Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Poem: Flexible Thinking

This is a poem about how we, as a society, view those who are "different" than most, specifically people with mental illnesses.

Flexible Thinking

The world creates footprints having us walk as assigned
Whether the path’s one we’ve chosen becomes poorly defined
What is considered as different seems confining in space
Judgments lacking of depth rather made with much haste
The inner workings of minds don’t tend to follow set planning
Divergent formation is forever wide-spanning
Understanding’s required and we all must remember
Isolation of variation is a greatest offender
Seen in each person is an aspirational composition
Growth, respect, wellness build sincere recognition


Copyright SGW 2014

Monday, November 17, 2014

Poem: Feline

Feline

Portrayed as a villain
Yet conflicted dimension
Anti-heroine persona
Defies comprehension

Circumstance driven
Complexity shaped
Hardships evolve
Until can’t be escaped

Run in the shadows
Night as companion
Driven by purpose
Or reckless abandon?

Nine lives since granted
Cat burglar’s touch
Declaring the victim
Lacking focus as such


Copyright SGW 2014

And read Melissa Donovan's poem, Catwoman, on the same subject.

Friday, November 7, 2014

Poem: Jerusalem

Jerusalem

Dogmatically driven to irreconcilable distance
In these matters of faith forms an irreverent resistance
Doctrinaire preaching, clarion calls
Exclusion of reason this extremism falls
Men formed a practice in derivation to cede
Piety lost to humanity’s “need”

Pieces of dirt, pieces of stone
Mounts, mosques and temples
Over flesh, blood and bone

All come together in an apex of violence
The morally certain feed unreflective compliance
Unshakable faith adhered to at cost of the soul
Manipulative message from interpretative scrolls
Pushed to their poles of extremist conveyance
Any peaceful existence will be kept in abeyance

As long as the battle goes on zealously waged
The people won’t reason and are kept in their rage
Diminished to naught is all virtuous proceeding
Chancing heaven on earth to the distance receding


Copyright SGW 2014

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Poem: Penned

Penned
  
Pen moves with a mysteriousness
Often serving expressive outlet
Sometimes no more than cheap therapy
As words from infinite places
Indeterminate inspirations
Whether divinely forthcoming
Or musings informed by life’s events
They are all of me, yet not solely
For the words exist in each of us
I have chosen to transcribe snippets
Here are a few

 Copyright SGW 2014

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Red Molly: "Clinch River Blues"

Looking for music that captures the essence of the Americana sound? Search no further than the trio Red Molly, featuring Laurie MacAllister, Abbie Gardner and Molly Venter. Formed in 2004, their harmonies and musicianship have been highlighted on CDs and live performances the world over. Their latest release, "The Red Album," is a must have. Bringing a blend of brilliant songwriting and bewitching covers, Red Molly has it all. The opening track is "Clinch River Blues," and it is captured on this video, released today. Check it out and go to their website to learn more and purchase the CD.



Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Poem: All Good Things

All Good Things

She was a dream
She was a whisper
She was a time
When once he kissed her

She was a wish
She was a vision
She was a place
He’s not since risen

She was a laugh
She was a wonder
She was a gift
Was torn asunder

He longs to dream
He craves the whisper
He counts the time
Again to’ve kissed her

Copyright SGW 2014

All Good Things
Words: Scott Wolman
Music & Vocals: Mark McCartney


Thursday, September 25, 2014

Poem: Makhoche

Makhoche
  
Rolling hills of knee-high grass
Gentle breeze weaves through the pass
Endless fields touch spacious skies
Puffy clouds sing lullabies
Drive beside the rock constructions
Canyons yield to mass productions
Needles Eye and hairpin bends
Revealing paths to heights ascends
Land is filled with untamed presence
A wildlife-forming coalescence
Multitudes of bison graze
Prairie dogs chirp communiqués
Pronghorns dance ‘cross open fields
Big-horn sheep stay more concealed
Badlands gleam a haunting vision
Like earth and moon in mass collision
Chiseled scenes dwell outside time
Severely formed; a world sublime
Remark upon the timeless range
Rest assured it won’t soon change
  

Copyright SGW 2014

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Poem: Jackson

Jackson

Slashes of color in vibrancy mark
Canvas imprinted by creativity’s spark
Images cutting a blackness of soul
Brush strokes on fire contrast the dark whole
Yellows and reds, often greens will appear
The mind sets the pattern that the painter might steer
Feel all his passion as abstractions evolve
Conflict the tableau he could never resolve

Copyright SGW 2014

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Poem: Ablaze

Ablaze
  
From ashes once destructive past
Embers spark as everlast
Stomach's pit a rumbled pitch
Ignition formed in ordered stitch
This inner hearth absorbs the core
Filling vast and full contour
Flames arise with blinding force
Stripped of any last resource
Mind consumed in fiery rage
Burn away, yet still engage
The fervent heat left uncontained
Laying waste when not restrained
A blackened landscape left behind
Wreckage formed of own design

 SGW

Saturday, June 7, 2014

Poem: Old Friend

Old Friend

Comfortable seat by the window
Back in a familiar old friend
When the music was suddenly silenced
A wonderful world seemed to end

Today I felt drawn by a purpose
Rediscovering a place once called home
And the environs are unquestionably fitting
Filled with memories I am less all alone

Dancing visions of the songs once performed here
And this poet dispensed many a verse
Hours spent inside pleasant surroundings
Finding friends, old and new, to converse

Lean back in this chair by the window
The spot I would find near the door
There are times you step back to remember
And you love that you’d been all the more

Copyright SGW 2014


*  For The Twisted Tree coffeehouse

Friday, May 16, 2014

Sarah Gardner: Jazz For Babies

I have been a fan of the Appalachia-based sounds of Red Molly since they formed in 2004.  One of the founding members, Abbie Gardner, is part of an incredibly talented, musical family.

Her father, Herb "Pops" Gardner, is a well-known and highly-regarded jazz musician (trumpet, piano, trombone, clarinet, saxophone) in New York, who has performed with virtually every name in jazz a person could think of over the past 50 years.

Abbie's sister, Sarah Gardner, is also an exceedingly talented musician in her own right.  After performing in rock and jazz bands, Sarah became a mom and turned to teaching and performing music for children.  She tours in this capacity, as well.

Sarah Gardner has just released a CD, "Jazz Pour Le Bebes (Jazz For Babies)," that is a 14 track collection of jazz classics such as "Baby Face," "Hello Dolly," "Pennies From Heaven," and some great, recent Red Molly songs like "My Baby Loves Me" and "Hello Goodbye."  She has found that, for a variety of reasons, the songs speak to children, gets them moving and brings about loads smiles and laughter.

But this is no CD just for children; do not be deceived by the title.  If you love jazz performed by top-flight musicians, and you should, this is definitely something every adult has to have in their collection.  With Sarah on lead vocals, the CD also features "Pops" on trombone, piano and cowbell, Abbie providing background vocals, Ted Casher on sax and clarinet, Craig Akin on standup bass, slapfiddle and electric bass, Bill Winiker on trumpet, and Joe Hart on guitar.

"Jazz Pour Le Bebes" is filled with the finest musicianship you will come across, jazz or otherwise.  If you have kids, having them not want to "switch the music" will be a nice bonus.  In the meantime, kids or not, you are going to be tapping your feet, bobbing your head and having a good time.   

As Sarah states:  "Administer by ear daily.  Repeat as needed.  May cause addiction in some people."


Monday, May 12, 2014

Poem: Round Pegs

Round Pegs

Finding the answers is forever elusive
Questions can linger; denial’s conclusive
Surrounded by laughter yet alone in the void
Inevitably given, any hope is destroyed
Passersby linger for a moment’s reprieve
But passersby pass; by definition they leave
Some offer wisdom, say the time is at hand
As if snapping of fingers brings the dream on demand
Others, a promise in their smiles and words
At the end of the day not a voice can be heard
So build a safe mask to convey the false picture
Lie to the thoughts to constrain the self-stricture
When push comes to shove, all the shoves push the limit
Clock has been stuck on this singular minute
Deserve so much better but no solace admits
Stuck with round pegs; into square they’ll not fit

Copyright SGW 2012

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Poem: Dead Or Alive (Afraid)

Dead Or Alive (Afraid)
  
Fear is consuming as it grips on the mind
Not knowing confounds any reason defined
Pain builds in patterns becoming encompassingly dire
Life’s been a process of no means to inspire
Alone in this drifting to anonymous sorrow
Can’t help but shudder for the hurtful tomorrow
Spirit is beaten beside the body’s decay
Any chance of a gift has been long thrown away
No one can answer through the fog set in motion
The distance to sunshine is as wide as an ocean
Left but to wonder how I’ve grown so afraid
Some things are taught and some things are made
When each day’s reduced to merely how to survive
It is hard to decipher whether dead or alive


Copyright SGW 2013

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Poem: Life Is Still There

Life Is Still There

She said be happy
Relax and enjoy
But rosy shades gloss
The constant sorrow
Within the knowing
That life is still there

She said it works out
Good will come your way
But illusion breaks
On shores of a truth
Feeding on the pain
That life is still there

Life ... Life is still there

Copyright SGW 2011

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Poem: Ostriches

Ostriches

They are flat-earth in thinking
For no proof will provide
The reasons for changing
Toward the facts they’ve denied

Our climate’s been altered
What we’ve done is at root
A snowfall in winter
Doesn’t make this point moot

Half-wits won’t notice
‘For their head’s in the sand
While our ice caps are melting
They pretend all is grand

Sandy served as precursor
For the floods will soon come
As the coastlines we live on
To the oceans succumb

Temperatures rising
To unmatching, new heights
Earth-cracking droughts
There is no end in sight

We consume, we devour
And we squander at will
Unless we evolve
Our demise we’ll fulfill

With unfettered destruction
And the fools of FOX “News”
The threat is expansive
There is too much to lose
  
Copyright SGW 2014


Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Poem: Monsters

Monsters

They resided under the bed
I knew they were there

Lift the bed’s apron … twice
Quickly!

Nothing

They were there
Trust me

Never a threat
Until a finger to a light switch
So all went dark
And they were there

Run to the bed!
Tuck the blanket in fully around me
My only defense

Yet here I sit today
Having warded off the monsters
Hidden under my childhood bed

They were there

Copyright SGW 2014


Footnote:  Poetry prompt #243 in Melissa Donovan’s “1200 Creative Writing Prompts”


Friday, January 3, 2014

Poem: Ends

Ends

Moments pass as clocks spin
Little nooks of happiness reveal
Warmths of joyful pleasure
Linger in these pockets of sanctuary
For their finite nature is absolute
And they fade from view
As life moves to other destinations

Consciously, one must breathe in these jewels of time
Mental images marking what has come
And gone
The sadness of that which is lost …
Is it lost?
Or just embraced within
While some new adventure gestates

I will miss what has ended
But also rejoice in the beautiful memory
For then it lives forever
  

Copyright SGW 2013