Dancing to the Marigold Mazurka
A Collection of Poems
by
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“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 to nourish our souls.
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About the Book
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 Durrant’s 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.
About the Author
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.