“If I am not writing, I really don’t know what I think or feel” - A conversation with Alfred Nicol
Dylan
Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you already know that for NCMF this summer, Alfred Nicol has written a poem about local birds and Jane Niebling has made twelve paintings of said birds, all for a commission by Patrick Castillo for string quartet and theremin. It was great to have the chance to talk at length with Alfred (the link is towards the bottom of this post).
“The London Bluegrass Musician’s Union requires at least one train song or murder ballade in this part of the city…”
Are poets and musicians so different? Both have strong ideas about what they want to say, even as they come at it from different angles; music is abstract whereas poetry couldn’t be more precise in its choice of words. Here is Alfred’s poem, which he’ll read during both performances of “Avian Microludes.”
See you this summer!
David Yang, Artistic Director
Altogether Alive By Alfred Nicol
1) Robin Disguised by its familiarity, its habitat collective memory (near AM radio and Wonder Bread), the robin is a bird you hardly see, out on the lawn with Bobby Kennedy, its breast a faded Campbell-soup-can red.
2) Black-capped Chickadee This cheery, hospitable chatterbox, who flits about with friends in little flocks twittering all year round about what’s new —where snowmelt trickles, sightings of a fox, or when to keep an eye out for the hawks— gives great advice to migrants passing through.
3) American Crow A crow utters hello as if it coughed. A crow prefers the jagged to the soft. For cherubs, clouds; for crows, a broken limb— the crow is disinclined to stay aloft, nor can it lift its voice to join the hymn. Who hasn’t worn this darkness? Graceless, grim.
4) Red-winged Blackbird Miles of rippling grass, and who would guess that here are parcelled lots? At each address a settler stakes his claim to half an acre— earth, stream and sky—and not a cubit less. Perched on a cattail, watchman, early waker, he clings to what he fiercely would possess.
5) Herring Gull Avatars of appetite, they soar above the parking lots of Burger Kings, or hover over party boats offshore, ravenous for mackerel heads and gore; a churned wake draws a turbulence of wings and frenzied cries that translate: More! More! More!
6) Saltmarsh Sparrow Pst! (a secret!) Chip! chip! sputter, wheeze, throat giggle, snorer’s whistle, clink of keys… This bashful sparrow’s soloing suggests the prattle of our grandchild in her nest of pillows. Happy those soliloquies whose Hamlets never doubt to be is best!
7) Red-tailed Hawk Like Euclid on a limb, eyes cold and clear, he rises from his stately perch to trace great circles in the air and, cleaving space, extends infinity a wide embrace— then dives! The hawk’s red shriek assaults the ear. His vector strikes its endpoint like a spear.
8) Bobolink Think Zelig. Or, a Forrest Gump that flies twelve thousand miles a year through nighttime skies. No telling where this stylish bird will be: in Lincoln’s campaign songs of liberty, in recipes for antebellum pies, in Amherst, skipping church with Emily…
9) Bald Eagle A grey midwinter morning. A clean slate. Perched on a floodlight pole, this magistrate leisurely eyes the stadium for game, unburdened by the emblematic weight of victory and empire, wealth and fame, and looking pretty regal just the same.
10) Great Blue Heron This striking bird that Audubon depicted as contortionist, folded to fit color-plate 211, looks a bit self-conscious, like an awkward teen who’d quit whatever box they’ve put her in, afflicted with uniqueness. No escaping it.
11) Wild Turkey Deep chestnut brown with purple fripperies, dandies seeking higher elevation, wild turkey cocks roost near the tops of trees. This love of heights survives domestication, but dims with each succeeding generation. The colors too. Such is a life of ease.
12) Snowy Owl Shawn Klush, world’s greatest Elvis wannabe, can trace his glitzy showman’s pedigree to candelabra-flattered Liberace— his coat of ermine purring Look at me— and to the Snowy Owl, whom paparazzi bottleneck the island road to see.
Alfred and David
One of Alfred’s go-to Dylan songs
His album with classical/flamenco guitarist, John Tavano.
