"Julius Caesar"

     I just came home after seeing Denzel Washington in "Julius Caesar." It has gotten very mixed reviews, to put it kindly, and I'm sorry to say that the reviewers are right. It was pretty bad. Most of the actors, Denzel included, are just not properly trained to do Shakespeare. It was visually stunning, but the acting was disappointing and very uneven. A significant number of bios listed "Law & Order" as credits. TV and stage are very different and it showed. Colm Feore, who played Cassius, was terrific, but the rest, well . . . . Let's just say they should stick to what they do best.

Introduction

     I have no idea why I started this blog. I'll try to write about what interests me and hope that it interests others as well. To start, I was struck a couple of weeks ago when I read the Milestones section of TIME Magazine and found an interesting collection of obits. I began to imagine what each of these people might say if they were able to discuss how they might be remembered.

Today is the first day of the rest…
TIME Magazine Milestones, April 11, 2005 reports the deaths of Terri Schiavo, Johnnie Cochran, Fred Korematsu and Robert Creeley.

1
the true believers prayed for me
strangers claimed me as their own
they battered each other with their love for me
and saw their desires reflected in my eyes
I left in peace or in pain
in solace or in sorrow
resolutely or reluctantly
I could not tell them which

2
the child of the child of the child of a slave
I defended the indefensible
I rose to fame and fortune as the face of flimflammery
I spouted a rhyme and defused a crime
I talked the talk and they let him walk
and the world forgot my battles for justice
and the world forgot my defense of the powerless
and the world remembered only the glove

3
when they came for me I refused to go
I had honor and a name
they changed my name to criminal
caged my honor in a dusty camp
and when their lies were revealed
they pinned a medal on my chest
and called my crimes heroic

4
I wrote poems
that’s all
conversations with the printed page
unadorned and plainspoken
“The words are a beautiful music”1
I told you
and some of you believed me
__________________________________
1 From “Water Music,” by Robert Creeley