Friday, July 31, 2009

POETRY FRIDAY: Dog Music by Paul Zimmer



I never had a dog as a pet when I was growing up. My daughter got a yellow lab last year. Her dog Jack is truly a character—and a rascal. My husband and I enjoy visiting with him—and dog-sitting. Now I know how much fun--and how entertaining--dogs can be!

I went looking for a dog poem to post today—and found Dog Music by Paul Zimmer. Zimmer has written several of my favorite poems. I found this one really touching.


Dog Music
by Paul Zimmer

Amongst dogs are listeners and singers.
My big dog sang with me so purely,
puckering her ruffled lips into an O,
beginning with small, swallowing sounds
like Coltrane musing, then rising to power
and resonance, gulping air to continue—
her passion and sense of flawless form—
singing not with me, but for the art of dogs.
We joined in many fine songs—"Stardust,"
"Naima," "The Trout," "My Rosary," "Perdido."
She was a great master and died young,
leaving me with unrelieved grief,
her talents known to only a few.

You can read the rest of the poem here.



********************


I made a special "doggy" video for Poetry Friday that I've posted at Wild Rose Reader. The video includes pictures that I took of my daughter’s dog Jack and two original poems—Dirty Dog, a triolet, and Dog, a mask poem. Here’s a link to my post at Wild Rose ReaderA Poetry Friday Video: Two Poems for Jack.

At Political Verses, I have another Sarah Palin post. It includes a link to William Shatner performing an excerpt from Palin’s farewell speech as poetry on the Conan O’Brien Show. Here’s the link to that post— Sarah Palin: A Farewell Speech and Poem.


Sylvia Vardell is doing the Poetry Friday Roundup this week at Poetry for Children.


4 comments:

Heidi Mordhorst said...

Dear Elaine-

Your videos are an impressive piece of learning! I'll have to put these skills on my list of "Things to Do When There's a 9th Day in the Week" (learning to play bass in a rock band takes up Day 8 when it comes). Though not a dog person, I really enjoyed Paul Zimmer's respect for his dogs and their unstudied art. Thanks! I'll explore more by him.

Mary Lee said...

The truth of this poem is that every dog is different and when they leave us, they leave a hole in our heart.

Sylvia Vardell said...

Hi, Elaine--
What a fun doubleheader-- the Zimmer poem and your video poem are both lovely tributes to dogs-- my favorite pet!
Sylvia

laurasalas said...

Great poem--especially:

The true strains rise only from
the rich, red chambers of a canine heart,
these melodies best when the moon is up,

Love that.

Our dog, Jack, a beagle, loves to sing with the piano:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97UvFjgZHU8

THat was shortly after we got him. Now he parks himself by the piano whenever Maddie sits down at it so he can sing along properly. :>)