View from the Deck September 2023 (a poem)

Sophia Helstrom-White, “inspired by the art of David Matthews”

Politics is a duty. Poetry is a need. —Alexandros Panagoulis

My poem "View from the Deck September 2023" was first published in the October 2023 issue of Quill & Parchment. This is how it goes when I read it:

It came when Autumn came,
back to books, back to art,
release from summer languor,
a rhythm that goes back
to a timid, bookish boy
and a little schoolhouse
in the Carolina countryside.

Half a century and more
and the span of a continent away,
poem pages flutter 
where the book lies open,
leaves quiver and fairly dance
in sunset colored breeze,
scent of rain, mist, 
sweet, gentle melancholy.

I thought I heard a cello
in the distance
where a painter stood
brush in hand
poised at the canvas
as if he were some Renoir, Degas,
come to paint the riot
of cloud and sunset
that came when Autumn came.

As always, I express my appreciation to Quill and Parchment Editor-in-Chief Sharmagne Leland-St. John for her encouragement and support through twenty-plus years of a lovely literary friendship and to Senior Editor Michael Escoubas. They publish a fine magazine featuring a wealth of poems, book reviews, interviews, art, and recipes from Sharmagne’s kitchen.

A number of my poems have appeared in Quill and Parchment over the years. Readers who are interested can check them out by scrolling down to my name in the alphabetical list of authors on the Archives page K-L-M.

I also want to thank my friend Sophia Helstrom-White for the artwork that graces this issue of Portable Bohemia. I am delighted to share it.

Keep the faith.
Stand with Ukraine.
yr obdt svt