Carnival of the humans

Picture this – a few hours last Sunday filled with aaahhhs and ahas – what a bliss!!!

Sydney Opera Concert Hall….Australian Chamber Orchestra performing [worth finding out more here].

What attracted me to this event was partly the combination of music, poetry and theatre framed by Camille Saint-Saens Carnival of the Animals.

….and the main attraction for me was Michael Leunig performing his new poetry.  Drew Forsythe, actor, gave us some underlined insights to the human archetypes Michael Leunig brought for us.

In amongst the many shivers of aaahhhs and ahas from Michael’s poems there were many other causes for pleasant tingles. The music, which since being released to public consumption after Saint-Saens death in 1921, is familiar and reminds me of various situations with family.

The story has it that Saint-Saens made allusions with the music to some of his entourage, friends, and hence the bridge to the historical moment of composition and creation of these new poems is strong.

Here are two little segments from poems called ME and THE DEPARTED:

ME by Michael Leunig

The me slowly emerges

And when it does it’s splendid;

Delightful inner urges

All beautifully extended.

….

THE DEPARTED by Michael Leunig

…..

And your love for the departed one will grow.

There is so much more you will get to know

About love that is unassailable.

So long as you make yourself available.

For the rest you’ll just have to wait for Michael Leunig to publish on his site or in a book.

Btw on his site you can find one of my favorite cartoon images of his which has a man who is surrounded by cables and chargers ……

It is wonderful to hear the insights – human archetypes and archesituations – spoken by the person who thought of them.