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  Page Name:         Home              Steve's              Appearances/         Guest 
                                              
Poems (Repertory)        Events               Artists  
   
  Last Revision:    Aug 22
             June 11                 Aug 22             June 11  ****************************************************************************************************
    


  NAME A CLOUD AFTER ME . . .

  . . . you know, one of those clouds
  which grows from nothing
  on a late summer afternoon, soon
  pummels the ground below
  with rain, hoping, even if in vain,
  to spawn its tornado, leave thereby
  some lasting mark upon the earth
  before vanishing into a nighttime sky.

  For among those who measure themselves
  on the time-scale of clouds—most
  producing no more than a cooling
  breeze, do not squeeze out even
  a single drop of rain—
  such a storm must be the great one,
  long to be admired, and remembered.

  Which is why, as I attempt
  to pummel the earth, spawn
  a tornado which may leave
  some lasting mark, this appeal
  goes out to any one of you
  who measure yourselves
  on the time scale of humanity:

  If, by any chance, you have felt
  the attempt of my lightning,
  pay me this small tribute
  on some summer afternoon
  while watching a thunderhead
  create itself, out of nothing.
  Name it after me—even if,
  for all of the others,
  I may produce nothing more
  than a gentle breeze—felt
  on its appointed day,
  before vanishing, forever,
  into a nighttime sky.             


                Click here for link to archive of previous home pages
                              
2008                     2009                     2010            


  [On April 13, 2010, I listened to a radio
  broadcast of the third story recounted below
  and conceived this poem. Later the same day
  I heard an interview with Alice Walker about
  her new book,
Overcoming Speechlessness.
  This verse is dedicated to Alice Walker--SB.
]


  TODAY I HEARD THE NEWS 

                                                             Today I heard the news:
                                                             Earthquake victims in Haiti 
                                                             victimized again by earthquake relief.
                                                                     And there is nothing I can do 
                                                                     but write these words.

                                                             Today I heard the news:
                                                             Dozens die, explosion, 
                                                             West Virginia mine. Hundreds 
                                                             of safety violations left uncorrected.
                                                                     And there is nothing I can do 
                                                                     but offer you these lines.

                                                             Today I heard the news:
                                                             Pakistani women defaced
                                                             in acid attacks; husbands
                                                             and in-laws face the minimum. 
                                                                     And I decide I will
                                                                     compose a poem,

                                                             believing still that if each human being 
                                                             who hears the news 
                                                             (I mean, who really hears
                                                             the news) provides us
                                                                     with just a few words
                                                                     or a few lines,

                                                             together we might compose that poem 
                                                                     which proves, at last: 
                                                             There really is something we can do.
                   

"I have enjoyed Steve Bloom's poetry for many years. It shows a true and loyal heart (hard to come by these days), and, of course, an anti-authoritarian politic (also in short supply)"—Lynne Stewart, NYC activist attorney. 

             **Click Here for other comments on the poetry of Steve Bloom**


         

          Introduction to Poetry for Social Activists
                          by Steve Bloom

      

           To order or for more information click here        


      
                   

 
                           Tribute to Dennis Brutus—1924-2009
                                               (Click Here)

                                  Remembrance by Steve Bloom
                                       Poem by Martín Espada
      
   Dennis Brutus, world-renowned South African poet and human-rights activist,
                          died on December 26, 2009 at the age of 85.
               


 
  ** March 17, 2009, "Poetry of Resistance" Reading (Sponsored
  by the Activist Poets' Roundtable, NYC).

  Watch the video on YouTube (Click Here).
                      


                 
A new translation by Steve Bloom of the "Internationale,"
                anthem of the international revolutionary workers' movement.
                                           
Click here for link
                    


  ** ACTIVIST POET'S ROUNDTABLE—NEW YORK

                            (
Click Here for More Information.)


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  The poems by Steve Bloom on this website
  may be freely copied, circulated, reprinted,
  or otherwise used for non-commercial
  purposes provided only that authorship
  is credited. Any commercial use requires
  permission from the author.

  All rights to guest poems, photos and other
  artistic creations reproduced here are retained
  by their respective authors/creators.  


         Photo by Pat Jordan