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    Dancing to the Marigold Mazurka: A Collection of Poems
    Dancing to the Marigold Mazurka: A Collection of Poems
    Dancing to the Marigold Mazurka: A Collection of Poems
    Ebook132 pages51 minutes

    Dancing to the Marigold Mazurka: A Collection of Poems

    By Rita Durrant

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    About this ebook

    Beautiful imagery and wordplay combine to create this defining collection of poetry from Rita Durrant.

    Dancing to the Marigold Mazurka celebrates the rich experiences of life in all its facets. Durrant explores the terror of a biopsy, the simple joy of antique shopping on a lazy Sunday afternoon, a bittersweet wartime wedding of 1945, and even the loving routine of preparing a family Thanksgiving feast.

    Melodic phrases produce a whimsical flavor. In Uncle Lou, a child awaits the ching-ching of sleigh bells while the blue waters echo like the gentle ting-ting-ting of silver wind chimes at The Garden of Chambrel.

    But it is Durrants flair for description that truly captures the simple aspects of our world. In Joy and Sorrow she describes a pheasant with his teal necklace, white circlet and golden body gleaming. The sunset becomes a mantle of amethyst mist deepened to purple in Romance at Sunset, and fire flickers on the hearth, an iron kettle swings, candlelight reflects in ruffled windows, and mulled cider, spiked with spirits, beckons in Tour of the Parry Mansion, New Hope.

    Immerse yourself in the little treasures of life with Dancing to the Marigold Mazurka.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisheriUniverse
    Release dateNov 23, 2010
    ISBN9781450263719
    Dancing to the Marigold Mazurka: A Collection of Poems
    Author

    Rita Durrant

    RITA DURRANT was born in Chicago, Illinois. She attended Governors State University and earned an MA in language and literature. Durrant draws her inspiration from her life experiences as a wife and mother as well as a poetry instructor. Her poetry has won awards in California, Illinois, and Virginia.

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      Book preview

      Dancing to the Marigold Mazurka - Rita Durrant

      Copyright © 2010 Rita Durrant

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      iUniverse books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

      iUniverse

      1663 Liberty Drive

      Bloomington, IN 47403

      www.iuniverse.com

      1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any Web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      ISBN: 978-1-4502-6369-6 (pbk)

      ISBN: 978-1-4502-6370-2 (cloth)

      ISBN: 978-1-4502-6371-9 (ebk)

      Printed in the United States of America

      iUniverse rev. date: 11/16/2010

      For my husband, John,

      whose love and encouragement

      made my poetry possible.

      Acknowledgements

      With great appreciation for their love,

      support, encouragement, and friendship,

      I would like to thank the following people:

      Julie Durrant

      Patricia Ferebee

      Joanne Kennedy

      Dr. Christopher Bursk

      Dr. Mark Gardner

      Elizabeth Melton

      Marliss Melton

      Star LaBranche

      A very special thank you to the Members

      of the Williamsburg Poetry Guild:

      Philomene Hood

      Joyce Stedelbauer

      Joanne Kennedy

      Laniere Gresham

      Elizabeth Urquhart

      Flora Adams

      Joyce Grabsch

      Dianne Jordan

      John Hansen

      Andrea Rawson

      Ron Landa

      Ann Marie Boyden

      Karen Campbell

      Bette Castro

      Contents

      Introductory Poem

      Poetry Is …

      Portraits

      Abbondanza

      The Singer Sewing Machine

      Aunt Annie

      Uncle Lou

      Lady Bountiful

      Thanksgiving Concert

      The Thin Purple Scar

      Santa Lucia

      By the Sea at Del Mar

      Dorothy

      Summer Visitor

      A Letter to Grandmother

      Julie

      Broken Dolls

      Venus of the Outer Banks

      Romance at Sunset

      Wartime Wedding, 1945

      George Nakashima

      First Person Singular

      Walking Home from High School

      Jazz Critics

      Playing Donna Reed

      The Cold War Party

      Biopsy

      Letter to My Love

      Lambertville Sunday

      Moonlight Madness

      Giving

      Vision at Fallsington, Quaker Village

      Leavings

      Haiku to Spring

      Dandelion Salad

      Dandelion Salad

      Spring at Merchants’ Square

      Joy and Sorrow

      The Old Mailbox

      Retired Wagon

      The Markham Prairie

      Christmas Eve Ice Storm

      The Garden at Chambrel

      Waiting

      The Pear Trees of Chambrel

      When I Am Old

      The Caretaker

      Comic Relief

      Shooting the Chute

      One-Eyed Jacks

      The Church Lady

      My Favorite Cowboy

      Senior Serenade

      A Drunken Sail

      Vintage Wine and Good Spirits

      Limericks

      Mixed Media

      Still Life with Pears

      White Flower, 1932 Georgia O’Keefe

      Portrait of William Short, 1806

      The Kiss

      Psalm

      Portrait by Monsieur Matisse

      Sonnet to Autumn

      On Duty at the Christopher Wren

      A Little History

      Tour of the Parry Mansion, New Hope

      American Eagle, Retired

      The History of Jeans

      Christmas 1929

      A Time to Weep

      Benediction

      Prairie Benediction

      Epilogue

      To my mentor, Rita Durrant

      Introductory Poem

       Poetry Is …

      Poetry is distillation like rare wine:

      Once tender globes of succulence,

      sun-ripened, picked at prime,

      pressed, crushed, secreted away

      in the dark cellars of the soul,

      awaiting the moment of perfection.

      Poetry is emotion like tears

      concealed in the folds of years,

      joy and laughter, children dancing

      on bright sun-warmed sand,

      fear, anger, regret, or love.

      Poetry is rhythm: throbbing heart-beats,

      distant tom-toms, waves crashing

      at high tide, the tick-ticking of an old clock,

      little girls pirouetting with pointed toes,

      dancing to the Marigold Mazurka.

      Poetry is rhyming to delight the ears of angels:

      lambs bleating, time fleeting, friends greeting.

      A Shakespearian sonnet carefully crafted,

      Longfellow’s mighty smithy hammering blows,

      Poe’s Annabelle Lee, who lived by the sea.

      Poetry is imagery, irony, metaphor, simile

      like the silence of cathedrals, stones skipping

      over water, lost spirits dancing a Valse Trieste,

      Wordsworth’s daffodils dancing on a hill.

      Poetry is experience: the stories

      of our lives, sunlight on dear faces,

      visions and dreams, and all our tears,

      love, and laughter, mined, refined, cast

      into golden cups into which we pour

      the wine of words.

      Let us drink this wine together now,

      to warm our hearts, intoxicate our senses,

      and nourish our souls.

      Portraits

      Abbondanza

      Aunt Kate came to care for me

      on summer Saturdays, her young

      face flushed as pink as the garden

      tomatoes she carried in

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