Love and Words: 'Angel' and "the greedy heart" new poetry book and cd by Cassandra Tribe

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Nuevo Video:
Filemon
(w/english subtitles)

The new video from Cassandra Tribe, in Spanish with English subtitles,
from her book 'the greedy heart'.

From the companion pieces "Baucis and Philemon":

Baucis and Philemon

Note:

In Ovid's fable, Baucis and Philemon were the only ones who showed hospitality to the Gods when they came, in disguise, to their city.

In thanks, Zeus spared them when he destroyed the place and turned their cottage into a temple. He granted them one wish and they chose to stay together and when it came time for one of them to die, they wished that the other would die as well.

They served the Gods for hundreds of years. One day, Baucis looked up from his work in the garden and saw Philemon walking towards him in tears. He went and put his arms around her and they were transformed into two intertwining trees, one oak and the other, linden.

Baucis

Beneath the linden tree
my love sheds tears
and I remain,
rooted beside her,
my arms two boughs,
move me do the winds,
but never do I let go.

Her grief is inside me,
her loss my own.
My words, my life
I hold silent and still
for in this moment,
in this instant,
she needs not me,
but more of herself
then she has to bear,
and I have spent a lifetime
gathering her memories and hopes,
caring for them,
storing them in feathered places
should she need to find them again.

and I shall remain
rooted beside her,
my arms two boughs,
Move me do the winds
but never do I let go.

Philemon

How does a tree know
when the seasons are about to end?

I have watched myself grow older
in the body of my beloved
though his eyes
still see me with youth.
I have watched myself
grow old and frail
and kept my tongue silent,
when he speaks to me
of the things we will do
come spring.

My love.
My life.
Whose back is bent
and gait is slow shuffle,
fingers thick
and wiry hair that grows
where there used to be muscle.

I remember your youth,
but I love your age,
for you chose to grow old
with me.

How am I tell you,
how am I to break this silence
and tell you,
that our time is at an end?

My love,
My life,
I promise you,
seeds will root in this ground
I have wetted with my tears,
and trees shall grow
that will bear our names
and they will never know
when seasons begin or end.

The wind through their leaves
will speak of our story of love
and the kindness of Gods
so the world will never forget.

My love,
My life,
hold me and comfort me,
stay with me,
twine your limbs in mine,
remain with me,
and never let me go.

109 pages
ISBN 978-0-615-25620-7
Library of Congress PCN 2008909591

Cassandra Tribe's new collection of poetry, including the epic poem Monster is now available as a pdf ebook
with audio from the companion cd, "Angel". Her new poetry book "the greedy heart" is a collection of life poetry, love poems
and some of the finest modern poetry available in both e book and as audio poetry online.

included in the greedy heart:

angel
beauty mine
comes the wide sea
For Marthena (who I know not)
the Dark Flower of Hope
telling the bees
no words
the greedy heart
in the beginning
Monster
Baucis and Philemon
what was it?
The Architect
the wicker heart
the tree behind me
now that I am undone
the dreams of bees
life in pieces
the Map of Your Heart

Angel and the greedy heart includes audio for:

Angel
comes the wide sea
the Dark Flower of Hope
Monster
the dreams of bees

Read what people are saying about her new poetry book and poetry audio cd:

"Angel" by Cassandra Tribe is a deep and intellectual spoken word EP that is filled with precise imagery and a tone that is tense and revealing. It is not just Cassandra's words that create the journey; it is her delivery, pacing, and tranquil voice that really rounds out the concept. She plays on silence in a way that keeps you longing for the next line and hanging on every word. This is Cassandra's third CD and the concept of this album is a stripped down work of art. You hear nothing but her voice on this one, a bold statement considering music and effects were a big part of her previous releases. There is a build as the journey unfolds when the album opens with the whispery "The Dark Flower of Hope (Part 1)," a reflection of wasted life. "Monster" deals with more irresponsibility, this time in the area of false gods. "The Dreams of Bees" brings forth tremendous power and intensity as Cassandra brings forth the most vivid of frustrations. If you enjoy rich, well performed poetry, you will enjoy "Angel." (RadioIndy Reviews)

"...words of longing..."

What's your Tribe? The one who speaks the words of longing you didn't even know existed inside you, or the one that scares the pants off you with the mirror that she holds up to reveal your dark potential? Just perfect...(James Duckworth)

"...ebb and flow of love..."

Put your hand out, let Cassandra Tribe walk you though this journey. She will be your reflection on this trip to reality. 'Angel', Tribe's new collection of poetry explores the human condition, from the painful ebb and flow of love to the uncertainty of living in a world where "...Our poets are silent/Our singers drunk..."

"...stand-out poem...the epic poem Monster..."

Tribe, lends her audience a didactic and Humanistic view of the world, whether it is through her poetry, essays or her daily blog. One stand-out poem by Tribe, the epic-poem Monster urges readers to face the harsh reality that comes with being irresponsible in life - the false gods and monsters created by blind acceptance. (Vagner Revol, Poet Tree Magazine)

"...Exquisite..."

"...Worldclass..."

"...the way poetry should be read..."

"...the new Edgar Allen Poe..."

The Perfect Duet

What you don't expect when you meet Cassandra Tribe is the sense of humor that bubbles beneath the surface. The same poet who has moved her audiences to tears with Leela Raquel and made hearts ache with the dreams of bees, the same hand that wrote the frightening social commentary Monster - is fun to be around. You would expect someone capable of describing forgiveness as a monster sitting on a throne made of "children bound together" to be a bit more dark. Instead, you find a woman who not only is self possessed and has an immediate sense of humor, but who radiates a kind of joy and interest in life that is nothing less than infectious. People stare at her and you get the sense that they'd like to sit down and join the conversation.

"I wanted to do a live album, " Tribe says over coffee, "I had just come off helping host an open mic and had begun to do more and more internet radio and I wanted to take my writing somewhere different. What needed to be said needed a different voice and it turned out to be my own."

Recorded in a church in outside Magdalena, New Mexico, Angel has only five tracks, but these five come together to form almost 40 minutes of material.

"You don't show up on someone's stage and do a 14 minute piece unless they are expecting it. The cd let me take some of my newer pieces and give the words the time that they needed."

The result is a cd of poetry that grabs your attention with her performance and moves you, sometimes beyond your comfort zone, with the power of her writing. She has drawn comparisons to Edgar Allen Poe and Anne Sexton and her stage presence brings to mind a young David Bowie. There is something about her that commands attention. All Tribe has to do is walk to the mic and the sense of expectation that takes over the audience is palpable. I saw her perform the dreams of bees in a bar and by the end, every pool stick was down, beers were forgotten and every person in that building hung on her voice. I turned to the man beside me and asked him what he thought and he said, "I don't even like poetry, I wouldn't have even come out tonight if I had known this was going on but it's like there is a reason I am here tonight and I am hearing this."

"The book was a fluke," she says, "when I was sending the cd out for opinions I kept hearing from people that they wanted to see the text. So I thought I would put a small booklet in with the cd but Monster alone would have filled the case. One thing led to another and suddenly, one of the people I had asked to preview the cd, who was a publisher, said it has to have a book. And there it is. It was a nightmare pulling off the book in the same time frame as the cd, these things usually take months. We created the imprint CastleDeepBooks to marry the two projects and distribute them together."

The book, the greedy heart, contains all the pieces on the cd and twelve others, including the acerbic title piece. Yet it is her version of Ovid's morality tale, Baucis and Philemon, that takes center stage. Perhaps one of the best contemporary versions ever written, Tribe doesn't bother retelling the tale (except in an author's note) she plunges into the very last moment of their lives and reveals the inner secrets of their hearts. In her hands it becomes possible to have the kind of love that creates a story that will be told until the end of time. The ability she gives her audience to hold her words and listen to them is an experience that begins to allow the layers of her meaning to come to the fore.

"What is important," she says rising from the small table, "is that you keep trying to find out who you are and how to live. All of that is changing and evolving with every moment. Its much easier to demand the past or hope for the future, the challenge is to become willing to be present."

Cassandra Tribe has managed to create the perfect duet with the simultaneous release of her third cd, Angel, and the book, the greedy heart. Both are distributed in digital and hard copy on indieryhthm.com and on her website, loveandwords.com. Starting in December of 08, Tribe launches on what she describes as a "long, slow tour" beginning in Chicago and ending in Montreal, appearing in a series of invitation only venues that have been sold out since August. She has intermittent radio appearances planned throughout the year. and plans on "popping in" on open mics in areas she is performing. You can try to keep up with her through her popular and award winning blog, love and words.

(A. Baumgarden, New World Review, Volume 12, Issue 3, November 2008)

"...you write what I have no words for..."

"...beautiful..."

"...easy to forget that beneath your usual vocal effects and masks is a performer of extraordinary caliber...it feels like a gift to hear you read unadorned."

"Baucis and Philemon will be my anthem of love, thank you."

"I wish Angel was written for me."

"The Map of your Heart is what it is all about!"

"...It took me days to recover from the greedy heart..."

"Angel reads like words of forgiveness from a god to his son, I know it is deeply personal, but it could have been written to express the hopes of this nation."

"...an epic tale of infinite loss..."

"Her reading of Monster is bone chilling...not until near the end, when she begins to reveal glimpses of the humanity that lives within the monster does the piece change from a horrific cant worthy of Poe - to an epic tale of infinite loss and caution...brilliant."
(Jackson Willet, DarkCorners)

"...there is power there..."

"the dreams of bees, there is power there, this will get lots of play."
(Most Vocal Poets Society, Canada)

"...her pieces 'get me'..."

"As a big fan of Cassandra Tribe's in-person effect, I am thrilled to have this collection from the authentic, poignant, and colorful live artist that I know and love. I don't pretend to "get her" in all her works, but when I hear her, the pieces "get me". Parcels of her phrases ring in my everyday experiences now and her tone is comforting to me even when her voice is bold and stinging. She has inspired me to write music more poetically without attachment to an outcome for the listener. Let her Love and Words bless you as they have me." (Dianivy, dianivy.com)

"...tearing at your heart and soul..."

"(Her) music and poetry are somber and deep, tearing at your heart and soul... "
(Volume 2, Issue 9 April 5, 2007 LooseyLucy.com)

..."planets beyond original..."

"One of the most original artists of our time...the material is planets beyond original."
(Brian Douthit, Eyes of a Poet Radio)

"...worldclass...this is poetry as it should be..."

Angel
cd or itunes

the greedy heart
buy the softcover $6.95USD

ebook $1.98USD

Angel and the greedy heart
ebook with audio $3.98USD

view more writing from Cassandra Tribe

what is this little flower??

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