From: michelle pak
Date: Mar 12, 2007
Subject: From one artist to another...

Hey Joe:

This is one of my favorite poems that might translate well into film.
Just an idea. :)

THE SONG OF WANDERING AENGUS
by: W.B. Yeats

WENT out to the hazel wood,
Because a fire was in my head,
And cut and peeled a hazel wand,
And hooked a berry to a thread;

And when white moths were on the wing,
And moth-like stars were flickering out,
I dropped the berry in a stream
And caught a little silver trout.

When I had laid it on the floor
I went to blow the fire a-flame,
But something rustled on the floor,
And some one called me by my name:
It had become a glimmering girl
With apple blossom in her hair
Who called me by my name and ran
And faded through the brightening air.

Though I am old with wandering
Through hollow lands and hilly lands,
I will find out where she has gone,
And kiss her lips and take her hands;
And walk among long dappled grass,
And pluck till time and times are done
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun.

I'm whimsical LA artist trying to make a living. Working for the
corporate world by day and creating works of art by night. The
corporate thing kills me a little everyday but it provides the funds
needed to do what I love. Hopefully what I love can fund itself.

Well I just wanted to write to let you know what you are doing is
making a difference and having an impact. After all isn't that what
the true artist wants?

Namaste,
Michelle

Hey Michelle:

I know about working for The Man by day and for myself at night. It can be depressing. However, I have found that after many years of climbing that corporate ladder, I've grown able not only to do my own thing at night, but sometimes even by day to do stuff in which I truly believe, even though it's stuff bearing The Man's label. Sometimes I even question the distinction. In other words, might we be overestimating the power of our time's dominant systems in assuming that they can somehow eliminate our day's creative spirit? Of course, my creative spirit felt pretty damn eliminated this week when I had to talk bullshit all day to E! entertainment television and its myriad equivalents. On the other hand, I was talking that bullshit trying to get people to see The Lookout, a job which I feel succeeded in maintaining its creative integrity while Miramax (a.k.a. Disney) paid the bills.

I like the poem a lot. Yeats has been recommended to me before, but this is the first stuff of his I've read. Thanks. I see two ways this might translate into film. You could realize the poem's imagery literally with fantastic special effects, or limitless animation. Or, (perhaps more feasible for those of us without much by way of special effects budgets, or who only wish they could draw) you could make each image into a metaphor for something more realistic. You might not have a real "hazel wood" to shoot, but if a narrator says "Went out to the hazel wood" during a shot of the protagonist walking out the door... maybe that could work?

Well, my dear, you've made a difference in my day. And as far as the "true artist" goes, might you have any of that whimsical LA stuff online? Might you include a link next time you turn me on to a good poem?

And what does "Namaste" mean?

J