Insouciance

Insouciance 

Feeling soucieux,
for the Bus has left without me,
I delve into the furthermost
reaches of a leather universe,
searching for a tissue to dry my tears,
lacking in certain finesse.

Soon, I touch something
soft, limp, fuzzy with appendages!
Ew, what has crawled into my purse?
Gingerly, I lift out the soft, limp,
fuzzy object by one of its appendages.

It stares at me with beady eyes
still, silent, smiling at me
insouciant as ever, James Joyce.
I rejoice... a friend!

What bus? 

© Jeanne I. Lakatos

* insouciant or insouciance: nonchalant, unconcerned

* soucieux: worried, concerned 

Sydney Owenson (Lady Morgan) and Self-Actualization

General concepts from my book: 

Sydney Owenson acknowledges the spiritual connection between humanity, nature, and God's law, a common theme occurring in Goethe’s works. In one of his conversations with Johann Peter Eckermann, he explains:

Freedom consists not in refusing to recognize anything above us, but in respecting something which is above us; for, by respecting it, we raise ourselves to it, and, by our very acknowledgment, prove that we bear within ourselves what is higher, and are worthy to be on a level with it. [1]

Owenson, then, incorporates the Romantic concept of God’s influence on humanity’s intellectual actions in conjunction with natural law while she introduces the reality of political and societal constraints through her characters' struggles with self-awareness. Through this conflict, Owenson personifies the dichotomous nature of glory in which her birth nation struggles with true autonomy and its native glór (voice) to be heard.

---

[1] Johann Goethe, quoted in Conversations of Goethe with Johann Peter Eckermann, translated by John Oxennford, edited by J.K. Moorhead (New York: Da Capo Press, 1998), p. 157.

Enough of an Artist... Thank you, Albert Einstein

When I was participating in the Poetry Bus poetry workshops, one of the members asked us to follow these directives: 

1:  Think of (or find) a sentence. 

2: Delete the second half of it. 

3: Think of as many different ways of finishing it was you can. 

4: Now, delete the first part of the sentence, leaving only a collection of "second halves". 

5: Play with these and compose a poem out of them. You'll probably want to mess about with   the grammar, leave bits out, put bits in, etc. Feel free. 

6: Post the poem.

I used a quote from Albert Einstein, and below is the result.

Photo of my window's view in Reims, France

I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. ~ Albert Einstein

I am Enough of an Artist...

To make my way through this airport

and appreciate the artistry

in each human utterance and smile

creative impulses within,

felt without

To hear music

in the laughter of children,

the voice of God

in the knowing timbre

of an elderly sigh

To feel this train race, passing French villes,

A phantasmagoria of anxious yearning

in the muted colors of graffiti 

blended with determined drops 

of spring rain

To enter a darkened hallway,

and know that the painful hole

bitten into my lip from fear

will heal, 

bleeding into fortitude

So, I taste the blended harvest

in a bowl of vegetable soup

and ready myself for another day

with cherished goodness

of a night’s rest

upon clean, white sheets.

© Jeanne I. Lakatos

Mercy Otis Warren, Muse of the American Revolution, 1776

Painting of Mercy Otis Warren

Mercy Otis Warren, given the title by some historians of Muse of the American Revolution, is often neglected in the U.S. historical memory. However, her motivation for contributing numerous literary works on the subject of independence  demonstrates virtues found in the common individual while pointing out the discrepancies in a non-representational government. In her 1773 play, The Adulateur, Warren describes the issue of individual rights through the speech of her main character, Brutus:

The change how drear! The sullen ghost of bondage

Stalks full in view—already with her pinions,

She shades the affrighted land—the insulting soldiers

Tread down our choicest rights; while hoodwinked justice

Drops her scales, and totters from her basis.

Thus torn with nameless wounds, my bleeding country

Demands a tear – that tear I’ll freely give her. [1]

Using the rebellious poetic format of blank verse, Warren creates an image of the capture of justice, illustrating the conception that human beings might be inherently good, but their thirst for power could cause a diminishing of spiritual truth, thus leading to contrived allegiances to governments and other forms of false leadership. 

We thank such brave intelligent writers as Mercy Otis Warren for their insights regarding historical perspectives of justice. 

---

[1] Mercy Otis Warren, The Adulateur, Act I, Scene I, Boston: New Printing Office, 1773.

Two Hearts

Once, our poetry challenge was to write a wedding tribute. Since this week would've been my daughter's and son-in-law's anniversary had he not passed from physical illness as a result of working near burn pits in the middle east, I thought it would be appropriate to present this poem, which I've given to friends for special moments in their lives.

Photo: Dreamstime.com

Two Hearts

Two hearts entwine

through space and time,

sensing an epic in tandem,

each day to bring

a step toward a dream

of Love's

harmonic embrace.

© Jeanne I. Lakatos

In Preparation for Life

Preparation for Life 

In preparation for this wonderful life

I wish to send to you 

a cup of gentle tidings

that will comfort through and through.

Remember your uniqueness,

that God's Blessings are in you,

and use those gifts to be the one

who uplifts humanity true. 

© Jeanne I. Lakatos

Wintry Beauty: "Do...do...do...Lookin' out my back door..." (Creedence Clearwater Revival)

photo by Jeanne

As Mark Twain once remarked, " In Connecticut, if you don't like the weather today, wait until tomorrow." Well, as forecasted, we received our little bit of January snow. Today... So beautiful with the sun making its sporadic appearance throughout the day. 

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

Thomas Paine, Rights of Man (photos from Google images)

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. Relating the consciousness of the eighteenth-century mindset, 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.

These fundamental beliefs authentically provide Paine's 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. 

Our politicians of the twenty-first century could do well to consider Mr. Paine's words. It's January 21, 2025. Are we on the brink of realizing free expression, found within the core of human creativity derived from Divine Love? Only time will tell...

President Trump Inauguration

President Donald John Trump is sworn into office...again

His motto: "Make America great again." 

Congratulations, President Trump! 

God Bless America, and God Bless you and yours. 

Photo of President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump

Photo from DuckDuckGo Images

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's "Letter from a Birmingham Jail"

painting of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by William Rock, Chinese calligraphy by Huang Xiang

The significant "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is another illustration of iconic realism. From behind bars, King wrote this eloquent epistle, begun in the margins of discarded newspapers, then from a borrowed legal notepad. In this piece, he elaborately describes his educated and passionate belief in freedom of speech. Written in April, 1963, he had no access to a computer, nor spellcheck, yet his hand-written expression is clear, coherent, concise, and cohesive, utilizing classical rhetoric to elucidate for his audience the possibilities that could evolve from cultural reform.

Unfortunately, I can no longer post the entire document so that you can view the excellent rhetorical analysis of this letter, so I will only show you the first page below. It was downloaded from the following source: https://faculty.millikin.edu/~moconner/writing/king1a.html 

Winter's Winds Conquered

A Wintry East Lake, Danbury, Connecticut 

Winter's Winds Conquered

Winds from the North wail

as if they are reminding me 

of something I may have forgotten, 

like a friend in need, or items out of place

to which I should focus my attentions. 

The winds are relentless. 

Perhaps, they are telling me to be the same. 

Don't give up! It's all fine; have faith. 

My curiosity piqued, I lift my gaze

 to feel the Sun's warmth, strength, guidance.

So I make a pot of steaming beef stew 

with thick, rich gravy to warm me inside. 

Then, I whip up a batch of cornbread

of course, in my cast iron pot:

Vittles that warm the body, heart, and soul. 

Then, thoughts turn to you with your radiance:

warmth that still rivals the sun's glow, 

and I am at peace, smiling from memories,

the ones always embracing my heart, 

their fervent comfort conquering winter's bite.

© Jeanne I. Lakatos

You can hear me recite this verse by clicking HERE. 

Sydney Owenson (Lady Morgan): 19th Century Awareness of Cultural Change

           

I took this photo of Sydney Owenson's memorial plaque on Kildare Street, Dublin, Ireland.

From pages 17-18 of my book: 

Revolutionary philosophy of the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries provides momentum for the transformation of consciousness, circuitous pathways of innovation and circularity within societal parameters, creating awareness of cultural change, often through literary articulation. 

During the long eighteenth century, Sydney Owenson constructs her national tales by configuring lexical combinations of Irish, English and European colloquialisms, drawing upon the historical and philosophical perceptions of René Descartes and Immanuel Kant to transform her romantic tales into narratives of political inquiry. 

Her voice maintains a necessary fortitude in terms of her unique perspective, placing Irish ideology into the center of English culture at the onset of the Ascendancy, while she illustrates foresight in challenging the political stance of the United Kingdom in the early decades of the nineteenth century.

Ha' Penny Bridge, Dublin, Ireland

Epiphany!

"Life’s intermittent light

 shines 

through our souls, 

revealing the softness within, 

knowing that this gentle force 

originates from 

the intensity of hardship 

learned by living 

in the profusion of opportunity 

that surrounds us." 

~ from my operetta, Luminescence

© Jeanne I. Lakatos