Light Behind The Storm

The ears deafened by the din of despair
The eyes blinded by the glare of illusion
The heart ravaged by the pain of betrayal
The soul hidden within the shattered self
Waves of destruction crest a sea of confusion
Life’s shores besieged by fear
Spirit summoned in the wake of the storm
Behold its calm resolve
The winds of change can now be heard
The distant shores now seen in the grace of the rising sun

The celestial sea bears the light behind the storm
Rhythmic this heart with the cadence of the ocean and celestial tide
Undaunted now by the resounding ebb and flow and clouds of dark

And the constant winds of change

Behold its calm resolve

Behold its calm resolve.


Rose Marie Raccioppi

Poet Laureate

Orangetown, New York

Light Behind the Storm, Watercolor, ©Rose Marie Raccioppi, 2012, http://www.apogeeart.com

...charm it is... 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
Poet Laureate
Orangetown, New York

The Little Prince
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

...I look into his heart ... and this be known...

Harmony

Upon her face the light I see
My heart beckons a soulful plea
Her music I hear and known be my heart
From this embracing moment I shan't depart
In silent knowing I vow she be mine
And in this moment is defined all time.

Rose Marie Raccioppi
Poet Laureate
Orangetown, New York


Harmony, 1877, Oil on canvas, Sir Frank Dicksee, British, 1853-1928.

There Is

By perceiving your own beauty, you will see yourself in the flowers, the sky, the clouds, the water, and the oceans.  Don Miguel Ruiz

...and so...

There Is

there is a PRESENCE within that knows
there is a FAITH within that believes
there is a JOY within that loves
there is a SPIRIT within that soars
what be this
what be this knowing
this believing
this loving
this soaring
it is each breath of LIFE
beyond fear and doubt
it is each breath of LIFE
pulsing with grace and gratitude
it is each breath of LIFE
embracing the very miracle of SELF
it is
the pond in stillness
the stream that bubbles
the river that flows
the ocean that roars
the constant ebb and flow
the sun that rises
the sun that sets
the waxing and waning of the moon
the stars that sparkle
the vistas far
the trees, the brush, the vines
the seeds, the flowers, the bloom
all living creatures of land, sea and sky
the bounty, the harvest
the LIGHT known
it is ALL that gives
it is ALL that receives
it is LIFE breathing its myriad of breaths
it is the I AM
it is the I AM.


Rose Marie Raccioppi
Poet Laureate
Orangetown, New York

Arising Light, Image, ©Rose Marie Raccioppi, 2011-2012.

Boundless FAITH

wherein comes this lightness of heart

wherein does boundless FAITH have its start

wherein does life redefine its story

wherein lies the new found glory

be it in health and life lived anew

be it the blessings bestowed upon you

be it the breath, its ebb and flow sublime

be it the GRACE within, the known DIVINE.

Rose Marie Raccioppi

Poet Laureate

Orangetown, New York

Boundless Faith, Image, APOGEE Vibrational Art, ©Rose Marie Raccioppi, 2012.

In Acknowledgment ~ The Poet

The Harvard Classics. 1909–14. 

A Defence of Poetry ~ Percy Bysshe Shelley

"... But poets, or those who imagine and express this indestructible order, are not only the authors of language and of music, of the dance, and architecture, and statuary, and painting: they are the institutors of laws, and the founders of civil society, and the inventors of the arts of life, and the teachers, who draw into a certain propinquity with the beautiful and the true that partial apprehension of the agencies of the invisible world. Poets, according to the circumstances of the age and nation in which they appeared, were called, in the earlier epochs of the world, legislators, or prophets: a poet essentially comprises and unites both these characters. For he not only beholds intensely the present as it is, and discovers those laws according to which present things ought to be ordered, but he beholds the future in the present, and his thoughts are the germs of the flower and the fruit of latest time..." A Defence of Poetry, Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1792 – 1822.

Source: A Defence of Poetry. Percy Bysshe Shelley. 1909-14. English Essays: Sidney to Macaulay. The Harvard Classics ~ Full text available at: http://www.bartleby.com/27/23.html

“For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you...” (2 Timothy 1:6, NIV) ~ Fibers of Soul Aflame

Fibers of Soul Aflame

The cloak of mortal clothing shed
Bared be the illusions and fear
Tattered threads of despair and desolation
Woven on a loom of derisive deception
No, this not the warp and weft of my destined life
This not the calling of spirit that beckons to me
The Great Weaver has given threads of silver
The moon and the stars, a vision clear
The Great Weaver has given threads of gold
The Sun and an alchemy for life to behold
The warp now declared in light, love and truth
The weft the ever present unfolding of gifts divine
The cloak of mortal clothing shed
Fibers of soul aflame
The Great Weaver heeds your destined claim

Your destined

Your destined

Claim.


Rose Marie Raccioppi
Poet Laureate
Orangetown, New York


Written for an artist



Drapery study with pen and ink, The Erythraean Sibyl 1508-1509, Cappella Sistina Vatican, Michelangelo Buonarroti 1475-1564.