"That's what Christmas is all about Charlie Brown..."
23 December, 2007
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London Still is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.
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First Prologue
They brought a woman
from the street
And made her
sit in the stalls
By threats
By bribes
By flattery
Obliging her to share
a little of her life
with actors
But I don't understand art
Sit still, they said
But I don't want to see sad things
Sit still, they said
And she listened to everything
Understanding some things
But not others
Laughing rarely,
and always without knowing why
Sometimes suffering disgust
Sometimes thoroughly amazed
And in the light again, said
If that's art I think it is hard work
It was beyond me
So much beyond my actual life
But something troubled her
Something gnawed her peace
And she came a second time, armoured with friends
Sit still, she said
And again,
she listened to everything
This time
understanding different things
This time
untroubled that some things
Could not be understood
Laughing rarely
but now without shame
Sometimes suffering disgust
Sometimes thoroughly amazed
And in the light again said
This is art,
it is hard work
And one friend said,
too hard for me
And the other said,
if you will
I will come again
Because I found it hard
I felt honoured
-- Howard Barker,
from The Bite of the Night
from the street
And made her
sit in the stalls
By threats
By bribes
By flattery
Obliging her to share
a little of her life
with actors
But I don't understand art
Sit still, they said
But I don't want to see sad things
Sit still, they said
And she listened to everything
Understanding some things
But not others
Laughing rarely,
and always without knowing why
Sometimes suffering disgust
Sometimes thoroughly amazed
And in the light again, said
If that's art I think it is hard work
It was beyond me
So much beyond my actual life
But something troubled her
Something gnawed her peace
And she came a second time, armoured with friends
Sit still, she said
And again,
she listened to everything
This time
understanding different things
This time
untroubled that some things
Could not be understood
Laughing rarely
but now without shame
Sometimes suffering disgust
Sometimes thoroughly amazed
And in the light again said
This is art,
it is hard work
And one friend said,
too hard for me
And the other said,
if you will
I will come again
Because I found it hard
I felt honoured
-- Howard Barker,
from The Bite of the Night
London Still is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.
©Alexandra Silber. Powered by Blogger.
- London Still
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- A collection of musings from a life in art...
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©Nick Bantock
thanks I love that video.
ReplyDeletehappy holidays, have a great time I'll see you in feb
xhailsx
Truer words never spoken. I understand Charles Schultz had some reservations about having this bit in the show because it's so overtly Christian, but I think it's just right. Thanks for having the good taste to post it! Happy Christmas.
ReplyDeleteHave the Very Merriest of Christmases. We think of you often, and hope the New Year brings you Great Joy.
ReplyDeleteThe kids (can I still call them that?) are all home, like Babes in Toyland. And it appears you may have found your own Wonderland.
Smile for those days of old, live in the moment, and yearn for whatever may come next.
That is my most favorite Christmas movie. I watch it everyear and that is alot of years. I sing the song at the end with the "crew" just like they do. Cracks my husband up every time.
ReplyDeleteYour blog looks great, I will spend sometime reading all of your posts.
Happy New Year. Be safe and healthy.
bfmuffy