Report #20 -- 29 June 2009

This week's poem, "Distillation," was inspired by a line found in a small paperback edition of How to Know the American Mammals by Ivan T. Sanderson: "The average size of all living things is a housefly." When you stumble upon a line like that, you just have to write a poem. You really have no choice in the matter.

The poem addresses the excesses of the human animal; numerous destructive aspects that, if we could divest ourselves of, we and the world could possible know peace. It reminds me of a line by Miscellaneous Jones: "The city is a jungle, but the jungle isn't."

And in that vein, this week's music is from the CD It's a Jungle in Here by Medeski Martin & Wood. A song titled "Beeah," recorded in New York in August of 1993. With John Medeski on organ, Billy Martin on drums, and Chris Wood on bass, the album also features guest musicians: Steven Bernstein on trumpet and flugelhorn, Josh Roseman on trombone, Jay Rodrigues on tenor and alto saxes, Dave Binney on alto sax, and the enigmatic Marc Ribot on guitar.

Listen to the full episode here:
Report #20