Thursday morning

Part 1. Make a note

We read this poem by Sherman Alexie in my Salon class on Tuesday:

Late Summer, Early Fall

She catches a moth, stunned

By sun and windows,

Cradles it outside, uncups

Her hands and lets it fly.

How often do we humans save

What can be saved? This

Morning, a young woman

Has redeemed our kind

By releasing a moth. O,

She half-spins

And laughs. And her laughter

Flutters along

With the moth.

This woman catches me

Watching her. I laugh and catch

my breath. Make a note.

Today, at 10:42 a.m.,

Beauty defeated death.

Part 2. Make a note

Before we read Alexie's poem, we discussed the notion of authority, in particular, the idea of placing one's authority in her writing. And further, the relationship between language and authority. I mentioned that the word author is the root of authority. Make a note. authoring words and ideas means an intentional showing of our selves.

Here are some words I found about all of this:

author an originator or creator of something ORIGIN Middle English (in the sense [a person who invents or causes something] ): from Old French autor, from Latin auctor, from augere ‘increase, originate, promote.’ The spelling with th arose in the 15th cent., and perhaps became established under the influence of authentic.

Part 3. Make a note

Regarding this New Yorker Cover:

Jean-Jacques Sempé

In the Orchestra Pit

Before the performance

a man places sheet music,

perhaps Aaron Copeland's Appalachian Spring

or it might be his beloved Rodeo,

upon the empty music stands

for this evening's performance

seeing that the musicians will be arriving soon.

Make a note.

A sole individual conducts himself

with his work-a-day mettle

and there will be rapturous music in the night.