Rabarbra by Nikolai Astrup

Rabarbra by Nikolai Astrup

Rabarbra
1911-21
Expressionism
Oil on Canvas
The Savings Bank Foundation / KODE

“Rabarbra” was painted late in Astrup’s career and depicts a woman stooped over gathering rhubarb while a child plays in the dirt. Beyond the figures, there are blossoming cherry trees. “Rabarbra” is one of several of the artist’s later works to feature the garden of his family home in Sandalstrand. Astrup and his wife, Engel, had built up the property from a few dilapidated structures creating their home and a working farm where they and their eight children could live off the land.

Nikolai Astrup 1880-1928

Nikolai Astrup
Expressionism
Born: 30 August 1880, Bremanger, Norway
Nationality: Norwegian
Died: 21 January 1928, Førde, Norway

Astrup was a modernist painter with a distinctive and innovative style noted for its intense use of colour depicting the landscapes of Vestlandet and the traditional way of life in the region

Requiem, Op. 66 by David Popper

David Popper 1843-1913

Requiem, Op. 66
1892
Romantic

David Popper
Romantic
Born: 16 June 1843, Prague, Czechia
Nationality: Bohemian
Died: 7 August 1913, Baden bei Wien, Austria

Popper was a cellist and composer. Born in Prague he studied music at the Prague Conservatory under Julius Goltermann. Popper made his first tour in 1863 and in Germany, he was praised by Hans von Bülow, who recommended him as Chamber Virtuoso in the Court of Prince von Hohenzollern-Hechinger in Löwenberg

Poplars on the Epte

Poplars on the Epte by Claude Monet, 1891. Oil on canvas. National Gallery, London, UK

Poplars on the Epte
Form: Cardinal Stanza

Quiver on the breeze
Beneath a blue sky
Silhouettes
Standing straight and tall
Along riverbank

Quiver on the breeze
Capture artist’s eye
Reflecting
In flowing waters
Dark shades and light

Quiver on the breeze
Evergreens reach high
Destiny
Of dreams gently stroked
On canvas in air

Quiver on the breeze
Visions in a sigh
Silent
Words left unspoken
For trees cannot speak

Quiver on the breeze
Listen as they cry
No words
Yet they talk freely
By artist’s hand

©JezzieG2023

Never Quite Free by The Mountain Goats

The Mountain Goats

Never Quite Free
Album: All Eternals Deck
Date: 2011
Genre: Alternative/Indie
Artist: The Mountain Goats

The Mountain Goats were formed in California by singer-songwriter John Darnielle in 1991. Darnielle remains the core member of the band and over the years has worked with a variety of collaborators such as Peter Hughes (bassist and vocalist), Matt Douglas (multi-instrumentalist), Rachel Ware (bassist and vocalist), Jon Wurster (drummer), and Kaki King (guitarist)

Without End

A Garret Poet

Without End
Form: Canzonetta 2

The first time I saw you at the station
I knew I had known you someplace in time
Perhaps at the dawn of creation
As the earth came into her prime
Our love began in its probation
In sunshine, in rain, in every clime
Here and there, in every nation
I knew I’d love you in every lifetime

For eternal love has no cessation
In familiarity that echoes the heart’s chime
You and I, there is no end of duration
I love you then, and will again, and this time
Is as wonderful as the first incantation
This life, and all lives, we’re desire in prime
Making love in eternal adulation
I knew I’d love you in every lifetime

©JezzieG2023

Paris Through the Window by Marc Chagall

Paris Through the Window by Marc Chagall

Paris Through the Window
1913
Cubism
Oil on canvas
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, New York, USA

“Paris Through the Window” reflects on Chagall’s personal feelings of divided loyalties between his love of modern Paris and the older ways of life in Russia. The figure in the bottom right looks both ways whilst the couple below the Eiffel Tower are split apart. Chagall does not attempt to dissect the subject, instead, he searches for beauty in the details.

Marc Chagall 1887-1985

Marc Chagall
Expressionism, Cubism
Born: 7 July 1887, Vitebsk, Russian Empire
Nationality: Russian-French
Died: 28 July 1985, Saint, Paul, France

Chagall was an artist. he was an early modernist associated with major artistic styles ad his works show a wide range of artistic formats including paintings, drawings, illustrations, stained glass, ceramics, tapestries, and fine art prints

Piano Concerto for the Left Hand by Maurice Ravel

Maurice Ravel 1875-1937

Piano Concerto for the Left Hand
1929-30
Concerto

Maurice Ravel
Impressionism
Born: 7 March 1875, Ciboure, France
Nationality: French
Died: 28 December 1937, Paris, France

Ravel was a composer, conductor, and pianist. Although he rejected the term he is often associated with Impressionism. During the 1920s and 1930s, Ravel was regarded internationally as France’s greatest living composer

Master and Servant by Depeche Mode

Depeche Mode

Master and Servant
Album: Some Great Reward
Date: 1984
Genre: Synth-pop
Artist: Depeche Mode

Depeche Mode are an electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex, England. The lineup consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and songwriter), Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, vocals, and songwriter), and Andy Fletcher (keyboards). Depeche Mode have had 54 songs in the UK Singles Chart and 17 Top 10 albums in the UK. They were nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017 and 2018 and were inducted as part of the Class of 2020

Surreal Life

Surreal Life
Form: Epistle Sonnet 31

A sadness filters deep within my soul
Always there as something I have to feel
For where you are is where I can be whole

Living this life is somehow too surreal
Because I am here and not there with you
For now, Mistress Fate has taken control
And I wait for love’s crescendo to play
As this sadness meanders on through me

My darling, please tell me what I should do
Where do I find the will to make the day
As in Fate’s twisted hand, I have no clue
Somehow for your love, I will find a way

Whilst sadness lingers there for me to see
I know it’s you who holds my destiny

©JezzieG2023

Oh! Mr Best You’re Very Bad by Jane Austen

Jane Austen 1775-1817

Oh! Mr. Best, You’re Very Bad
1806

Oh! Mr. Best, you’re very bad
And all the world shall know it;
Your base behaviour shall be sung
By me, a tunefull Poet.–
You used to go to Harrowgate
Each summer as it came,
And why I pray should you refuse
To go this year the same?–

The way’s as plain, the road’s as smooth,
The Posting not increased;
You’re scarcely stouter than you were,
Not younger Sir at least.–

If e’er the waters were of use
Why now their use forego?
You may not live another year,
All’s mortal here below.–

It is your duty Mr Best
To give your health repair.
Vain else your Richard’s pills will be,
And vain your Consort’s care.

But yet a nobler Duty calls
You now towards the North.
Arise ennobled–as Escort
Of Martha Lloyd stand forth.

She wants your aid–she honours you
With a distinguished call.
Stand forth to be the friend of her
Who is the friend of all.–

Take her, and wonder at your luck,
In having such a Trust.
Her converse sensible and sweet
Will banish heat and dust.–

So short she’ll make the journey seem
You’ll bid the Chaise stand still.
T’will be like driving at full speed
From Newb’ry to Speen hill.–

Convey her safe to Morton’s wife
And I’ll forget the past,
And write some verses in your praise
As finely and as fast.

But if you still refuse to go
I’ll never let your rest,
Buy haunt you with reproachful song
Oh! wicked Mr. Best!–

Jane Austen
Born: 16 December 1775, Hampshire, England
Nationality: English
Died: 18 July 1817, Hampshire, England

Austen was a novelist and poet best known for her six major novels, which interpret, comment upon, and critique the English landed gentry of the late 18th century. Austen’s plots explored the dependence of women on making a good marriage in the pursuit of social standing, respectability, and economic security. Austen’s use of irony, realism, and social commentary has earned acclaim among critics and scholars alike. Her books were published anonymously in her lifetime and Austen gained greater status after her death. Her novels have rarely been out of print

Debris (RDP)

Inspired by and written for Ragtag Daily Prompt – my thanks to Sgeoil

Definition: Debris – n. scattered pieces of rubbish or remains

Form: Kimo

landfill site mountains of our wasteful greed
Mother Earth getting angry
and still, we wonder why?

©JezzieG2023

Safety

Safety
Form: Raven’s Rovi Sonnet 69

My place of safety behind sunglasses
As they shield my eyes away from your gaze
I can see the truth of you as it passes

In the snide comments that come to reveal
The new reality of what you call love
And the agony you want me to feel
In darkness, it’s not even a kind of

For I have seen what you cannot conceal
From behind my shades that is truth, I see
No more shall your lies in my heart amaze
As when the beauty of love surpasses
As what you want there is no kind of love

Behind shades, the truth set my heart free
As no tears cry for what can never be

©JezzieG2023

Crystals – Carnelian

A stone of vitality, the carnelian is an orange-red variety of chalcedony, a cryptocrystalline quartz mineral. It has been used in many cultures as a stabilizing stone and symbolizes bold energy and stimulation of the spiritual self.

Carnelian

Carnelian is associated with the Sacral Chakra and is a symbol of life. It is also used for protection, wealth, and wisdom. Carnelian is an excellent stone for self-esteem and aids the wearer to develop and maintain a healthy image of self.

Carnelian empowers the individual to be outgoing and sociable. After a setback, carnelian is a positive and powerful tool in enabling the rebuild of self-esteem and self-worth.

Affirmation: I am filled with positive energy and vitality

In love and light
Raven )O(

NBC Rage by Arman

NBC Rage by Arman

NBC Rage
1961
Readymade
Broken bass fiddle mounted on wood panel
Estate of the artist

“NBC Rage” was created at a television studio during the making of a documentary about French avant-garde art. Arman used destruction as another perspective through which to view an object seeing the different tactics of multiplication and destruction as closely related approaches to an object.

Arman 1928-2005

Arman
Nouveau Réalisme, Assemblage, Readymade and Found Object
Born: 17 November 1928, Nice, France
Nationality: French-American
Died: 22 October 2005, New York, USA

Arman was an artist. He is renowned for moving from using objects for the ink or paint traces they leave to using the objects as artworks, Arman is best known for his Accumulations and destruction/recomposition of objects

Nicholas Nye by Walter de la Mare

Walter de la Mare 1873-1956

Nicholas Nye
1931

Thistle and darnell and dock grew there,
And a bush, in the corner, of may,
On the orchard wall I used to sprawl
In the blazing heat of the day;

Half asleep and half awake,
While the birds went twittering by,
And nobody there my lone to share
But Nicholas Nye.

Nicholas Nye was lean and gray,
Lame of leg and old,
More than a score of donkey’s years
He had been since he was foaled;
He munched the thistles, purple and spiked,
Would sometimes stoop and sigh,
And turn to his head, as if he said,
“Poor Nicholas Nye!”

Alone with his shadow he’d drowse in the meadow,
Lazily swinging his tail,
At break of day he used to bray,–
Not much too hearty and hale;
But a wonderful gumption was under his skin,
And a clean calm light in his eye,
And once in a while; he’d smile:–
Would Nicholas Nye.

Seem to be smiling at me, he would,
From his bush in the corner, of may,–
Bony and ownerless, widowed and worn,
Knobble-kneed, lonely and gray;
And over the grass would seem to pass
‘Neath the deep dark blue of the sky,
Something much better than words between me
And Nicholas Nye.

But dusk would come in the apple boughs,
The green of the glow-worm shine,
The birds in nest would crouch to rest,
And home I’d trudge to mine;
And there, in the moonlight, dark with dew,
Asking not wherefore nor why,
Would brood like a ghost, and as still as a post,
Old Nicholas Nye

Walter de la Mare
Born: 25 April 1873, London, England
Nationality: English
Died: 22 June 1956, Twickenham, England

De la Mare was a poet, short story writer, and novelist, best remembered for his works for children and for his poem “The Listeners.” He also authored a subtle collection of psycho horror stories including “All Hallows” and “Seaton’s Aunt.” In 1921 he was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his novel “Memoirs of a Midget” and in 1947 the Carnegie Medal for British Children’s Books

Passion Remembers

A Garret Poet

Passion Remembers
Form: Katauta

memories of you
curl in my mind like your hair
wrapping around my fingers

emotions entwined
yearning more than remember
yet my heart knows fulfillment

my lover keeps me
in a place I can’t forget
the stories of love we shared

floating in recall
salty tastes of rivulets
extricated in a kiss

it’s like I am there
embraced within your passion
touching the skies of desire

©JezzieG2023

Santa Lucia by Enrico Caruso

Enrico Caruso 1873-1921

Santa Lucia
1916
Classical

Enrico Caruso
Opera
Born: 25 February 1873, Naples, Italy
Nationality: Italian
Died: 2 August 1921, Naples, Italy

Caruso was an operatic first lyric tenor and dramatic tenor. To great acclaim, he sang at the major opera houses of Europe and America in a variety of roles from the Italian and French repertoires. Caruso was one of the first major singing talents to being commercially recorded and made 247 recordings from 1902-1920 making him an internationally popular star in the world of entertainment

Melmillo by Walter de la Mare

Walter de la Mare 1873-1956

Melmillo
1923

Three and thirty birds there stood
In an elder in a wood;
Called Melmillo — flew off three,
Leaving thirty in the tree;
Called Melmillo — nine now gone,
And the boughs held twenty-one;
Called Melmillo — and eighteen
Left but three to nod and preen;
Called Melmillo — three–two–one–
Now of birds were feathers none.

Then stole slim Melmillo in
To that wood all dusk and green,
And with lean long palms outspread
Softly a strange dance did tread;
Not a note of music she
Had for echoing company;
All the birds were flown to rest
In the hollow of her breast;
In the wood — thorn, elder willow —
Danced alone — lone danced Melmillo

Walter de la Mare
Born: 25 April 1873, London, England
Nationality: English
Died: 22 June 1956, Twickenham, England

De la Mare was a poet, short story writer, and novelist, best remembered for his works for children and for his poem “The Listeners.” He also authored a subtle collection of psycho horror stories including “All Hallows” and “Seaton’s Aunt.” In 1921 he was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his novel “Memoirs of a Midget” and in 1947 the Carnegie Medal for British Children’s Books

Drizzle

Drizzle
Form: Free Verse

A gathering of grey at the end of the day
And I listen to the jasmine sipping the rain
As I drink a chilled white wine
I watch the summer rain drizzle from the tiles
Refreshing the climbers on the trellis
Their leaves thirsty from a hot day
Softly falling drips and drops
As I bid my garden goodnight

In the morning the rain has gone
The light of the sun shining on vibrant green
Making dark shadows a cool space for sparrows
Their black eyes watching with caution
The dish fill in time for breakfast
From the deck table I see the flurry of brown feathers
Chitter-chat and flutter over the seeds and nuts
And the stillness of the raven on the shed roof
Content to chew over the bacon
A lovely sight on a summer’s day

©JezzieG2023

Maximilian II, His Wife, and Three Children by Giuseppe Arcimboldo

Maximilian II, His Wife, and Three Children by Giuseppe Arcimboldo

Maximilian II, His Wife, and Three Children
1563
Mannerism

After Arcimboldo was appointed to the Habsburg Court he painted a port Maximilian II with his wife and children. It is an important work in Arcimboldo’s oeuvre as it illustrates the intermediate phase in the artist’s transition to the full Mannerist style.

Giuseppe Arcimboldo 1527-1593

Giuseppe Arcimboldo
Mannerism
Born: 1527, Milan, Italy
Nationality: Italian
Died: 11 July 1593, Milan, Italy

Arcimboldo was a painter best known for creating imaginative portrait heads made from objects such as fruit, vegetables, fish, books, and flowers. However, he was also a conventional painter of portraits, including three Holy Roman Emperors, religious subjects, and exotic animals. Arcimboldo’s still-life portraits were intended as curiosities, whimsical in nature produced to amuse the court.

Lady in Black by Uriah Heep

Uriah Heep

Lady in Black
Album: Salisbury
Date: 1970
Genre: Rock
Artist: Uriah Heep

Part of the early 1970s rock scene, Uriah Heep are a rock band formed in 1969 in London, UK. There have been numerous line-up changes throughout their 54-year career with guitarist Mick Box the only original member, Uriah Heep’s current line-up consists of Box, Phil Lanzon (keyboards), Bernie Shaw (vocals), Russell Gilbrook (drums), and Dave Rimmer (bass)

Field Trip (Writephoto)

Geometric by KL Caley

Inspired by and written for #Writephoto – thank you, KL

Form: Microfiction

Working en plein air isn’t always as fun as it sounds. It isn’t always creating beauty whilst surrounded by the wonders of nature sitting on the soft grass.

Today the wooden bench is hard and the gathering clouds threaten to drizzle streaks into my charcoal lines. I am determined to capture the classical beauty of the architecture before the rains come.

My hands guide the black sticks marking curves and outlines despite the chill in the air in a battle against the fading light. One more sketch and I will head back to work on canvas. A last bit of shading before the first splodge lands, creating a mad rush to put away charcoals and sketches.

En plein air, suffering for art.

©JezzieG2023

Apocalyptic Night

Apocalyptic Night
Form: Canzonetta 1

Crashing thunder echoes through the night
Blue light dances in the distant sky
Like strangers coming into our sight
And the clouds roar tempest from on high
A shard of light sets the grass on fire
As we watch through the old windowpane
Another flash and another pyre
For the gods are at war in the rain

Searing rage it’s one hell of a fight
While we cuddle close, just you and I
And here we cower out of the light
As holy tempers rage as they fly
For in their battle the gods won’t tire
The end of days with storms so insane
Recalling legends sung to a lyre
For the gods are at war in the rain

©JezzieG2023

Taichi Sonnet Notes

Structure: Three quatrains and a couplet
Meter: Pentameter or Decasyllabic
Rhyme Scheme: aabb cccc ddee ff

Example

Morning Alarm by JezzieG

As the day begins breath deep a few times
And listen to the sound of the wind chimes
As the eyes soften to see the new day
Before the birds waken to lead the way

Now limber up with a yawning stretch out
Before touching the toes or there about
Gently does it without a fear or doubt
For the today, body and mind need clout

And the will doesn’t always come from coffee
If only, how simple then life would be
But when you are ready go make a cup
And let the muse know you’re awake and up

But first things first go turn off the alarm
For that incessant beeping has no charm

Lebennin by JRR Tolkien

JRR Tolkien 1892-1973

Lebennin
1954

Silver flow the streams from Colos to Erui
In the green fields of Lebennin!
Tall grows the grass there. In the wind from the Sea
The white lilies sway,
And the golden bells are shaken of mallos and alfirin
In the green fields of Lebennin,
In the wind from the Sea!

JRR Tolkien
Born: 3 January 1892, Bloemfontein, South Africa
Nationality: English
Died: 2 September 1973, Bournemouth, England

Tolkien was a writer and philologist, best known as the author of “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings”. He was also the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon and a Fellow of Pembroke College at the University of Oxford. He and his close friend CS Lewis founded the informal literary group “The Inklings”. Many authors published works of fantasy before Tolkien, however, the great success of both “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” directly led to a resurgence in the genre and Tolkien is often referred to as the father of modern fantasy literature

Requiem by Karl Jenkins

Karl Jenkins 1944-

Requiem
2005
Classical

Karl Jenkins
Jazz, Rock, Classical
Born: 17 February 1944, Gower, Wales
Nationality: Welsh

Jenkins is a composer and multi-instrumentalist. His best-known works include the song “Adiemus.” Educated at Cardiff University and the Royal Academy of Music Jenkins joined the jazz band Soft Machine in 1972. He became the group’s leading songwriter and worked with them until 1984. Jenkins as written music for TV ad campaigns and has won the industry prize twice

Knowing Me, Knowing You by Abba

Abba

Knowing Me, Knowing You
Album: Arrival
Date: 1977
Genre: Pop
Artist: Abba

Abba are a pop group formed in Stockholm, Sweden in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. One of the most successful groups of all time they became one of the best-selling acts in popular music history

Eleven Books

Eleven Books
Form: Book Spine Poem

Solomon’s cat
a mythical beast
dark inside
clichés and verse
in a book of form
writing a dirty story
in a journalist’s handbook
for a year and a day
love’s serenade on a violin
echoes among the trees
of an English garden

©JezzieG2023

Negative Earth by Barclay James Harvest

Barclay James Harvest

Negative Earth
Album: Everyone Is Everybody Else
Date: 1974
Genre: Rock
Artist: Barclay James Harvest

Founded in 1966, Barclay James Harvest are a progressive rock band. The original lineup consisted of Les Holroyd (bassist/vocalist), John Lees (guitarist/vocalist), Mel Pritchard (drummer/percussionist) 1948-2004, and Stuart Wolstenholme (keyboardist/vocalist) 1947-2010

Pavane pour une infante défunte by Maurice Ravel

Maurice Ravel 1875-1937

Pavane pour une infante défunte
1902
Classical

Maurice Ravel
Impressionism
Born: 7 March 1875, Ciboure, France
Nationality: French
Died: 28 December 1937, Paris, France

Ravel was a composer, conductor, and pianist. Although he rejected the term he is often associated with Impressionism. During the 1920s and 1930s, Ravel was regarded internationally as France’s greatest living composer

O Germany, Pale Mother! by Bertolt Brecht

Bertolt Brecht 1898-1956

O Germany, Pale Mother!
1933

Let others speak of her shame,
I speak of my own.

O Germany, pale mother!
How soiled you are
As you sit among the peoples.
You flaunt yourself
Among the besmirched.

The poorest of your sons
Lies struck down.
When his hunger was great.
Your other sons
Raised their hands against him.
This is notorious.

With their hands thus raised,
Raised against their brother,
They march insolently around you
And laugh in your face.
This is well known.

In your house
Lies are roared aloud.
But the truth
Must be silent.
Is it so?

Why do the oppressors praise you everywhere,
The oppressed accuse you?
The plundered
Point to you with their fingers, but
The plunderer praises the system
That was invented in your house!

Whereupon everyone sees you
Hiding the hem of your mantle which is bloody
With the blood
Of your best sons.

Hearing the harangues which echo from your house,
men laugh.
But whoever sees you reaches for a knife
As at the approach of a robber.

O Germany, pale mother!
How have your sons arrayed you
That you sit among the peoples
A thing of scorn and fear!

Bertolt Brecht
Born: 10 February 1898, Augsburg, Germany
Nationality: German
Died: 14 August 1956, East Berlin, East Germany

Brecht was a theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. He had his first successes as a playwright in Munich during the Weimar Republic and moved to Berlin in 1924. During his time in Berlin, he wrote “The Threepenny Opera” with Kurt Weill and began a life-long collaboration with the composer Hanns Eisler

Value the Most (Weekly Prompts Wednesday Challenge)

Inspired by and written for Weekly Prompts Wednesday Challenge – thank you GC and Sue

Form: Sicilian Quintain

I listen to you whisper on the breeze
In echoes of other suns going down
Scattered under the shedding autumn trees
Amongst the dancing of gold, red, and brown
I sit for a moment taking my ease

Recalling times we sat in the dim light
Watching the sky turn to that burning red
Yet everything seemed so vibrant and bright
I hear the whispers of love that you said
That never fades in this, a long, good night

In the trees, I’m blessed by thinking of you
Precious moments money can never buy
Possessions can’t keep me this close to you
The things you left behind just make me cry
For it is your sweet love that I value

©JezzieG2023

Tea (RDP)

Inspired by and written for Ragtag Daily Prompt – my thanks to Punam

Form: Hay(na)ku

leaves
in pot
steeping to perfection

milk
or lemon
a refreshing brew

worldly
good morning
watching the sunrise

white
roses echo
with dawning colours

still
time for
one more cup

©JezzieG2023

The Night of the Violet Moon

A Garret Poet

The Night of the Violet Moon
Form: English Sonnet

We’ll live again the time we knew before,
a place where only love can touch the soul,
as on an eagle’s wings we swoop and soar,
once more, my dearest love, we can be whole.
Ev’ry embrace shall take us to our place
and write the precious words in amber sands
to honour love divine in all its grace,
while walking to the night as it demands.
And there beneath the violet moon, so rare,
I’ll ask you from my knee to be my wife,
to stay with me in this old place we share,
and once again, I offer you, my life.
On this sweet night in our love’s purple haze
where we belong until the end of days

©JezzieG2009

Pablo Picasso and Françoise Gilot, Golfe-Juan, France by Robert Capa

Pablo Picasso and Françoise Gilot, Golfe-Juan, France by Robert Capa

Pablo Picasso and Françoise Gilot, Golfe-Juan, France
1948
Photography
Silver Gelatin Print – Collection of International Center of Photography, New York, USA

In a light-hearted image, Capa captured the legendary Picasso carrying an umbrella whilst walking along the beach shading his young lover Françoise Gilot. The twenty-six-year-old Gilot strides toward the camera with confidence. In the background, Picasso’s nephew Javier Vilato seems to be strolling through the scene. Taken from a low vantage point the mastery of Capa’s composition makes the three figures appear descending in scale from Gilot in the foreground to Vilato in the middle background. Gilot was a talented painter. The couple met in France during the occupation before Picasso had officially separated from his wife, Olga Khokhlova. They had a ten-year tumultuous affair resulting in two children before Gilot left and later moved to the USA where she married Dr. Jonas Salk, a pioneer of the polio vaccine.

Robert Capa 1913-1954

Robert Capa
Photojournalism, Documentary Photography, Modern Photography
Born: 22 October 1913, Budapest, Hungary
Nationality: Hungarian-American
Died: 25 May 1954, Thái Bình, Vietnam

Capa was a war photographer and photojournalist and is among the best combat and adventure photographers in history. He had fled political repression in Hungary as a teenager, moving to Berlin whereas a student he witnessed the rise of Hitler and the Nazis. He moved to Paris and finally, to America, Capa, and his professional partner Gerda Taro began to publish their work. Capa covers five wars: the Spanish Civil War, the Second Sino-Japanese War, WW2 across Europe, the Arab-Israeli War of 1948, and the First Indochina War. His images were published in major magazines and newspapers. Capa was killed by a landmine in Vietnam

Unworthy Beast

Unworthy Beast
Form: Awdl Gywydd

The lessons of love gone wrong
A song that I learned from you
Love became a bitter choice
And my voice only sings blue

You took my strength, made it weak
Unable to seek inside
To see beauty within me
Yet couldn’t see love denied

An unworthy beast’ you said
My head easily believed
That to be true; you knew it
The flitting way love deceived

But now I see who you are
My scars prove gorgons live
Your venom was killing me
See you had all I could give

I’ve nothing left, you are right
The night you said I deserve
It all: Yes, you’re right, I do
Thank you, now I’ve found my nerve

Gorgon, you can’t fuck me up
Take your cup, drink your vile brew
For I know you are the beast
And I’m worth better than you

©JezzieG2023

As Firedrakes Slumber

A Garret Poet

As Firedrakes Slumber
Form: Sapphic Stanza

Bird of mystery who stole a Bardic heart
sings through the imperial mists and mountains
to softly echo in my Cambrian ears
as firedrakes slumber.

Enchantress on an island of mystic dreams
as eyes catch your beauty in my own valleys
and airs of netted breezes capture my soul
for a Northern wind.

Soft susurrus words of poetry reveal
glistening jewelled canyons of hidden delight
a playground of adventures learning the craft
from a poet’s hand.

With muted desires becharming the senses
where untamed rivers of creation divide
these apprentice scribblings become an offering
to poetry’s queen.

And from my lands of Cambria, I listen
for the sweet songs of Alba to fill the air,
for the words of a poet I cannot name,
Cara nightingale

©JezzieG2009

Sunday Sonnet – Pied Beauty by Gerard Manley Hopkins

Gerard Manley Hopkins 1844-1889

Pied Beauty

Glory be to God for dappled thing –
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim,
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings,
Landscape plotted and pieced – fold, fallow, and plough;
And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.
All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
Well swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise him

Mamakutty by Yuvan Shankar Raja

Yuvan Shankar Raja 1979-

Mamakutty
2022
Film and TV

Yuvan Shankar Raja
Film and TV
Born: 31 August 1979, Chennai, India
Nationality: Indian

Raja is a film score and soundtrack composer and singer-songwriter. He is known for his music scores for Tamil films and is considered a versatile composer. Raja utilizes Western music elements and has been credited for introducing hip-hop to the Tamil film and music industry. Over a 25-year career, Raja has worked on over 100 films winning wards such as the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director in 2004 for his score for Rainbow Colony. In 2015 Raja formed his own music label, U1 Records, and in 2017 the film production studio, YSR Films

Napoleon by Walter de la Mare

Walter de la Mare 1873-1956

Napoleon

‘What is the world, O soldiers?
It is I:
I, this incessant snow,
This northern sky;
Soldiers, this solitude
Through which we go
Is I.’

Walter de la Mare
Born: 25 April 1873, London, England
Nationality: English
Died: 22 June 1956, Twickenham, England

De la Mare was a poet, short story writer, and novelist, best remembered for his works for children and for his poem “The Listeners.” He also authored a subtle collection of psycho horror stories including “All Hallows” and “Seaton’s Aunt.” In 1921 he was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his novel “Memoirs of a Midget” and in 1947 the Carnegie Medal for British Children’s Books