An American Civil War Quilt Poem

Below is a narrative poem that I wrote around 1996
in which I used the American Civil War as its theme.

  A nine-patch quilt, hand-quilted by me

Two Tiny, Nine-Patch Doll Quilts

A tiny, nine-patch doll quilt

lay upon a tiny bed

made especially for Maggie Mae

the year her family fled

from all those scornful Yankees,

who were running through their town

setting homes and lives afire

causing Southern hopes to drown.

A tiny, nine-patch doll quilt

lay upon a tiny crib

made especially for Ellie Sue

the summer when her nib

was loosened from her pen in hand

as the Rebels fired loud

and soon her family stood in fear

with the other Gettysburg crowd.

Two tiny, nine-patch doll quilts

heard two tiny prayers say,

“Dear Lord, please let our battled lands

be placed within Your peaceful stay,

and help our families change their hate

to blessings filled with love.

Then, all of us will recognize

Your blessings from above.”

Two tattered, nine-patch doll quilts

lie in honorable view

for each is cherished dearly

by descendants of the two

who saw their lives so clearly

pass through war’s destructive side

for one hundred years of prayer brought

a Rebel son his Yankee bride.

© Jeanne I. Lakatos 

Phonology

                                I took this photo of a street musician in Dublin a few years ago

On the topic of phonology or phonetic consciousness, the study of 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, 181-1859) and below that, a poem I wrote entitled, Consciousness. 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. 

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

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Consciousness

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 quirky

consistent and tranquil

cautious,  concerned

a creatively concocted 

course of action, 

convoking acquaintances

to collaborate and affect.

© Jeanne I. Lakatos

The Shy One

The poem below deals with a childhood hurdle that eventually led me to grow in confidence: the family tag of 'the shy one.' 

The Shy One

“Jeanne is the shy one.”

explained Mom 

when she introduced 

my siblings and me

to someone new

we happened to meet

My tag was sewn,

identified and neat.

But I really wasn’t terribly shy

as indicated by Mother.

I simply loved to scrutinize

and exercise prudence

in dealing with those others.

A curse back then.

But now I understand;

my pensive ‘flaws’

were precious gifts

of a Higher command.

Indeed, this shy one

has fervently grown,

for my interactions

delicately honed,

pensive and discreet,

have led me to compete

and thereby complete

some absolutely marvelous feats.

© Jeanne I. Lakatos

Michel de Montaigne

photo from Google Images

      The quote below has lingered in my thoughts today. So much political rhetoric seems to fill the airwaves, and I grow weary of the interpretations and re-interpretations of those who are currently striving to fulfill their dreams on the political stage. I can only hope that these individuals have the citizens' best interest in their hearts. As human interactions continue to evolve, the words of this 16th century writer have renewed vitality. Enlightenment inspires vision. 

There never were in the world two opinions alike, no more than two hairs or two grains; the most universal quality is diversity.  

~ Michel de Montaigne

Crickets in Love

Cherishing the final weeks of summer, below, is a little poem I wrote on the soothing sound of crickets in love under the moon's light. Enjoy! 

Crickets in Love

Suspended 

sound waves

fill the senses

echoing harmonics

soothe 

reverberate

through chambers

of hearts

pulsating rhythms

intricate gestalt

© Jeanne I. Lakatos

from lifeandberyl.blogspot.com

Dusk

Below, I have written a poem based on a photograph, as an example of Ekphrasis.

My photograph is of the beautiful East Lake in Danbury, Connecticut, at sunset, just before dusk. 

I took this photo of East Lake in Danbury, Connecticut.

Dusk

Indigo pond

reflects

a hopeful, graying sky

shades of peach and blue

intermingle 

with soft, fleecy clouds

framing the Peace

that harkens my heart 

dreaming

 of possibilities

Dusk.

© Jeanne I. Lakatos

Thomas Paine and Revolutionary Consciousness: A Lesson for Twenty-First Century Readers

Click here to view source of this image

Thomas Paine differentiates between natural and civil rights of man, with the latter originating from the former. He interprets the aristocracy’s use of language as a means of establishing a sense of power. Echoing the consciousness of the eighteenth century philosopher, John Locke, Paine elucidates for his readers an emerging global consciousness in Rights of Man:

The progress of time and circumstances, which men assign to the accomplishment of great changes, is too mechanical to measure the force of the mind, and the rapidity of reflection, by which revolutions are generated:  All the old governments have received a shock from those that already appear, and which were once more improbable, and are a greater subject of wonder, than a general revolution in Europe would be now…. what we now see in the world, from the Revolutions of America and France, are a renovation of the natural order of things, a system of principles as universal as truth and existence of man, and combining moral with political happiness and national prosperity.[1]

Our politicians of the twenty-first century could do well to consider Mr. Paine's words. These fundamental beliefs authentically provide his readership with contrasting attributes of the narrow vision present in governmental hierarchy in contrast with those belonging to humanity in general. A correlation between humanity and nature formed the consciousness of revolutionary thought, which eventually fed into the elaborate (and beautiful) artistic,  musical, and literary expressions of romanticism. 

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[1] Quoted in Foner 536-37.