I'm really organised today. It's my day off and so I have pleanty of time to do my uni readings, a servey that goes towards my mark, and an excersise that is due next week. Only problem is, no one else seems to be organised and nothing I have to do is available. Lectures must be commended, they are really up to date with the availability of materials on the uni site. Except today when I am too.Bloody cruel world.

It seems that the first lesson I will have in Poetics will cover Blues Poems. It is ‘one of the most popular forms of American poetry…stem(ing) from the African-American oral tradition and the musical tradition of the blues“ (Bronwyn Lea). I’ve never heard of it. Suffice to say it’s like the music. Some of it’s good, some of it’s boring.

Blues poetry covers struggles, despairs, depressions, resilience’s and hardships. Writers include Sterling A. Brown, James Weldon Johnson, and Langston Hughes. Kevin Young is a contemporary writer who has compiled a collection of poems entitled ‘Blues Poems’. Strangely enough.


Here is a poem I enjoyed.

 ‘The Weary Blues’ by Langston Hughes

Droning a drowsy syncopated tune,
Rocking back and forth to a mellow croon,
     I heard a Negro play.
Down on Lenox Avenue the other night
By the pale dull pallor of an old gas light
     He did a lazy sway . . .
     He did a lazy sway . . .
To the tune o’ those Weary Blues.
With his ebony hands on each ivory key
He made that poor piano moan with melody.
     O Blues!
Swaying to and fro on his rickety stool
He played that sad raggy tune like a musical fool.
     Sweet Blues!
Coming from a black man’s soul.
     O Blues!
In a deep song voice with a melancholy tone
I heard that Negro sing, that old piano moan—

     ‘Ain’t got nobody in all this world,
       Ain’t got nobody but ma self.
       I’s gwine to quit ma frownin’
       And put ma troubles on the shelf.’

Thump, thump, thump, went his foot on the floor.
He played a few chords then he sang some more--

     ‘I got the Weary Blues
       And I can’t be satisfied.
       Got the Weary Blues
       And can’t be satisfied—
       I ain’t happy no mo’
       And I wish that I had died.’

And far into the night he crooned that tune.
The stars went out and so did the moon.
The singer stopped playing and went to bed
While the Weary Blues echoed through his head.
He slept like a rock or a man that’s dead.


(Btw, the main aim of this was to learn how to hyperlink, done)

I like tea. That's all you really need to know about me. If you like tea, you'll understand. I love the ritual of making it, I love the smell, the variety, the taste, the warmth, the sugar, the colour. Everything. I also like dessert (in fact, I'm having strawberries with sour cream and brown sugar right now), but I don't like sweets.

I like the rain. I love books. I like colours and clothes, glass, marble tiles, roses, furniture, summer, soil, dogs, sitting on the floor, fragrance, skin, tarten, sleeping, lamp shades and picture frames.

I like wool, cotton, fur, fish skin, calf leather, crocodile leather (did you know that real croc leather - apart from being rare - is kinda like a tree. When you cut a tree down there are rings around the base in the trunk, similar with croc skin. Each 'bump' of the skin actually has small rings running around it like the tree has), brushed metal, suede, paper, marble, and ceramics. I love textures. Texture means I also don't like some things, mainly foods. I don't like chicken or carrots because of the way the feel lol.

I don't like water. I don't like being wet. I don't like the beach much, though it can be fun. I don't like running, and I don't like people not washing their hair. I don't like smoke, cigerettes, or people smoking. I don't really like alchol and I really really don't like drugs.

I like simplicity. It's attractive and easy and obvious.

Well, this is my first blog. I don't know what a blog is, but over time I'm sure I will understand along with many many other things. I am doing this for 2 reasons. I am a student of writing, and so I wish for a medium in which I am able to write, edit, persuse and review not only my work but others work too. I also aim to gain a better understanding of web design and all things IT. To be honest, I'm computer illiterate. The things drive me mad. My lecturer said yesterday that she's not very good at technologies probably because she's a poet. Exactly like me, except for the poet part.

My friend is my insperation for this. I only found out about this site of his last night. I really liked it so I moved fast to replicate the idea if not the layout. That'll be part of the learning process. Stay tuned for something similar. (You might have to stay tuned for months, but don't give up hope). I'll be using his site as a greater source of inspiration then anywhere else, at least for the begining. What to write, what to link, what depth of detail and when to post, will all be based on an indication I get from him. (Troy don't change what you would do normally, it'll fuck the whole thing up for me).
His site is http://troykelly.com

As I am a student learning to write, I will include my writings when I can. I am studying poetry so you can all have a good laugh at my expense. I'm also doing communication and rhetoric ("with heavy emphesis on the rhetoric" - Dr Joan Leach), and professional writing. It is mainly for this last subject that I am doing the blog (well...mainly general intrest on my part, but as subjects go it's for professional writing). It was made rather clear to us that we will be an attractive employee if we have writing skills along with good computer skills. Hopefully the subject will look after the first one and I can sufficently look after the second.

Some last notes regarding my studies. As I learn I will need feedback. Good, bad, constructive, alternative or suggestive, I want to hear it. Please comment. I will also always endevour to produce correct writings. This means that I will attempt to have correct punctuation, spelling, layout, presentation, etc. Add your thoughts or my mistakes in these areas to the comments you make. I'll try and maintain a relaxed and conversational voice to my writings though it may change depending on the post. It should never change during a post. As I develop my own writings the subject matter and accuracy of my writing will (hopefully) change and develop into something more suited to a professional writer, if not in a professionlly written medium.

I hope you enjoy my blogs.