Poem on Blindness

This week's Poetry Jam has the concept of blindness as its theme. Below is a poem I've revised several times. I took the photograph whilst driving south of Dublin, lost and 'blind' to the correct pathway to I.A.D.T. in Dun Laoghaire. Thank you, gentlemen at Dunphey's Pub, for your fine directions and hand-drawn map!

Blind

A blinding

moves her

to close the blind

shielding her

from brilliance

Outside-

the hour of dusk

palpitates

with a creative verve

releasing gold

Within-

a beam expands

that cannot blind

for Memory

sustains the weakest eye.

Jeanne I. Lakatos

Dandelion Wine Recipe

Yes, 2012 is shaping to be an excellent year for the dandelion crop. Below is a recipe for dandelion wine I copied from my mother's recipe box many many years ago, but I've no idea of the origin of this recipe: 

Dandelion Wine Recipe

1 quart dandelion blossoms- packed solidly

1 gallon water-boil water for 10 minutes

Add blossoms to water and cook for 10 more minutes. 

After cooking, strain off the blossoms

Add 3 1/2 lbs. sugar to juice and 2 packets of dried yeast

Add about 4 oranges whole and 5 lemons whole

Add 1/2 lb. raisons

Soak one week with raisons. 
Stir well at least once a day while soaking during the 2 weeks.

Sydney Owenson (Lady Morgan): Revolutionary

Sydney Owenson sheds light on the status of the common man and woman in mid-nineteenth century Ireland and incorporates semiotic structures within her works to communicate with her readers the various discrepancies in legislation, particularly the Act of Union 1801, decades after its enactment. Although inequity in governmental legislation exists internationally, by 1825, the imbalance within the legislative structures is unacceptable to intelligent women associated with the British or the Irish aristocracy along with the increasing numbers of female writers and readers.

For example, in the preface of her essay entitled, Absenteeism, she highlights the need for both the English and the Irish to be mindful of their patriotic responsibilities:

Notwithstanding the intense interest which is felt throughout all England concerning Ireland and Irish affairs, notwithstanding the frequent debates in parliament, and more frequent pamphlets and volumes published on points of Irish politics and oeconomy, the prevailing ignorance on these subjects still operates powerfully in maintaining prejudices the most unfounded and the most fatal, and in retarding those measures of wisdom and of justice without which Ireland can never be happy; or the British Empire secure. [1]

In this statement, Owenson demonstrates commonality between the authority, England, and the respective community of Ireland, as she begins with the phrase, ‘notwithstanding the intense interest which is felt…’ Thus, she engages in the use of negative phraseology linked with passive voice to unite the divergent intentions of England and Ireland.

---

[1] Sydney Owenson (Lady Morgan), Absenteeism, (London: Henry Colburn, 1825) pp. ix and x. For future reference within this study, the work will be cited as Abs.

Ode to Skunk Cabbage

This week's (or was it last week's?) Poetry Jam prompt deals with connections. We've had such an unusually warm winter here in the United States that it seems Spring has sprung early from coast to coast. Having recently returned from beautiful New Orleans, where the azaleas and magnolias are in full bloom, I just had to submit this little ode to one of the harbingers of Spring, the Skunk Cabbage as my illustration of the connection between artist and nature. (This IS a repeat for some of you who have been on board the Poetry Bus, too.)

photo of skunk cabbage from Google Images

                   

Ode to Skunk Cabbage

Bursting forth from its ruddy milieu,      
it erects from its hooded spathe.

This courageous prophet boldly faces

the chilly air with unique confidence, 

guided by a mighty force.

Radiating silently, as if to say,

“Come to me, for I offer

the nourishment you need now,”

his sweetness within calls upon

the daring creature to receive its warmth.

And she responds, and she comes:

the beetle, the spider, the queen bee,

warmed by the generosity 

of Spring’s first.

Odoriferous, proud, protective,

he inspires the fragrant flora

to engender beauty.

Now, Spring has arrived

with the burgeoning

of the exceptional skunk cabbage.

Jeanne I. Lakatos 2011

Poetry Jam: Anaphora Poetry

Our challenge is to write in the Anaphora poetic format.
Click here: Poetry Jam to view some wonderful poetry from the other "Jammers."

For Giveness

Given 

from the heart,

given with humility,

given freely,

this gift of joy

is a given 

that another will 

give.

Jeanne I. Lakatos

Heart and Consciousness: Happy Valentine's Day!

http://c2.api.ning.com/files/euULXEQgkJUGj1mAEzxJvFNLBjVEllILVGKtFKYHLMwbAtayRWlrIfNQpBtcLNH-D4aSS5qfcj-s-jNiaaK3NVc6GMSnitGu/AlexGrey_HeartConsciousness.jpg

In her book, Patriotic Sketches of Ireland, Sydney Owenson observes:

 Political philosophy is an extension of the mind’s eye to the whole great scale of civil society, and demonstrating the close-linked dependencies of its remotest parts, affords to the benevolence of the human heart, and the comprehension of the human understanding, a social system, gratifying to the feelings of the one, and ennobling to the faculties of the other. (33)

The human heart and 'comprehension of understanding,' which I will identify as consciousness, are two distinct entities, for the heart, aside from its organic characteristics, contains the essence of human emotions. On the other hand, comprehension of understanding involves the assimilation of intelligence and critical analysis as they interact with the psycho-physiological structure in a wondrous flow of human experience. I reflect on this concept in the following poem:

Flow I

Passion creates verve

whose song desires voice;

now boldly sing

radiate stillness

encircle fear: enflame!

This fervor flows

with molten resonance

angled benevolence

evolution through revolution,

illumined by the intricacy

of simplicity adorned

transformed

with interlacing

flow.

Jeanne I. Lakatos 

Poetry Jam: Sensuality

This week, our Poetry Jam has us thinking sensually. Below, is a nineteenth century painting entitled, The Five Senses, by Austrian artist, Hans Makart. I have presented below this sensuous painting an excerpt from my operetta, Luminescence, which hopefully will elicit a feeling of sensuality.  

The Five Senses

by Austrian artist, Hans Makart (1840-1884)

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Makart_Fuenf_Sinne.jpg

Morning Recitative

(from my operetta, Luminescence)


Enlighten

Lush overgrowth 
forms an inspiring, prolific canopy

Tender petals compete

for limited radiance

of the morning’s brilliance.

Abandoned

by inheritors of this fertile land,

the garden flourishes independently 
in floral splendour.

Bathe

A cooling brook meanders

through the twisted, scented undergrowth,

creating a reflective ribbon,

adorning this Eden 
with bubbling ballads.

Elegant, colourful bouquets embellish

fertile banks with a natural brilliance.

Soothing resonance honours the presence

of infinite intelligence.

Live

Flowers open their petals,

attracting the arrival of winged courtiers,

who pollinate their yearning pistils.

They clamour close to the wall,

reflecting wisdom of the struggle

to remain vibrant in this forgotten place.

Their beauty blends resplendent

colour with fragrance,

giving the garden vitality,

as one more day brings sensual lustre

into the chaos of the untamed garden.

Jeanne I. Lakatos  © 2005