October

Hey ~ I've been away, doing a walkabout in Wales and Ireland, minding the store, the usual routines. Still writing plenty, just not blogging. Time to get going again. Enjoy...


It’s hard to know what to wear this time of year
for early risers wrapped against the cold
the layers right for morning
have us wilting later on

Rotting comes so easy
to this season of regrets
the lingering heat, light and moisture
force a slow, death march of mold

There’s a graceless aging
when some colors seem mis-matched
like the garish plaid and gold chain
in the rag-top roaring by

With a sharpness on the outside
and a warmth that comes and goes
you can’t help but wonder if
October is a He

Trudy, from Cameron Parish

I recalled her from summer break last year
with long legs and a confident smile
acting like she owned the beach
permitting the rest of us to be here
so long as we kept our distance
and minded our manners

Sometimes she’d sing in a high, soaring voice
sometimes she’d mutter and scold
and while I couldn’t make out the words
it was clear she got the blues

Someone done her wrong
somebody left her
her heart was broken
her life was over

But something was different this year
this year she sang like she meant it
because someone had done her wrong

Every place she traveled
everywhere she slept
everything she ate
everyone she loved
all destroyed

She could still fly and sing
as well as any gull on the gulf coast
but I had to wonder
if that were enough

If her life depended on staying up forever
depended on someone hearing her song
would I see her back here next year
with her long legs and confident smile?

~ J. D. Mackenzie


Inspired by the Poetry on Wednesday prompt, What's On Your Mind? From Rallentanda's evocative list, I chose Environmental Issues.

Homage a M. Prevert

Comment trouver les mots
à la fois brefs et constants?
On a tant vu,
tant aquis et tant perdu
Comment nommer
la seule chose qui tient
en ce moment même?

J'adore être ici
ma table à ce café
Chateau Margaux
qui sent le chêne limousin et le cassis
une bonne cigarette anglaise
la laine douce et souple
et le parfum inégalable
de Paris en automne

J'aime Gaston
la sérénité au poil
pas de jugement
il est tout amitié et affection

Je suis rassuré
qu'on peut me reconnaître
sans m'arrêter
sans s'attendre à un tête-à-tête
c'est me respecter

Je suis reconnaissant
que les jeunes poètes enthousiamés
ont cessé d'appeler
pour sonder ma pensée
ou pour me connaître autrement

Qu'y a-t-il à ne pas aimer?
Qu'ai-je perdu?
Non
Qu'est-ce que je n'ai jamais connu? su?
Impossible

Je la joie de cet instant
le présent sublime
l'actualité transcendante


English Translation

Homage to M. Prevert

How can I find the words
both brief and enduring?
Having seen so much
gained and lost so much
How best to name
the only thing that matters
at this very moment?

I love it here
my table at this café
Chậteau Margaux
redolent with Limousin oak and currant
a good English cigarette
the comfort of soft wool
and the way only Paris
can smell in autumn

I love Gaston
all serenity and fur
he never makes judgment
only friendship and warmth

I am relieved
that some people recognise me
but rarely stop anymore
and do not expect conversation
this is respect

I am grateful
that eager student poets
have stopped calling
wanting to know my mind
or other ways of knowing me

What is not to love?
What I have lost?
No
What I have never known?
Impossible

I love the joy of this moment
the sublime present
the transcendent now

~ J. D. Mackenzie


[Inspired by POW Week 11 prompt: write a poem in the style of Jacques Prevert with some French sprinkles, featured at http://rallentanda.blogspot.com]

So, You Really Want to Direct?

That’s it?
So you really want to direct?
You think it looks easy?
Maybe it only looks easy
because I make it look easy
Maybe if you knew how hard it is
to get most actors to act
then you’d mind your own business
of flubbing lines and tripping on your tonsils

This is inane
You have no script
You have no budget
You’ve given no direction
I am a professional!

Cut
Try something else
Improvise
Action

I’m your new Patriot Act
Everything breath you take
I’ll be watching you
Even when you’re sleeping
Especially when you’re sleeping
Except you won’t know it’s happening then
But I’ll be here stalking you

Again
Use your imagination

How about a close shot?
Since you were too cheap to get a real location
let’s do this scene close up
dressage scar and all
no room for error
no need for second takes

More
Dig deeper

Well, here we are lost on an island
and our options for optics are quite limited
use that if you like for an ophthalmology exam
but don’t even think about it for gynecology

I need more anger

Who’s tripping on their tonsils now
Mr. ex-boyfriend director?
Hmm?
Did you even know I played Portia in Ashland
and all three witches in Macbeth
when the other two called in sick
because I could?
And where the hell is my Evian?

Cut
Much better
We’ll work it out in edits


~ J. D. Mackenzie

[Based on the following Poetry on Wednesday Week 10 prompt: the prompt for this week is the photo shown at http://rallentanda.blogspot.com]

You There, In the Plaid

As the new son of an old nation
you got a gentle start
in pastoral South Lanarkshire
schoolboy days in Paris
wine, wisdom and worldliness
how soon the world can turn

Dispossessed of your ancestral lands
but never the blue and green tartan
cursed by the Crown
friend-in-arms of the Bruce
defeated at Methven and Dalrigh
victor at Brander, Roxburgh, Bannockburn

A hard life during hard times
made more so for the wars
that never seem to end

Sometimes on a walk
through the green grounds at St. Bride’s Kirk
I imagine your thick, black mane
damp with sweat and others’ blood
I can almost hear
your deep baritone thunder
across the plane of battle
Ye shall all die, thieves of England!

Gentle and sweet over pints and in love
all fury and ferocity in a good fight
beloved yet savage ancestor
we owe you all

And for reproducing before your final clash
on the frontiers of Andalucia
Thank you

As true as your spirit lives on
I will follow thee or die

~ J. D. Mackenzie

[Based on the following Poetry on Wednesday week 9 prompt: WHO AM I? Write a poem about a well know person, celebrity, historical or mythical figure. Please do not reveal the name. It should be fun to guess who it is.]

Botti & Lucia Heat Up Emmanuel

It’s time we left our work and went to play
We’ve been at it for hours, I know you’re tired
The days don’t get much longer than today

There’s nothing like the solstice to inspire
So pack your gear and get your second wind
Let’s head out to the beach and build a fire

All our friends are here so let’s begin
To barbeque and let the Fosters flow
We’ll do a little sailing if there’s wind

The stunning sunset makes your soft hair glow
Let’s shake things up as we dismiss daylight
When stars come out the music starts to slow

Botti’s horn was made for summer twilight
Everything I love is here tonight

~ J. D. Mackenzie

[Poetry on Wednesday Week 8 Prompt: Choose a piece of music that expresses Twilight in Summer. Make sure it is on You Tube so that we can listen to it while reading your poem. In Terza Rima Sonnet form, please.]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8NN4fpdm40

Right Here in Tuscany

We staggered through the final days
of our exhausting year
Your blue eyes told me everything:
just get me out of here

With carry-on and tickets
it’s sure nice we both pack light
We snuggled up with Ambien
for our twelve hour flight

I’d found a bello Tuscan villa
half a world away
Close enough to town for us
to shop there every day

I don’t worry much about
the words that I don’t know
Everyone can understand me
when I order Dolcetto

They don’t have a phrasebook for a pair like you and me
Maybe we should write our own right here in Tuscany

The locals have a way with words
that charms us every time
Botti piccine il vino buono means
small barrels hold good wine

But all I really want to do
is shed our clothes out by the pool
and slowly, gently carry you
the way we always used to do
remembering why I married you
I hope you feel the same way too

They don’t have a phrasebook for a pair like you and me
Maybe we should write our own right here in Tuscany

There’s no internet to translate what you mean to me
so let’s create our own new language, here in Tuscany
right here in Tuscany

~ J. D. Mackenzie


[Based on the following prompt from Rallentanda: This week's prompt is Italian. The aim is to use a sprinkling of Italian words in your poem.]