Flight of the Silver Skylark

Like part one of The Climatological Blossoms of My Mother’s Pink Camellia, based on reflections by African-American author Aberjhani (pronounced: Ah Bear Zhah Knee), repost of this second episode is presented on Mother’s Day 2022 in tribute to mothers and children escaping warzones and climate-ravaged regions around the world. Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Aberjhani has blogged extensively about Russia’s invasion of the country and different forms of cultural, and, historical erasure. His writings on these subjects can be found at: https://www.author-poet-aberjhani.info/ .

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://aberjhanibridgingthegap.com/2022/05/08/the-climatological-blossoms-on-my-mothers-pink-camellia-part-2-of-2%ef%bf%bc/

The war in Ukraine and conflicts elsewhere in the world make it difficult to think of Mother's Day 2022 as a time of celebration. This episode based on text by African-American author and artist Aberjhani is presented in honor of those who are struggling to survive those conflicts while simultaneously battling to save the lives of their children and the independence of their countries. 

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://aberjhanibridgingthegap.com/2022/05/07/the-climatological-blossoms-on-my-mothers-pink-camellia-part-1-of-2/

After recuperating from a 2-year shut-down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual Local Author Day in Savannah, Georgia, returns this year on March 27. In addition to giving area writers a chance  to mingle with readers and autograph books, the event also features a parade celebrating the birthday of iconic writer Flannery O’Connor, who was born in Savannah. Among guest author-artists signing books and selling art for the occasion is Aberjhani, author of Greeting Flannery O’Connor at the Back Door of My Mind and creator of Silk-Featherbrush Artstyle.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://aberjhanibridgingthegap.com/2022/03/17/news-release-aberjhani-joins-festivities-for-savannahs-local-author-day-2022/

This episode featuring text written by American-born author and artist Aberjhani is also available as a blog post at: http://aberjhanibridgingthegap.com/2021/10/27/poetic-traditions-of-compassion-and-creative-maladjustment-part-4-rainer-maria-rilke/

From conclusion of blog version episode:

CONSCIOUSLY-APPLIED COMPASSION

The unprecedented acclaim Brooks won, from the time she was only 33 years old, could have made it possible for her to rest on her proverbial laurels, and, enjoy a career of teaching and publishing in somewhat relative comfort. She, however, chose a different route.

Acting out of an extraordinary sense of empathy and solidarity with, as well as mindfulness towards, her principal subjects, she stopped releasing books through mainstream publisher Harper and Row. Instead, she opted to publish through small black presses like that of the legendary author-publisher Haki R. Madhubuti.

The poet’s hometown of Chicago, in this third decade of the twenty-first century, has made more national headlines for the gun violence which has marred its reputation, than for its renown as one of America’s great centers of culture and industry. Celebrations of Gwendolyn Brooks’ centennial provided opportunities to help change that with reflections on the powerful positions that creative maladjustment and consciously-applied compassion occupied in her work.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://aberjhanibridgingthegap.com/2021/10/10/the-compassionate-poetic-genius-of-gwendolyn-brooks/

This is a discussion of compassion and creative problem-solving as a tools to help cope with the often overwhelming challenges confronting people in the 2020s. It is based on the writings of the American author Aberjhani (name pronounced Ah-bear-zhah-nee). Here is an extended excerpt:

If coping with the COVID-19 pandemic around the world has taught people anything at all, it is the need to do two essential things: one is to adapt to adverse circumstance as gracefully and efficiently as possible. The other is to treat each other with unlimited applications of compassion. This latter concerning the practice of compassion is obvious with deaths from COVID-19 having surpassed 700,000 in the United States alone. That number is greater than the influenza outbreak of 1918 to 1919 and makes the current pandemic the deadliest in U.S. history.

And yet, despite this, intense divisions continue between so-called pro-vaxxers and anti-vaxxers. There have also been increased instances of domestic violence and gun violence in the country. The 4-part Poetic Traditions of Compassion and Creative Maladjustment Series is based on essays by the American author and artist: Aberjhani. It is presented on this podcast as a study in how several celebrated poets, and the great civil righters leader Martin Luther King Jr., countered adversity with creative vision and compassion.

IN REGARD TO POETIC TRADITIONS

Poetic traditions of compassion can be thought of as a form of creative maladjustment that refuses to embrace violence, apathy, or blind obedience to dictatorial authority as acceptable norms.

Demonstrations of such poemized compassion are often even more evident in the actual lives of poets than in their celebrated works. With tsunami-like waves of political dissent fueling domestic and international upheavals across the globe, it is a point worth considering. This series focuses in particular on compassion and creative maladjustment as interpreted through the lives and works of : Jalal al-Din Rumi, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Rainer Maria Rilke. It will also look at how their practices in many ways reflect those presented by author Karen Armstrong in Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life...

The episode is also available as a blog post at: http://aberjhanibridgingthegap.com/2021/10/02/part-1-introduction-to-poetic-traditions-of-compassion-and-creative-maladjustment/