Nanao Sakaki
Nanao Sakaki
Reading Date: Thursday, November 8, 1990
- Welcome
- Introduction
- "Happy Lucky Idiot"
- "Urgent Telegram"
- "Let's Eat Stars"
- "Daylight Moon"
- "If I Have Tomorrow"
- "Twilight Man"
- Fisherman's song
- "Soil for Legs"
- "North America"
- "Break the Mirror"
- "A Song of Coral"
- "Prague"
- "Travel Light"
- "Forevergreen"
- "Summer Morning Song"
- "Grasshoppers"
- "Autumn Equinox 1980"
- "All's Right with the World"
- "A Love Letter"
- 19th-century Arapaho song
- Song
- 9th-century Japanese song
- Fragment of a Japanese children's song about rain
- "Come Come Rain"
- "Always"
Welcome-13184
by Alison Hawthorne Deming
Introduction-13185
by Peter Warshall
"Happy Lucky Idiot"-13186
Sakaki, Nanao. How to Live On the Planet Earth: Collected Poems. Nobleboro, ME: Blackberry Books, 2013.
"Urgent Telegram"-13187
Sakaki, Nanao. How to Live On the Planet Earth: Collected Poems. Nobleboro, ME: Blackberry Books, 2013.
"Let's Eat Stars"-13188
In response to an audience member who asked for a poem about anger.
Annotation:
Sakaki, Nanao. How to Live On the Planet Earth: Collected Poems. Nobleboro, ME: Blackberry Books, 2013.
"Daylight Moon"-13189
In response to a partially inaudible question about rattlesnakes shedding their skin.
Annotation:
Sakaki, Nanao. How to Live On the Planet Earth: Collected Poems. Nobleboro, ME: Blackberry Books, 2013.
"If I Have Tomorrow"-13190
In response to an audience member who asked "What's it like where you're from: your home?" Differs from published version.
Annotation:
Sakaki, Nanao. How to Live On the Planet Earth: Collected Poems. Nobleboro, ME: Blackberry Books, 2013.
"Twilight Man"-13191
In response to an audience member who called out, "I have a sponge." Differs from published version.
Annotation:
Sakaki, Nanao. How to Live On the Planet Earth: Collected Poems. Nobleboro, ME: Blackberry Books, 2013.
Fisherman's song-13192
In response to an audience member who asked Sakaki to sing his favorite song.
"Soil for Legs"-13193
Performed in English, Chinese, Japanese, Czech, and Indonesian.
Annotation:
Sakaki, Nanao. How to Live On the Planet Earth: Collected Poems. Nobleboro, ME: Blackberry Books, 2013.
"North America"-13194
Sakaki, Nanao. How to Live On the Planet Earth: Collected Poems. Nobleboro, ME: Blackberry Books, 2013.
"Break the Mirror"-13195
In response to an audience member who asked about the poet's connection to human and biological history.
Annotation:
Sakaki, Nanao. How to Live On the Planet Earth: Collected Poems. Nobleboro, ME: Blackberry Books, 2013.
"A Song of Coral"-13196
Published version bears the title "A Dance of Coral." Differs substantially from published version.
Annotation:
Sakaki, Nanao. How to Live On the Planet Earth: Collected Poems. Nobleboro, ME: Blackberry Books, 2013.
"Prague"-13197
Differs slightly from published version.
Annotation:
Sakaki, Nanao. How to Live On the Planet Earth: Collected Poems. Nobleboro, ME: Blackberry Books, 2013.
"Travel Light"-13198
Sakaki, Nanao. How to Live On the Planet Earth: Collected Poems. Nobleboro, ME: Blackberry Books, 2013.
"Forevergreen"-13199
Differs from published version.
Annotation:
Sakaki, Nanao. How to Live On the Planet Earth: Collected Poems. Nobleboro, ME: Blackberry Books, 2013.
"Summer Morning Song"-13200
Sakaki, Nanao. How to Live On the Planet Earth: Collected Poems. Nobleboro, ME: Blackberry Books, 2013.
"Grasshoppers"-13201
Sakaki, Nanao. How to Live On the Planet Earth: Collected Poems. Nobleboro, ME: Blackberry Books, 2013.
"Autumn Equinox 1980"-13202
Brief skip between 0:11 and 0:15.
Annotation:
Sakaki, Nanao. How to Live On the Planet Earth: Collected Poems. Nobleboro, ME: Blackberry Books, 2013.
"All's Right with the World"-13203
Sakaki, Nanao. How to Live On the Planet Earth: Collected Poems. Nobleboro, ME: Blackberry Books, 2013.
"A Love Letter"-13204
In response to an audience member who asked for a poem about walking. Differs from published version.
Annotation:
Sakaki, Nanao. How to Live On the Planet Earth: Collected Poems. Nobleboro, ME: Blackberry Books, 2013.
19th-century Arapaho song-13205
Song-13206
9th-century Japanese song-13207
Fragment of a Japanese children's song about rain-13208
This song inspired Sakaki's poem "Come Come Rain."
"Come Come Rain"-13209
Differs from published version.
Annotation:
Sakaki, Nanao. How to Live On the Planet Earth: Collected Poems. Nobleboro, ME: Blackberry Books, 2013.
"Always"-13210
Differs from published version.
Annotation:
Sakaki, Nanao. How to Live On the Planet Earth: Collected Poems. Nobleboro, ME: Blackberry Books, 2013.
To request a transcript or a captioned version of this audio or video material as a disability-related accommodation, please contact poetry@email.arizona.edu or 520-626-3765.
Series: Fall Reading Series
Sponsor(s): UA Poetry Center
Location(s): UA Poetry Center
Nanao Sakaki performs poems and songs in the courtyard of the Poetry Center on Cherry Avenue. Asking the audience, "Any questions? I'll answer by my poems," Sakaki addresses themes raised by audience members such as anger, feeling at home, time, walking, and love for the desert and all forms of life.
- japan
- nature
- seasons
- ecology
- birds
- multilingual
- song
- music
- california
- space
- coyote
- island
- flowers
- children
- love
- walking
- songs
- time
- history
- rain
- river
- language
- narrative
- cooking
- god
- food
- home
- cactus
- plants
- animals
- czech
- travel
- chinese
- humanity
- ocean
- tv
- aging
- environment
- moon
- mountain
- environmentalism
- folk song
- sea
- china
- eating
- beach
- universe
- bird
- sky
- stars
- literature
- sonoran desert
- america
- coral reef
- Japanese
- diversity
- forests
- cacti
- international
- coyotes
- coral
- Tokyo
- 20th century
- tropics
- milky way
- Indonesian
- Indonesia
- Czechoslovakia
- Czechoslovakian
- North America
- solar system
- planets
- singing
- acappella
- rivers
- traveler
- grasshopper
- grasshoppers
- bug
- bugs
- 9th century
- Georgia O'keeffe
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