Poetry, stories and strange odds and ends from the desk of a writer
Salvatore Mundi1500High RenaissanceOil on wood panelLouvre, Abu Dhabi, UAE It is probable that Salvatore Mundi was commissioned by King Louis XVII of France following his 1499 conquest of Milan. The painting portrays Christ in the role of saviour of the world and master of the cosmos. To reflect this da Vinci uses such as the … Continue reading Salvatore Mundi by Leonardo Da Vinci
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Always looking in a mirror and preening Your vanity is beyond any compare Always your job, your hobbies, your everything...
Media: Pencil on card ©JGFarmer2018
Back in the day when I was first exploring Paganism one of my first questions was what is magic, and where does the it come from. It soon became clear to me that magic is a law of nature that has been discounted for centuries by society and their contemporary religions. For me, as a … Continue reading Contemplating the Power of Magic
Look up here, I'm in heaven I've got scars that can't be seen I've got drama, can't be stolen Everybody knows me now...
El Khasné, Petra1874RomanticismOil on canvasOlana State Historic Site, New York Church created several paintings following his travels across the Middle East during late 1860s and early 1870s. Capturing the vista of El Khasné in a dramatic glimpse of the neoclassical columns Petra emerging from the towering dark avenues of stone the revelation of the façade … Continue reading El Khasné, Petra by Frederic Edwin Church
While you are preparing for sleep, brushing your teeth, or riffling through a magazine in bed, the dead of the day are setting out on their journey...
Artist: Frida Kahlo Born: 6 July 1907, Mexico City, Mexico Nationality: Mexican Movement: Naïve art, Modern art, Surrealism, Magical Realism, Symbolism, Naturalism, Primitivism, Social realism, Cubism Died: 13 July 1954, Mexico City, Mexico...
The moon rises above the old oak trees To shine her beauty across the valley And willow trees are heavy with leaf buds...
High in the sky Where eagles fly Morgray the dark Enters the throne Open wide the gate, friend The king will come Blow the horn and praise The highest Lord Who'll bring the dawn He's the new god In the palace of steel Persuade the fate of everyone The chaos can begin Let it in...
Teasdale was a lyric poet born in St. Louis, Missouri. She won a Pulitzer Prize for her poetry collection Love Songs in 1918, and an award that is listed as the earliest Pulitzer Prize for Poetry Barter1918 Life has loveliness to sell,All beautiful and splendid things,Blue waves whitened on a cliff,Soaring fire that sways and … Continue reading Barter by Sara Teasdale
Created by Gloria MartinStructure: Octet and a sestetMeter: decasyllabic or pentameterSchema: aabbbccc ddedee. Example Black Rose Petals by Jez Farmer As I lay the black roses on your graveI no longer feel I am strong and braveAs winds blows emptiness again todayIt feels like living is so far awayAnd my tears fall where the dark … Continue reading Glorionic Sonnet Notes
Created by Jose Rizal M ReyesStructure: Quatrain, sestet and quatrainMeter: each line is a haikuSchema: aaaa bbbbbb aaaa Example Sakura Memories by Jez Farmer Sweet scented petals descend on the breeze; fragrant farewell,Memories entwine in rivers of tears; love cannot dispelDark clouds obscure the future and the sun in living hell?Temple chimes echo sounds of … Continue reading Japanese Sonnet Notes
Form: Quatrains The air tastes fresh and clean after the stormWith skies still violent red in nature’s rage.As clouds gather into a thunderous swarmWe rush to seek shelter from the carnage. Who sees the butterfly, she’s lost alone,A flutter of wings as rain starts once more.She is battered by speed of the cycloneCrushed, she falls … Continue reading Storm of Death
https://youtu.be/NF9DrUXowBo Die Forelle1817Romantic Franz SchubertClassical, RomanticBorn: 31 January 1797, Vienna, AustriaNationality: AustrianDied: 19 November 1828,, Vienna, Austria Schubert was a composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. He left behind a cast oeuvre despite his short life, including over 600 secular vocal works, 7 symphonies, sacred music, and a large collection of piano … Continue reading Die Forelle by Franz Schubert
https://youtu.be/2VejTwFjwVI Nabucco1841Opera Giuseppe VerdiOperaBorn: 10 October 1813, Le Roncole, ItalyNationality: ItalianDied: 27 January 1901, Milan, Italy Verdi was an opera composer; born to a provincial family of moderate means he developed a musical education with help of a local patron. He dominated the Italian opera scene after the era of Vincenzo Bellini, Gioachino, Rossini, and … Continue reading Nabucco by Giuseppe Verdi
Book of days2001New Age https://youtu.be/LiBwr4U59EI EnyaNew Age, Film and TVBorn: 17 May 1961, Gweedore, IrelandNationality: Irish Enya is a singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. She was born into a musical family and raised in the Irish-speaking area of Gweedore in County Donegal. She began her music career when she joined the family’s Celtic folk … Continue reading Book of Days by Enya
Form: Ivorian Sonnet 1 Paint that spirals from the brush tells a taleFrom his eye the image his holy grailAs the turbulent clouds churn up the skyThe golden heads of wheat quiver and callTo where the shady green cypress trees sighOf an artist’s longing in the landscapeAnd he walks for miles to find nature’s viewWithin … Continue reading Cypress Tree
Created by Jose Rizal M. ReyesStructure: alternate quintains and coupletsMeter: decasyllabic or pentameterRhyme Scheme: abbba cc deeed ff Example The Rabbit and the Warrior by Jez Farmer As springtide comes amid the ancient stoneA warrior stands alone as he seeksThe old one with whom holy wisdom speaksAs across the skies the setting sun streaksA white … Continue reading Grammarian Sonnet Notes
Just because I need a bit of Livvy right now...
https://youtu.be/1enecR8JNTg Die Tageszeiten1757Baroque Georg Philipp TelemannBaroqueBorn: 14 March 1681, Magdeburg, GermanyNationality: GermanDied: 25 June 1767, Hamburg, Germany Telemann was a composer and multi-instrumentalist. He became a composer against his family’s wishes and was almost self-educated musically. Before settling in Hamburg in 1721 as a musical director of the city’s five main churches, he held important … Continue reading Die Tageszeiten by Georg Philipp Telemann
Brave New World1978Musicals https://youtu.be/93JArmMY3n4 Jeff WayneMusicals, Film and TVBorn: 1 July 1943, New York, USANationality: American-British Wayne is a composer, musician and lyricist best known for Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds, his musical adaption of the science fiction novel by HG Wells. However, he also scored advertising jingles such as … Continue reading Brave New World by Jeff Wayne
Balaban1969 I ran down the street and into the house smelledof oregano and shook Mickey Monaco, saidC'mon, Balaban's got a breadloafclimbing over old Gruber's fence, he thinksthe mad dogs is doves. But Mickey grew up in the bed till he was too oldand besides Balaban was crazy, he suckedhis tongue and got left back twice.So … Continue reading Balaban by Jack Hirschman
Beginnings1958Colour field PaintingMagna on canvasHirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., USA Beginnings, on a perfectly square canvas, Noland places concentric circles, thus marking the artist’s first attempts at basic forms and archetypal patterns. The circles are slightly irregular which may or may not have been intentional in its effect. The colours complement or contrast … Continue reading Beginnings by Kenneth Noland
her words, I love youas her eyes laughed with the truththe kiss of the fool ©JGFarmer2021
https://youtu.be/Gpdn13HL9vI In its inward and more passive expression the element of earth governs the power to resonate. As in its outward expression we can see the paradoxical nature of earth since most would not consider resonance a passive trait. The power to resonate sounds vibrant and active. In terms of magic resonance is the energy … Continue reading The Power to Resonate
Dada Bowl1916DadaVarnished/Lacquered WoodMuseum of Modern Art, New York, USA With this almost-minimal object of turned wood Taeuber-Arp demonstrates the possibilities of infusing a functional every day thing with a radical aesthetic. Using the nascent Dada strategy she attacks the bourgeois sensibilities of the corrupt world to the decorative arts. The Dada Bowl straddles boundaries. It … Continue reading Dada Bowl by Sophie Taeuber-Arp
Partition1962Color Field PaintingAcrylic paint on canvasTate Modern, London, UK ‘Partition’ is one of Louis’ Stripe series, all of which were painted in the last months of his life. The works were part of the artists interest in the optical effects of colour relationships at the same time his simplification of non-representational form to extremes. The … Continue reading Partition by Morris Louis
Repeat and Reverse1963BauhausStainless steel on concreteArt and Architecture Building, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut Albers created the Repeat and Reverse sculpture at the request of Paul Rudolph, the architect of the Art and Architecture Building at Yale University. Albers used a simple arrangement of steel bars to produce a three-dimensional illusion of planes that seemingly … Continue reading Repeat and Reverse by Josef Albers
Form: John Tee Sonnet Where shards of light entwine with flowing streams,The magic sings with breezy willow treesWhile lovers hide beneath the rustling greenTheir wedding bed an old moss-covered stoneA secret place behind a weeping veilAnd love whispers with the water's laughterWhere shards of light entwine with flowing streams,The magic sings with breezy willow treesWe … Continue reading Soul Secrets
Darkest Horizon Darkest Horizon are a German Melodic Death Metal band formed in 2009. The current line-up is Oliver Sattler on lead guitar, Christian Mühlbauer on keyboards, Daniel Baum on rhythm guitar, Jonaz ‘Joe’ Heinzel on bass, and Enis Lorenz on vocals. Darkest Horizon’s lyrical themes include the universe, science and the apocalypse.. A Sacrifice … Continue reading A Sacrifice Divine by Darkest Horizon
Simon and Garfunkel Simon and Garfunkel were an American folk-rock duo consisting of Paul Simon, singer-songwriter, and Art Garfunkel as a singer. One of best-selling groups of the 1960s their biggest hits include The Sound of Silence, Bridge over Troubled Water, and Mrs. Robinson. The BoxerAlbum: Simon & Garfunkel FM Broadcasts 1965-1970 vol. 2Date: 1968Genre: … Continue reading The Boxer by Simon and Garfunkel
I went out at night alone; The young blood flowing beyond the sea Seemed to have drenched my spirit’s wings— I bore my sorrow heavily...
A Poet's Voice XV1923 Part One The power of charity sows deep in my heart, and I reap and gather the wheat in bundles and give them to the hungry. My soul gives life to the grapevine and I press its bunches and give the juice to the thirsty. Heaven fills my lamp with oil … Continue reading A Poet’s Voice XV by Khalil Gibran
Author’s Notes: Once again KL Caley has supplied a great #Writephoto prompt which can be found here https://new2writing.wordpress.com/2021/04/01/writephoto-rabbit/ As I am working on some notes for a sonnet form and need an example I thought I would use the Grammarian Sonnet. My rabbit seems to be more appearing than vanishing but equally mystical I guess … Continue reading #Writephoto: The Rabbit and the Warrior
Form: Haiku frozen tears fallinghiding pain within the rainsthe gods are weeping ©JGFarmer2021
The Rondelet is a French form that turns on a refrain and has two rhymes. The first, third and seventh lines consist of four syllables and form the refrain. Lines two, fourth, fifth and sixth lines consist of eight syllables. The Rhyme scheme is AbAabbA Example Roasties Crunch by Jez Farmer A Sunday lunchWhile catching … Continue reading Rondelet Notes
Form: Free Verse In darkness my eyes staresearching outwardseeking inwardthe precious hours of sleepsleep the space the soul can regretsleep the place the body can restsleep the space the mind can forgetforget the painof being awake and rememberingreminiscent of lost dreams and stinging eyesstinging eyes that never sleepstinging eyes scared by endless tearsrefusing to close … Continue reading Sleepless
The Rondeau can be a challenging form for the poet. Consisting of three stanzas, a quintet, a quatrain, and a sestet, the first phrase of the first line, or the hole first line sets the refrain (R). The meter is eight syllable or ten syllable line, but it is the poet’s choice if that is … Continue reading Rondeau Notes
Form: Haiku as day equals the nightvernal green kisses the treesas love calls begin ©JGFarmer2021
French Sonnet IStructure: Octave and sestetMeter: Octasyllabic or iambic tetrameterRhyme Schema: abbaabba ccdccd Example On the Way Down by Jez Farmer In darkness whispers kept talking to meAnd whispers echoed around in my mindA growling roar that once was far behindIn the realms of a childhood fantasyThose days before my soul walked strong and freeWhen … Continue reading French Sonnet Notes
Form: Epistle To you who inspires my wicked dreams As you wonder why I do not seek physical satisfaction within the games of sensual desire we play the hedonist in me knows there is still so much more to explore. In essence I want to leave our love making overwhelmed by the future desires, thinking … Continue reading My Hedonism
Form: Italian Octave 2 The masts chatter casually on the breezeFrom where there have been to where they will goThe trials and tribulations that flowAnd how the ever-changing tides at easeAs the weather-worn hands tack to the windTo follow the stars to a distant landThe white sails on the course he had plannedAns time shines … Continue reading White Sails
Only Time2000New Age https://youtu.be/eStCSUBJXAM EnyaNew Age, Film and TVBorn: 17 May 1961, Gweedore, IrelandNationality: Irish Enya is a singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. She was born into a musical family and raised in the Irish-speaking area of Gweedore in County Donegal. She began her music career when she joined the family’s Celtic folk band … Continue reading Only Time by Enya
La Danza1835Classical https://youtu.be/2DbwrU3QZsA Gioachino RossiniClassicalBorn: 29 February 1792, Pesaro, ItalyNationality: ItalianDied: 13 November 1868, Paris, France Rossini was a composer famed for his thirty-nine operas. He also composed songs, chamber music, sacred music, and piano pieces. He set new standards for serious and humorous and retired from large-scale productions while at the height of his … Continue reading La Danza by Gioachino Rossini
Form: Limerick
Oh love of mine when the dawn awakes
my promised kisses are yours to take
in the first golden light
as we seal our loving night
your gentle heart I will never break.
Dear lady you are all I desire
come fill my dreams of love with your fire
and I will sate your needs
with all my words and deeds
and serenade you with ancient lyre.
We'll share the joy we find along the way
and as we shed the fear of yesterday
to embrace the future's hope
we are joined by love's rope
to be one, forever and a day
©JGFarmer2011
Form: Quintilla
Shifting easy from dark to light
Lazily back to dark again
Sitting on the edge in the rain
Silently watching in the night
Jiving between the shades of right
©JGFarmer2021
Form: Quintilla
Last night dancing the tiles all red
Our feet talking more than words said
Glasses overflowing with wine
Until we were ready for bed
Those drunken senses felt divine
Now when does the hangover stop
When does the brain cease going pop
A grinding mill inside the mind
And the missus is in a strop
The morning after thus defined
©JGFarmer2021
Form: Kyrielle
We walked through the gilded gateway
Towards the moonlit castle keep
Without a word, nothing to say
Here where the black-winged dragons sleep
As silent as Death's last whisper
We slowly move in the night creep
The night singed, her breath crisper
Here where the black-winged dragons sleep
And we fall to our knees inside
The door before her eyes can weep
In silver light no place to hide
Here where the black-winged dragons sleep
The moon sparkles upon her wings
The power of flight within their sweep
And we tremble over these things
Here where the black-winged dragons sleep
The fear that on our tongues we taste
In saline sweetness feel it seep
Like dark-robed children we make haste
Here where the black-winged dragons sleep
Too late! Leathered lids slowly rise
The flames of amber start to leap
In her eyes, her welcoming eyes
Here where the…
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Form: Limerick
While I was sat drinking lemonade
the winter's chilling sun started to fade
the calm before the storm
perhaps another dawn
found in fizzy dreams of lemonade.
A hazy moonlit beach then appeared
my senses numbing as I had feared
as a pretty girl winked
at me, I dare not blink
in case she then went and disappeared.
The summer bronze reflected on her skin
her jewel like eyes just drank me in
an orchid in my gaze
to banish winter days
and I was caught in a lover's gin
©JGFarmer2011
Afternoon Everyone,
Welcome to the weekly #writephoto prompt!
In celebration of this weekend’s forthcoming Easter Celebrations, I’ve dug out this gem. It almost had a bit of the Cheshire cat feeling to it, disappearing into the hedgerow. Hopefully, you’ll have a bit of fun with it. Enjoy!
For visually challenged writers, the image shows a pair of comical glasses shaped like a rabbit’s ears and whiskers, the glasses are in a hedgerow.
The regulars already know this bit, but for those that don’t:
View original post 190 more words
