You Sing Your Song

Not pained by days past
Not burdened with lessons of history
No fear to soar the sky
No doubt in moment present
Little bird, little bird
You sing your song
And ALL is known.

Rose Marie Raccioppi


Boy with Bird c. 1616, Peter Paul Rubens, Staatliche Museen, Berlin, Germany

At the Start

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 Combing Her Child's Hair, c.1901, Mary Cassatt, The Brooklyn Museum, USA

Opus 1

Brush strokes, line, form and hue
Nature’s Frames of Mind captured
Moods and moments of change
Present, known and held in reverie.

Rose Marie Raccioppi


Frames of Mind, Opus 1, Watercolor, Rose Marie Raccioppi, 2007, http://www.apogeeart.com

Rose Marie

Rose Marie

A confident stance and innocent pride
A blissful knowing she need not hide
Smile and eyes a story they tell
Hers is a spirit never to quell
Decades of time temper not her quest
To live the moment ever blessed
To this very day she makes life's claim
To share life and glory in God's name
She answers to the call Rose Marie
Each day newly introduced is she to me
Word, pen, brush and paint she does toy
And so very pleased to share her joy
Today is her Birthday marked by time
And I in celebration for this life mine.

Rose Marie Raccioppi

Opus 9

The call of color and light

Upon this surface pristine and white
Line, form, visions near and vast
Brush stokes of BEING cast
Pale, brilliant, hues, deep, dark
Surface holding passion, gentle, stark
Opus of tone, cadence sublime
Streams of spirit, Frames of Mind.

Rose Marie Raccioppi


Frames of Mind, Opus 9, Watercolor, Rose Marie Raccioppi, 2007, http://www.apogeeart.com

Medusa - The Devil's Crown

The Devil’s Crown

Rant and rage and angry frown
‘Tis the work of the devil’s crown
Placed upon your spirit well
It casts a deep dark ominous spell
Its gems faceted with delusion and despair
Sparkle with malevolent and deceptive care
The devil’s crown a foreboded reign
Its power dispelled in calling God’s name.

Rose Marie Raccioppi




In Greek mythology, Medusa (Greek: Μέδουσα (Médousa), "guardian, protectress"[1]) was a gorgon, a chthonic female monster; gazing upon her would turn onlookers to stone.

Medusa, Marble, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, 1598-1680, c. 1650, Palazzo dei Conservatori, Rome

Gather We Must

With right intention and purpose clear
Abiding faith and vanquished fear
Heed the warnings and the plea
Heard in the winds and the sea
Pillage not the earth that gives
To each and all that grows and lives
Gather we must a knowing wise
Step beyond the perpetrated lies
Poisoned profits no longer to bear
Our children's call is for our care
Health and well being priorities set
The challenge of change to be met
An agenda and an action plan
Together yes, YES WE CAN!!

Rose Marie Raccioppi



Children Playing on the Beach, 1884, Mary Cassatt, American, 1844 - 1926, oil on canvas, 38 3/8 x 29 3/16 in., Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection, 1970.17.19

March Days

March days
The crisp crackle of dried leaves
The soft quiver of growing grass
The deep sigh of soft winds
The feel of air yet chilled
The play of green and blooming yellow
The mood of early Spring.

Rose Marie Raccioppi


Frames of Mind, Opus 8, Watercolor, Rose Marie Raccioppi, 2007, http://www.apogeeart.com

The Night

The darkness will not be silenced
It calls out
And the light hears its cry.

Rose Marie Raccioppi


The Night, Watercolor, Rose Marie Raccioppi, 2002, http://www.apogeeart.com

The Little Prince

The Little Prince Within Us

The Little Prince so recently I have met
He tells of travel, folly and regret

With question and wonder he is sure to ask
What draws us to each and every task

Of what import is what we think and do
If it does not hold what is good and true

With love he does tame and so he does see
One blossom of beauty among all that be

Wherever he travels he questions anew
Why do we do whatever we do

He holds a blossom, a sunset, a star
Venturing to lands near and far

And what he tells us in his favored way
Each sunset brings to this very day

And so The Little Prince sets out to depart
To his homeland from where he did start

The Little Prince within us shall remain
A blossom, a star, now to tame.

Rose Marie Raccioppi

The Little Prince
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Hesiod and the Muse

Touched by the muses of inspiring springs
Such flow of thought to heart they bring
The wind a whispering song ever sweet
A knowing across time to entreat
And answered be in silent splendor
To beauty and truth thy soul surrender
A vision held with knowing clear
And banished be illusion's fear.

Rose Marie Raccioppi

"...Happy is he whom the Muses love: sweet flows speech from his mouth. For though a man have sorrow and grief in his newly-troubled soul and live in dread because his heart is distressed, yet, when a singer, the servant of the Muses, chants the glorious deeds of men of old and the blessed gods who inhabit Olympus, at once he forgets his heaviness and remembers not his sorrows at all; but the gifts of the goddesses soon turn him away from these."

The Theogony of Hesiod
composed circa 700 BC.
translated by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, 1914

Hesiod worked as a shepherd in the mountains, as a youth, and then, as a small peasant on a hard land when his father died. While tending his flock on Mt. Helicon, the Muses appeared to Hesiod in a mist. This mystical experience impelled him to write epic poetry. Hesiod's major works are Theogony, Works and Days, and Shield of Herakles.

Hesiod and the Muse, Gustave Moreau, 1891, Oil on canvas 23 1/4" x 13 1/2", Musee d 'Orsay, Paris

Mood Expressed This Day

Ascending waves of gray
'Tis the sky's mood expressed this day
Veering hues of white
Veiled be the sun's light.

Rose Marie Raccioppi


When the Sky Is Gray, Watercolor, Rose Marie Raccioppi, 2001, http://www.apogeeart.com

The Awakened Muse

The awakened Muse in God's spirit known
By the glory, beauty, splendor ever shown
The warm rising Sun for newness and light
The waxing Moon for faith's inner sight
Each bloom of Spring but a beckoning call
For the rebirth of life within each and All
Music and artistry 'tis nature's grace divine
Muse inspired note, form, structure and line
The music, the words, the poem's soulful plea
The drawing, the painting, the sculpture free
These gifts of purpose, goal, will and intent
The summon of the Muse with God's blessings sent
And when the Word sparks a thought of joy and rhyme
A wind's whisper, a bird's song, the day, the night be mine
Sky, land, mountain, stream, lake, river and sea
A palette of color, mood, bequeathed in guise to me
The vision, the dream now anew in God's Word
The Muse's entreat to follow, to follow, now heard
Line, form, sound, color, structure ever in creation
And so the awakened Muse in devoted revelation.


Rose Marie Raccioppi


Rottenhammer, Hans, Deutsch, Oil on canvas, Minerva and the Muses, 1603.

Little Hands

Wonder and question
so fills the day
Objects and toys
for fun filled play
Little hands make light
of furrow and frown
Within their soul
they wear the King's Crown
Upon their throne
of majesty and light
They create a world
of magic and delight.


Rose Marie Raccioppi



Portrait relief of children, Ellen Mary Rope, sculptor (1855-1934), 1898.

APOGEE Moon

I look to the sky this night
The gentle caress of day's end
Winter's apogee moon
A lullaby silent.

Rose Marie Raccioppi
APOGEE Moon, Photograph, ©Collectible Clicks, Rose Marie Raccioppi, 2009.

Frames of Mind, Opus 6

Drums sounding the pulse of the earth
Wild and passion filled waves of motion
Brush strokes holding to the moment
Color deep, vibrant, flaring free
A cadence divine
Held I willingly in its seize
Color and capture orchestrated
Frames of Mind, Opus 6.

Rose Marie Raccioppi


Frames of Mind, Opus 6, Watercolor, Rose Marie Raccioppi, 2007, http://www.apogeeart.com

Moments Opulent

Sounding depths of drama
Pulsing peaks of passion
In sonorous submission to the divine
All despair dispelled
And known be the sentiment of soul
This night, moments opulent
Enfolded in the embrace
Of music, music, majestic.

Rose Marie Raccioppi
Poet Laureate

In Dedication to

Quentin Kim
Pianist

On the Occasion of the Performance of
Johannes Brahms, Carl Maria von Weber, Quentin Kim, Franz Liszt, Camille Saint-Saens
March 14, 2009
South Nyack Recital Series
The Soiree Society of the Arts


Moment of Freedom, Watercolor, Rose Marie Raccioppi, 2002, http://www.apogeeart.com

Firmament

This ever changing firmament

I lovingly behold
Shades, hues and tones
By the light enfold
Sweeping streaks of colors ephemeral
Etch upon the soul.

Rose Marie Raccioppi



Astronomy Picture of the Day 2006 January 20 LL Ori and the Orion Nebula Credit: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060120.html

This Distant Vision

This distant vision
Touched by the blush of passion
Embraced by the light of TRUTH
Beholds man
In his own determination
Shadowed not by doubt
Imprisoned not by fear
Limited not by prejudice
FREE and known to SELF.

Rose Marie Raccioppi


Explanation: Adrift 1,500 light-years away in one of the night sky's most recognizable constellations, the glowing Orion Nebula and the dark Horsehead Nebula are contrasting cosmic vistas.
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090310.html

In Honor of Lt. Col. Michael L. Murphy, USMC

Perseverance
March 3, 1962 - December 11, 2000

Memories of valor that touch our heart and soul
A place within our Presence the celebration of the goal
To reach our purpose with mind and plan
The birth of vision held by all of man
To hold resolve and endure all claim
To fire the passion beyond the pain
This assertion in what we do
With God's blessing brought to you
Relentless is the path the way
The spirit of perseverance calls this day
In honor of those who soar the heavens above
Our hearts open to God's eternal love.

Rose Marie Raccioppi


Lt. Col. Michael L. Murphy, USMC was killed on the night of Dec. 11, 2000
along with three other brave Marine Warriors
while test piloting the MV22 Osprey Helicopter.


To Soar, Watercolor, Rose Marie Raccioppi, 2002, http://www.apogeeart.com

Yellow Bloom Awaiting

The touch of Spring is in the air
Warming sun and melting mounds of snow
Twigs, broken branches and fallen leaves
Of the winter's season
Upon patches of new green grass
The peeking green of deeply rooted daffodil bulbs
The Knowing
Yellow bloom awaiting.

Rose Marie Raccioppi


A Field of Yellow Flowers, Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890), Painting, Oil on Canvas on Cardboard, Arles, France: April, 1889, Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Winterthur, Switzerland, Europe

This Moment

This moment seized
and yet is free

The moment gone
and yet a memory

This moment held
and yet is fleeing

This moment sad
and yet is hopeful

This moment quiet
and yet is screaming

This moment now
and yet is gone.

This moment is
and yet is no more.

Rose Marie Raccioppi


From Series Profile of Time 1977-1984
The Nobility of Time, Salvador Dali (1904-1989), Cast Bronze Sculpture, 1977
County Hall on London's South Bank

A Saturday Before Sunset

No earrings, bracelets, necklaces or rings need she bear
Yet fully adorned and crowned in God’s loving care

Free of shackles and constraint of body and soul
Within all treasures and a found goal

She honors life in all its glory
Each moment now a complete story

And when she records with pen a line
Awakened and felt is the sublime

Who pray tell is she
She is the I introduced to the me

And in this moment of quiet reflection
She sees all of nature in full perfection

Bamboo leaves such grace of green
Shades and hues held by each leaf seen

Touched and moved by wind and light
Leaves in shadow leaves held bright

The quiver of the growing leaf, the strength of the rooted tree
Suspended, held and free

Running waters flow, a chorus of crickets, branches all a sway
A bird, a butterfly in luminous array

The warmth of the summer setting sun her hand does feel
And what is so distant is now and real

At a round wood crafted table she taken to rest
And marvels when catching sight of a bird returning to nest

An airplane above a distant roar
She thinks of how man sets himself to soar

Children’s voices at play are heard
Accompanied by the song of a songbird

No greater or lesser can this presence be
The I known here, now, in this moment to me

The deep breath of Being in great abound
In a Saturday before sunset the I has found.


Rose Marie Raccioppi


Wind and Light, Watercolor, Rose Marie Raccioppi, 2000, http://www.apogeeart.com

Bizet's Carmen

Sounding waves of elation and fire
A rapture, a questing desire
Seduction and passion's plea
Longing now and in reverie.


Rose Marie Raccioppi
Poet Laureate
Soiree Society of the Arts


In Tribute to a Performance Extraordinaire
Francois Borne
Fantaisie Brillante on themes from Bizet's Carmen

Zara Lawler, flute
Dianne Frazer, piano

Soiree Society of the Arts
South Nyack Recital Series
March 7, 2009

http://www.zaralawler.com

Rapture, Watercolor, Rose Marie Raccioppi, 2002, http://www.apogeeart.com

Brush and Key

The expression of sound with touch and stroke of hand
The embrace of a knowing in spirit's command
The call of the music the instrument to convey
Artist and musician, the muses at play.

Rose Marie Raccioppi

And to us it be known

hands in the creator's command
with brush beauty to behold
upon keys the heart be told.

on this day
6 October 2010
dedicated to
Serena Rose Emory

Vincent Van Gogh, Marguerite Gachet at the Piano, 1890, (oil on canvas, 40-1/2x19-3/4 inches)
housed at the Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel, Kunstmuseum Basel.

This Old Chinese Kimono

This old Chinese kimono a gift of days long since past
With gentle comfort and light feel upon this body cast
Worn, torn and tattered in spots here, there and about
Discard me not I hear its many threads cry and shout
I welcome your body and the feel of its warmth and pride
I am ever ready to wrap you, though old, put me not aside.

Rose Marie Raccioppi

Kimono, Photograph, Collectible Clicks, ©Rose Marie Raccioppi, 2008.

Pygmalion and Galatea

Line, form, structure, color, their call I heed
The workings of the creator's creed
A hand imbued with the divine
Holding to created beauty sublime
Agonies and angels, vanity and endearing care
Shield and step ladder and an ascending stair
Symbols, artifacts, the manifest desire
Aspiration, purpose and passion afire
In resounding silence the resolve is heard
'Tis the glory of art and the creator's Word.

Rose Marie Raccioppi



Pygmalion and Galatea, Jean-Léon Gérôme (French, 1824–1904),1890, Oil on canvas, 35 x 27 in. (88.9 x 68.6 cm)

http://metmuseum.org

Marks To Proclaim

And what is this need
To touch, to speak
To sing, to create
To read, to write
To make our mark
Symbols of the soul
These lines and forms
Upon surfaces vast
Movements of heart and hand
This embrace of spirit
In search
Marks to proclaim
The Presence.

Rose Marie Raccioppi



A Woman Reading, Camille Corot (French, 1796–1875), 1869 and 1870, Oil on canvas, 21 3/8 x 14 3/4 in. (54.3 x 37.5 cm)
http://metmuseum.org

Firebird

Firebird, the flame the flight
Fills this chamber this night

Fields, waves and firmament
Moods, desire and contentment.

Rose Marie Raccioppi
Poetessa



with deep appreciation to

Sandro Russo
Piano
Firebird

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ib8r4V0nkes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=carvO02AcKQ&feature=related

Caverns of the Mind, Watercolor, Rose Marie Raccioppi, 2002, http://www.apogeeart.com

The Ascension

The ascension
To the light
To the all knowing
To the reaches of the gods
To serene splendor
To SELF.

Rose Marie Raccioppi


Orion Nebula: The Hubble View
Credit: NASA, ESA, M. Robberto (STScI/ESA) et al.
Astronomy Picture of the Day

This March Night

I hear the frenetic dance of bare tree branches
The chilling wind of this March night howls
The darkened sky lambent with hues of soft violet
Before me a gossamer veil of snow adrift
And chimes resounding laud the wind in song
This March night.

Rose Marie Raccioppi



Joseph Mallord William Turner (English, 1775–1851)
Snow Storm, Oil on canvas; 36 x 48 in. (91.4 x 121.9 cm)
Tate, London, Turner Bequest, 1856
http://www.metmuseum.org

All Sensibilities

All sensibilities known to me
From passion I shall not flee
The enchanted call of the divine
Heard within heart's chambers mine
This pulsing flame and fire
The throb of inner desire
With poet's pen a quest to write
Of the eternal now be day or night
With paint brush strokes of emotion
In glory and in reverent devotion
The silence filled by music heard
And so be known is the divine WORD
The Muse ever shall you heed
'Tis the echo of the creator's creed.

Rose Marie Raccioppi
Poet Laureate
The Soiree Society of the Arts
South Nyack Recital Series

In Tribute to the Celebrated Performances of

Amy Buckley, soprano
Kirsten Allegri, mezzo soprano
Carol Wong, piano

Robert Schumann
Viincenzo Bellini
Frederic Chopin
Alberto Ginastera
Mikhail Glinka
Gabriel Faure
Kurt Weil

February 28, 2009

Divine Frenzy, Watercolor, Rose Marie Raccioppi, 2000, http://www.apogeeart.com