Our Neo Renaissance
One of the highlights of 2020’s Presidential Inauguration was when Amanda Gorman stole the show with her poem, “The Hill We Climb.” As the Dark Ages led to the Renaissance, so, too, our “dark ages,” the years of a Trump presidency, that hill we climb now opens to a vista of understanding, acceptance and poetry.
Anyone who loves music already displays a fondness for poetry. After all, poetry exists in the lyrics. Certain musicians are thought of as poets. Think of Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell and John Lennon. And don’t forget Lin Manuel Miranda, author of “Hamilton.”
But unvarnished spoken-word poetry, slam poetry and old-fashioned poetry readings have led to a road less traveled by most humans. What a blessing that our new President Joseph R. Biden, (whose very names rings of poetry for me) loves to quote poetry. At his Inauguration, President Biden shared a piece by Seamus Heaney called “The Cure of Troy.”
The Cure of Troy by Seamus Heaney
Human beings suffer.
They torture one another.
They get hurt and get hard.
No poem or play or song
Can fully right a wrong
Inflicted and endured.
History says, Don’t hope
On the side of the grave,’
But then, once in a lifetime
The longed-for tidal wave
Of justice can rise up
And hope and history rhyme.
So hope for a great sea- change
On the far side of revenge.
Believe that a further shore
Is reachable from here.
Believe in miracles.
And cures and healing wells.
The utter self revealing
Double-take of feeling.
If there’s fire on the mountain
And lightening and storm
And a god speaks from the sky
That means someone is hearing
The outcry and the birth-cry
Of new life at its term.
It means once in a lifetime
That justice can rise up
And hope and history rhyme.
As a poet myself since the age of 13, I recommend reading a poem at least three times in a row, to fully soak in the meaning. There is always an “ah ha” moment or two upon reading a poem for the third time.
My Poetry Journey, Carolyn Forche and Bread Loaf Writers Conference
As an angsty teen, poetry is where I found solace. And my school teachers encouraged my writing talents. My high school English teacher, Mr. Foster, infamously curmudgeonly about bestowing “A”s, gave me one for my poem called “Women.”
A Poem called “Women” by Patty Mooney, 1973
A teacher’s encouragement can light the candle that guides their student for a lifetime. My passion for poetry steered me towards college where I signed up for a poetry course with Carolyn Forché. The 24-year-old Carolyn, a brilliant poet, was about to achieve poetic fame by winning the Yale Younger Poets award with her book called “Gathering the Tribes” in 1975. But in 1974, as my mentor, she helped me clinch an internship at Bread Loaf College in Vermont. In return for waitressing in the commisary, I won a place at the feet of some amazing poets and absorbed all the lessons I could carry with me. It was just a few months before one of my favorite poets, Anne Sexton, would end her life.
Bread Loaf Acceptance Letter 1974
While at Bread Loaf, I met some interesting fellow writers and poets. And the seed of a passion for Nature rooted there one evening as a group of us hiked to the top of a nearby mountain in the evening and gazed up at the stars.
Bread Loaf Poet Waiters 1974
Because film processing was so expensive back then, I only captured one photo of my experience at Bread Loaf, a double exposure.
Reuniting with Carolyn Forché in Paris, France
Mark and Carolyn both concerned for my welfare
I had not seen Carolyn Forché in decades, although we had kept in touch via Facebook. So when I mentioned in a FB post that Mark and I were heading to Paris in the summer of 2018, Carolyn wrote to say SHE was heading to Paris at that same time. We decided to meet in her hotel room near the Notre Dame Cathedral and then have a bite to eat. On our walk towards her hotel, I had a very bad fall when I did not notice a rather large obstruction in the sidewalk. So I arrived at her room bleeding and with some swelling hematomas on my leg and elbow. She greeted me with a look of alarm, sent Mark immediately to the pharmacy down the street for ice, Neosporin and bandages, and laid me down on her bed. “Stay there,” she ordered. I learned that she had been a nurse at one time, and she ministered to me with a Florence Nightingale intensity.
A lunch in Paris with Carolyn Forché
When Mark returned with the medical supplies, she wrapped up my knee and my elbow, handed me a couple of Tylenol, and then we all strolled to the corner cafe for one of the most exquisite meals ever. I have not written a poem about it yet. But just wait.
Poetry For the People
Social Media has arisen as a huge piece of our human evolution. It’s how we express ourselves, share information (both true and false) and exercise our creativity. For any poet, sometimes it seems we work in a vacuum and that our work goes only so far as the end of our pens. But Amanda Gorman has revived the medium simply by showing up and sharing her words. Timing is everything they say, and she is a perfect icon for Black History month 2021. She herself is a beacon pointing the way for all creatives to create and achieve greatness.
We used to joke around with our friend, Douglas, an artist and Buddhist monk. He would say “Art for Art’s sake.” We’d respond, “Art for Doug’s sake.” Meaning, it’s something we should all do. Create art, poetry, music, just for the sake of creating it. Not for the applause or the recognition, or the potential big pay day, but just for the moment of reveling within that creative spectrum.
Video Poetry
Since I’ve been involved in the video industry I decided to pair up my editing chops with some of my poems. Here are a couple that I hope you enjoy.
Pulitzer Prize Winning Poet Rae Armantrout Appears on PBS News Hour
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Patty Mooney is a VP, Video Producer, Video Editor, Sound Technician, Teleprompter Operator and Voice Over Actor at Award-Winning San Diego Video Production Company, Crystal Pyramid Productions and New & Unique Videos, producers and distributors of special interest videos.
