Inspirational British Poem: Adrian Green

Adrian Green was born in 1946 in England. His poems have been published in Acumen, Chimera, Global Tapestry, In Praise of Essex, Iron, New Essex Writing, Openings, Poet's Englad - Essex, Poetry in Practice, Porvincia Corvina (Romania), Pro Saeculum (Romania), Psychopoetica, Selected Poems of the UK (Spiny Babbler, Nepal), Sol, Southend Poetry, The Interpreter's House, The Morning Star, The Unsaid Goodnight (Stride), Waves and several other magazines and collections. Green is the former editor of SOL Magazine.

"Blue Note Time"

in the soft jazz and midnight hour

your eyes are dancing close to mine

a sway of hips, a touch of lips

while on the stand

piano player's fingers

dance around the tune

above a gentle touch

caressing music from the bass

your fingers up and down my spine

in the soft jazz and midnight hour

we lose ourselves in bluenote time

Analysis of "Bluenote Time"

Adrian Green's "Bluenote Time" is centered around the blue note used in jazz and the blues, which are two genres of music. Blue note is a flatted note, especially the third or seventh note of a scale. It replaces an expected major interval.

In the poem, Green speaks about enjoying the experiences of this type of music with a partner. He uses words of touch to not only reveal their interactions, but he also inspires his audience to not just listen to music, but to "feel" it.

Inspirational British Poem: Dylan Thomas

Dylan Thomas was born in Whales in 1914 and died at the age of 39. As he became popular, he was invited to give readings and talks in the United States. Even though Thomas received much notoriety, it was only after his death that his work truly began to be appreciated.

"Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night"

Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,

Because their words had forked no lightning they

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men , the last wave by, crying how bright

Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,

And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,

Do not got gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight

Blind eyes could blazed like meteors and be gay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,

Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Analysis of "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night"

Even though the major theme in Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" is anger, the 1952 is still a very inspirational piece. Through his words, Thomas reveals the anger and rage he had felt as he watched his father suffer. The poet's father used to be a robust, militant man, but he became blind and weak in his eighties. In the poem, Thomas is urging his father to be the fierce man he once was.

http://www/youtube.com/watch?v=j6lP9znGIAw

Inspirational British Poem: Ted Hughes

Edward James Hughes was born on 17 August 1930 in Mytholmroyd, Yorkshire and died in 1998. He was a poet, short story writer, dramatist, and critic. Hughes was married to the American poet Sylvia Plat and blamed after she committed suicide in 1963. He has been described as one of the twentieth century's greatest English poets.

"Old Age Gets Up"

Stirs its ashes and embers, its burnt sticks

An eye powdered over, half melted and solid again

Ponders

Ideas that collapse

At the first touch of attention

The light at the window, so square and so same

So full-strong as ever, the window frame

A scaffold in space, for eyes to lean on

Supporting the body, shaped to its old work

Making small movements in gray air

Numbed from the blurred accident

Of having lived, the fatal, real injury

Under the amnesia

Something tries to save itself-searches

For defenses-but words evade

Like flies with their own notions

Old age slowly gets dressed

Heavily dosed with death's night

Sits on the bed's edge

Pulls its pieces together

Loosely tucks in its shirt

Analysis of "Old Age Gets Up"

Through "Old Age Gets Up," Ted Hughes reaches out to his older audience. Many people are frightened at the thought of getting old because it means they are closer to death; it is a known fact that no one lives forever. Even though the poem does not exhibit many positives about the aging process, the ending reveals the inspiration. Hughes encourages his audience not to fear old age. Instead, he wants them to enjoy their life while they still can.

Inspirational British Poem: Sophie Hannah

Sophie Hannah was born in 1971 in Manchester. She is a poet, children's writer, and novelist. In 2004, Hannah was named as one of the Poetry Book Society's "Next Generation" poets. Her poetry is also studied at GCSE, which is an A-level and degree level across the United Kingdom.

"Long for this World"

I settle for less than snow,

try to go gracefully like seasons go

which will regain their ground -

ditch, hill and field - when a new year comes round.

Now I know everything:

how winter leaves without resenting spring,

lives in a safe time frame,

gives up so much but knows he can reclaim

all titles that are his,

fall out for months and still be what he is.

I settle for less than snow:

high only once, then no way up from low,

then to be swept from drives.

Ten words I throw into your changing lives

fly like ten snowballs hurled:

I hope to be, and will, long for this world.

Analysis of "Long for this World"

Sophie Hannah's fourth poem, "Long for this World," is about the way people get attached to places and then have to leave them. Through her inspirational piece, Hannah is encouraging her audience not to get too fond of things that are bound to change because when a person does this, they lose sight of the meaning of the experience. Instead, she wants people to cherish the memories and change

with time.

Inspirational American Poem: Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Johnson on 4 April 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. She is a poet, author, playwright, civil rights activist, performer, dancer, singer, songwriter, stage and screen producer, director, and historian. Angelou was also the first black woman director in Hollywood.

"Still I Rise"

You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may trod me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?

Why are you beset with gloom?

'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells

Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,

With the certainty of tides,

Just like hopes springing high,

Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?

Bowed head and lowered eyes?

Shoulders falling down like teardrops.

Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?

Don't you take it awful hard

'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines

Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,

You may kill me with your hatefulness,

But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?

Does it come as a surprise

That I dance like I've got diamonds

At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame

I rise

Up from a past that's rooted in pain

I rise

Im a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear

I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise

I rise

I rise.

Analysis of "Still I Rise"

Maya Angelou's "Still I Rise" is an inspirational poem about overcoming obstacles and oppression. Because she is an African-American poet, one may automatically think the poem is geared towards Blacks, but in actuality, the poem speaks to any and everyone who has experienced some type of hardship. The overall message of Still I Rise" is no matter what challenges one is faced with, they can "rise" above it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqOqo50LSZ0&feature=related

Inspirational American Poem: Langston Hughes

James Langston Hughes was born on 1 February 1902 in Joplin, Missouri and died on 22 May 1967. He was a poet, playwright, novelist, short story writer, and columnist. His mother was a school teacher who also wrote poetry. Through his many works, Hughes became one of the foremost interpreters of racial relationships in the United States.

"The Backlash Blues"

Mister Backlash, Mister Backlash,

Just who do you think I am?

You raise my taxes, freeze my wages,

Send my son to Vietnam

You give me second class house,

Second class schools.

Do you think that colored folks

ARe just second class fools?

When I try to find a job

To earn a little cash,

All you got to offer

Is a white backlash.

But the world is big,

Big and bright and round--

And it's full of folks like me who are

Black, Yellow, Beige, and Brown.

Mister Backlash, Mister Backlash

What do you think I got to lose?

I'm gonna leave you, Mister Backlash,

Singing your mean old backlash blues.

You're the one

Will have the blues.

Not me--

Wait and see!

Analysis of "The Backlash Blues"

"The Backlash Blues" is a poem in blues form, but its title focuses on the backlash against gains made by African-Americans and other disenfranchised groups during the civil rights movement. The poem reveals Langston Hughes' feelings about uneven, racial divisions in communities and low wages for blacks, which is what was referred to as "backlash."

In June 1967, "The Backlash Blues" was published and thought to be Hughes' last poem he submitted before his death. This was also the year that it was turned into a song; the music was composed by Nina Simone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxX6pYrvGy4

Inspirational American Poem: Shel Silverstein

Sheldon Allen “Shel” Silverstein was born on 25 September 1930 in Chicago, Illinois. He got his first start in the 1950s when Hugh Hefner hired him to be the resident poet/cartoonist for Playboy magazine. Now, Silverstein is best known for his poetry and children's books; “The Giving Tree” is one of his modern classics.

"Where the Sidewalk Ends"
There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.

Analysis of "Where the Sidewalk Ends"

In Shel Silverstein's 1950 poem, he encourages the reader to have the innocence of a child. For those who may be enduring difficult hardships, "Where the Sidewalk Ends" gives an optimistic interpretation of life. As an antidote to the stress of adulthood, he inspires his readers to allow their inner child to surface.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwlhIEYRme8

Inspirational American Poem: Nikki Giovanni

Nikki Giovanni was born on 7 June 1947 in Knoxville, Tennessee. She is a world-renowned poet, writer, activist, educator, and commentator. Her spoken word recordings have received widespread recognition and honors, as well. Giovanni is also a Honorary Member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, which I am also a proud member of!!!! ΔΣΘ

"Ego Tripping"

I was born in the Congo.
I walked to the Fertile Crescent and built the sphinx.
I designed a pyramid so tough that a star
that only glows every one hundred years falls
into the center giving divine perfect light. 
I am bad.

I sat on the throne
drinking nectar with Allah.
I got hot and sent an ice age to Europe
to cool my thirst.
My oldest daughter is Nefertiti.
The tears from my birth pains
created the Nile. 
I am a beautiful woman.

I gazed on the forest and burned
out the Sahara desert.
With a packet of goat's meat
and a change of clothes,
I crossed it in two hours.
I am a gazelle so swift,
so swift you can't catch me.

For a birthday present when he was three,
I gave my son Hannibal an elephant.
He gave me Rome for mother's day.
My strength flows ever on.

My son Noah built an ark and
I stood proudly at the helm
as we sailed on a soft summer day.
I turned myself into myself and was Jesus. 

Men intone my loving name.
All praises all praises,
I am the one who would save.

I sowed diamonds in my back yard.
My bowels deliver uranium.
The filings from my fingernails are
semi-precious jewels.

On a trip north,
I caught a cold and blew
my nose giving oil to the Arab world.
I am so hip even my errors are correct.
I sailed west to reach east and had to round off
the earth as I went.
The hair from my head thinned and gold was laid
across three continents. 

I am so perfect so divine so ethereal so surreal.
I cannot be comprehended except by my permission.
I mean...I...can fly
like a bird in the sky…

Analysis of "Ego Tripping"

Written in 1973 during a time when many African-Americans participated in the Black Panther movement and were singing "I'm Black and I'm Proud," the poem "Ego Tripping" was meant to be an inspiration to this particular culture of people. The poem's central theme is self-pride and tries to encourage Blacks to embrace their natural beauty. This was also the period in which African-Americans began to wear dashikis and Afro hair styles in order to feel closer to their African heritage.