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A DANCE OF WORDS BY VERONICA JORGE

April 22, 2021 by Veronica Jorge in category Write From the Heart by Veronica Jorge tagged as dance., music, Veronica Jorge, words, Write

Veronica Jorge is out of the office this month, so we’re running one of her columns from our archives. Hope you enjoy it!

Hispanola, which means the “Spanish island,” became the first Spanish settlement in America. It is my mother’s native country and today we know the eastern section of the island as the Dominican Republic; a fertile land abundant in mines and minerals and rich in a great variety of fruits, vegetables, grains, and flowers, where the sun shines brightly year round.

The merengue, the country’s traditional music, embraces you throughout the island for dancing is an entirely social activity independent of holidays or festivals. Any gathering includes dancing because Dominican’s don’t just listen to music, they live it. Emotionally, the merengue celebrates life wherein you partake of the rhythms of love, family and friendship. The most skilled dancer moves in unity with their partner, as one.

My mother, Celina Antonia Luna de Jorge, (isn’t that lovely? Like a song in itself), left her beautiful, beloved island, and part of her heart, when she came to America at the age of seventeen. Like most of our ancestors, her family traveled to America in the hope of a better future. I’m happy to say that she found it. (She had me!).

Mom is most fully herself, most fully alive when she is surrounded by her family and cooking us all of the traditional delicious foods of her country. She fills and satisfies us with her peace and joy. And like the savory aromas that waft through the air, she makes our hearts swirl to the rhythms of her warmth and love.

And that’s what I want my writing to be like; a dance of words wherein writer and reader move in sync and taste the flavors of love, friendship, loss and new found purpose, joy and laughter. Writing that, in spite of sorrowful events or hardships, celebrates life and fills the reader with hope that today is indeed worth living.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom! I love you!

~ Veronica

Veronica will be here next time on May 22^nd.

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Music by E. J. Williams

February 3, 2021 by Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger in category Partners in Crime by Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger tagged as 1960s, Billboard top 10, E.J. Williams, music, Research for Writers

Music

The Top 10 1960s Billboard Hits

Enjoy the waltz down memory lane!

1960 A Summer Place Theme recorded by Percy Faith and orchestra

2. 1961 Tossin and Turnin by Bobby Lewis

3. 1962 Stranger on the Shore by Mr. Acker Bilk

4. 1963 Sugar Shack by Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs

5. 1964 I Want to Hold Your Hand by The Beatles (Ed Sullivan Show)

6. 1965 I Can’t Get No Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones

7. 1966 Ballad of the Green Berets by SSgt. Barry Sadler

8. 1967 To Sir with Love by Lulu

9. 1968 Hey Jude by The Beatles

10. 1969 Sugar, Sugar by The Archies (You’ll get a kick out of the animation.)

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Wendell Eugene: A Night to Remember by Neetu

January 26, 2021 by Neetu Malik in category Poet's Day by Neetu Malik tagged as jazz, music, Neetu, New Orleans, poetry, trombone, Wendell Eugene

Wendell Eugene: A Night to Remember

Rain drops drizzled
from the night sky,
café lights twinkled
in dream-lit New Orleans

you strode gracefully–
ninety and one years of life
trailing grandly behind

your trombone
dazzling on the stage,
you raised a toast to
the joy of living
among fans and friends

I watched you tune
your gleaming instrument,
lifting it to your lips
with the ease
of one who knows
an old Fidus Achates–

as one who has carried
ecstasy and heartache
through time’s mist
and glory

my eyes
transfixed upon
shimmering brass
as you played
wondrously

you turned to the applause,
our eyes met, you smiled

awed by your presence,
charmed by the smile
of a music man

who brought jazz to life
every night

for me, it was a first time,
and perhaps the last
at that fine restaurant.

©Neetu Malik

In honor and memory of Wendell Eugene (1923-2017), the longest-performing jazz musician/trombonist of New Orleans.

You play the piano, I listen— 
 notes slide off 
 your fingers
 
 smooth as ambrosia, 
 dripping a symphony 
 or a ragtime song 
 into my senses 
 parched for so long. 
 
 Thirsting for the heady 
 intoxication to fill 
 my emptiness
  
 I turn to see your 
 graceful form, 
 your dancing fingers, 
 mesmerized
 
 the world slips away, 
 as drop by drop, 
 pure enchantment 
 shivers briefly 
 
 then sinks into 
 the deepest 
 tunnels of me. 
 

 
 © Neetu Malik 
This poem was first published in The Australia Times Poetry Magazine.