Words & Music

by Mike Power

latest

  • Review: What’s So Great About Art Anyway?

      If teaching is an art form, then teaching art must be its masterpiece. Rachel Branham makes a compelling case for the benefits of art education in her graphic memoir, What’s So Great About Art Anyway?.Choosing the graphic novel format to tell the story of her “Teacher’s Odyssey,” Branham perfectly illustrates the benefits of visual… Read more

  • I Make Myself Sick

    I make myself sick When the will to keep going evaporates I make myself lie When the truth becomes unacceptable I make myself quiet When every sound is a call to arms When every word is the tip of a blade When every heartbeat is a betrayal I make myself a hunted beast With self-inflicted… Read more

  • The Cold Light of Day

    Photo by jchanders Usually, in the cold light of day Thoughts of you fade away.Today they stayed. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or notI’ve seen it both waysIt’s just something to live with now, like mortality. I went to the park today.You know the place.I closed my eyes for a long time let… Read more

  • Toast and Malagueña

    Ernesto Lecuona Malagueña was written in 1928 by Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona as the 6th movement of his Suite Andulucia. Although it was written for piano it became a guitar standard after it was arranged for that instrument by Carlos Montoya in 1961. One day I was working on this wonderful melody at the same… Read more

  • Review: The Nicholas Roerich Museum

    “When humanity is possessed by the devils of malice and mutual destruction, every token of affirmativeness and mutual help is especially valuable.” Nicholas Roerich. On the north side of 107th Street, one building east of Riverside Park, stands the Nicholas Roerich Museum. The house is its own work of art. Paintings and artifacts decorate the… Read more

  • When Dreams End

    Every morning when dreams endAnd sometimes in the nightI rise up and get to work Digging up the metalFrom the rock that used to be my gutsMelt it in the furnace that used to be my heartCool it in the freezer that used to be my dreams And work until my muscles cramp Until my… Read more