Poetry, stories, art, and music from the desk of Jezzie G, a writer without a label
Flames Eternal
Form: Septilla
The fire we made last night still glows
Our love burns as the divine knows
Yet for this while we are apart
We know it’s eternity’s flame
That welds our souls in love’s own name
Since we kissed at the very start
United as one as time goes
©JezzieG2024
Empty
Album: Strange Little Birds
Date: 2016
Genre: Alternative/Indie
Artist: Garbage
Garbage is a rock band formed in Wisconsin, USA, in 1993. The line-up has remained unchanged since the band’s inception and consists of Shirley Manson (vocals), Duke Erikson (guitar, bass, keyboards), Steve Marker (guitar, Keyboards), and Butch Vig (drums, production). All four members are involved in the songwriting and production process
Le Cid
1885
Opera
Jules Massenet
Romantic
Born: 12 May 1842, Montaud, France
Nationality: French
Died: 13 August 1912, Paris, France
Massenet was a composer of the Romantic era best known for operas, including Manon )41884) and Werther (1892). Massenet also composed oratorios, orchestral works, songs, and other music. He became a professor at the Conservatoire teaching composition from 1878-1896. His students included Ernest Chausson, Gabriel Pierné, and Gustave Charpentier. Massenet’s operas are considered well-crafted and intelligent products of the Belle Époque
Fresh Widow
1920
Dada
Painted wood, glass, leather
Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
‘Fresh Widow’ is a miniature model of a traditional French window. Duchamp depicts a reflection in the aftermath of WW1, a war that turned many a young wife into a widow. The eight windowpanes are covered in black polished leather to signify mourning, blocking out the view of the world.
Marcel Duchamp
Cubism, Dada, Surrealism, Conceptual Art, Kinetic Art
Born: 28 July 1887, Normandy, France
Nationality: French
Died: 2 October 1968, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
Duchamp was a painter, sculptor, writer, and chess player whose work is most often associated with Cubism, Dada, and conceptual art. Along with Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse; Duchamp is regarded as one of the three artists who defined the revolutionary development in the plastic arts in the first decades of the 20th century. Duchamp’s developments in painting and sculpture had an enormous impact on 20th-century art. By challenging the notion of what is art with his readymades, Duchamp is one of the few artists who changed the course of art history. He sent shock waves across the art world that are still rippling today
Narcissus, Photographer
“…a frozen memory, like any photo,
where nothing is missing, not even,
and especially, nothingness…”
— Julio Cortázar, “Blow Up”
Mirror-mad,
he photographed reflections:
sunstorms in puddles,
cities in canals,
double portraits framed
in sunglasses,
the fat phantoms who dance
on the flanks of cars.
Nothing caught his eye
unless it bent
or glistered
over something else.
He trapped clouds in bottles
the way kids
trap grasshoppers.
Then one misty day
he was stopped
by the windshield.
Behind him,
an avenue of trees,
before him,
the mirror of that scene.
He seemed to enter
what, in fact, he left
Erica Jong
Born: 26 March 1942, New York, USA
Nationality: American
Jong is a novelist, satirist, and poet particularly known for her novel “Fear of Flying” (1973). The book was famously controversial for its attitudes on female sexuality and became prominent in the development of second-wave feminism
Day 119
Prompt: Do you have a before-sleep routine?
Hi Nigel
‘Hiya! Yes, and it may surprise you to know it doesn’t involve sex’
Nigel, I have never thought of you as a bedtime wanker
‘Intimate moments with a tissue are really not conducive to sleep’
Haha! At least you use a tissue, what more can I say. Shall we at least try to answer the prompt?
‘Haha! I think we better try’
So what is this mysterious non-sexual bedtime routine of yours?
‘Apart from the basic evacuations and clean-ups, you mean’
Yes, I think we can exclude the pee in the shower
‘Haha! Bloody cheek! As if I…’
Oh behave, you have
‘So apart from that I like a good book on my bedside table’
So you read until the book banging on the floor wakes you up
‘Haha! You know about that then’
Yeah. I am quite used to that.
‘And the cold cup of Ovaltine that you forgot to drink?’
If it’s a really good book yes.
‘It’s a good sign it’s time to snuggle down and sleep until morning, or the early morning pee, that seems to be a thing for me these days’
Goes with getting older, mate
‘I guess it could be worse’
Oh, much worse
‘Yes, I’m not too keen on reaching the point of wet pyjamas’
Haha! So at which point in your bedtime routine do the pjs go on?
‘Did I miss that bit out?’
Uh-huh!
‘To be honest I’m not sure that’s part of it anyway.’
O-kay?
‘If I’m done for the day, I like getting the pjs and just chilling out’
Yeah, I get you, that’s why I have trackies
‘And save your pjs for writing’
Haha, whatever, no one can see me, and if you want to say that’s unprofessional talk to Noel Coward
‘What sort of dumbass thinks writers have professional attire’
Haha! Exactly. See you tomorrow, Nige
©JezzieG2024
Inspired by and written for Simply 6 Minutes, my thanks to Christine
Form: Italian Sonnet 1
It’s a slow crawl driving through town
But the pound store has new pens in
A must-have for an artist’s bin
A quick dash before they’re all flown
For then an artist will just moan
It’s a mission he wants to win
But now tempers are running thin
No place to park thus brings a frown
So he drives the street end to end
Each time raging in turn around
He’s driving himself round the bend
There’s still no space there to be found
There is a place if he should wend
To make his way where pens are sound
Time: 6 minutes 50 seconds
Word Count: 100
©JezzieG2024
Inspired by and written for the Ragtag Daily Prompt, my thanks to Martha Kennedy
Form: Couplet
Companions and workmates
One impatient, one quietly waits
Shadow wants to talk right now
Ignoring a writer’s furrowed brow
To a cat, this poetry and art
Are the stuff of a boring fart
The writer should know that
It is a rule of Cat
Lily ignores the mewed pleas
She reckons the cat has fleas
Or some other attention-seeking device
One eye open, she thinks cats should catch mice
A dog knows she’ll get her walk
If a cat stops wanting to talk
But … they think I don’t know, you see
On one thing they both agree
That while a writer is trying to work
And I know, they both think he’s a jerk
©JezzieG2024
Inspired by and written for the Ragtag Daily Prompt, my thanks to CuriousCat
Form: Couplet
My favourite fruit has a sour rep
As when given it is a bad thing
A slice in water is refreshingly sharp
And a squeeze in my tea makes my tongue sing
Bright yellow glinting among apples and pears
Such beauty that carries a sharp little ding
I think it deserves more credit
For the bright essence of life it can bring
©JezzieG2024
Jezzie G 