美国国家公共电台 NPR Write A Poem About Your Team, On Or Off The Court

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

All right. So this is the last day of April, which means that National Poetry Month is coming to a close so we wanted to catch up with NPR contributor and poet Kwame Alexander. He talked to Rachel Martin about some unexpected places where you can celebrate poetry, even while you're binge-watching your favorite show.

KWAME ALEXANDER: It's a celebration of poetry on TV, too. Believe that.

RACHEL MARTIN, BYLINE¹: All right. Give me an example.

ALEXANDER: Well "Queen Sugar."

(LAUGHTER)

MARTIN: I mean, I have not seen this show, but it's getting a lot of buzz. This was created by Ava DuVernay. It's on OWN, the Oprah Winfrey Network.

ALEXANDER: Yeah. I mean, every episode in "Queen Sugar" in season two, save one, is titled after a poem or a collection of poems by a poet from the Harlem Renaissance² era.

MARTIN: OK. So I imagine you have a favorite you could share with us?

ALEXANDER: Episode 13. The poem she titled the episode was by Countee Cullen, a famous poet who was a friend of Langston Hughes. The poem was called, "Heritage." (Reading) What is Africa to me? Copper³ sun or scarlet⁴ sea, jungle star or jungle track, strong bronzed men, or regal black women from whose loins I sprang when the birds of Eden sang?

MARTIN: Apparently⁵, there is poetry happening on "This Is Us" on NBC. I love the idea that on such a mainstream⁶ hit that you're finding little poetic⁷ moments.

ALEXANDER: Yeah. That was another one of our favorite shows. My wife and I binge-watched that. In season one we learned that Randall, one of the main characters, his biological father, William, is a poet who asked that Randall be named after a really famous poet from the Black Arts Movement, named Dudley Randall. And through the poetry of his father, Randall sort of learns a little bit more about his father.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THIS IS US")

RON CEPHAS JONES: (As William) My lady, my love, my neighbor. Lady, I am straight up fixed⁸ on you, just as you sit fixed straight on me. Our glue has long been set. Each morning, I wake up and head straight towards you.

MARTIN: That's lovely.

ALEXANDER: Yeah. I mean, that poem sends Randall on this search for the woman his biological father was in love with. He wants to know the subject of that poem, and that's the beauty of poetry. And I can say this over and over. It allows us to discover more about the world and our place in it.

MARTIN: All right. So we said that you were finding some poetry in some unexpected places, which leads us to Shaquille O'Neal.

ALEXANDER: Oddly enough...

MARTIN: I guess not that odd, right? Like, Shaq's, like, a big rapper.

ALEXANDER: Shaq's big, and he's a rapper.

(LAUGHTER)

ALEXANDER: But I think Shaq also illustrates⁹ what's happening with poetry seeping¹⁰ into our national consciousness, once again, through the lens of television.

MARTIN: Right. We've got a clip of him reading a poem by Edward Hirsch. He was reading this on a PBS show called "Poetry In America." Let's check it out.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "POETRY IN AMERICA")

SHAQUILLE O'NEAL: (Reading) A hook shot kisses the rim¹¹ and hangs there helplessly but doesn't drop. And, for once, our gangly starting center boxes out his man and times his jump perfectly¹², gathering¹³ the orange leather from the air like a cherished possession.

MARTIN: Totally appropriate, a poem about basketball.

ALEXANDER: I think the really cool thing about this, you've got someone like Edward Hirsch, who's a really acclaimed¹⁴ poet, meshing¹⁵ with Shaquille O'Neal, one of the greatest basketball players ever. Poetry is for anybody. It's for everybody, Rachel.

MARTIN: All right. So you've done this before, given challenges to our listeners. We want you to do it again. What are you thinking this time?

ALEXANDER: Something. Let's stick with the basketball theme.

MARTIN: Yeah.

ALEXANDER: I've got a new novel out. It's called "Rebound¹⁶."

MARTIN: Yeah.

ALEXANDER: It's the prequel to "The Crossover," and it's about the father in "The Crossover" when he was 12 years old and does not know how to play basketball and wishes he does. So I thought maybe I would recite a couplet from "Rebound," and we'd use that as sort of an inspiration.

MARTIN: OK. Give us an example. Let's hear a bit from "Rebound."

ALEXANDER: (Reading) Game so deep, it's below. Air so swift, you breathe slow. Watch me fly from the free throw. Superman is sweet, yo. But Rachel is my heat, bro.

MARTIN: Come on.

ALEXANDER: (Laughter).

MARTIN: It doesn't say that in the book. But I like that.

ALEXANDER: Well, I added that line for you, Rachel. But a couplet is really easy. It's two lines, and the lines rhyme. And we want it to be about teamwork, having a team around you to help you rebound on and off the court. Take it literally¹⁷, or you can take it metaphorically¹⁸.

MARTIN: Yeah. OK. You heard him, everyone. Try your hand at writing a couplet. And you're going to take these couplets and turn it into a different kind of poem.

ALEXANDER: Sure.

MARTIN: Sure (laughter).

ALEXANDER: Yeah. I'm going to make it happen, you know? (Laughter).

MARTIN: OK. If you want to give your shot at Kwame's challenge, go to npr.org/morningpoem. Share your rhyming couplet with us, and you can also submit that to npr.org/morningpoem. Hey, Kwame. Thanks, as always.

ALEXANDER: Thank you, Rachel.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

GREENE: Rachel speaking there to the poet Kwame Alexander.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 renaissance   

n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴

参考例句：

• The Renaissance was an epoch of unparalleled cultural achievement.文艺复兴是一个文化上取得空前成就的时代。
• The theme of the conference is renaissance Europe.大会的主题是文艺复兴时期的欧洲。

3 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

4 scarlet   

n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的

参考例句：

• The scarlet leaves of the maples contrast well with the dark green of the pines.深红的枫叶和暗绿的松树形成了明显的对比。
• The glowing clouds are growing slowly pale,scarlet,bright red,and then light red.天空的霞光渐渐地淡下去了，深红的颜色变成了绯红，绯红又变为浅红。

5 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

6 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

7 poetic   

adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的

参考例句：

• His poetic idiom is stamped with expressions describing group feeling and thought.他的诗中的措辞往往带有描写群体感情和思想的印记。
• His poetic novels have gone through three different historical stages.他的诗情小说创作经历了三个不同的历史阶段。

8 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

9 illustrates   

给…加插图( illustrate的第三人称单数 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明

参考例句：

• This historical novel illustrates the breaking up of feudal society in microcosm. 这部历史小说是走向崩溃的封建社会的缩影。
• Alfred Adler, a famous doctor, had an experience which illustrates this. 阿尔弗莱德 - 阿德勒是一位著名的医生，他有过可以说明这点的经历。 来自中级百科部分

10 seeping   

v.（液体）渗( seep的现在分词 )；渗透；渗出；漏出

参考例句：

• Water had been slowly seeping away from the pond. 池塘里的水一直在慢慢渗漏。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Chueh-hui could feel the cold seeping into his bones. 觉慧开始觉得寒气透过衣服浸到身上来了。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

11 rim   

n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界

参考例句：

• The water was even with the rim of the basin.盆里的水与盆边平齐了。
• She looked at him over the rim of her glass.她的目光越过玻璃杯的边沿看着他。

12 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

13 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

14 acclaimed   

adj.受人欢迎的

参考例句：

• They acclaimed him as the best writer of the year. 他们称赞他为当年的最佳作者。
• Confuscius is acclaimed as a great thinker. 孔子被赞誉为伟大的思想家。

15 meshing   

结网，啮合

参考例句：

• The modification of gear is a principal method for improving performance meshing. 齿面修形是提高齿轮副啮合性能的重要手段。
• Exact modeling of gear teeth is based on meshing theory. 摘要根据齿轮啮合原理，建立了轮齿的精确齿形。

16 rebound   

v.弹回；n.弹回，跳回

参考例句：

• The vibrations accompanying the rebound are the earth quake.伴随这种回弹的振动就是地震。
• Our evil example will rebound upon ourselves.我们的坏榜样会回到我们自己头上的。

17 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

18 metaphorically   

adv. 用比喻地

参考例句：

• It is context and convention that determine whether a term will be interpreted literally or metaphorically. 对一个词的理解是按字面意思还是隐喻的意思要视乎上下文和习惯。
• Metaphorically it implied a sort of admirable energy. 从比喻来讲，它含有一种令人赞许的能量的意思。