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Thursday, 23 April 2009

  • Currently
    Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring; The Firebird Suite (1919)
    see related

    Vernal Equinox

    I am but one voice raised
    against the din of media
    the obscenity of superfluous
    the mania of material goods
    of too much information
    and too little empowerment

    I am but one voice raised
    in a howl against Golgotha
    in a sea of poets Damned
    in the dark of blinded angels
    in the very intimate details
    and the flash of time and effrontery.

    I am but one voice raised
    in a world that would have my silence
    against the shrieks that demand my blame
    my ears wounded and bleeding
    my voice pleading the cause of comfort
    for those trapped in horror and punishment.

    I am but one voice raised
    and I will have my life and say
    though it is all I have to give
    I will sing it to the heavens
    I will have my "Yea, Verily,"
    I will part the walls of Hades

    I will be my own Persephone.

Monday, 13 April 2009

  • Currently
    Hymns of the 49th Parallel
    By k.d. lang
    see related

    The Life He Never Knew (For Cecial Lorn Hunter)

    1927

    He was thirteen when he died
    and his great delight was horses.
    He had a slow and steady hand
    with a plow at twelve years old.
    By the age of nine, he had four sisters.
    Slow to read, he learned by seven,
    and at four, still sucked his thumb.
    His gait was sure at two,
    his strong fingers gripping edges.
    Their first born, and a son.

    1944

    He was a soldier now,
    his uniform reflected in
    a sea of foreign blood,
    and his seed spilled inside the legs
    of a dark haired girl with eyes
    too large and melancholy.
    He wretched at the thought of his wife
    rocking back and forth with worry.
    He strayed from her this night only
    the bourbon too weak to cool
    the heat of a morning
    when death erupted from his hands.

    1990

    He sat at his great-niece's graduation
    shifting on the wooden bench,
    squinting at a blur of blue and white students
    walking towards uncertain futures.
    The youth made him weep
    though he could not remember why
    as his papery hand spindled over
    a last patch of pale hair.



Sunday, 12 April 2009

Saturday, 11 April 2009

  • Currently
    Abyss
    By Jacques Schwarz-Bart
    see related

    Miscarriage: To a Lost Journal

    It was written during
    the November of my infirmary
    a swirl of near death
    and morphine laden dreams.

    I had traveled down the Mother Road
    stumbling on broken cement
    and misspent gravel
    as weeds grew over the eyes
    and out of tthe nostrils
    of zombie like doctors
    with their mute nurses that
    listed down grassy hallways.

    My Pakistani lover was recalled
    and lost again even as
    his curried mouth blazed
    and retreated on my
    sickly white skin,
    and the red barn where we made  love
    was burning.

    In one poem, I had become
    a statue, moss covered,
    anchored to a desk as
    my body turned to stone and wood.

    I mused over the toss and turn
    of a friend's body over mine
    and the curve of her delicate hips
    as they rocked  with abandon.

    I know its somewhere in this house
    beneath a couch,
    in a pile of unopened mail,
    in a shelf between a Bible and
    a dictionary, or perhaps
    sentient with my hallucinations
    it has vanished
    choosing death over existence
    because it hurts too much to live.


     

Friday, 10 April 2009

  • Currently
    The Secret Life of Bees
    By Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys, Sophie Okonedo
    see related

    A Silly Poem

    Background: I came across this today and was going to toss it out. It wasn't completed, and rather silly, but my husband liked its sort of "slice of life" quality and encouraged me to finish it. I rather like the way it turned out, although it is still...well... silly.

    Revenge

    There it sat on the ledge of the deck
    a can of soda
    cool and refreshing
    waiting to be picked up
    and drained of its nectar

    as I reached for its
    bubbly effervescence
    a bee landed
    on the aluminum surface
    dipping its body
    in the sweet brown liquid

    I cursed at my misfortune
    and waited for it to scurry
    as I stewed in my thirst
    and it flew, finally satiated
    the little body heavy
    with sugary carbonation

    there was a hum and a slice
    of air molecules being parted
    and a gratifying THWACK
    of plastic meeting wood
    The thief was dead
    and my revenge satisfied

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OperaJan

  • Visit OperaJan's Xanga Site
    • Name: Janette
    • Country: United States
    • State: Pennsylvania
    • Metro: Pittsburgh
    • Birthday: 10/11/1972
    • Gender: Female
    • Member Since: 7/20/2005

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About Me

  • Janette Patterson Schafer is a native Venezuelan who moved to the United States as a very small child. She was raised and educated in Michigan. An alumna of Central Michigan University School of Music, Janette has been a featured soloist and actress for opera and theater companies, universities, and orchestras throughout the United States and Europe. Also an established freelance writer, her articles, poems, and short stories have appeared in over fifty magazines, newspapers, and literary journals. "Other Names and Places," a collection of poems, is her first book. She will be returning to school this fall as a Professional Writing Major at Carlow University. She currently resides in Pittsburgh with her husband, Garth, and her cats, Samwise, Mummah, and Rose. For more information on her book, visit the publisher's website at LBFBOOKS.COM.

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Chatboard (4)

  • Davidjroth2002
    @OperaJan - Lots changed since you created your profile., not the least of which is that LBFBooks tanked and Jake basically abandoned us. I had a second stroke April 20th and am in recovery and therapy. Dormont remains Dormont LOLDave
  • OperaJan
    @Davidjroth2002 - So, it only took me a year to notice this and read it. Actually, 1 1/2 half! Nice to meet a fellow Michigander. My husband and I are up to 5 furkids now.
  • moklinedinst
    How's one of my favorite people from the Burgh??? I have a myspace and looked for you on there. Do you have one? We need to catch up!!
  • Davidjroth2002
    Hi Jan, Just read your profile and your current blog posting. No, I wasn't a girl in the 70's - I was a guy in the 60's. Come to think of it, I was starting my sophomore year of college the year you were born. However, I share two things with you, sorta. I raised my kids in Lansing Michigan,