D.M. Denton's Blog, page 36
January 25, 2013
Inspiration Awarded
A sound, a scent, a sight,
a hope, a dream, a memory,
creative tunneling towards the light;
one word, then two and three,
a poem, a page or more of prose
set out on a never-ending journey;
there’s loss, there’s love, not less
than the unsettled heart should need
to imagine how it is doomed and blessed;
the stars, the sun, the moon,
a breeze and, oh, the stillness, too
give the birds and composer’s hand a tune;
a brush, a lens, a thought,
what is known and never can be
explained except as inspiration sought.
Copyright 2012 by Dm Denton
I want to thank onwindydays for recently nominating me for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award! Such a lovely gesture. I am humbled and it makes me very happy to play it forward!
First (this is rule I almost didn’t follow) I am supposed to offer seven things about myself …
I have a milestone birthday this year.
I have been writing stories and poems since I could write.
I have had nineteen cats, two dogs and a budgerigar named Billy.
I worked as a gardener on a large estate.
I lived in a medieval abbey.
I live in a log cabin.
I believe in reincarnation.
The blogs I nominate (in no particular order as I am inspired by them all, and a few more than ‘the rules’ require) are:
Journey into Poetry journeyintopoetry.wordpress.com
Ina inaweblogisback.wordpress.com
Countingducks countingducks.wordpress.com
By the Sea www.ingebrita.net
Rae Spencer www.raespencer.com
Caddo Veil caddoveil.com
frommymusings2u frommymusings2u.wordpress.com
Martin Shone – Silence Happens theearthneedstobreathe.wordpress.com and likethesunshone agapintheclouds.wordpress.com
Linda willows lindawillows.wordpress.com
Margaret griffin margaretgriffin.wordpress.com
Bodhirose’s Blog bodhirose.wordpress.com
Seasonings raindancepoetry.wordpress.com
Contemplative Moorings contemplativemoorings.wordpress.com
The Tale of My Heart justsimplyinlove.wordpress.com
Kiwsparks kiwsparks.wordpress.com
LScott Poetry lscotthoughts.com
Pitching Pennies Poetry smzang.wordpress.com
Poems From Oostburg, Wisconsin ellenolinger.wordpress.com
For those nominees, here are the rules, certainly your option to follow or not.
* Display the award logo on your blog
* Link back to the person who nominated you
* State seven things about yourself
* Nominate 15 other bloggers for this award and link to them
* Notify those bloggers of the nomination and the award’s requirements
Blessings to all for continued inspiration! Follow your bliss!
©Artwork and writing, unless otherwise indicated, are the property of Diane M Denton. Please request permission to reproduce or post elsewhere with a link back to
bardessdmdenton
. Thank you.
January 19, 2013
Cracked Pot
Copyright 2013 by DM Denton
Looking for a little relief.
The pot is cracked from the cold,
the lavender scented like summer;
spring bulbs show impatience
while knowing they must wait.
©Artwork, writing and photography unless otherwise indicated, are the property of Diane M Denton. Please request permission to reproduce or post elsewhere with a link back to bardessdmdenton. Thank you.
January 15, 2013
Book review "A House near Luccoli "
The historic novel “ A House Near Luccoli “ by Diane M Denton invites us to be witness of the last days in the life of the composer Alessandro Stradella, who really lived in the 17th century. Diane vividly describes how the fictive Donatella plays an important part in those last moments. The story, romantic and entertaining, historical and interesting, is not only a fantastic way to learn more about Stradella, or Italy in the 17th century, but also a great novel, making you want to know what happens next to Donatella.
Thank you Ina for this lovely review! Every reader that I reach in a positive way is another blessing for me.
January 13, 2013
Nature Insight: January Blooms
Copyright 2012 by DM Denton
The snow has shrunk back
into the distance of the woods,
a receding wave
of winter
that will roll over us again.
Too early to rise,
a posy of
camouflaged courage
will soon sleep
and wait,
perhaps to dream
once more.
This picture was taken this morning, 1/13/13, probably the earliest I’ve seen snowdrops in my garden. Especially considering the frigid weather and heavy snow cover we had since Christmas. Today is quite the opposite – it is around 60 degrees fahrenheit!
©Artwork, writing and photography unless otherwise indicated, are the property of Diane M Denton. Please request permission to reproduce or post elsewhere with a link back to bardessdmdenton. Thank you.
January 5, 2013
Past Life
Copyright by Diane’s Mom 2013
I cannot offer an explanation to anyone but the moon. Remember when I wrote:
I told the moon tonight—
the moon so full and bright—
what I wanted to tell you.
It was as though I had,
for you are like the moon,
as constant and changing,
as out of reach.
Others mourn you better. They were a part of your everyday and everywhere. They created memories for sharing without suspicion. I was but a reminder of what had passed, like a whisper, between us.
How could I lose the one I never had?
Romantic love has never made a home with me, has never stayed long enough to unpack its plans and rest assured. It becomes a habit, one life to another, this living with what is undeclared, like a smuggler of illegal hopes.
Now you are gone from this world. The lives you touched are left unresolved and may’ve already begun to move on. I have nowhere to go if you are not with me, even if I have to backtrack a little. Surely, memories haven’t any consequence: a meeting that wasn’t the first; a beautiful wife for you and sister for me; a voice that caressed even as it called me ‘contentious’; a kiss that just missed my mouth for my cheek; a chair that still rocked after sailing the seas for you; a cat that let you spin it into embarrassment; a bump to my head you seemed genuinely concerned about; a song no one but us knew was just for me.
You stole my heart
hundreds of years ago;
only now can I gladly let you have it;
only now
in the space time makes
before
and after
can I know what I was missing.
I turned from you. I know that is why we never were. If I had been braver we might’ve spoiled everything. I was afraid that the noose of loving you might strangle me again, unless I wrote a different version of the story.
Although I still talk to the sky as if that is where you are.
No one can take the moon
from me;
the dark sky can conceal its varying
brightness and
watchfulness
and mockery,
but cannot convince me
it is gone.
©Artwork and writing, unless otherwise indicated, are the property of Diane M Denton. Please request permission to reproduce or post elsewhere with a link back to bardessdmdenton. Thank you.
January 3, 2013
CONDENSATION
Reblogged from frommymusings2u:
CONDENSATION
“Oh dear,” Said the water to the wind. “You give me the vapors!”
“I am your friend.” The wind replied. “With me you’ll soar into the sky.”
“I don’t like heights.” Said the tiny droplet, trembling.
“Oh my little droplet,” The wind then did proclaim.
“You’ve run as streams and rivers, sparkled in the day.
You’ve nurtured many things. Do not be afraid.”
When I came upon this delightful and profound offering of Rachael's at 'frommymusing2u' I knew it was time for a reblog! I love its fairytale-ishness - such a perfectly charming and meaningful way to bring in a new year. Enjoy and please read more on Rachael's blog while you're over there. Thank you! ♥
December 30, 2012
Words and Music
Copyright 2012 by DM Denton
I am listening to The Plaint: O Let Me Weep by Henry Purcell (1659 – 1695), playing it over and over, a mantra while I’m writing. Even vocal music doesn’t distract me if it’s fluid and expressive, like the current under a boat, sending a narrative on its way. In the liner notes of soprano Nancy Argenta’s Songs and Airs CD, Adelaide de Place writes that “Purcell liked to compare music and poetry with two mutually supportive sisters.” The 17th century Italian composer, Alessandro Stradella (1639 – 1682), the focus of my novel, A House Near Luccoli would’ve appreciated the comparison, perhaps smiling mischievously, preferring to create a little rivalry. Never discord. Even his Italian “sisters” would have bowed gracefully to his designs, side by side, arms entwined, differences reconciled as their voices blended into one sound so beautiful no man could put asunder.
English lawyer, biographer and “Renaissance man” Roger North (1653 – 1754), who figures prominently in the sequel to A House Near Luccoli, wrote that “poetry called” his grandfather, the 1st Lord North, “to music.” For me it was the other way around, music expressing almost everything I couldn’t until I picked up a pen like a violinist lifts his bow and interpreted it into something so personal, beyond thought and emotion. Without music I may never have written a word, never realized I had to write, never lost track of time until I found myself alone in its company having forgotten how to speak – except silently.
Both words and music are about playing with silence, like birdsong or breezes or rain or thunder, our breathing or someone else’s, heartbeats and heartaches, love-affairs and loneliness. As with the chicken and the egg, their collaboration employs a circular cause and consequence, no way and no need to answer the question of which came first or is more important. As music inspires me to write, I desire to make music of my writing.
As I write now I am thinking of ghosts and not minding the melancholy, for it sounds so pleasing I question there is anything more joyful. It’s as if I’m enveloped in a prayer. O let me weep … or smile … or dream … or despair as I please; let me never be at a loss for words and music. Amen.
The above is a repost from July 2011, the early days of my blog.
Although I knew the following article about my authorship of A House Near Luccoli was going to appear in a local newspaper, I was astonished by the beautiful layout. I share it here and greatly appreciate you taking the time to read:
A Literary Note
Batavia Daily News
December 15, 2012
EAST PEMBROKE – The first time Diane Denton heard the music of Alessandro Stradella, she knew she was listening to something extraordinary.
She didn’t realize as she drove to work at a media consultant firm that morning in 2002 just how big an impression it would make on her life, or that she would spend years researching the artist and another three years writing a book about him.
A fan of the classics, Denton was listening to CBC Radio 2. The show, In the Shadows, highlighted the lives and works of artists – mainly musical – who for a variety of reasons had been largely ignored or forgotten.
“On this particular morning, a 17th century Italian composer, whom I and obviously many others had never heard of, was featured,” Denton said. “His music was stunning — fluid and melodic, with clear expressive vocals and distinct instrumentations.
“Set in 17th century Genoa, Italy, A House Near Luccoli is the story of the little-known, but brilliant 17th century composer named Alessandro Stradella. She described his story as “replete with romance and intrigue, triumphs and tragedy, like an opera drawing on the divinity and failings of gods and men.”
“The fictional Donatella in the book is a lot of me, although it wasn’t a conscious thing while I was writing the novel,” said Denton, who lives with her mother in East Pembroke. “I did want to express a point of view of a woman who is very self-contained, but rather insecure, perhaps too sensitive, artistic and talented, but who unvalues her life in a resigned sort of way. Donatella was a fictional female protagonist stepping out of my own hopes and disappointments.”
Denton said she has been writing since she was 12, but her mother remembers the first poem Denton wrote for Thanksgiving when she was only 6 – about a family Thanksgiving gathering and being grateful their family was all together.
Denton was born in Buffalo and grew up in Tonawanda. During her junior year, she studied in England, where she met a young man, married and stayed for 16 years.
“I lived, for better or worse, right off the pages of Fielding, the Brontes, Austin, Hardy, DH Lawrence and even Dickens, surrounded by the beautiful hills, woods and fields of the Oxfordshire countryside,” Denton said.
In the meantime, her parents moved to East Pembroke, where Denton returned after her father Carmen died in 1986.
Although she has always been interested in history, particularly European history, Denton said her participation in and appreciation of music was encouraged through memories shared about her maternal grandmother Marion DiCesare (ne Allers), who was a concert pianist in Chicago.
Denton also shares artistic talent with her mother, and their paintings hang side by side on the walls of their home. Denton did the illustrations for A House Near Luccoli herself.
One reason Denton was intrigued with Stradella’s music is because his story reminded her of a modern-day musician she knew who, in many ways, sabotaged himself and the potential he could have achieved.
“By the time I pulled into the parking lot at work, I knew why I was listening,” Denton said. “I ‘knew’ Alessandro Stradella. I recognized his distinct voice, his swaying form, his infectious smile and his wandering heart.”
Denton spent the rest of that morning and many more hours in pursuit of Stradella. She said her writer’s urge “to do something with him” was easier stirred than accomplished. There was so little about him on the pages of Google searches and music histories, Denton’s desire to create something out of her interest in the man was soon frustrated and abandoned.
It wasn’t until 2005 Denton returned to her work on Stradella.
“The timing must have been right, for suddenly resources, although still not in abundance, were easier to find,” she said. “As I read my costly copy of Alessandro Stradella, the Man and his Music by musicologist Carolyn Gianturco, I found an opportunity for imagining my way into his story, focusing on his last fateful days in Genoa.”
Her intention, Denton said, was not to change history, but quietly humanize it; not merely to appreciate a great musician, but personalize him; to reveal the ordinary in the extraordinary and the significance of the insignificant.
The title and main setting of Denton’s novel reflect the strong possibility Stradella last lived in a house owned by Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi, just off the via Luccoli in Genoa. Records indicated this was where his possessions were inventoried after his tragic and untimely death in his 40s.
Although talented and cultivated, Stradella was something of a vagabound and messed up many opportunities to become rich and famous. He had a reputation for making messes, but also masterpieces, Denton said.
Copies of A House Near Luccoli are available at Present Tense Books, 101 Washington Ave., Batavia (NY); The Book Shoppe in Medina (NY); and online at amazon.com in paperback and Kindle edition, and at barnesandnoble.com as a NOOK book.
Denton already has two more works in progress. She has been asked to write a sequel to A House Near Luccoli, which she hopes to have completed in late spring. The sequel will take Donatella to England and the small but stately Oxfordshire village of Wroxton, where she hopes to settle with her Italian mother and English father, a retired seaman.
“Another thing about my Donatella connection is, I am also of Italian and English heritage,” Denton said. “So I have lived a long time with the personality contrasts, even the struggles that come with that combination.”
Another work is a book of poetry based on journals she kept about the flowers and gardens in England and their changes through the seasons. That book is expected to be released in early spring.
Article written by Batavia News Correspondent, Virgina Kropf
©Artwork and writing, unless otherwise indicated, are the property of Diane M Denton. Please request permission to reproduce or post elsewhere with a link back to bardessdmdenton. Thank you.
December 23, 2012
The Conscience of Christmas
Copyright 2011 by DM Denton
The weather isn’t frightful
as the snow falls on cue,
just following its heart
that longs for innocence
in a world where it is
all too brief.
The cold creates a warmth of
knowing we must come in
from the harsh winds that blow
humanity to shame
and haunt its soul for right
to be done.
The season cannot change what
happened to children who
did not doubt tomorrow
and to all those who did,
their smiles lost in tears
not in vain.
For as long as winter turns
from darkness to cast light
on a softer view through
the narrowing window
of how to make amends,
we must try.
Blessings of the season to all.
Prayers for non-violence to prevail
in the New Year and beyond.
Copyright 2012 DM Denton
©Artwork and writing, unless otherwise indicated, are the property of Diane M Denton. Please request permission to reproduce or post elsewhere with a link back to bardessdmdenton. Thank you.
December 16, 2012
Nature Insight: Comfort in Continuation
Copyright 2012 by DM Denton
The year
even as
it’s dying
grows
into another.
Something simple this week, that I painted and captioned many years ago, with the intent of adding a little hope even where there is heartbreak – especially with the tragedy at Newtown, Connecticut in mind and heart. Prayers of healing for all who have been so broken by untenable violence – with the belief that love can prevail.©Artwork and writing, unless otherwise indicated, are the property of Diane M Denton. Please request permission to reproduce or post elsewhere with a link back to bardessdmdenton. Thank you.
December 9, 2012
Contemplation on Saint Cecilia
If music was composed of rays, it would lift the mist from the world, until its brilliance played across the skies not silenced by the clouds.
If music was a mirror, it would reflect each soul that listened.
If music was eternity, it would be heard beyond all breathing, accompanied by the heartstrings of the angels, never to be broken.
If music was silence, it would be for our ears to hear nothing but its calling us to paradise.
Copyright 2012 by DM Denton
Saint Cecilia (2nd Century) is the patron saint of music, musicians, and poetry.
It is told that as she was dying she sang to God. It is also written that as the musicians played at her wedding she “sang in her heart to the Lord”. Her feast day is celebrated … November 22.
The martyrdom of Cecilia is said to have followed that of her husband and his brother by the prefect Turcius Almachius.The officers of the prefect then sought to have Cecilia killed as well. She arranged to have her home preserved as a church before she was arrested. At that time, the officials attempted to kill her by smothering her by steam. However, the attempt failed, and she was to have her head chopped off. But they were unsuccessful three times, and she would not die until she received the sacrament of Holy Communion.
From Wikipedia.
©Artwork and writing, unless otherwise indicated, are the property of Diane M Denton. Please request permission to reproduce or post elsewhere with a link back to bardessdmdenton. Thank you.
