Haiku: my first attempt




Birds twitter'd in may
A knight spoke his love words
A lady heard them, blushed







ps 1. It was originally a piece for the Haiku competition held by CMS, it requires all participants to write on medieval themes. My choice is romance, my research focus.
ps 2. The image is "Knight and Lady with Birds", taken from http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/Valentin/English/Popups/pop422.php3

Diary IV: "A Question of Power", Show Time

The show went very well. Although I stayed at the backstage for most of the time, I knew and felt that it went well.

I was very happy that I did this, the first time to present my own works in public.
Sue, the artistic director, and Ann, an actor, had been very supportive all the way through.

The two poems are about power-relationships in the context of romantic love.
I felt powerless when writing them, willingly powerless.
After the recital, however, I found myself empowered, or maybe, the mind became clearer.

3 pretty audiences, Terri, Wanyu, and Yushan, made this afternoon event memorable for me.

NB. Pictures of this event have been updated in Album 1, thanks especially to wanyu's snaps of me on the stage.

Postscript 1. Maybe the poems are not about intimacy, they are more about distance.

Tomorrow

A piece of news on York Evening Press, 10/March/2006

Direction to Drama Studio 2, St. John College

Program: "A Question of Power"
Venue: Drama Studio 2, St. John College
Time: 2pm, 11th/March/2006 (Sat)

You are free to take any route as long as you can reach St. John, or you can try the one that I took last Sunday.

Walk from Minster to High Petergate, keep walking to Bootham Bar,
Pass through Bootham Bar (where there is a WC sign on the map),
Turn right to Gillygate (it's one of my favorite streets in York!) and walk to its end (it won't take long),
Turn right again and walk along Lord Mayor's Walk,
In less than a minute, you will see St. John College on your left (city wall is on your right).

I think there will be signposts leading to Drama Studio 2, you can just follow them.

It will be a very enjoyable walk.
St. John College is small but very beautiful.

I am ready for the performance. See you there!

NB. The map is taken from York Tourism Pamphlet.

Diary III: Rehearsal of "A Question of Power"
in Drama Studio 2, York St. John's College

This series of posts looks like a shameless self-promotion (I am indebted to Aki for the coinage which she used on another occasion).
And yes, it is, not "shameless", though.
Everyone, male and female, is cordially invited to this show.

The whole cast went to Drama Studio 2 in St. John's College last Sunday for the first full-cast rehearsal for "A Question of Power". Except for one lady's reading of a 18th century woman's petition, the whole program is composed of every presenter's own created works, including dance, drama, poetry and short story, and music.

Performers come from every walk of life: students (under and postgraduate), a retired teacher, actresses, and an amateur writer and a singer.

The title of the show sounds a bit aggressive, but it is not.
It's not totally about how women are abused in this world or how women should fight for a better equality in this world.
It's an open-minded occasion for female presenters to share their works, works that are related to issues of power. The word "power" itself sounds too imposing somehow, but experiences of "power" do not necessarily have negative connotations. We feel empowered or disempowered almost in everything, happy or unhappy. The show is about how these women look at and negotiate with their daily experiences of "power".

The rehearsal took almost an entire day from 11 am to 4 pm. I was very moved myself by other ladies' stories. Their works are about mothers, politics, romance, social problems, etc.

Women are always very good at telling stories, aren't we? Think about our mothers! They are the first story-tellers in our lives.

Besides, St. John's is absolutely a nice venue for Saturday afternoons!
I believe we will have a very moving and warm afternoon together.