Saturday, November 3, 2001

Keith Petersen reads selected poems

Keith Petersen was the poet laureate of CUCC for man years preceding his death in 2001. Shortly before his death I sat with Keith in his kitchen as he read some of the poems he had written during the previous two and a half decades. They provide a wonderful remembrance of Keith’s wit and wisdom.

Use this player to play all the tracks below:
Train in the Rain (1992) (2:19)
Swinging (1992) (1:08)
Sequence (1995) (1:24)
Sea Songs (1998) (1:13)
Three Nights with Two Grandsons (1999) (2:02)
Samoyed Summer Night (1977) (8:05)
Zebadee (1990) (2:32)
The Straw Gatherer (1995) (3:26)
The Sixth Commandment (1998) (1:36)
That You May Know the Truth (1998) (7:19)
The Nightingale's Own Ode (1991) (2:09)
How Long Did it Take? (1991) (3:17)
Why Crossword Puzzles Are Easier than Poems (1991) (1:41)
Alas and Alack, Mrs. Harrington (1993) (2:43)
The Funny Sonnet Debate (1999) (1:47)
Homage to Any Political Prisoner Who is Unknown (1978) (2:12)
Visit to the New York Museum of Modern Art (1985) (2:46)
Jail Visiting Hours (1987) (1:58)
Are You Okay (1986) (4:21)
Before the Pueblo Revolt, 1680 (1992) (3:20)
The 101st Love Sonnet (1996) (1:54)
This Hand, These Hands (1996) (1:50)
Accident Report (1996) (1:52)
What Was and Will Be Remembered (1996) (1:21)
Gertrude (1996) (1:56)
Cleopatra Remembers Dido, Too (1996) (2:15)
The Commoners (1996) (2:10)

On October 18, 2001 Keith Petersen wrote a letter to participants in the CUCC Wednesday night Bible Study group who had been present the evening before. A few days later Keith died. In this recording made in January 2007, Lavon Page reads an extended excerpt from Keith's letter and puts Keith's remarks in context. Those who knew Keith will feel Keith's spirit leap off the page in this reading, and those who were not acquainted with Keith will get a glimpse of a rare and remarkable soul.

Excerpts from a letter written by Keith Petersen and addressed to Bible Study participants at CUCC (10:08) (read by Lavon Page)