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Le Fée Verte, Absinthé … and Your Wednesday Writing Prompt

Absinthe-glass

A glass of absinthe is as poetical as anything in the world, what difference is there between a glass of absinthé and a sunset.” Oscar Wilde 

Albert Maignan's Green Muse (1895): a poet succumbs to the Green Fairy.
Albert Maignan’s Green Muse (1895): a poet succumbs to the Green Fairy (public domain)

in the wilderness of those green hours
gliding with the faerie muse along café
walls virescent, sighing jonquil wings of
poetry, inventing tales in the sooty red
mystery of elusive beauty, beguiled by an
opalescent brew, tangible for the poet and
the pedestrian, the same shared illusions
breaching the rosy ramparts of heaven

– Jamie Dedes

WRITING PROMPT

This poem was originally written in 2011 in response to Victoria Slotto’s Writers’ Fourth Wednesday prompt, which we would host at The BeZine in the years before that site became a zine.  Victoria had written:

As a would-be artist and a former museum docent, I enjoy playing with the elements of art in my writing–both in fiction and poetry. A favorite is to use of color to create mood. In art, abstract expressionists often use color as the primary tool to convey their “story.” There are many interpretations of the meaning or symbolism accorded to each color. I’m offering a few of my own: Yellow is a happy color and can be used to liven up a scene–to make it joyful, while Red signifies anger, passion, love. Think about it: when you’re feeling intense emotions, such as rage and close your eyes, sometimes your visual field appears red. Blue and Green convey calm and  peace Black represents the unknown or fear while Brown is a grounded, earthy color. Violet or Lavender speak of spirituality while White is used to represent truth and innocence.

– Victoria C. Slotto

How does color influence your mood? How do you use color when you dress, decorate your home or choose a car? Do certain colors represent an event, holiday or childhood memory? What colors have symbolic meaning for you, perhaps related to your religion, country or ethnicity? Think for awhile about your own use of and reactions to color. Experiment: write a poem, flash fiction or creative nonfiction piece intentionally using color to set the mood or to foreshadow outcome. Take your time and enjoy yourself.

RELATED:

© 2011, poem, and 2016, prompt text, Jamie Dedes, and Victoria’s text, Victoria C Slotto, All rights reserved; photograph, glass of absinthé by Eric Litton under CC BY-SA license.

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Oh My! 1967 – the first poem of mine ever published; Yikes! – 17 years old

Dan and I as kids and probably the last time he was shorter than I. He stands 6'5' and I stand 5'2".
My cousin Dan and me as kids and probably the last time he was shorter than I am. He stands 6’5′ and I stand around 5’2″ – give or take a bit depending on my shoes.

I was definitely the product you’d expect from the odd and awkward situation in which I grew up and surely I showed little talent, no free thinking and no genius or particular promise. The poem is not good – some youth write profoundly beautiful and wise poetry and young people today are far more savvy than I ever was  –  but it does illustrate that after fifty years or so writing will improve. We writers often have our doubts, but we are an unrelenting bunch. We write, write, write. We enrich, reform and reframe as if every word of ours will spark more Light in the collective unconscious, which I rather think they do.

Make of Me a Tree

I am young, Lord,
but my heart is true,
Make of me a tree

Make me strong and supple
That when tempests blow,
I shall stand unyielding.

Let me be humble in the
Praise of Your Majesty
And testify to Your greatness.

When rains besiege
Let me be shelter
To those who have not found Your Son,

For

Yes! I am young
but my heart is true:
Make of me a tree.

Amen.

– Jamie Dedes

As for cousin Dan in the photograph (six years younger than me), he was inspired by the poem to paint a lovely “portrait” of a tree. These days it’s Father Dan – Rev. Fr. Daniel S. Sormani, C.S.Sp. – a theologian and professor at Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines. Dan always showed real promise. Like my son, Richard, and Dan’s brother, Christopher, even as a toddler he was smart and funny.  So many of you appreciated Dan’s piece What Have We Done That People Can Pick Up Weapons and Kill?  Come March, Dan will be back in the United States. We will get to visit for the first time in forty years.

And, yes!, I did want to become a nun. I was told there would be family background checks and I feared rightly that there were things in my parent’s history that would embarrass my mom. I became a now-and-again wife, a mother, a writer, a poet. No regrets. The life mission is essentially the same though the vehicle of service differs and the actions are grounded in ethics not creed, which is not to imply that the two are necessarily exclusive.

RELATED:

DANIEL S. SORMANI C.S. Sp.
DANIEL S. SORMANI C.S. Sp.

The Blessed Mother: She reminds me of who I am and who I should be, Daniel S. Sormani, C.S.Sp., The BeZine, July 2016

Note: The photograph of the two of us together was taken at a fundraiser our mothers were helping with for the Guild for Exceptional* Children in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, New York. This remains a worthy effort and worth your time if you happen to live in that area and are looking for a good cause to support.

* exceptional = developmental disabilities

© 1967/2016 photographs (Daniel Sormani Family Album) and text and poem (Gigi “Jamie” Dedes), All rights reserved

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HEADS-UP: New York, New York and Greensboro, North Carolina … if you’re tired of all the politicos and talking heads…Salvation!

13659039_1181668861888753_5467398691388450831_nSunday, July 31 at 4 PM – 6 PM in EDT
The Parkside Lounge
317 E Houston St, New York, New York 10002
Organized by Matt Pasca and Russ Green

RSVP: HERE

MATT PASCA is a teacher, editor and two-time Pushcart nominee whose poetry has appeared in dozens of journals and anthologies as well as two book length collections, A THOUSAND DOORS (2011) and RAVEN WIRE (2016). A 2003 New York State Teacher of Excellence, Matt teaches Poetry, Mythology and Literature and curates a poetry series–Second Saturdays @Cyrus–with his wife, author Terri Muuss. Pasca also advises an award-winning scholastic literary-art magazine, THE WRITERS’ BLOCK, and is a copyeditor and reviewer for the Long Island Authors Group. Matt has performed his work in New Mexico, Montana, Minnesota, Virginia, New Jersey, all around New York and has keynoted or taught workshops at colleges, conferences and continuing Ed. programs. http://www.mattpasca.com @Matt_Pasca

New York Times proclaims FRANKIE A. SOTO is a “FORCE”. A national touring & Spoken Word Poet & Author of a Weed in a Garden of Extraordinary Flowers & Forever is not enough. He was recently nominated for 2016 National Poetry Awards. Nominated & Premiered for Atlanta Hip Hop Film Festival for his HIV poem in 2013. He is published worldwide for various newspapers, magazines and articles & one of the ambassadors for fighting cancer with poetry in Washington DC

– photo © Matt Pesca

*****

13754638_1828753504012886_1374215665470613802_n

Triad Poetry Meetup, Greensboro, North Carolina

Organizer Alfred Harrell (“Like” his page)

If you enjoy having knowledge local key local poetry programs and want to support our community programming, please join us and help the continuous transformation of this group in great community of poets and poetry lovers!

What are some perks of members of this group enjoy?

• Free membership!

• Freedom to create and post community events without being a group leader as long as admission to those events are discounted or free for group members

• Poetry writing, poetry oral delivery and critique workshops

• Open mic reading and poetry slam events opportunities in a non coffee-house environment

Details HERE and HERE

– illustration © Alfred Harrell

 

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An Unexpected Word, a poem

Some days fall open on an unexpected word,
piercing your too pedestrian obsessions,
pushing you into the doorway of mystery.
You’ve heard all about it: the light, the way!
The truth waiting like a mother for her child ~
and here you are momentarily free, swimming
in the amniotic fluid of your own nascent soul.

not started

(c) 2016, poem and photograph, Jamie Dedes, All rights reserved