Haikus: February 2008

HAIKUS: February 2008

By Peter Y. Chou
WisdomPortal.com

These haikus were written as exercises in mindfulness—
an attempt to catch the fleeting moment in my daily walks,
while reading, listening to music, and pondering about life.
(Underlined words are not for emphasis but to web links.)
This web page best viewed with Times font size 14.

Friday, February 1, 2008, 11:05-11:08 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
(Listen), CD, YouTube
The Magic Flute: Queen of the Night Aria (1791)

Mozart's magic flute
dispels the Queen of Night
for those who wish for Light! Friday, February 1, 2008, 11:30-11:45 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Ludwig van Beethoven
(Listen), CD, YouTube
Piano Concerto #2 in B-Flat, Op.19 (1798)

Mozart and Beethoven
music prepares my mind
to soar with Dante.

Friday, February 1, 2008, 12:10-12:23 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Valery Gergiev conducts
Alexander Borodin,
In the Steppes of Central Asia, (1880)
(Listen) (CD) (YouTube)

Rumi was born here
before whirling westward
to the soul's center. Friday, February 1, 2008, 2:15-6:15 pm
Terrace Room, Margaret Jacks Hall, Stanford
Symposium— "Considering the Radiance:
Dante's Journey to Paradise"— Six Dante
scholars presenting papers on Dante's "Paradiso"

Why I feel so much
energy in this room?—
It's our love for Dante!

Friday, February 1, 2008, 2:30-2:43 pm
Terrace Room, Margaret Jacks Hall, Stanford
Symposium— "Considering the Radiance:
Dante's Journey to Paradise"
Elizabeth Coggeshall, Stanford University
"The Failure of Poetry in Paradiso XXXIIII"

Deep disappointment
in Dante's last four lines—
Can't tell what he saw. Friday, February 1, 2008, 2:45-3:10 pm
Terrace Room, Margaret Jacks Hall, Stanford
Symposium— "Considering the Radiance"
Simone Marchesi, Princeton University
"The Crossroads of Conceptual Poetry:
Linguistics & Poetics in Dante's Paradiso"

Dante finds harsh rhymes
for Hell but in Paradise
his voice is happy.

Friday, February 1, 2008, 3:10-3:40 pm
Terrace Room, Margaret Jacks Hall, Stanford
Symposium— "Considering the Radiance"
Professor Rachel Jacoff, Wellesly University
"Once Out of Nature"

Being beyond nature
let Dante reconfigure
the world to beauty. Friday, February 1, 2008, 3:45-4:05 pm
Terrace Room, Margaret Jacks Hall, Stanford
Symposium— "Considering the Radiance:
Dante's Journey to Paradise"
Discussion led by Jeffrey Schnapp, Stanford

Commentary tradition
of Dante doesn't take theme
of failure seriously.

Friday, February 1, 2008, 4:23-4:54 pm
Terrace Room, Margaret Jacks Hall, Stanford
Symposium— "Considering the Radiance:
Dante's Journey to Paradise"
Albert A. Ascoli, UC Berkeley
"Dante's Model for Poetry"

Dante looks to Adam
who uttered the first sound
as his model for poetry. Friday, February 1, 2008, 4:55-5:15 pm
Terrace Room, Margaret Jacks Hall, Stanford
Symposium— "Considering the Radiance:
Dante's Journey to Paradise"
Heather Webb, Ohio State University
"On Hope in Dante's Paradiso XXV"

Hope blossoms and flowers
because of God's grace and
the merit we have earned.

Friday, February 1, 2008, 5:15-5:43 pm
Terrace Room, Margaret Jacks Hall, Stanford
Symposium— "Considering the Radiance"
Robert Harrison, Stanford University
Quandries & Explorations on Dante"

Dante admires Cato
who hates tyranny so he's
the guardian of Purgatory. Friday, February 1, 2008, 5:45-6:15 pm
Terrace Room, Margaret Jacks Hall, Stanford
Symposium— "Considering the Radiance:
Dante's Journey to Paradise"
Discussion: Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht, Stanford

The more we're advanced,
the further we move away
from God— Is that so?

Friday, February 1, 2008, 6:30 pm
Terrace Room, Margaret Jacks Hall, Stanford
Symposium— "Considering the Radiance:
Dante's Journey to Paradise"
Chat with Professor Rachel Jacoff

"Once out of nature"—
her talk's title is from Yeats'
"Sailing to Byzantium" Friday, February 1, 2008, 7:00-9:40 pm
Memorial Auditorium, Stanford University
Stanford Flicks: Ang Lee directs
"Lust, Caution" (2007)
starring Tony Leung Chiu Wai & Tang Wei

Student resistance
tries to kill secret police
chief with a temptress.

Saturday, February 2, 2008, 9:54-10:04 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Enrique Granados
(Listen) CD, YouTube
Spanish Dance #5, Op. 37 'Andaluza' (1890)

He died with his wife & gold
when the Channel-crossing ship
was sunk by torpedoes. Saturday, February 2, 2008, 10:10-10:29 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Ludwig van Beethoven
(Listen), CD, YouTube (1803)
Symphony #3 in E-Flat, Op. 55 "Eroica"

Who's the hero— Not
Emperor Napoleon, but
Ludwig van Beethoven.

Saturday, February 2, 2008, 1:00 pm
Showers Drive, Mountain View
Waiting for Stanford Shuttle Bus and
seeing hundred of blackbirds overhead

A hundred restless
blackbirds circling the sky—
the storm is coming. Saturday, February 2, 2008, 2:00 pm
Green Library, Stanford University
55 paces from my computer desk, I find
Ammons' poem "City Limits" in "Briefings" (1971)

Consider the radiance—
it pours its abundance
into every nook and cranny.

Saturday, February 2, 2008, 8:45-11:55 pm
Cubberley Pavilion, Palo Alto
Tuxedo Junction Ballroom Dancing
Steve Rebello teaches Intermediate Tango

Contra-body turn,
tango close. Three swivel steps.
Two overhead turns. Sunday, February 3, 2008, 5:00 am
Home in Mountain View: Reading Ann's
gift of Poetry Magazine (January 2008) Adam Kirsch "The Taste of Silence" (pp. 340-347)

Heidegger asks "What is art?"—
He looks to a Greek temple
and Van Gogh's "Pair of Shoes".

Sunday, February 3, 2008, 12:10-12:28 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Valery Gergiev conducts
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Listen) CD, (YouTube)
Symphony #5 in E minor, Op.64 (1888)

Second movement was
played to keep the spirits high
during World War II. Sunday, February 3, 2008, 1:48-1:56 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Alexander Schneider conducts
Johann Strauss, Jr. (Listen) CD, YouTube
On the Beautiful Blue Danube, Op. 314 (1867)

Opus Three-fourteen
reminds me of π— to waltz
around the ballroom.

Sunday, February 3, 2008, 3:15-5:45 pm
Stanford Theatre, Palo Alto, Robert Donat
& Madeleine Carroll in Alfred Hitchcock's
"The 39 Steps" (1935). London Palladium:

Mr. Memory—
"What are the 39 Steps?"
Code for silent plane. Sunday, February 3, 2008, 5:55-7:20 pm
Stanford Theatre, Palo Alto, John Gielgud,
Madeleine Carroll, & Peter Lorre in
Alfred Hitchcock's "The Secret Agent" (1936)

Hilarious chase
in chocolate factory
when alarm goes off.

Monday, February 4, 2008, 1:06-1:21 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Antonin Dvorak
(Listen) CD, YouTube
Suite In A major, Op. 98b "American" (1895)

Composed in New York
but there are czardas dance
music from Slovakia. Monday, February 4, 2008, 1:41-2:02 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Ludwig van Beethoven
(Listen), CD, YouTube (1808)
Symphony #6 in F major, Op. 68 "Pastoral"

Love of country life
inspired Beethoven to write
Pastoral Symphony.

Monday, February 4, 2008, 2:22 pm
El Camino Real, Palo Alto: On Bus #522
Meditating on the title of Elaine Scarry's
upcoming talk: "The Call to Poetry"

The Call to Poetry—
Conference of the Birds calling
us to return home.
Monday, February 4, 2008, 2:32 pm
Palo Alto: On Stanford Shuttle C-Line Bus
Meditating on the title of Elaine Scarry's
upcoming talk: "The Call to Poetry"

Keats, Shelley, Byron
all tell me their secret to
live in the moment.

Monday, February 4, 2008, 3:15 pm
Green Library, Stanford University
Reading Elaine Scarry: poetry & numbers
in "Harvard Gazette" (June 17, 1999)

Poetry is an act
of counting and marking words
in numbers and lines.
Monday, February 4, 2008, 7:00-8:35 pm
Stanford Humanities Center
Professor Elaine Scarry, Harvard University
"The Call to Poetry" ("Lightening vi & vii")

Seamus Heaney writes
about Thomas Hardy as
a child among sheep.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008, 1:06-1:21 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Evgeni Kissin plays
Beethoven (Listen), CD, YouTube, Analysis (1809)
Piano Concerto #5 in Eb "Emperor", Op. 73

Music lovers crowned
Beethoven as Emperor—
best composer of all. Tuesday, February 5, 2008, 2:09-2:11 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Yo-Yo Ma plays Bach
(Listen) CD, YouTube (1808)
Cello Suite #1 in G, BMV 1007

Yo-Yo Ma makes Bach's
Cello Suite sing like a lark
sweeping me skyward.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008, 7:30-9:30 pm
Memorial Auditorium, Stanford University
Francis Collins, "God and the Genome" (Book)
Rose Window at Yorkminster & Axis of β-DNA

God may be found in
the Rose Window as well as
the human genome.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008, 10:30-11:30 pm
Green Library, Stanford University
Stanford pre-med student Samuel Hoang
tells me his love for existential literature

Keats was a doctor.
Thoreau sees evolution.
Loves Camus' Stranger.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008, 4:00-5:40 pm
Stanford Humanities Center
Joan Acocella, The New Yorker
"Reviewing: Is It an Art or a Craft?"

Reading a review
is an artistic pleasure
like Montaigne essay.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008, 7:00 pm
Stanford Green Library: Found Image #11
of Francis Collins, "God and the Genome" talk
Dirk Willems escapes, then saves his pursuer

He escapes prison
but turns back to save the guard
who fell in the ice.

Thursday, February 7, 2008, 12:00-1:05 pm
Stanford Humanities Center
Joan Acocella, The New Yorker
Discussion: Writer's Block ("Blocked" 6-14-2004)

Writer's block— they stopped
writing for fear of failure
or the lack of fire?
Thursday, February 7, 2008, 12:00-1:05 pm
Stanford Humanities Center
Joan Acocella, The New Yorker
Discussion: Writer's Block ("Blocked" 6-14-2004)

Your lead should hook and
grab readers. Then pierce
the veil to awaken them.

Thursday, February 7, 2008, 4:15-5:45 pm
Building 60, Room 120, Stanford University
Prof. Masahiro Shimoda, University of Tokyo
Mahayana's "Nirvana Sutra" (Buddha's Bodies)

Buddha's diamond body
smashed to be dispersed like seeds
so Dharma may grow.
Thursday, February 7, 2008, 7:00-10:30 pm
Old Union, Room 122, Stanford University
Round-Table Discussion on Francis Collins's
Tuesday talk "God and the Genome"

Science can't answer—
"Should I live or die?, How to
find love? Why am I here?"

Friday, February 8, 2008, 12:06-12:27 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Alfred Brendel plays
Beethoven (Listen), CD, YouTube (1798)
Piano Concerto #2 in B-flat major, Op.19

Allegro con brio—
opens on the tonic chord
with triumphant note. Friday, February 8, 2008, 1:02-1:37 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Stephen Kovacevich plays
Edvard Grieg, Piano Concerto in A, Op. 16
(Listen) CD, YouTube (1869)

Grieg's most popular
tune used often in films
for its exuberance.

Saturday, February 9, 2008, 10:41-10:47 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Hansjörg Schellenberger plays
Tomasso Albinoni (Listen), CD, YouTube (1722)
Oboe Concerto in D minor, Op.9 #2

The oboe plays such
a beautiful slow movement—
tender, uplifting. Saturday, February 9, 2008, 8:45-11:55 pm
Cubberley Pavilion, Palo Alto
Tuxedo Junction Ballroom Dancing (YouTube)
James Kleinrath teaches Intermediate Cha Cha

Chinese New Year and
Valentine party tonight
with lots of food to eat.

Sunday, February 10, 2008, 3:00-5:50 pm
California Theatre, 345 South, 1st Street, San Jose
Giuseppe Verdi, "Rigoletto" (Listen)
Duke of Mantua sings "La donna è mobile"

Woman is fickle
like a feather in the wind—
mind always changing. Sunday, February 10, 2008, 8:00-10:50 pm
Memorial Auditorium, Stanford Flicks:
Farah_Khan directs "Om Shanti Om" (2007)
starring Shah Rukh Khan & Deepika Padukone

When you wish for something
hard enough, the universe
will fulfill your dream.

Monday, February 11, 2008, 11:34-11:46 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Jonathan Biss plays
Beethoven (Listen), CD, YouTube
Piano Sonata #27 in E minor, Op.90 (1814)

Head & Heart at war—
Restless movement yields
to quiet melody of peace. Monday, February 11, 2008, 11:52 am-12:01 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Eiji Oue conducts
Claude Debussy (Listen), CD, YouTube
Reverie (1890), Emily Dickinson's Poem 1755

To make a prairie
it takes a clover & bee
and some revery.

Monday, February 11, 2008, 5:00-6:25 pm
Stanford Humanities Center
Professor Elaine Scarry, Harvard University
"The Muse in Homer & Hobbes"

Hobbes translated Homer's
Iliad and Odyssey
at age eighty-seven.
Monday, February 11, 2008, 8:15 pm
Green Library, Stanford University
Reading about David Tyree (NY Giants)
(New York Times, Feb. 11, 2008)

From jailed drug dealer
to greatest Super Bowl catch—
Tyree changed his life.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008, 12:44-1:11 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Pierre Boulez conducts
Claude Debussy (Listen), CD, YouTube (Notes)
Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun (1894)

The flute of the faun
brings fresh air of music
inspired by Mallarmé. Tuesday, February 12, 2008, 1:15-1:34 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Eiji Oue conducts
Paul Dukas (Listen), CD, YouTube
Sorcerer's Apprentice (1897)

Disney borrowed from
Paul Dukas who was inspired
by Goethe's folk tale.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008, 12:44-1:11 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: George Frederick Handel
(Listen), CD, YouTube
Water Music: Suite #2 in D major (1717)

Suite played for the King—
when the boats came closer
music became soft and slow. Wednesday, February 13, 2008, 1:30 pm
Reading San Jose Mercury News (2-13-2008)
"Dear Abby: What's Wrong with the World"
Readers: Apathy, greed, intolerance, irresponsibility.

What's wrong with the world—
Not caring for each other.
Not knowing ourself.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008, 4:10-5:38 pm
Stanford Humanities Center
Professor Elaine Scarry, Harvard University
"Seminar on Imagining Color"

Daydreamed images
are never as sharp as those
we see when awake.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008, 4:10-5:38 pm
Stanford Humanities Center
Professor Elaine Scarry, Harvard University
"Seminar on Imagining Color"

Imagine silver
or chrome. See a scratch,
and the metal is brighter.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008, 7:30-9:10 pm
Campbell Recital Hall, Braun Music Center
Celebration of Emily Dickinson's Life & Work
"The Music Emily Heard (and Played)"
Researched, and directed by David Giovacchini

Emily's music—
playing the piano to
her father's delight.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008, 7:30-9:10 pm
Campbell Recital Hall, Braun Music Center
Celebration of Emily Dickinson's Life & Work
"The Music Emily Heard (and Played)"
Researched, and directed by David Giovacchini

Hymns that inspired her—
writing poems to their rhythm
with her point of view.

Thursday, February 14, 2008, 1:03-1:20 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Erich Kunzel conducts
Aram Khachaturian (Listen), CD, YouTube
Spartacus: Adagio, Op. 82 (1954/1968)

Khachaturian's ballet—
Spartacus and Phrygia
so much in love. Thursday, February 14, 2008, 1:32-2:01 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Jean-Yves Thibaudet plays
Sergei Rachmaninoff (Listen), CD, YouTube
Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini, Op. 43 (1934)

It's Valentine's Day—
O Cupid! Inspire me to
write a line of gold!

Friday, February 15, 2008, 12:12 am
Stanford Oval: Waiting for Shuttle Bus
Midnight Express to Palo Alto Train Depot
Seeing Halo-ring around the Half Moon

Half Moon is smiling—
She has a ring from the Earth
on Valentine's Day! Friday, February 15, 2008, 4:45 am
KSFO 560 AM: Coast-to-Coast AM
George Noory interviews Lynne McTaggart
"Mind-over-Matter Experiments"

Master healers shed
their egos— use intentions
to cure illnesses.

Friday, February 15, 2008, 12:47-12:53 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Franz Joseph Haydn
(Listen), CD
Symphony #96 in D "Miracle" (1791)

No one got hurt when
the chandelier fell— so it's
called The Miracle. Friday, February 15, 2008, 1:07-1:16 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Amilcare Ponchielli
(Listen), CD, YouTube
La Gioconda: Dance of the Hours (1876)

Hours not galloping
away but dancing if you
just slow down your mind.

Saturday, February 16, 2008, 9:18-9:20 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: James Ehnes plays
Fritz Kreisler, (Listen), CD, YouTube
Schön Rosmarin; La Precieuse (1910)

Fair Rosmarin— Fritz
Kreisler etches your beauty
with this charming bon-bon. Saturday, February 16, 2008, 9:45-9:56 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Alexandre Tharaud plays
Frederic Chopin, (Listen), CD, YouTube
Three Waltzes (1835)

Chopin's waltzes played
with sensitive rubato
and rhythmic control.

Saturday, February 16, 2008, 11:45 am
Green Library, Stanford University
Reading "Dumb & Dumber: Are Americans Hostile to Knowledge?" (NY Times, Feb. 14, 2008)

Fifth grader's disbelief—
"Hungry is a country?
That's stranger than Turkey!" Saturday, February 16, 2008, 11:55 am
Green Library, Stanford University
(NY Times, Feb. 14, 2008) Overheard by Susan Jacoby, "Age of American Unreason" author

Two men in a bar—
"9/11 is like Pearl Harbor
that started the Vietnam War."

Saturday, February 16, 2008, 7:09-7:21 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Yo-Yo Ma & Emanuel Ax play
Franz Schubert, (Listen), CD, YouTube
"Trout" Quintet in A (1819)

Schubert's "Trout" Quintet
played by five musicians—
great visioning fishing. Saturday, February 16, 2008, 7:21-7:28 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Jean-François Paillard plays
Johann Pachelbel, (Listen), CD, YouTube
Canon in D major (1680)

Pachelbel's Canon in D—
28 repetitions
of the ground bass.

Sunday, February 17, 2008, 10:31-10:42 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Leonard Slatkin conducts
Alexander Borodin, (Listen), CD, YouTube
String Quartet #2 in D, 3rd movement (1881)

Chemist-composer
cooking us another tune
to cheer up our heart. Sunday, February 17, 2008, 11:26-11:40 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Gil Shaham plays
Camille Saint-Saens, (Listen), CD, YouTube
Violin Concerto #3 in B minor, Op. 61 (1880)

Dream of swan flying
just above the lake—
landing on the other shore.

Sunday, February 17, 2008, 12:04-12:20 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Barry Douglas plays
Sergei Rachmaninoff, (Listen), CD, YouTube
Piano Concerto #2 in c minor, Op.18 (1900)

Tolstoy couldn't help him
out from his writer's block
but a hypnotist did! Sunday, February 17, 2008, 1:00-3:00 pm
Friend takes me grocery shopping at
New Castro Street Market, Trader's Joe,
Milk Pail, and Safeway

Cod fillets, bok choy,
tofu, dumplings, sprouts,
garlic, onions, eggs, and milk.

Sunday, February 17, 2008, 8:00 pm
Stanford Green Library: Reading stray book
Katherine Mansfield's "Letters & Journals"
(Menton, France, November 7, 1920)

Kissing is a queer thing—
Golden leaf fell from a tree
and flew to kiss her. Sunday, February 17, 2008, 10:00-11:47 pm
Memorial Auditorium, Stanford Flicks:
Kevin Lima directs "Enchanted" (2007)
starring Amy Adams & Patrick Dempsey

Fairy tale princess
comes to this world to sing
and make us fall in love.

Monday, February 18, 2008, 11:00-11:06 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Valery Gergiev conducts
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, (Listen), CD, YouTube
Swan Lake: Dances, Op. 20 (1876)

Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake
lifts me up from my dreams
to dance in wakefulness. Monday, February 18, 2008, 12:16-12:30 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Claudio Abbado conducts
Ludwig van Beethoven, (Listen), CD, YouTube
Symphony #7 in A major, Op. 92 (1812)

Beethoven's Seventh—
ascent to seventh chakra
of symphonic light.

Monday, February 18, 2008, 7:30-9:30 pm
Stanford Theatre, Palo Alto, Joel McCrea
& Laraine Day in Alfred Hitchcock's
"Foreign Correspondent" (1940)

Chasing an assassin
to the Dutch countryside
filled with whirling windmills. Monday, February 18, 2008, 9:40-11:31 pm
Stanford Theatre, Palo Alto
Ingrid Bergman & Gregory Peck in
Alfred Hitchcock's "Spellbound" (1945)

Imposter or real?
Is amnesia hiding his
innocence or guilt?

Tuesday, February 19, 2008, 11:05-11:12 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Daniel Hope plays Bach
(Listen), CD, YouTube, Notes, (1723)
Double Violin Concerto in D minor, BWV 1043

Violins competing
complimenting each other
in perfect harmony. Tuesday, February 19, 2008, 12:05-12:20 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: John Eliot Gardiner conducts
Henry Purcell, (Listen), CD, YouTube
The Fairy Queen: Dances (1692)

Opera celebrates
marriage of William & Mary
while children dance as fairies.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008, 10:30 pm
Green Library, Stanford University
Finding Claude Bragdon's quote in his
book "Four-dimensional vistas" (1923)

The point, the line, the surface,
the sphere— in the seed,
stem, leaf, and fruit appear. Wednesday, February 20, 2008, 1:11 am
Coming home to Mountain View: Seeing full moon
with hazy halo overhead (February's Snow Moon).
Full Moon: 2-21-2008, 3:30 Greenwich Time (UT)

Beautiful Full Moon
glistens with hazy halo—
Bright Eye of the Night!

Wednesday, February 20, 2008, 11:43-11:50 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Van Cliburn plays Beethoven
(Listen), CD, YouTube, Analysis, (1801)
Moonlight Sonata #14, Opus 27, #2

Homage to the Moon
as Beethoven would do it
with beauty and grace. Wednesday, February 20, 2008, 12:00-1:00 pm
Home in Mountain View: Reading books on color.
Finding color citations in the Bible Concordance
and Paul Brunton's dedication to the color orange

Covers his book with
orange like the sage who
wraps his body with same.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008, 4:00-5:35 pm
Stanford Humanities Center
Professor Elaine Scarry, Harvard University
"Seminar 2 on Imagining Color"

Hypnagogic state
between waking and sleep—
a deluge of colors.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008, 7:00-8:40 pm
Stanford History Corner, Building 200, Room 13
Professor Philip Fisher, Harvard University
"Small Scale Aesthetics"

Merrill's image fades
from the windowpane as does
Jasper Johns' Land's End.

Thursday, February 21, 2008, 12:46-12:52 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Livia Sohn plays Georges Bizet
(Listen), CD, YouTube (1863)
The Pearl Fishers: Romance

The pearl of great price—
not found in the ocean but
deep within yourself. Thursday, February 21, 2008, 3:50 pm
Ortega Avenue, Mountain View
Bare sycamore trees to my left,
blooming plum trees to my right.

Black sycamore fruits
like bells tolling for death
as plum blossoms to life.

Friday, February 22, 2008, 9:05-9:25 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
(Listen), CD, YouTube (1863)
Serenade #13 in G "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik", K525

Little night music
will not lull me back to sleep
for talks at Stanford. Friday, February 22, 2008, 10:00 am
Stanford Humanities Center
Literature & Cognitive Science: Irony
Elaine Scarry, Harvard Dept. of English

Different rules reading
newspaper than a novel—
How does our mind switch?

Friday, February 22, 2008, 7:30-9:15 pm
Stanford Theatre, Palo Alto
Robert Walker & Farley Granger in
Alfred Hitchcock's "Stranger in the Train" (1951)

Bruno's swap murder
plot is so demonic that
your spine will shiver. Friday, February 22, 2008, 9:25-10:45 pm
Stanford Theatre, Palo Alto, James Stewart
John Dall, & Farley Granger in
Alfred Hitchcock's "Rope" (1948)

Two college kids kill
for thrill and hide victim
in chest for the party.

Saturday, February 23, 2008, 11:11-11:17 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Johann Sebastian Bach
(Listen), CD, YouTube (1719)
Brandenburg Concerto #5 in D, BWV 1050

Bach's music always
fill me with energy so
I'm inspired to work. Saturday, February 23, 2008, 8:45-11:55 pm
Cubberley Pavilion, Palo Alto
Tuxedo Junction Ballroom Dancing (YouTube)
James Kleinrath teaches Intermediate Rumba

Rumba crossover break,
Under arm turn, rope spin,
aida, rocks, and swivels.

Sunday, February 24, 2008, 2:00 pm
Ortega Avenue near El Camino, Mountain View
Taking photos of sycamores with spiked balls
and fragile white plum blossoms in bloom.

The flail balls of war
on sycamores and blossoms
of peace side by side. Sunday, February 24, 2008, 4:44 pm
Stanford University: Walking past Bookstore
to Green Library, I stop at a Pine Tree
and touch a 20-foot fallen pine branch.

The wind has ripped down
this 20-foot pine branch whose
sap flows with white blood.

Monday, February 25, 2008, 2:17-2:25 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Pietro Mascagni
(Listen), CD, YouTube (1719)
Cavalleria Rusticana: Intermezzo

Intermezzo tune
fills the heart with sadness—
love, intrigue, betrayal. Monday, February 25, 2008, 4:00 pm
Green Library, Stanford University
Found my 1989 "Tree Poem"
for Notes: Call to Poetry

A leaf from the tree,
a poem from the heart—
growing, flowing naturally.

Monday, February 25, 2008, 5:00 pm
Stanford Humanities Center, Prof. Joshua Cohen
introduces Elaine Scarry: First met Elaine in war-torn Ethiopia where she lectured, contrasting Ethiopia in 1990s with France in 1790s

Civil constitution
needed to protect the weak
from unjust rulers.
Monday, February 25, 2008, 5:00-6:30 pm
Stanford Humanities Center
Professor Elaine Scarry, "Plato and the Poets". From Plato's Dialogues, "Euthyphro", "Apology", "Crito", "Phaedo", showed that Plato loved poetry.

Plato's dialogues are
poetic inspiring us
to beauty and truth.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008, 12:27-12:41 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Antonín Dvorák
(Listen), CD (1879)
Prague Waltzes, B99

Written for ballroom
dancing— couples swaying
waltzing across the floor. Tuesday, February 26, 2008, 8:30 pm
Green Library, Stanford University, Reading
"If You Keep Your Cool, You May Heal Faster"
New York Times (Feb. 26, 2008)

You may heal faster
if you're less prone to anger,
less stressful in life.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008, 7:00 pm
Foothill College Middlefield Lab, Palo Alto
Writing Preface to Notes: "Call to Poetry"
and surprised by Cave Art calling symbolism

The Bull wakes me to
poetry for it's Aleph—
father of the alphabet! Wednesday, February 27, 2008, 9:00 pm
Green Library, Stanford University
Cardinal Hume Rose with 31 petals
for Elisa's 31st birthday.

Anemones are
blooming forevermore in
Emily's garden.

Thursday, February 28, 2008, 11:45 am
Room 207, Stanford Humanities Center
I give Elaine Scarry my Notes to poem
"Call to Poetry" and Color Survey

Her presentations
on poetry and colors
inspired me so much. Thursday, February 28, 2008, 7:15-9:00 pm
Cubberley Auditorium, Stanford University
Film screening with director Michale Boganim
"Odessa... Odessa!" (2005)

City of my dreams
along the Black Sea shores—
Odessa... Odessa!

Friday, February 29, 2008, 12:24-12:33 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Frederic Chopin,
(Listen), CD, YouTube (1833)
Waltz #1 in E-Flat, "Valse brillante", Op.18

Chopin's sprightly waltz
lures out all the elves to dance
and I leap in too! Friday, February 29, 2008, 12:43-12:59 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Gioachino Rossini, (Listen),
CD, YouTube, William Tell Overture (1829)
Rossini's 216th birthday (Born Feb. 29 1792)

Rossini's 54
today— so they play his tune
William Tell Overture.

Friday, February 29, 2008, 7:30-9:25 pm
Stanford Theatre, Palo Alto
James Stewart & Grace Kelly in
Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window" (1954)

From your rear window
you can see stories unfold
of all your neighbors. Friday, February 29, 2008, 9:35-11:35 pm
Stanford Theatre, Palo Alto, James Stewart
& Doris Day in Alfred Hitchcock's
"The Man Who Knew Too Much" (1956)

Que sera, sera—
Whatever will be is up
to you to do now!