Poetry Cam

Visible proof that poetry can be fun--and beautiful, and charming, and sexy, and compelling, and a whole other list of adjectives! 
Here are poets, poetry, poetic places, and poetic things caught on camera. If you have something you think we should share, send it to info@yourdailypoem.com!

Audio

The Privileged Secrets of the Arch

Composer and pianist Travis Reynolds selected six poems by YDP poet Stephen Anderson to create this composition. Says Reynolds, "Two ideas are particularly present: Earth, or humankind, and their relationship with art. Two musical ideas are also present throughout: a rhythmic riff found primarily in 'Third Planet' and 'Song of Graffiti,' and a melody in the shape of an arch, which is slowly revealed throughout the course of the cycle. You'll hear it first at the very end of the first song, and it will be unveiled in the full immediately after the titular song, in the Interlude.

Text for the composition

 "Lulu Garlic, Contraband"
YPD Poet Robert Walton selected several scenes from his novel, Dawn Drums, and wove them into a stand-alone short story. He recorded it for KVPR Radio in Fresno as part of their "Valley Writers Read" program.

Movies

There are some great movies that celebrate poetry and poets: International Movie Database (IMDb) has a whole list of them!

https://www.imdb.com/list/ls050659361/

So does Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_based_on_poems

 Videos

At the 39th Annual National Cowboy Poetry Gathering on February 2, 2024, Terry Nash delivered a killer recitation of Darrell Arnold's masterful homage to working cowboys, "Sunburned Men on Tired Horses."
This video was filmed in front of a live audience at the Western Folklife Center's G Three Bar Theater. A huge thank you to the Folklife Center and the E. L. Wiegand Foundation for allowing us to share that amazing poem and performance here.

David Alpaugh wrote the book and lyrics for Yesteryear, about the life and times of French medieval poet François Villon. His brother, Lewis, composed the music.
Enjoy this excerpt.

Jane Beverley is a voiceover actor. Enjoy her video and vocal interpretations of several YDP poems:

A Prayer for All of Us, by Arlene Gay Levine

Equanimity, by Carolyn Chilton Casas

Famous, by Naomi Shihab Nye

Fear, by Kahlil Gibral

Hummingbird, First Thing, Birthday Morning, by Gillian Nevers

I Am Not Yours, by Sara Teasdale

I Wish I Could Remember, by Christina Rossetti

My Horse is the Same Horse I Started With, by Dianna MacKinnon Henning

The Honor, by Shoshauna Shy

The Peace of Wild Things, by Wendell Berry

Together, by Arlene Gay Levine

Weather, by Ambrose Bierce

Dana Gioia, former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, discusses the relationship between poetry and music:
"Poetry as Enchantment"

Students recite poems by YDP poet Marjorie Maddox Hafer:
Damaris shares "A Charm of Butterflies" from A Crossing of Zebras: Animal Packs in Poetry
Maverick shares "Pitchout" from Rules of the Game

YDP Cowboy Poet Mike Moutoux reflects on ghosts of the Old West: 
Spirits Still Remain 
And on a favorite horse:
Holly

Advertisements

The following are marvelous ads used in a campaign for Union Bank of Switzerland, developed by Vincenzo Travaglione and produced by Neil French.

Sir John Gielgud reciting "Ulysses" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Paul Scofield reciting "Psalm of Life" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Ben Kingsley reciting "Ozymandius" by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Harvey Keitel reciting "The Cloths of Heaven" by William Butler Yeats

Alan Bates reciting "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost

Maggie Smith reciting "Bag of Tools" by R. L. Sharpe

Max Ehrrman reciting "Desiderata" by Yeng Ruocheng

Pictures

The home of James Whitcomb Riley in Indianapolis, IN. He lived here for the last 23 years of his life, 
as a permanent houseguest of Charles and Magdalena Holstein. The house is now a museum, 
with Riley's second-floor bedroom completely intact as he left it. A personally guided tour 
is offered for a nominal fee, and proceeds go to the Riley Children's Foundation.

A memorial marker and a 400+-year-old tree at Joyce Kilmer National Forest in Robbinsville, North Carolina.
The 3800-acre, old-growth forest was named in honor of the poet after he was killed in action in France in World War I.
The forest features a 2-mile walking trail which is not terribly challenging, but is definitely not for the out of shape or physically impaired.