Another episode recorded in November, describing tatters of snow on grasses now completely covered in white. And the poem, "River Music," was written several years ago while I was on the Pine Ridge Reservation, in the village of Red Shirt, helping build a straw bale house for the elders Larry and Josephine Fast Wolf. The build was a project of the Red Feather Development Group, an amazing organization that I was proud to be invited to work with. (Check out their work and support them if you can.) The poem came from a day spent drifting down the Cheyenne River like a leaf or a daydream. There's something about a river and being on, in or alongside one, that can drop you into direct contact with The Nameless. It's no coincidence that Buddha became Buddha while sitting next to a river. Or John baptized in one. Or Moses Om spent his life on one.The photo above is the Yellowstone River near the Grizfork Studio, rather than the Cheyenne; but all rivers are connected. You can only step in the same river once. But the same river flows through you wherever and whoever you are.
The music featured this week is Charles Mingus' "Just for Laughs, Pt. 2" from His Final Work. It was recorded in New York City in November of 1977 and features Woody Shaw and Jade Walrath on trumpets, Ricky Ford and Paul Jeffrey on tenor sax, Gerry Mulligan on baritone, Bob Neloms on piano, Lionel Hampton on vibes, Charlie Mingus on bass, Dannie Richmond on drums and Peter Matt on french horn.
Listen to "Report from the Mountains," Episode 2 here:
reportfromthemountains02.mp3
So I thought I was posting a different picture than I did. That's not the Yellowstone River. I think it's the Gibbon River in Yellowstone Park. Lo siento.
ReplyDeleteYou really bring the mountains, your vision and the music to life through your poetry. There is wisdom to be found in that.
ReplyDeleteThanks. There is wisdom as well in the sunshine and the glow of the woodstove.
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