World Poetry Proudly Enrico Renz, Song Writer and Poet from Canada!

Ariadne`s note: A wonderful evening on the World Poetry Café Radio Show on Tuesday night with the talented musician and songwriter Enrico Renz!Guest host Anita Aguirre Nieveras and Ariadne Sawyer  along with tech Kelly welcomed Enrico to the show. He showcased three songs that were inspired by World Poetry New Westminster; songs for Bernice Lever, Jacqueline Maire and for Oscar Peterson. A poem for Mandela by Una Bruhns was read at the opening. The other poem : Keepers of the Fire by Richard Doiron will be read in the future. To listen to the show CLICK HERE!

Here is a photo from last night’s show!

Enrico Renz

Enrico Renz, Song writer and poet writes:

“I’ve just recently begun to perform my songs again after a twenty-five year hiatus. They’ve matured nicely. There are some new ones too. I like it when a song comes to me in such a way that I surprise myself. I see myself more as a song gardener than a song builder. The work lies in tending the song. It takes a lot of time and care and just being with the song to let it grow.

Playing chess and playing improvised music for contact dancers, are two other things I do passionately. Both these pastimes reflect on my approach to song writing.

Chess is all about creativity. To be successful, you have to imagine possibilities one step further than your opponent. But chess is also about precision. A single over-looked pawn can render the most elaborate strategies meaningless. Coordinating the rhyme, rhythm, sense and mood of a song so that not a note or syllable seems awkward, feels a lot like dreaming up and pulling off a spectacular checkmating sequence.

On the other hand, improvising with dancers is all about spontaneity. The music and the dance influence one another profoundly, but when the flow is perfect, there is no telling who is leading whom; the dance feels true. While my song writing involves considerable crafting, I’m still reaching for that same flow and that same truth.”

Enrico Renz April 1, 2012

alright let’s talk

angel to angel

forget light and dark

fallen or exalted
kindred as we are

in this thickening
let’s do as the humans do

let’s use our words like nails
to preen each others
hearts

in this thickening
touch is the truth
but words will sway

before language
it was the eyes and the breath

but now it is sentence to sentence
shaping our trajectories

the humans in this room
have been talking
since they entered

their beaks
in one-another’s viscera
negotiate
proximities
gesticulations

a jab too harsh
a peck too feeble
and the conversation dies

but a laugh
or a smile…

remember when we were apes
picking lice from one-another’s scalps?
the succulence?

it was when we were
still
in the trees
the screeching subsided
that I remember you most*

below us the lions resigned to sleep
above us
the eagles resigned
to the distancing thermals

but in this thickening
we bunch together
between dark and light

we cannot forget
penetrate me with your syllables

seek what you must devour

By Enrico Renz  (C)