Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Butler U. Visiting Writer's Series: Yusef Komunyakaa: "I'd Rather Die a Poet Than a Warrior"

"The blank space says, 'Wake up, you Knucklehead. It's right in front of you,' but I wonder if I had different skin, would you read me differently? Would you press your nude body against the pages and breathe new life into the speaker?" --from a reading by poet Yusef Komunyakaa at last night's Vivian S. Dellbrook Visiting Writer's Series at Butler University.
To hear even a handful of Yusef Komunyakaa's poems, you can picture him as a young boy, dreaming his destitute Louisiana street block into mythical battlegrounds where evil is vanquished. You can hear the pulse of his youth, syncopating with street corner Jazz rhythms. You can feel the sweat drenching his shirt as young man, as he crept through the jungles of Vietnam.
"It's good to be back in Indiana," were his only opening words before reading selections from his myriad volumes of poetry. Despite his somewhat podium-shy stage presence, the Bronze Star recipient and professor at New York University (prior to that Princeton and Indiana University) kept the audience riveted, and at the denouement of each poem, you could hear a pin drop. With accolades, such as the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, and the Louisiana Writer Award, it is no wonder he maintains such a loyal following, even in his 75th year. (There is some confusion as to the exact year of his birth, with his Army discharge papers citing 1941 and his passport citing 1947.)

Yusef Komunyakaa read from his works and shared insight on keeping a fresh voice with an audience rapt in gravitas.
Komunyakaa was born James William Brown, a carpenter's son and the eldest of five children. He later adopted the name Komunyakaa, which was the name his grandfather had before his stowaway voyage to the U.S. from Trinidad. Raised in Bogalusa, Louisiana, before and during the Civil Rights era, he states that it "was a terrible place to grow up, really, due to poverty and racism, and also due to the vocational limitations for black men." Despite having his literary aspirations discouraged, he spent many of his childhood waking hours in the local Negro library, reading all manner and style of literature.

His works reflect a distinct musical quality, most notably jazz, and as he read from his volumes, he kept one hand in has pocket, methodically pounding out the rhythm on his leg. He explained that "Poetry is the primary medium I have chosen because of the conciseness, the precision, the imagery, and the music in the lines. I think of language as our first music."

His service in Vietnam is another of Komunyakaa's important (if also "terrible") sources for poetic material. He says that it was not until after he had returned from the war and written the poem 'Instructions for Building Straw Huts' that he felt sure of his poetic calling. Like so many of his other pieces, Komunyakaa's Vietnam poems blend compassion and aggravation, and create vivid images with a minimum of detail, 'watching some as though prisoners of war.'" (Source: "Yusef Komunyakaa." Contemporary Southern Writers. Gale, 1999. Biography in Context. Web. 25 May 2016.)


After humbly reading selections from Copacetic, I Apologize for the Eyes in My Head, Thieves of Paradise, Magic City, Neon Vernacular, Warhorses, and others Komunyakaa took questions from the audience. Perhaps the audience picked up a bit of his stage reticence, because at first no one raised a hand. Soon questions began pouring in from freshman English majors hoping to be poets themselves, to faculty members, to longtime fans. With each question, he gave a thoughtful response, and with each response, he grew more relaxed, his smile brightening a shadowy stage.

Questions ranged from "How can I be a poet too?" to "How does jazz inform your words?" to "Can you explain your process for writing a poem?" When a timid woman stood and spoke in a barely audible voice, asking if he had ever thought of returning to Vietnam, you could almost see his heart melt as as if reliving a painful yet treasured memory. He explained that he went back in 1990, and for that singular silent moment when he gathered his thoughts, you could swear he was composing a poem on the spot.

One entusiastic audience member requested a reading of his most famous poem, "Facing It." You have to wonder if poets are like rock stars who resent singing their greatest hits in favor of deep album cuts. No matter--he seemed genuinely touched by the request and read the poem in its entirety. "Facing It," a haunting poem about the reflections he saw on his first visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, (sometimes called "The Wall") might be the poem that put him on the map. "I'd still rather die a poet than a warrior," he mirthfully informed the audience at its conclusion.

(See poem and a link to audio of his reading at the end of this post.)

When asked how he finds inspiration to keep writing, decade after decade, he replied, "My definition of poetry is confrontation plus celebration, and it's better when it's a composite that contains more questions than answers. I like the idea of going between worlds. Sometimes, if we're lucky, those worlds can converge in a single place in the heart. Sometimes. If we're lucky.... I hope that by doing this, we are in a dialog to keep each other human. But as far as inspiration, sometimes you have to start without it. I'll quit writing when I can no longer surprise myself."

As the Q&A session wound down, someone asked for a recommended reading list, and he prescribed the poems of Robert Hayden whose work he claims made him the poet he is, and the one-act play Funnyhouse of a Negro by Adrienne Kennedy.

Now here are some terribly grainy photos of the evening. Please excuse my unwillingness to blind the speaker and annoy the people around me with an obnoxious flash.

The crowd eagerly  awaits he who "masters the the serpent quill."



Komunyakaa thoughtfully fields a question about the artist's process.



People of all walks line up to thank Komunyakaa for the influence his poems have had on their lives.




"Facing It" from his 1988 collection Dien Cai Dau (Vietnamese for "crazy in the head.") Hear Komunyakaa himself recite this beloved poem here. My black face fades, hiding inside the black granite. I said I wouldn't dammit: No tears. I'm stone. I'm flesh. My clouded reflection eyes me like a bird of prey, the profile of night slanted against morning. I turn this way—the stone lets me go. I turn that way—I'm inside the Vietnam Veterans Memorial again, depending on the light to make a difference. I go down the 58,022 names, half-expecting to find my own in letters like smoke. I touch the name Andrew Johnson; I see the booby trap's white flash. Names shimmer on a woman's blouse but when she walks away the names stay on the wall. Brushstrokes flash, a red bird's wings cutting across my stare. The sky. A plane in the sky. A white vet's image floats closer to me, then his pale eyes look through mine. I'm a window. He's lost his right arm inside the stone. In the black mirror a woman’s trying to erase names: No, she's brushing a boy's hair.

Monday, September 12, 2016

"La Fiebre!" Indiana Fever Superfan Lucy Brown Shares Her Love of Tamika Catchings and Forest Glen Elementary

Friday night we took in the WNBA Indiana Fever vs. Chicago Sky game at Banker's Life Fieldhouse. The Fever donned a special uniform of pink to honor its VIP guests: scores of local breast cancer survivors receiving a hero's welcome from the nearly eleven thousand rowdy fans. 

In another swift, on-the-edge-of-your-seat game, guard Briann January led The Fever with a season-high 20 points on 5-for-7 shooting, including the Fever’s last seven points in the final minute, not to mention six assists. Free agent guard Erica Wheeler sunk 16 points with a career-high three 3-pointers. The Fever edged out the Sky 95-88. With their win against the Washington Mystics on Sunday, the Fever has clinched its 12th consecutive playoff appearance--a record in the WBNA, and the third-longest active playoff streak of all major American professional sports leagues. Go, Fever!


All the players are a blur in crunch time. 
Fever games are always a party, bringing out a diverse crowd of young and old, kids, teens, families, and general sports fanatics. During playoff games, it is common to see the majority of the Indiana Pacers cheering on our 2012 World Champion Team. The Indiana Fever is a class act, and watching the fans is almost as fun as watching the action on the floor. Fever fans represent Indy's finest citizens—spirited, inclusive, and always up for a good time. But don’t take our word for it. Here’s what Fever head coach Stephanie White had to say about the Fever’s loyal fans:  “Our crowds are amazing. They give us a lift. They did that tonight. You could just feel the energy in the building when we needed a stop, and they got loud.”

Adding to the wizardry on the court and spirit in the audience are the gymnastic and comedic antics of Freddie Fever; the fun-packed audience contests; and the infectious groove of the Fever's Inferno Hip Hop Team. Attending a Fever game is always the winning ticket.
The electrifying Inferno Hip Hop Squad always brings the 'tude.
In the crowd Friday night was super-fan duo Lucy Brown and her father Steve, who have been cheering on the Fever for years. Lucy is a third grader at Forest Glen Elementary in Indianapolis. An aspiring journalist, Lucy is no stranger to media interviews. She recently interviewed her pediatrician for a science and speech project at her school and was excited to be a first-time interviewee. 


Steve Brown of Indianapolis with daughter Lucy enjoying a fun-filled Friday night in downtown Indianapolis at the Fever game. 

Lucy's favorite class at school is art because she loves to draw and paint. "She also loves to tell and write stories," added Steve. Maybe someday you'll grace the stage of a Jabberwocky: Storytelling Arts of Indiana event, Lucy! 

Lucy is an athlete as well as an artist and writer. She loves playing softball, and her favorite position is catcher. Her favorite Fever player is Tamika Catchings. When pressed with the age-old question, "What in the world is Freddie Fever?" Lucy replied, "He is a lot of animals rolled into one, but I think he most resembles a Phoenix." Sounds right to us, Lucy!
Lucy Brown and Freddie Fever discuss game strategy during a time-out.
Dad Steve had this to say about their night's choice of entertainment: "We just love going to Fever games, and I love spending time with Lucy. Tonight her mom took [Lucy's] brother to a football game." When asked what they love most about Indianapolis, Steve and Lucy both emphatically agreed: the schools. 

Lucy and her older brother, Henry, both attend Forest Glen, which is a language magnet school of MSD of Lawrence Township. At just nine years old, Lucy is already fluent in Spanish. At one point, she began speaking a mile a minute with great enthusiasm in Spanish, but I lost her after "¿Cómo está?" 

Steve explained that the school offers different levels of opportunities for both non-native and native speakers of Spanish. He added that Forest Glen is the number one Spanish immersion school in the country, and that college credit--namely a minor degree in Spanish--is awarded to those that graduate from the program. 


Lucy cheers on her favorite team, The Fever, while representing her favorite school, Forest Glen Elementary. 

We found the following information on the website of Forest Glen Elementary. Take a look and be amazed at some of the fantastic learning opportunities offered by our public schools: 

"The Full Immersion Program is available from kindergarten through grade 12, with kindergarten through 6th grades at Forest Glen. In grades K-2, students receive 80% of their instruction in Spanish and 20% of their instruction is in English.  In 3rd grade, students receive 70% of their instruction in Spanish and 30% of their instruction in English.  In grades 4, 5 and 6 half of the instructional day is taught in Spanish; the remainder is taught in English. By the end of elementary school, students in the Immersion Program are able to speak, read and write in both English and Spanish.

In Dual Immersion, half of the students in the class are dominant Spanish speakers and half are dominant English speakers.  Instruction follows the same percentages as the Full Immersion Program. In Dual Immersion, however, students are purposely mixed in the same classroom to assist each other in language development.  By the end of elementary school, students in the Dual Immersion Program are able to speak, read and write in both English and Spanish, as well.

Forest Glen teachers are fluent in the language they use for instruction, and in nearly all situations are dominant speakers of that language. Along with the language component, the school curriculum uses the Writers’ and Readers’ Workshops, which immerse students in reading and writing. The Five Easy Steps to a Balanced Math Program allows students to apply math skills and reasoning ability to solve real-life problems. The result: Lifelong readers who are able to articulate themselves orally and in writing, and confident mathematicians with a deep conceptual understanding of the subject."

“It’s been exciting watching Henry and Lucy help each other become bilingual,” Steve shared with us. “Our favorite restaurant is La Hacienda because all the employees always come greet us at our table. 'Enrique and Lucilla' are their favorite customers." 

Be sure to cheer on The Fever next Sunday, September 18, as they take on the Dallas Wings for their final game before playoffs. Incidentally, this game will mark Indy's beloved #24 MVP Tamika Catchings' final (regular series) game. Get tickets here.

Crowds will say a teary goodbye to #24 Tamika Catchings, ten-time WNBA All-Star, next Sunday. 
To learn more about Catchings' twenty-year career and her thoughts on her final Olympics and her final season with The Fever, check out her blog.

Tamika Catchings is a big fan of Indy's own Act A Foo Improv Crew! Here she was as the guest of honor at their Christmas show last year! Check out our recent story on Act A Foo here!

From left: Joshua Owens, Ennis Adams, Daniel Martin, Tamika Catchings, Joshua Short, and NEWLYWED Jocque Carey. (Congratulations Jocque and Le-Asiah!)