Boston (Snaps, Crackles, and) Pops

Twit If by Land,

Tweet If by Sea
 
NEWS ITEM--Boston fans of Neil Diamond had a bad case of the Twitters overnight Thursay when weather-related flight diversions and delays threatened to keep the star from reaching the city in time for a 9 a.m. sound check at the Hatch Shell. Diamond was the headliner at this year's July 4th Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular Saturday night.

  The first news of Diamond's desperate struggle against time and the weather was posted on his Twitter page early Friday. "Plane diverted to CT. Still trying to get to Boston after 14hrs. Sound check starts in 6hrs - must be there on time! The journey continues."

  Pops conductor Keith Lockhart was thought to have slept through most of the night as word spread quickly among Diamond fans who twittered and text messaged the discouraging news.
 
  Panic appeared averted at 8:30 a.m. Friday when Diamond tweeted: "Made it to Boston with some time to spare. Slept on the plane, slept in the car, slept at the hotel. We're ready to rock n' roll!"

 
 
The Midnight Flight of Neil Diamond

Listen my children and you shall hear
Of Neil Diamond's struggle coming here
To Boston's 4th of July, in 2-ought-ought-9
Where fans still alive stood in line
At the Hatch Shell where he was to appear.
 
He tweeted his fans he was on his way
But, "Plane diverted to CT [Connecticutt]."
Alerted all that there was a delay.
The posted Twitter was stark and abrupt.
What could he do at this very late hour?
"Still trying to get to Boston after 14hrs.
"Sound check starts in 6hrs--must be there on time,"
He fretted he might miss his sound date at nine.
"The journey continues," was his last line.
 
Meanwhile, his fans through alley and street
Wandered and waited, with eagar ears
Fitted with aids the better to hear
The latest news from the star delayed
The sound of a beep announcing the Tweet
That would dispell Keith Lockhart's fears
And restore joy amd glory to the Esplanade.
 
So through the night Neil Diamond flew
And thrrough the night his fans were alarmed
In every Middlesex village and farm
When half past eight ov'r definant cells text'd the news,
"Made it to Boston with some time to spare."
And more: "Slept on the plane, slept in the car,"
And the assurance of the rest, "slept at the hotel."
And now the story is history's to forever tell
In the hour of darkness and peril and need,
The people will text again the Twitter we told
About Neil Diamond's midnight fight to succeed
Borne by his last Tweet: "We're ready to rock n'roll!"

 

  Sijo Poetry Contest

Last summer, the Boston Globe ran an excellent story about the rivival of a poetry form known as Sijo.I tried my hand at writing it. See Sijo Link. You may want to try your hand at writing Sijo as well. The contest closed July 3, but you still might like to read some of the samples. Sijo is a Korean styling simiar to haiku. The pattern is three lines consisting of four shorter phrases, each phrase with a designated number of syllables:

Lines 1 and 2:    3  /  4  / 3 or 4  / 4

Line 3:               3 /  5  /    4      / 3 

Here is my sijo: 

Word from on High
          Late one night, God came calling,
               whiskey talking from a bottle.
          A new night, a new bottle.
               "Hey, God," I said to the empty.
          "Hey, yourself," the bottle replied.
               "Did you not hear that I lied?"

Sunday at Buttonwoods

Every other Sunday, a regional author is invited for a reading and book signing at the Buttonwoods Museum in hisoric Haverhill, Massachusetts. Sunday at Buttonwoods is a 24-page collection of original poems and comments that Dan selected for the innaugural event. Only $14.45 ea. Paperback.

Free shipping from now to April19.

Each chapbook includes author autograph and a print of the poem "A Hot Summer Night in Haverhill" that Dan wrote and presented to the City of Haverhill upon his selection as Artist of the Month, May, 2009.

  "An nostalgic, poetic portriat of cutture, history and society in old and new New England as seen through the eyes of internationally acclaimed poet, Dan Speers, painter of words." --Yankee Clipper