These lines make good points I think. “One law for the lion and ox is oppression.” –William Blake, from Proverbs of Hell “If you piss in my face I am going to call it piss. I’m not gonna call it rain.” –Reverend Al Sharpton from Anna Deavere Smith’s Fires in the Mirror , 1993
Read more >I changed the theme of the site to this clouds one. I like it. I’ve not written any new actual poems of late. I got into a production at UW of Eve Ensler’s latest collection of monologues called A Monologue, A Memory, A Rant, A Prayer. It plays at UW Tuesday March 23rd, Hagey Hall […]
Read more >I have written many songs. Still figuring out who I want to play with, how I will record. But here’s a list of the 27 songs that are finished and ready to go. How will I chooose.. He has Penelope Well well well Stay Sunshine Flake The Solution Lies, All Lies! How do we fall […]
Read more >I have had to write short bios for myself of late. Once for Rooted, and once for the Slam Poetry competition I was in this past weekend. I find it interesting, the task of summing oneself up in however many words. Seeing what I decide to include. I thought I would post them. For Rooted: […]
Read more >If I didn’t sing / On leaving my guitar at home, and promptly regretting it Janice Lee If I didn’t sing I’d forget to breathe, what with this stale air suffocating me. If I didn’t sing my chest would bleed – split by pressure: love, searching for an exit strategy. If I didn’t sing my […]
Read more >Richard Garvey and I wrote and directed a musical. The premiere is this January 2010. It’s about university life, privilege, education, friends, social justice, bicycles, you know, stuff like that. Very exciting. Biggest project ever. Check out our website raindancetheatre.org/rooted This is one of our latest posters. Photo by Zoey Heath. Design by Laura McDonald […]
Read more >Some poems on writing. A frequent topic of mine. The form itself. This is me being meta. Rivers of Words the poem below, is from where I get the title of this site. backlog Janice Lee all those words i never said never i held back back in my mouth overanalyzed practiced reviewed edited those […]
Read more >(Updated Dec 4, 2012) Just thinking on the flip side…for some perspective. Artists. They think they will change the world. Janice Lee I – Musicians Don’t bring out that guitar and sing me songs about other women you love. My ear canals will cave in from the ongoing echo: She done me wrong, whoa whoa […]
Read more >This book has made my week amazing. I would recommend this collection as a good place to start if you’ve never really been into poetry. Accessible, simple, strong, beautiful and gets to the point. From Horses Make a Landscape Look More Beautiful by Alice Walker LOVE IS NOT CONCERNED love is not concerned with whom […]
Read more >Some Byron for you. The adjective “byronic” comes from Byron. He was the tall, dark, handsome, ladies man, unpredictable, enigmatic type. Like Heathcliff – byronic hero. Could be good could be bad. You know. I picked some selections that I think are quite “romantic”, that is, reflective of the values of the romantic period: nature, […]
Read more >Literature: equipment for living –Kenneth Burke.
Read more >This performance is iconic in my mind. All she needed was herself, her voice, and a stage. Well, and some high-key lighting and wicked band accompaniment I guess. She could give her heart again and again, each note aching with emotional intensity. Her songs break me.
Read more >It’s December 1st and it’s snowing!!!!!!!! and it’s so lovely, I take it back Winter, you can blow into town. December is when friends and family gather, eat, sing, and be merry. Now why would I want to complain about that. Contributing to my gratitude for December is that I went upstairs to find in […]
Read more >I did a rough recording of a new song I wrote. Here it is. More music at myspace.com/jazzyjanice
Read more >My band had its last show ever this weekend. Our style perhaps can be summed up as sarcastic gangsta sugar folk-blues. We recorded a cd. Let me know if you want one. Below is a video from the show! It’s our gangsta medley. More video at qik.com/emilyruth More music at our myspace is myspace.com/thetralalasmusic More […]
Read more >It rained today. The forecast calls for rain all week in Kitchener-Waterloo. On that note.. These Mornings of Rain by Alice Walker from her book Horses Make A Landscape More Beautiful These mornings of rain when the house is cozy and the phone doesn’t ring and I am alone though snug in my daughter’s fire-red […]
Read more >Let’s start with some poems I have written, and think are finished. how we dance body throwing crashing thrashing to the beat of the drum of your heart pounding in your ears bass bass pump up the volume fist pump in the air this is how we dance raw bare Why Bother The hardest thing […]
Read more >Website check, check check, word check…does this thing work?… Here I go! A new stand alone website, one centralized medium, where I will post original poetry, and other writings, potentially music and pictures as well. Big thanks to Laura McDonald for setting me up. I am such a big deal. I have my own website. […]
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