The world is glorious and holy, and that’s the first reason we should take care of it, not because we need it.—Mary Oliver On Sunday, Pulitzer Prize winner Mary Oliver shared her poetry at the State Theater in Minneapolis. She’s my favorite contemporary poet. Throughout the reading, I felt tremendous gratitude—both for her precise and […]
Author Archives: jonnagjevre
Bolivia Highlights, Part 2
A few months ago, I posted some photographs of the ruins of Tiahuanaco. It’s an amazing site, resonating with culture and mythology, and I’m thinking a few more photos are in order, especially now at the beginning of spring. This is Kalasasaya, the temple of standing stones. Overlooking the eerie Subterranean Temple, Kalasasaya is built […]
Easter Poetry Fix: Czeslaw Milosz
The Polish author’s first great poem—stark and austere, then stinging with emotion. Encounter We were riding through frozen fields in a wagon at dawn. A red wing rose in the darkness. And suddenly a hare ran across the road. One of us pointed to it with his hand. That was long ago. Today neither of […]
Poetry Fix: Thomas McGrath
Two short, crystalline poems by North Dakota native Thomas McGrath. * How could I have come so far? (And always on such dark trails?) I must have traveled by the light Shining from the faces of all those I have loved. * You out there, so secret. What makes you think you’re alone? *
Film Series: Buena Vista Social Club
I’m focusing on documentaries this year for my local film discussion series, and we kicked things off on Thursday with Wim Wenders’ musical documentary Buena Vista Social Club. As he follows the lives of Ibrahim Ferrer, Compay Segundo, and other legends of Cuban jazz, Wim Wenders works with great elegance and subtlety. I always sense […]
Little Shop of Horrors
Over the weekend, I watched my friend Michael perform in Little Shop of Horrors, and I had a bit of a surprise: the play ended unhappily. Crazy green mutant plants took over Skid Row, everyone (human) died, and the girl-group chorus wrapped everything up by singing “Don’t Feed the Plants.” And actually, that was a […]
Eclipse of the Moon
I’d never witnessed a lunar eclipse before, so on February 20th I set aside my stacks of papers and gazed at the night sky. Through a skylight on the second floor of my house, I watched the moon grow dull and orange, as the lights of Saturn and the star Regulus became more vibrant. Astronomers […]
“There’s a heaven, and there’s a star for you…”
On Friday, a group of us went to hear Daniel Johnston at First Avenue. We’d seen The Devil and Daniel Johnston, a recent documentary of the folk singer’s life and work, and we’d come away entranced by his raw, childlike songs. Daniel Johnston’s musical career has been disrupted by repeated bouts of severe mental illness, […]
