Good morning!
POETRY
This week, poetry from a guy who preferred free verse to more structured meter and rhyme:
The Deluge
By Bradley Sonnenberg
Nearby the rain struck the center of the street and flowed down its sloped grade like charging soldiers.
The city lights above reflected in pooled water nestled in the curb
And swam through it like drowning fireflies.
Rain makes people quiet and pathetic.
Respectable people cower, humbled by the clouds’ spittle.
We have stripped our metropolis of its canopy, now buttressed with sinuous skyways leaving blanched concrete husks;
Office buildings, now brick and mortar apiaries infested with workers burrowed into networks of needless hallways.
A sea rises on the road and cars become vessels, the curb their docks.
Litter is washed away; buoys of debris lifted by the current.
Bracing headwinds force vehicles to bear away as transportation becomes passage and drivers helmsmen.
Now a sunken forest, the drains drink up the slush like greedy soil and the city’s thirst is slaked once more.
MUSIC
Brad acted and sang a great deal in his career. He sang some of the classics tunes of Oklahoma!, Rent, Little Shop of Horrors, and Guys & Dolls. But he also sang some tunes that may not quickly come to mind. Today, I want to share several lesser-known songs from great musicals, all sung by Brad when playing some of the greatest parts in theatre. Someday I might share clips of him in these roles (though it’s still too early) but in the meantime will share some great performances of these wonderful tunes:
“The Tango Maureen,” from Rent:
“Don’t Go (Sally),” from Cabaret, when Cliff sings to Sally Bowles in the stage version:
“Goodbye Old Girl,” sung by “old” Joe Hardy to his wife in anticipation of his transformation to the man who will propel the Washington Senators to an unlikely pennant run. This is an under-appreciated tune from Damn Yankees:
Have a great weekend,
Glenn
Clearly, writing is in the DNA of your family