95 North. . . The Newspaper

There's too much to say about Kendrick Lamar. I don't know where to begin. Some brief history? The 30-year-old rapper from Compton, CA has recently released an accompanying album to the movie  Black Panther , kicking off what promises to be a big year for our man Kung Fu Kenny. Kendrick packs a lot of punch. In his 2017 album DAMN , his short, jumpy, and bold mini-essays on identity and spiritual quest over tight-knit beats earned him a place in the spotlight. Per Kendrick, the album is designed to be listened to  either forwards or backward . 2015's To Pimp a Butterfly was sprawling, artistic, free-form jazz that found its heart in Harlem, California, Israel, and South Africa in equal parts. Prior to Butterfly , Lamar (he always has been) was big on concept albums- g ood kid, m.A.A.d City  and Section 8.0 were both like novels. While kid  was Kendrick's autobiography, Section 8.0 looks at a generational struggle through the lens of two ...

MetroNorth Train in the snow.  Hard Night BY  CHRISTIAN WIMAN What words or harder gift does the light require of me carving from the dark of this difficult tree? What place or farther peace do I almost see emerging from the night and heart of me? The sky whitens, it goes on and on. Fields wrinkle into rows of cotton, go on and on. Night like a fling of crows disperses and is gone. What song, what home, what calm or one clarity can I not quite come to, never quite see: this field, this sky, this tree. My former stomping grounds: Beverly, MA (Dane St. Beach, at the end of Atlantic Ave) O'Rourke's Diner, Middletown, CT "Hammer is the Prayer" by Christian Wiman There is no consolation in the thought of God, he said, slamming another nail in another house another havoc had half-taken. Grace is not consciousness, nor is it beyond. To hell with remembrance, to hell with heaven, ham...

Bob Dylan's 1970 masterpiece New Morning  encapsulates exactly what the title implies. The old barn doors are cracked open and sunshine is peeking through. A deep blue sky is juxtaposed against a winters landscape, opening up new beginnings. Life changes- and if art imitates life- then documenting those miraculous shifts life takes can make them all the more worthwhile. I think Richard Wilbur's poem, "The Beautiful Changes"- jives with Bob's song, here. Wilbur contends that beautiful changes are amplified by the way one holds something beautiful- "your hands hold roses in a way that says there not only yours"-affirming that the best changes in life are shared. I'll post a Spotify link to the song and Wilbur's poem below. Happy new year! https://open.spotify.com/track/1FIrnH3Dme6EyYNnd96svn The Beautiful Changes BY  RICHARD WILBUR One wading a Fall meadow finds on all sides    The Queen Anne’s Lace lying like lilies  On wat...

The Book of Hours: I, 59 God speaks to each of us as we are made then walks with us silently out of the night. These are the words, the numinous words, we hear before we begin: You, called forth by your senses, Reach to the edge of your Longing; Become my body. Grow like a fire behind things so their shadows spread and cover me completely Let everything into you: Beauty and Terror. Keep going: remember, no feeling is forever. Don't lose touch with me. Nearby is the land they call Life. You will recognize it by its intensity. Give me your hand.

Grief Calls Us to the Things of This World BY  SHERMAN ALEXIE The morning air is all awash with angels —Richard Wilbur, “Love Calls Us to the Things of This World” The eyes open to a blue telephone In the bathroom of this five-star hotel. I wonder whom I should call? A plumber, Proctologist, urologist, or priest? Who is blessed among us and most deserves The first call? I choose my father because He’s astounded by bathroom telephones. I dial home. My mother answers. “Hey, Ma,” I say, “Can I talk to Poppa?” She gasps, And then I remember that my father Has been dead for nearly a year. “Shit, Mom,” I say. “I forgot he’s dead. I’m sorry— How did I forget?” “It’s okay,” she says. “I made him a cup of instant coffee This morning and left it on the table— Like I have for, what, twenty-seven years— And I didn’t realize my mistake Until this afternoon.” My mother laughs At the angels who wait for us to pause Dur...

I really like this poem by Shel Silverstein. Sure, it is a children's poem, but Shel dives into some deep water here. In reading it, I am reminded of Rabbi Harold Kushner's  insight into the Biblical Adam and Eve story. According to the Christian narrative I had long heard, the story went something like this: Adam and Eve were created by God. They were perfect, without sin, and enjoyed life in the garden of Eden. Then, one day, a snake (Satan in disguise) came along and tempted Adam to eat an apple from the tree of "knowledge". God didn't want them to eat from this tree, however, Adam and Eve did so anyway. Humans had sinned, and everyone born on earth after that point was born into "sin", and thus needed saving from it  in the form of atonement (first in the form of sacrifices and later in the form of Jesus). However, after reading some more about the Jewish tradition and it's take on the creation narrative, a few things became clear: 1) that t...

Auguries of Innocence Related Poem Content Details BY  WILLIAM BLAKE To see a World in a Grain of Sand  And a Heaven in a Wild Flower  Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand  And Eternity in an hour A Robin Red breast in a Cage  Puts all Heaven in a Rage  A Dove house filld with Doves & Pigeons  Shudders Hell thr' all its regions  A dog starvd at his Masters Gate  Predicts the ruin of the State  A Horse misusd upon the Road  Calls to Heaven for Human blood  Each outcry of the hunted Hare  A fibre from the Brain does tear  A Skylark wounded in the wing  A Cherubim does cease to sing  The Game Cock clipd & armd for fight  Does the Rising Sun affright  Every Wolfs & Lions howl  Raises from Hell a Human Soul  The wild deer, wandring here & there  Keeps the Human Soul from Care  The Lamb misusd breeds Public S...