West Side Story

West Side Story is showing at the the Stratford's Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario.

"Two rival gangs, the Jets and the Sharks, wage a turf war in the mean streets of New York City. But when Tony, best friend of Jets leader Riff, falls in love with Maria, the sister of Sharks leader Bernardo, simmering tensions escalate toward a shocking finale. With its explosive dance numbers and unforgettable score, this modern-day retelling of Romeo and Juliet changed the face of the American musical. "

With friends visiting, we've scheduled to see the musical in early August, so it came to mind when I was writing this post this morning.

Though West Side Story is a tragedy, love doomed, my own take on love is it's in bloom.

In New Jersey in the late 80's, I used to live in the West Side; now I live in the east side of the city. Describing where you live is very important; it gives others direction when they want to visit you. North America where Canada is, lies in the northern and western hemispheres, while the Philippines lies in the East. West and East.

Rudyard Kipling, the English poet, wrote his Ballad of East and West in 1892 , and it became his most famous work. It also became a popular target for criticizing his overall work.

Here's the opening lines of the poem:
BALLAD OF EAST AND WEST
bY Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936)

OH, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great Judgment Seat;
But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,
When two strong men stand face to face, tho’ they come from the ends of the earth!

The poem or ballad had been labeled "racist." Even while I was in high school, I remember hearing of such an opinion from a teacher. Kipling's biographer Charles Carrington wrote that 'no lines of Kipling's have been more freely quoted, and more often misquoted in exactly the opposite sense which Kipling gave them'

I read a paper about how the public may have misconstrued this particular Kipling's work. Read it here:
http://www.f.waseda.jp/buda/texts/ballad.html

We often hear and read about how famous writers and authors have been misquoted or misinterpreted. But even non-authors and ordinary mortals like myself have been misinterpreted, by others. Perhaps, this is due to the fact, that an ordinary being does not have the mastery of the language he uses, thus, when he writes or speaks, he doesn't put forward his thoughts clearly. Or maybe he's constrained.

It is essential to have clear communication, or to be understood correctly by others in order to avoid disorder.

To me, west and east do meet; seed is a germination of ideas; wind brings travellers to their destination; future is definable; randomness is inevitable; mess is avoidable; love is amazing and eternal. True, there are contradictions here.

Which brings me to a lovely song/poem by Rod Mckuen. I've loved the poetry of McKuen for so long; Others have called him not a poet but a songwriter, others derided him as anti-intellectual, yet others have recognized him as a modern poet. His poems/songs are so easily understood, and that's why people relate to them instantly. Here's a McKuen poem I found from my old book of his: The Sea Around Me...The Hills Above.

MIND MINDER
by Rod McKuen

A butterfly flies up
inside my head,
consuming all my early years
the memory of just yesterday,
other loves and lives
I might have known or knew.

He sits and eats away
within the places I've lived
where he now lives.

Please remember for me
all those things
that need remembering.
Let me use your head
as mine.

I ask that you
attempt to lead me,
to carry me aloft
bend down to scoop me up,
to ferry me across my life
as you would a child
across a too deep river,
You are the end of me,
and my new beginning.

You are my brother
and my wife.
My lover and my son.
My mother and my husband
my teacher
and the one I long to teach.

The Woman
that I dreamed of finding
the friend who never was.

You transcend gender,
eliminate September,
add another month of Sundays
to a calendar well worn.

I will be for you
whatever works,
I will work to make you be,
while you eliminate
the buzzing, ringing sound
that permeates my brain
of late.