Newsletter 19: The Anne Leighton Inclusion

Wishing you a great 2025. I’m looking at my home as the safest place in the world, because it’s just me and the cats. Even so, I’ve been going out a lot over the winter, which has been a great way to start my days.  I think the cold weather just wakes me up, especially if I’m wearing the seasonal colors reds and greens this time of the year.

Years ago, I wrote articles for a Feng Shui Master.  Often, we collaborated on pieces about renewal in the new year and developing awareness of the world around us and ourselves.  Red stands for heat and fire energy, and green is for the earth and money.   

I’m thankful for the warmth and earth energy some poets and I will be surrounded with this Sunday, January 19, from 1 till 5 pm, when a group of us will read at the Poe Cottage to celebrate Edgar Allan Poe’s birthday.  I’ll be sharing “The Bells” and a new poem I wrote called “Black Cat” about standing up to a monster who has been exorcised from my neighborhood, and never had a black cat!

On the 25^th, I’m presenting a new poem about Etta James for We the She at Silvana, 300 West 116^th Street for a blues night my buddy Val Kinzler is organizing. When I was given this assignment, it was to write a blues poem about all the blues women. I said “I’d like to write about Etta, because she embodied the We the She spirit,” telling me to check out Bonnie Raitt when I interviewed her back in the 1980s. The idea is how she was lifting other women up! A few days later, Val sent a note, “Hey, it’s Etta’s birthday January 25!”

This month I wrote a poem, “Acceptance of Exceptionalism” for one of my friends, Lucy Kalantari, who is up for her second Grammy award for her music, and she’s also produced Grammy-winning and nominated albums for other artists.

Here’s the link workinggalrockandroll.blogspot.com/2025/01/acceptance-of-exceptionalism.html

I wrote the poem before I met Lucy.  One of my clients, songwriter/playwright Eileen Sherman (who wrote “Kwanzaa’s Pure Light,” a song I’m plugging to schools ) throws luncheons early January at an amazing New York City restaurant. This year she invited us to Sardi’s, which has been on my bucket list for decades.  As soon as I spoke, Lucy jumped up, “Anne! This is the first time we’re meeting!” I cheered on her Jazz Cats. In private I told her I wrote a poem for her! It's about how each generation becomes more self-assured because of our mothers; my mom taught me to fight City Hall, which is a great thing to write about, because I think we all have responsibilities to ourselves and future generations!

 

Acceptance of Exceptionalism

 To Lucy the Jazz Cat

 

My mother she told me

When I was a baby

To just grow and be the song I know

 

Some people they scold me

They say I’m so crazy

Wearing purple and singing so loud

 

This garden cans grow me

With doggies and kitties

Animals and vegetables like jazz

 

Self-belief does keep me

with passions continuing

accepting the weeds like I do me.

 

-November 4, 2024

 

 

Richard Skipper on The Anne Leighton Inclusion Interview Show

 Richard Skipper's on Interview Show this week.  He sounds great, and he looks like a dream because he's a wonderful entertainer that celebrates life, music, and "Hello Dolly." We talk about making connections with people and inclusion.  Richard's performing in New York City on Dec. 27 at the GreatRoom 42.

Richard Skipper on The Anne Leighton Inclusion Interview Show

I'm thrilled that Richard.Skipper will be joining my #YouTube #podcast, The Anne Leighton Inclusion Interview show, broadcasting starting 6 pm ET/3 pm #PalmSprings time/11 pm UK time on Tuesday, December 3, and the two became friends. She encouraged him to work on creating his "Hello Dolly" show.

I discovered Richard in 2023 from a friend Princess Wow, who still leads a podcast on #Facebook. Richard used to run a podcast on YouTube. He interviewed two of my artists (Elliott Murphy and Sharon Katz). All of us were blown away by how well he prepared for their interviews.

Enjoy this interview. We talk about preparation, his work as a Carol Channing imitator, inclusion, and--of course-- Dolly. here's a lot I've learned from him; you will too!

RichardSkipper.com
CallonDolly.com

Jaclyn Bradley on The Anne Leighton Inclusion Interview Show Talking abo...

My interview with Jaclyn Bradley on leadership and education for the Anne Leighton Inclusion Interview show premieres on YouTube this Tuesday evening at 6:00 pm ET/ 3 pm LA time / and Wednesday morning at midnight in Amsterdam.

Let’s Be Animals (Naturally, Instinctively!)

Let’s be Animals
and deal with bullies
instinctively
Let’s be inspiration
with our imaginations
naturally

Dream of bliss like big cats
Our bodies’ blessed thin or fat
cuddling and slinking
even if you’re snoring
If we get disrupted,
a little growl gets us respect

Let’s be Animals
and deal with bullies
instinctively
Let’s be inspiration
with our imaginations
naturally

Go Reach up like giraffes!
You know about going high
someone’s low let us sigh
Let’s hope they realize
We’re in a place to herald
ways we can see the whole world

Let’s be Animals
and deal with bullies
instinctively
Let’s be inspiration
with our imaginations
naturally

Even fast Impalas
their nirvana together
Staying very close
running across those dirt roads.
Living true like fresh veggies
Aware of their own beings!

Let’s be Animals
and deal with bullies
instinctively
Let’s be inspiration
with our imaginations
naturally

Let’s laugh like hyenas
Listen hard, they’re not crying
knowing each other.
Protect, watch one another
Every noise makes them unique
You know, let’s laugh together.

Let’s be Animals
and deal with bullies
instinctively
Let’s be inspiration
with our imaginations
naturally

We fly like the parrots
Letting us know they’re starlets
They make great messes
They teach us to say Stop! Enough
‘Cause they tell it like it is
Let’s speak up when it gets rough

Let’s be Animals
and deal with bullies
instinctively
Let’s be inspiration
with our imaginations
naturally

 

 

Bronx Historical Society Presents the Kindness Session, a Poetry Writing Workshop

Bronx Historical Society is presenting "The Kindness Session," a poetry workshop on recognizing the difference between kindness and cruelty to channel that in our writing on November 18 at 6 PM till approximately 7:45. The Poetry Workshop takes place at the Poe Visitors Center, 2640 Grand Concourse, in the Bronx. Subways near the Visitors Center are the 4, B, and D train at the Kingsbridge stop.  Buses to the Center are Bx9, Bx22, Bx28, Bx38, and BxM4 (Express bus). The Poe Visitors Center is up the Hill from the Fordham Metro North train stop.

Led by area poets Elisabeth von Uhl and Anne Leighton, the Kindness Session will include sharing works from classic and contemporary including Edgar Allen Poe, Naomi Shihab Nye, Ross Gaye, Maya Angelou, as well as selected poems from attendees.

Once the attendees discuss poems, they’ll be encouraged to think of incidents where they recognize kindness from life experiences, friends and acquaintances, and how it affected their lives. From there, writers will be encouraged to create a first draft of poetry. Writers will read their poems, and be encouraged to revise a first draft by the first week of December.  We’ll have a Zoom get-together with feedback from each other. By Christmas we’ll have created the first part of an online anthology on blogspot, which poets will study, and make “final” corrections. The anthology will go live in 2025. Over the next few years, we’ll be adding more poems to the anthology from other workshops.

Elisabeth von Uhl earned an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College. Her work has been published in Lunch Ticket, The Cortland Review, SHIFT, cream city Review, The Watershed Review, and other journals and anthologies. She won a 2021 "Bronx Recognizes Its Own" Award, Her chapbook Ocean Sea, and was published by Finishing Line Press. She’s won scholarships and fellowships to Vermont College's Postgraduate Writing Conference, Prague Summer Writer's Seminar, and Greenwich Village Writing workshop. Visit www.elisabethvonuhl.com.

Anne Leighton appears on the Grammy-nominated album, Healthy Food for Thought: Good Enough to Eat, (Audio & Video Labs) reading her poem “Feed Your Parents Well.” She’s contributed to The Indie Collaborative, The Literary Parrot, Elephant Journal. Her poetry book The Leighton Explosion made enough of a profit to use her earnings to record an original song, “Got My Eye on You, Santa,” which found her a publishing deal with Sheer Music South Africa/Downtown Music, USA.  Visit workinggalrockandroll.blogspot.com.

For more information, please reach out to Elisabeth and/or Anne at e.vonuhl@gmail.com and LeightonMedia@aol.com. 

BCHS Home bronxhistoricalsociety.org