 |
| Irene Emanuel |
Formal lounge filled with music
within warm wooden panels;
whispers of Louis, Ella, Brubeck, New Orleans waves of jazz;
classic collisions into Beethoven, Grieg, and Mozart's
art of concertos, symphonies and orchestral harmonies of joy.
The wooden panels gleam with pulsing tempo,
drawing out operatic majesties of Carmen, La Traviata, Rigoletto;
then segueing into Gilbert and Sullivan.
This continuum of sounds, styles and crescendos
send my senses into scenes of sadness, gladness
and shivers of delight that draw out
the melodious memories of my musical childhood.
Embedded in my soul are the piano lessons;
my big brother's tonette, my sister's soprano;
shadow dancing in front of the gramophone.
I, too, sang and dreamt of being a recording artist.
The wooden panels are the echoes of a life
filled with music twined within my soul,
responsible for my survival.
***
Bio: IRENE EMANUEL
Born: 07-11-1943, in Johannesburg. Lived in Durban, now live in Port Elizabeth.
Winner of the “Hilde Slinger” cup for poetry in 2009 and again in 2013, winner of the “Fay Goldie” cup for General Success in the World of Publishing in 2011.
These awards were presented by the South African Writers” Circle.
In 2008, Nine of my poems were published in “Signatures” an anthology of Women's poetry. I represented "Live Poets' Society in "Poetry Africa" in 2008.
In 2006, "A Scorpion Sings" first anthology published.
Other anthologies published between 2006 and 2015 are "Count Catula of Shadoland & Friends."
"A Peace of Me" and "A Scorpion Sings Again"
I have also been published in other notable journals, such as:
1) Agenda Issue on Gender based violence
2) Poems for Haiti Edited by Amitabh Mitra
3) Unbreaking the Rainbow---voices of protest from new South Africa edited by A. Mitra
4) New Contrast South African Literary Journal
5) Fidelities Contemporary South African poetry
6) Speech and Drama Association of South Africa Suggested poems for schools.
Beautiful imagery.
ReplyDelete