North Carolina Mountains in Autumn (photo from DuckDuckGo images)

 

North Carolina Mountains

 

The North Carolina Mountains, 

so beautiful, so sublime...

in my heart they’ve nestled in,

clinging to my eternal soul,

erasing the concept of time. 

 

The memories I have there

are gentle, filled with love,

and in my quiet moments, 

I peacefully envision

Angels smiling from above. 

 

One day, I will return, 

and they will welcome me:

those hills of green, rivers, lakes so clean.

Gently, I will sing along, 

and blend with their sweet harmony.

 

© Jeanne Iris Lakatos

Happy Thanksgiving! (Click the photo to hear a lovely medley of Thanksgiving Hymns.)

(Photo from Google Images)

As Thanksgiving Day draws near, and we Americans reflect upon the many blessings in our lives, I extend my sincere thanks to all of you ladies and gentlemen who have visited this blog. Your kind words and gentle spirits have meant the world to me. 

God bless! ~ Dr. Jeanne Iris

Fractal Force

A few years ago, another blogger gave our poetry group a line prompt to use for our weekly poetry read. The line was as follows: "I am a crooked line." Well, the first thought that came to my mind was FRACTALS! I simply changed the word 'crooked' to 'fractal.' 

To view more fractals and listen to some ambient music, click HERE.

Incredible fractals found in Nature: Autumn leaves

Photo from Google Images

Fractal Force

I am a fractal line.

My course

aligns with the Spirit.

A conforming

non-conformist,

I weave between

giving and receiving
forthright

with humble regard for

pure

infinite

ubiquitous

Love.

© Jeanne I. Lakatos

To hear me recite this verse, click the link HERE. 

Be Leaf - Belief

An innovative idea is a call to action to make a difference in this world from a perspective of Love. A single leaf can be an example of a metaphor for the human condition. 

Since transformation originates from a single notion, I thought this little poem may contribute a genesis of belief.  

Oak tree leaves from my garden

 

Be Leaf 

Here

remains the leaf

not insignificant

silent, 

well formed

turned over and over.

Suspended,

it resides in belief

of the sublime reminder:

 the Journey of  Love

emanates, embraces,

 enwraps, ensues... 

in God's time.

© Jeanne I. Lakatos  

To hear me recite this, please click HERE.

Sydney Owenson: Rituals and Political Reality through Saint Mary Magdalene in Her Narrative, 'Saint Clair'

Stained Glass Image of Mary Magdalene, surrounded by roses

from Google Images

From my book, Innovation in Rhetoric in the Writing of Sydney Owenson...
pp. 208-209:

In her novel, St. Clair, Owenson presents autonomy through her lexical choices to illustrate the dichotomy of ritual, be it societal or religious. In doing so, she presents the conundrum of political ritual, that of electing or promoting individuals into public office in order to appease an elitist few at the expense of the majority who must abide by the established legalities: 

I remember to have seen in a Benedictine convent at Vendome a relic which raised a considerable revenue to its possessors, from the superstitious devotion which was paid to it; it was a crystal vial, presented by an angel to Mary Magdalene, and supposed to have contained the tear dropped by her divine Reformer to the memory of his departed friend. The allusion may be profane; but my faded rose-leaf, with the tear of genius and sensibility, is to me what the sacred vial is to the monks of St Benedict; from a motive less devout, I confess, in one sense, but certainly more disinterested in another. (St. Clair, vol. I, pp. 166-167)

As Sydney Owenson interweaves the blind devotion to rituals of Catholics with those of the French Revolution, she carefully demonstrates the affiliation of church and state, contrary to legislative decrees in the British Act of Union 1801, which states that those of a particular religious affiliation would not be permitted to hold public office. Thus, those jurisdictions, which primarily consist of Catholic citizens, would not receive representation within the governmental forums and subsequently, would not receive legislation in their favor. Owenson presents this conflicting belief system by cleverly choosing Mary Magdalene, the woman chosen by a few selected medieval scribes to be represented historically as a woman scorned, yet in Owenson's narrative, St. Clair, Mary Magdalene is the source of a worshipped relic. In her revolutionary, albeit romantic, style, Owenson challenges her aristocratic audience to reconsider its dependence on ritualistic prejudice against the population it wishes to control. 

Owenson concludes this passage with a reference to a rose, her personal symbol for Ireland. She uses the adjectives, ‘faded, with a tear of genius and sensibility,’ to describe this weathered bloom. This incongruous set of descriptions for a flower held as a ‘sacred vial’ indicates a conflicted perspective. In the following sentence, she reveals with more clarity her conflict, “I confess in one sense but certainly more disinterested in another.” If Owenson attempts to confess to her reading audience her own disinterest in the viability of questionable sacredness in religious relics, she does so by linking her beloved countrymen and women with the possibilities of becoming more conscious of their political reality through their symbolic treasures, such as the weathered rose as the symbol of ancient luster.

Bicycle Dreams

Bicycle Dreams

Frozen flakes,

each one different from the next

tumble gently 

to fulfill their divine calling

reforming this landscape

into a wintry haven,

providing a cooling respite

for parked bicycles

which dream 

of the fun in the rolling 

through those good ol'

steamy 

'dog days' of summer. 

© Jeanne I. Lakatos

You can hear my reading of this poem, by clicking HERE. 

Phonology

I took this photo of Sydney Owenson's plaque on Kildare Street in Dublin a few years ago.

On the topic of phonology or phonetics, the study of the way humans combine sounds to create linguistic patterns, I give you a brief excerpt from my book: Innovations in Rhetoric in the Writing of Sydney Swenson (Lady Morgan, 1781-1859) and below that, a poem I wrote entitled, Cognizance. Enjoy! 

Steven Pinker discusses the impact of phonology and semantics as individuals experience sensory connections in their formation of new concepts:    

The phonemes and syllables in a word contact their counterparts in memory piecemeal, more and more of them finding a match as the milliseconds tick by. As soon as all the pieces match some entry, the irregular form linked to the entry is fetched and shunted to the vocal tract. While the lookup is in progress, the inhibitory signal sent to the rule box gets stronger and stronger, and when all goes well, the rule is braked to a halt. [1]

At this point, the individual synapses in the brain connect the familiar sound with a specific memory. 

---

[1] Steven Pinker, Words and Rules: The Ingredients of Language, (New York: Harper, 2011), p. 130.

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Cognizance (Alliterative Antics)

Jung's is collective

containing collaborative

but chaotic compositions

carefully calculated

to create clear cut

caricatures of cranial

cacophonies in crazy

and occasionally corny

creatures who care

about causes and effects.

But mine is coincidental, 

caught between 

casual and coiffure

occasionally quaint,

consistent and tranquil

cautious,  concerned

a creatively concocted 

course of action, 

convoking acquaintances

to collaborate and affect.

© Jeanne I. Lakatos

(To hear my reading of this poem, please click HERE.)