The Sigh Of Fall

The sigh of Fall
A flower yet in bloom
A tree in color array
Reflections
All of nature's beauty
Within you
Season of change
Hues and tones
To temper time
You
Nature
The Creator's mind divine.

Rose Marie Raccioppi


Painting of Fall, Summit St. photo - Hewen Slak photos at pbase.com
http://www.pbase.com/hslak/image/24646175



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Let Not Truth Be A Silenced Voice

The airways, the media
Messages of oppression,
War, devastation, despair
A plea, pay note, be aware
So calls each message
Take action
Be not delayed
By the lure of distraction
Act now for your freedoms
Are at stake
By the decisions others
Are in power to make
V for Vendetta, The Matrix
So warns
Man need not be forlorn
In faith
With power
Noble light and deed
Let us again take hold
And live
Freedom's creed
The ravages of suppression
Known and heard
So from the heart of Freedom
Came each word
Declarations so marked
To portray
That man free of oppression
Be the chosen way
In Freedom’s light
And with Freedom’s call
Dignity of expression
A right granted all
And if with doubt
And query new
A forum open
For a challenged view
Hold these words
As Freedom’s choice
Let not TRUTH be a silenced voice.

Rose Marie Raccioppi

The marble figures and fountains on either side of the main portico entrance of the
New York City Public Library Main Branch,
by Frederick MacMonnies, were installed in 1921.

On the right (north) is Truth, a man seated on a Sphinx, the form associated with Wisdom.
Above the figure is an inscription from the Apocrypha (1 Esdras, chapter 3):

BUT ABOVE ALL THINGS / TRUTH / BEARETH AWAY / THE VICTORY.

YouTube - Matrix
red pill/blue pill
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGQF8LAmiaE

Shakespeare Be My Brother

Shakespeare be my brother this very night
As words free and in frolic take flight
Words of anguish, fear and pain
Words of illusion and the inane
Words to claim my longings and desire
Words to breathe these thoughts of fire
For words within the mind conceived
Create the world for us perceived
Recorded in prose, poetry and rhyme
To give purpose to life's gift of time
Words to serve intent and pleasure
Held in journals as one's life treasure
Words of moments present, moments past
And within a recorded history cast
Of all the words I in quest to heed
Silent utterances of TRUTH and sacred creed.

Rose Marie Raccioppi

"It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves."
William Shakespeare


William Shakespeare - Invitation Card, Wood engraving on brown paper, 1850, Ford Madox Brown, 1821-1893.

And in reflection:

"Know Thyself"
Temple of Apollo at Delphi

The more I read Shakespeare, the more I realize that in a poet's heart is ever the search for understanding, beauty and purpose. If we are open to explore the poet's pondering of heart, we will hear the questing echoes of soul.

"All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages."

William Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act II, Scene 7, ...published, 1623.

Imagine the engagement of heart, soul, spirit in words of praise, in words of reflection, in words of sacred creed. Imagine "know thyself" a pursuit of love, of faith, of spirit, of GOD.

I envision and currently launching, "The APOGEE Players" and The APOGEE Theater of Success." All conflicts, complexities, frustrations, the rants of suppression, anger, guilt, repression, have been recorded by Shakespeare and can be referenced for all needs of the "psyche." Imagine instead of psychotropic medication provide we Shakespearean contemplation!

Morning Light

Travails dispelled in this deep breath of early Fall
The oak tree of many seasons holds the morning light
Reaching bough and branch create shadows
A dancing grandeur cast upon the yet green grass
So gentle is the sway of the evergreens
I too, move to the touch
Of the crisp morning air upon my face
The mirth of bubbling water
Circles, ripples, reflecting light and shadow
I too, of many seasons
In the grandeur of the morning light.

Rose Marie Raccioppi


Ashante, Watercolor, Rose Marie Raccioppi, http://www.apogeeart.com


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Within These Walls

Within these walls the waling labor and the promise of a new day
Upon these floors the heavy burdens and the knowing of The Way
Within these chambers of heart and home reverie and reflection
The searching wave of wonder and awe crests with God's perfection
No promise or lament need be silenced or denied its haunting call
Within moments Now the pulsing passion of Presence, The All
The rooms of this home bear sounds and visions of day's gone by
Beauty held in music, art, the gifts of man, child, earth, sea and sky
The noonday sun touches this day with warming light
From each window I look to sky, trees and leaves in wind's flight
This deep captivating call of heart and home in silence I do ever hear
I know of God, this moment, and faith in a tomorrow of banished fear.

Rose Marie Raccioppi


Within These Walls, Photograph, CAR, Collectible Clicks, ©Rose Marie Raccioppi, 2009.


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This September Day

The rhythmic sounding sweep of the swing
The soft crackle of fallen twigs
The golden leaves of the birch tree
This September day
The crimson tipped leaves of the dogwood
The green fragrance of the freshly cut grass
The yet warm moist air of a noon hour
This September day
A stillness, a vibrancy
Leaves beckoning array
The emergent colors
This September day
A palette of nature's splendor
A green canopy holding to sun's light
Towering oak, rooted and ever free
This September day.

Rose Marie Raccioppi


Girl on a Swing, 1879, Watercolor on paper, Winslow Homer, 1836-1910.



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If A Moment

A loss I shall not bemoan
For within a lesson be shown
The night I shall not fear
For day is but moments near
If a moment in confusion's wake be
Faith ever present to embrace me
And so I with God's light and glory
See the love in each day's story.

Rose Marie Raccioppi


Sunrise, Watercolor, Rose Marie Raccioppi, www.apogeeart.com


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Gems of Labor

Abundance be and so the bale
Bundles of hay this field to hail
Purpose, a bounty be so claimed
For the spoils of a field gathered and named
To the farmer this be the season's delight
Final offerings from summer rain summer light
The gems of labor be they known
Upon the field they be shown
And so the fields now golden and brown
With bales of hay are regally crowned.

Rose Marie Raccioppi


with gratitude to a most dear blogger
Photo, Rain MacSweeney, posted: 09/17/09 on http://www.ocean-sunsets.blogspot.com/



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Hands and Heart In Grandeur Be

A word, a brush stroke, sound and light known
The marks, the creations of Beauty shown
Hands and heart in grandeur be
In the music, art and love brought to me
With gratitude and grace
Moment now and memory I trace
And here I willingly stand
In Beauty’s reign and command.

Rose Marie Raccioppi


"Clodion (Claude Michel): Minerva (1975.312.6)". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/neoc_1/ho_1975.312.6.htm (October 2006)

Minerva was the Roman name of Greek goddess Athena. She was considered to be the virgin goddess of warriors, poetry, art, medicine, wisdom, commerce, crafts, and the inventor of music

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Caress Of The Night

The light now brilliant above the trees
The green array below darkened
The air is gently cool and still
Each branch, each leaf before me is motionless
Sweeps of deep pink embrace the golden sun
As each moment now unfolds
The light of this day quickens to its rest
Laced in brilliant golden crimson
The light bids this day to its close
Gone is the green
Each leaf, each branch
A blackened silhouette
In grace against the darkened sky
The sound of crickets hold present this day
The caress of the night air
The colors sweeping abide to the closing hour
Skyward I am bound
Brush stokes of color call to the canvas
And I in the embrace of this Presence.

Rose Marie Raccioppi


This Night This Mist, Watercolor, Rose Marie Raccioppi, http://www.apogeeart.com


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Passion's Decree

Strokes of color lyrical and bold
With line and form quest be told
Hold to this moment of need and desire
Portray the knowing, the passion, the fire
Hush not the refrain of glory's plea
Paint, brush, color, heed passion's decree.

Rose Marie Raccioppi


Rapture, Watercolor, Rose Marie Raccioppi, http://www.apogeeart.com



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The Quest of Light

The enfold of silence and sweet slumber greet
Where dreams and awakenings ever to meet
The vistas traveled all near all far
To galaxies and a distant star
Spirit in flight across the sky
In the firmament above, above so high
Known be the glory, the quest of light
The pursuit of Spirit through the night.

Rose Marie Raccioppi


Astronomy Picture of the Day
Andromeda
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090917.html



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In Spirit's Willing Command

Beyond darkening shadows of doubt
Beyond a deafening din
This calling, calling deep within
Moods and passions
Purpose and plan
Destiny and devotion
The pen, the brush, the word, the hand
And known be this glory
In Spirit's willing command.

Rose Marie Raccioppi


Divine Frenzy, Watercolor, Rose Marie Raccioppi, http://www.apogeeart.com
Click on image for larger view



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Gems Of Time

Moments of memory, treasure be mine
The troves, the garlands, the gems of time
A need, a calling within hearts command
A reaching, a touching, a knowing hand
Each hour, each day, each year now past
A journey, a questing, a destiny cast
To the NOW, a self, a being, a soul
Visions, passions, and many a goal
The sound, the paint, the pen, the word
Grace be known, be seen, be heard
With faith anew this hand, this heart
From destiny's path shall not depart.

Rose Marie Raccioppi


Frames of Mind, Opus 9, Watercolor, Rose Marie Raccioppi, http://www.apogeeart.com
Click on image for larger view



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In His Hand

In his hand
A pencil he to hold
Lines, shadows, delicate
Purposeful and bold
Portrays he grace
A beauty sublime
And gifted we be
By artistry divine.

Rose Marie Raccioppi


Studies for Leda and the Swan, c. 1506, Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519.

"Obstacles cannot crush me. Every obstacle yields to stern resolve. He who is fixed to a star does not change his mind."
Leonardo daVinci, Notebooks (c. 1500)



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Winds of Light

Winds of light pulsing
Waves of Praise in the heavens
I in its glory.

Rose Marie Raccioppi


http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap081227.html



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Longing

Does that longing set at the start
At that moment the cut given to part
Held in a mother’s womb you be
Then with birth newly free
From lifetimes of pleasure and pain
Life now a newly set game
Yet the need for care and protection to grow
Discount and dismiss what you deeply know
And then I am as others perceive me to be
Lost I somewhere in the shadow of me
The soul sings freedom a welcomed refrain
Then gone the shadow then gone the pain
The longing that had its start
In this moment does depart
And I in freedom and light cease to be
Somewhere lost in the shadow of me
Guided by TRUTH and God's loving care
Stand I free of longing and despair.

Rose Marie Raccioppi


Mother and Child, Oil on Canvas, 1865, Lord Frederick Leighton, 1830-1896


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Souls of Soaring Faith

Souls of soaring faith
Within distant horizons
Wings of spirit light.

Rose Marie Raccioppi


http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090910.html

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Where Does The Pain Go - 9/11 - In Dedication

Where does the pain go

When no longer can you take hold
When the fires devour hope
When the moment claims life

Where does the pain go
When man annihilates man
When terror rules reason and heart
When the unspeakable defies God’s name

Where does the pain go
When the innocence is lost
When suspicion and fear hover
When trust is betrayed

Where does the pain go
When a life is saved
When love holds a memory
When grace touches the tearful heart

Where does the pain go
When spirit and soul awaken faith
When destiny abides in God’s light
When the silence offers guidance

Where does the pain go
When determination and resolve assemble
When purpose and plan are set forth
When in the name of God, life, beauty and love are called.

Rose Marie Raccioppi

In Dedication to The Human Spirit

Vocal by Marci Elyn Schein

Music by Michael V. Ficocelli
click to hear

Where Does the Pain Go, Watercolor, Etched Glass, Rose Marie Raccioppi, 2001

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The Painter's Honeymoon

Quell not these passions
The yearning fires of the soul
Devour pain and loss.

Heed the calling quest
Divine grace to you bequeath
Truth in God's light known.

Rose Marie Raccioppi


The Painter's Honeymoon, Oil on canvas, 1864, Lord Frederick Leighton, English Classicist Painter and Sculptor, 1830-1896


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Hallowed Sea

Hallowed sea of creation, blessings divine
The ebb and flow of waters and time
Sacred womb within water's enfold
Emergent be life, story be told.

Rose Marie Raccioppi


A Water Baby, oil on canvas, 1900, Herbert Draper, English Classicist Painter, 1863-1920


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What Is In The Mirror

What is in the mirror now before me
What is it that others do see
Is the sadness in my soul veiled by a smile
Is the longing in my heart known all the while
Is it the truth of all my years
Is it the telling of time and shed tears
Is it the pain and loss that is shown
Oh, let it be the glory, the splendor, of a love once known.

Rose Marie Raccioppi


The Mirror, Oil on Canvas, Thomas Francis Dicksee, British, 1819-1895.


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And How A Mother Shows Her Care

And how a mother shows her care
She sees the loss, the pain but does not despair
With faith and the vision of her child set free
She revels in joy for all that be
Acceptance, gratitude, forgiveness to discern
Life’s lessons not always easily learned
With wisdom and knowing deep within her heart
Doubt, fear and sadness readily depart
A new path so shall she lay
For this and the awakening day.


Rose Marie Raccioppi


Angelica Kauffmann, Cornelia Pointing to her Children as Her Treasures, 1785, Oil on Canvas


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Upon Listening

Color, sound, the undulating wave of breath
Sentiments lyrical, light and of depth
Silent be the knowing of the night
Tones calling to the darkness and the light.

Rose Marie Raccioppi

Paul Barnes, Piano

Epilogue

"Monsters of Grace"

Philip Glass/Paul Barnes

Night Journey, Watercolor, Rose Marie Raccioppi, http://www.apogeeart.com

click image for larger view

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Implacable Sea

To yonder distant shores
I set to sail
Cresting waves and winds
I to hail
Constant is
The beckoning plea
The lure, the call
Of the implacable sea.

Rose Marie Raccioppi


Ancient Rome, Agrippina Landing with the Ashes of Germanicus, Oil on canvas 1839, Joseph Mallord William Turner, English, 1775–1851, Tate Gallery, London, UK.

If humankind were to listen deeply to the sea,
to the call of dolphins and whales,
to the ever present wave song
between the moon and the sea,
spirit would prevail
and hearts would join
in peace and understanding.

"Communicating"

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With Paint and Brush

The essence, the sense, the impression
The gratitude, the celebration, the expression
A word, a gesture, a knowing glance
A readiness, a preparation, a positioned stance
To listen, to see, to feel, to be the need
And with paint and brush echo a creed
Cast upon the paper pristine and white
The sounds, the touch, the blessed delight.

Rose Marie Raccioppi



Frames of Mind, Opus 5, Watercolor, Conceptual, Rose Marie Raccioppi, http://www.apogeeart.com

For a larger view click on image

This painting is one of ten in a series called, Frames of Mind, Opus 1 through 10. Each painting in this series is an orchestration of moods, impressions from nature's glory, feelings, the frames of mind that bring forward our responses to life's offerings, be they calm, chaotic, flowing, bright, dark, clear or shadowed.

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Late Summer Sun

The warmth of the late Summer sun I yet feel
Whispers of the changing season this day to reveal
Vibrant strokes of yellow upon birch tree leaves
Taken alight by this day's caressing breeze
A calm resolve, Summer's bloom hushed in fulfillment array
Trees, brush, fields of green, readied for the Fall parlay.

Rose Marie Raccioppi



View on the Catskill, Early Autumn (detail), Oil on canvas, 1836–1837, Thomas Cole, 1801–1848, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.


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