National Poetry Month : Poem Number One

For inspiration I went back one of my favorite books.

The Dancing Bear by Laura McCullough

She has a poem on page 61 called The Intention of Sky and Love.
(If she grants me permission to reprint it here? I will share)

Her poem, inspired this...
Poetry Looks At Creation Poem Number One
National Poetry Month 30 Poems in 30 days
Day One-Poem One

The Intention Of The Sky
Inspired by a poem from Laura McCullough

And just before hitting the "on" switch for earth...
God said
I'm gonna gift mankind a sky
One of the men on God's staff said
"Really?
I mean their men.
It'll take them at least a hundred years to get more than 15..20 feet off the ground."
God sighed and said
"I know...and who knows how much longer if they aren't smart enough to work with the women I gave them."
Then one of the women on God's staff said...
"Yeesh. If these men creatures are that dense why waste a sky on them at all."
God answered
"Because...For The Best Reason in The Universe"
(translated in English means Because I Love Them)
"I am gifting them the sky...
to bless them with something reach for...
and...
to have one place in their world...where they can share all their dreams
in any language they choose."

The man on God's staff looked at his own wings and wondered what adventures he missed because he always just flew "Because... because."
(translated means Because We Always)

The woman on God's staff put a gentle hand on God's shoulder and said...
"God...That's Beautiful"
God Smirked That Same Smirk He Gave Basket Ball Players When They Hit A Game Winning Shot
and answered them both...
"I Know Right? That's why I'm God" 

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National Poetry Month 2020

Welcome To National Poetry Month 2020

So here we are.
These pages have been quiet because I frankly hate to say a lot when there isn't a lot positive to say.

However...here we are.

The Bad News

I won't go into all the bad news.
If I look at all the bad news...I honestly won't hang on to get to the good news.

So at this point I am wrapping my mind around the fact that last year was one of the best National Poetry Months ever.

Also with partners like The Labelle Art Gallery and The Otto Brunys Free Public Library of Northfield, this year was set to be even better.

I am wrapping my mind around the fact for us there will be no stages, few if any interviews, no radio station or gallery or even living room events.

I could go on but when I read this later I will probably think "you gave this crap sandwich too much oxygen." Yeah I know I mixed metaphors there but that's part of the good news.

There is Good News
1. With everything that's going on right now...If you are upset with my grammar or sentence structure?  "BLEEP" YOU!

2. We Are Here!
We are living in April 2020 and if you are reading this? Like me you are enjoying many luxuries we would not have been able to claim just 25 years ago.

(Although I would argue the greed of the present day is one of the reasons why we are here)

Sadly we all have friends that we hugged and kissed last National Poetry Month that are no longer here...but we are. We Should Still Celebrate Being Here and The Gift of Poetry and Art Every Day!

3. DAMMIT IT IS NATIONAL POETRY MONTH

HELL TO THE YES! I would rather be doing so many exciting things with poetry and reading out in the real world. However, this the only National Poetry Month we getting this year.

So fawning over all the wonderfulness that is now a crap salad does not move the ball up the field.
(I Know...I look forward to you telling me to stop it in person)
What we can do and what I will try to do is look at
my blog, my radio show, my social media and other tech to make National Poetry Month 2020
the best it can be...if most likely not the best ever.

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No Sponsors at The Moment
No Live Events

However if you would like to make any kind of donation to lift my spirits or to encourage/support the creation of new content?

Please you can submit kind words, beautiful art, prayers, or if you see fit a paypal donation to...
raymondctyler@gmail.com

And I hope that very soon I will have sponsors and some sort of live events in this section very soon.

REFLECTIONS: Julius Caesar

I like to think that Julius Caesar died so that all of us... most of us could become better writers and perhaps better people.

One thing is for sure the older I get the more people in the play I see shades of myself in.

Let's get in The Wayback Machine and "look" at who I was before Julius Caesar and after.


Raymond at 16.

All my life , I have looked at certain "classics" as over rated.
Some I feel are over rated and some I deemed "over rated" but then as the world turned, I understood the appeal. (Such as films like Casablanca.)

The first classic I put back on my mental pedestal was Julius Caesar.


Let's Take a Moment Here To Salute The Great Teachers at Atlantic City High School.

I did not learn a whole lot collectively about the mechanics of English at Atlantic City High. I came in  with a pretty good understanding of how to diagram a sentence.

However several teachers including : all of my English Teachers Mrs. Swartz, Mrs. Martin, Mrs. Cash and Mr. Goldstein taught me to appreciate concepts in ways that I could grasp as a 16 year old.
I didn't so much learn lines from Shakespeare as I learned how these words would enrich the fabric of my thinking.

I still remember feeling that I would skim Julius Caesar to a B plus and wow Miss Martin with the "brilliance" that is "16 year old writing at it's best." Yeah , the "Me" today is laughing out loud too.

Through class reading, explanation and discussion. Through Miss Martin's passion for the material.
I learned to love not only Julius Caesar, but other works by William Shakespeare, The Catcher In The Rye and other books I thought were not relatable to me as a young black kid growing up in the mid 80's. I learned that in my life even at 16 there were times I had went to the floor of the senate fully expecting to be crowned KING...and other times when I said "Dammit give me the knife."

Each March 15th. I reflect on both Julius Caesar and how I came to love this work of art...this TIMELESS CLASSIC.

My thoughts on Caesar are varied and broad and I will share in another post.
 
My thoughts on how I got to enjoy finding myself in almost every story ever told? 
I thank Miss Martin where ever you are.
I never saw her again after graduation but I have spent time with her and revisited her class room so many times over the years.

If you still have an "Eileen Martin" in your life? Thank Them and enjoy The Ides Of March.

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The Juke Box Journal Number One: THE SUPREMES Featuring Ms. Diana Ross

Ray The Closer's Juke Box Journal
THE SUPREMES Featuring Ms. Diana Ross

The strongest image of The Supremes in my mind comes from circa 1984. I am guessing it was my sophomore year in highschool and I was settled in to watch Cooley High on either Channel 17 or the now defunct Channel 48 (out of Philly.)

This would be my first time watching the classic from start to finish.
BUT THE START!
Breath taking still shots of 1960s/70s Chicago that when I watch still leave me speechless.
The music playing over the opening credits for Cooley High...
The Supremes Baby Love

Baby Love was never my favorite Supremes song...in fact I low key dislike because it sounds like my favorite Supremes song Where Did Our Love Go.

Still...this intro to Cooley High resonates the strongest feelings and memories I have to The Supremes , myself being born a few months before Diana Ross left the group.

By the time I was 16, I was a mix tape DJ and was fully invested in The Supremes and most of Motown's catalogue.
On my personal mix tapes from then to now you would hear a wide variety of Supremes hits...even Baby Love at times.
On my slow jam tapes you would definitely hear Someday We'll Be Together.
The beautiful thing was that The Supremes was definitely our parents music, however because of Cooley High and AM/FM radio and Black Radio...my generation of the time just claimed the music of Diana Ross and The Supremes as "ours too."

We also claimed Marvin Gaye, and The Temptations.

In the case of Marvin Gaye ...Sexual Healing was a song that both our parents and ourselves would still say is "our" music "not theirs."
In the case of The Jackson Five and Stevie Wonder, children that have not even been born yet will one day claim standards like "I Want You Back" or "I Wish" as "their music."

So The Supremes ...may have burst onto the scene in the mid 60's but the music they created will be claimed and treasured by anyone that loves silky, crisp, heart breaking, toe tapping pop music.

When I reflect on how The Supremes stand out in my mind today...?
It's hard to believe that I am the second generation of people to embrace their music.
It's harder to believe that though The Supremes can be seen and heard in almost any girl group that came after...they themselves have been mostly regulated to weekend radio airplay.
I do recall that before youtube, I would rent video documentaries and or scour TV guides for retrospectives on how they got together in Detroit, the drama with member Flo Ballard and those amazing performances on Ed Sullivan.

The Supremes 1st Ed Sullivan Appearance

I have very strong personal feelings about Miss Ross and what happened to Flo Ballard...but they do not need to be shared in this article.

What I will say...is that
The Supremes and their music have made me very happy over the years.
As we celebrate Women's History Month. I knew I wanted to write this article and that I wanted to say...
The Supremes music still makes me happy and feel young and ...still connects me with my parents and that to me is still very beautiful.

The Numbers

The Supremes are still Motown's Number One Recording Artists based on commercial success with 12 number one singles.

When The Beatles were dominating the charts world wide...Motown and The Supremes were their main and often only competition on the charts.

To date...The Supremes are still the number one female recording artists in history.

Clearly without The Supremes we never get to Destiny's Child and without Diana Ross we never get to Beyoncé.

Ray The Closer's
UNDER-RATED

Honestly I need to check out the catalogue of The Supremes after Diana Ross left...but here are the songs that I know of that I believe are not given as much shine and they should....

I Hear A Symphony

Yes it was a number one hit. However, I challenge anyone to listen to this and think of traditional R&B.

I like to think of this track as if Mozart wrote for Motown.
Also you may want to track down The Stevie Wonder and Jackson Five versions

Love Is Here and Now You're Gone
The song is straight classic pop and only remained a one week number one.
Still it has some spoken word where Diana Ross is speaking from the song to the "boy" in question.

Love Child

Confession! This is the only song that should be on this under-rated Supremes list.

Love Child was clearly a break from The Motown..."sound of young America" motto Berry Gordy was so proud of.
This song was not about pop love but what was clearly a controversial topic of "teen" pregnancy.

Love Child not only shot up the charts to number one in 3 weeks but broke the strangle hold on the number one spot held by The Beatle's monster hit Hey Jude.

More importantly it would make possible future hits like The Temptations' Papa Was a Rolling Stone and Marvin Gaye's What's Going On.

The fact of the matter is...I doubt that record labels would let their moderately successful "girl's group" record this single now. I can only imagine the Gordy /Ross/Holland/Dozier/Holland screaming matches that proceeded this release.

Someday We'll Be Together

This was the last of 12 Number one hit records by The Supremes and would chart in the number one spot the very last week of 1969.

The song became an anthem for young lovers separated by The Vietnam War. And by young lovers ending a turbulent decade of protest and change.
The song was orchestrated to pull on the listeners heart strings as word spread that Diana Ross was leaving The Supremes for a solo career.
The record works and haunts me because every time I hear it...I hear Ross saying Someday and my heart saying never. This song is only under-rated because I don't know if you can over rate it.

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First Saturday At The Labelle Art Gallery Welcomes Musical Guest, Recording Artist Lavonne Nichols

Get The Complete Story On Lavonne Nichols The Singer, The Talk show Host and More at www.LavonneNichols.com

The Arts and Media Think Tank events at The Labelle Art Gallery have been a big deal for the last two years and we give God all the credit. We also recognize all of you that keep coming out to support the visual and performing arts.

Well we are proud to announce that with the addition of special musical guest Lavonne Nichols our Second Annual Women's History Celebration
is now an even bigger deal!

Ms. Nichols is a top notch interviewer as well as a recording artist with a voice that can move your soul.

Every one...women, men and children are invited to come to The Labelle Art Gallery this Saturday, March 7th at 4pm.

Here Ms. Nichols shares a moving rendition of My Soul Is Anchored 

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Breaking News: ANITA JETER-PETERKIN Signing Her Audio Book at LaBelle's 1st Saturday

We have less than a week till our 2020 Women's History Celebration at
The Labelle Art Gallery
300 White Horse Road
Voorhees, NJ.
4pm
Free Admission
Free Parking
The entire gallery 10% off or more!

We are proud to announce that poet, recording artist, breast cancer survivor
ANITA JETER-PETERKIN
will be signing copies of her audio book Wrapped In Pink as well as performing on Saturday!

And don't forget if you or someone you love is in business, starting a business or wants to start a business?

Carol Waties will be a quick but powerful Business Networking Presentation at 4pm.

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Breaking News: Jasmine Moore To Read and Do a Book Signing At First Saturday at The Labelle Gallery!

Please join us at the beautiful
Labelle Art Gallery
300 White Horse Road
Voorhees, NJ
Saturday March 7th

4pm

At our monthly First Saturday Arts and Media Celebration as well as  our Women's History Month 2020.

The author/media producer Jasmine Moore will be sharing from her book No Longer Scarred.
There will be several other author's attending and signing as well.

The event starts with a 30 minute networking mixer co-hosted by Carol Waties.

Plus we will have music, light refreshments and other surprises.

First Saturday's at The Labelle Art Gallery is curated by Ray "The Curator" Tyler and clips are recorded for broadcast on FM 106.5 WPPM in Philadelphia.

For more information or to be a part of our April or May 1st Saturday Events? Please contact Ray at
RaymondTyler2018@Gmail.com


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