolia Sisters - Sept Ans Sur Mer (Seven Years On The Sea)
• Aysanabee - Dream Catcher
• Lawrence Martin - Back To The Land
• Cisco Houston - Tying A Knot In The Devil's Tail
• The Gun Club - Preaching The Blues