Lit and Poetry LONG LIVE EDGAR ALLAN POE
Softly
Cold bed
Rain falls
Whispers flow
crooked spine
closed eyes
Wheezing…
droplets fall
murmurs speak
“Anywhere but here”
Flashback…
Constant embraces
Eye contact
witty comments & life plans
…London, Paris, Milan…
kiss fulfills the pact
Cold bed
Rain pouring
breathing softly
holds pillow
Softly whispers…
“Tu me manques, Je t’aime”
Only…
Only the darkness knows my plight
Only the darkness knows my sorrow and
the times I’ve cried
Only the night knows
my cuts
my bruises
my scars
the dark holes in my eyes
my paling skin
Only the darkness knows my solitude
Only the darkness understands that won’t see the light…
Only my body knows the cold…
of how much I want your warmth around me
Only the dusk knows my sleepless nights
…the affliction in my heart
….the arch in my back
….the anguish in my soul
Only the darkness can grasp my research
… the endless nights of my pupils burning
… the heavy weight I carry while I walk
The twilight scarcely perceives what my mind’s thinking
….the plots planted
…hope dwindling
… plans expiring
A blaze blinds my soul
… minutes before it consumes me…
… a whisper yearns
a kindle emerges from…
…. the darkness
Do you cry at night?
Feeling alone, deserted,
as if nobody wants you
nobody cares
you’re not good enough…
Do you think of all the possibilities in your life?
Your triumphs?
Mistakes?
The times you laughed, cried, and loved?
Do you remember when you first crashed,
cried all night, hugging your pillow,
your eyes and nose red from all the pain
… of that feeling of your soul splitting…
Do you remember that first time you fell in love?
The feeling when you noticed, and blushed because somebody asked you…
The felling when you saw him and your body betrayed you
sweaty hands,
mind racing,
stomach churning,
time freezing,
smiling awkwardly…
and embarrassing yourself
Do you remember when you dreamed your dream for the first time?
Of your future together,
traveling, growing old together with a family?
Do you lay in bed
thinking of the future?
Uncertain, scary, with a big question mark
but you close your eyes and imagine he’s there
and everything feels calm…
because you feel like everything will turn out ok…
just because he’s beside you
Clouds form in your head
raining on your face
just wanting to get out
just waiting for you
…just waiting for that signal…
… the signal of you
Softly smiling, hiding the crack
he said: “Don’t worry. I’m ok.”
They all stand, clap and cheer
Smiling broadly, he turns around
Standing ovation.
He’s not here.
-Musical Poetry
15/08/2012
Mes yeux pleurent pour vous.
La nuit est froide sans vous.
La distance joue avec mon coeur
Mon âme soupire pour un baiser
L’âme veut pour vous
Ma présence est nule
Sans vous ici
à côté de moi …
Me serrant …
Tout ce que je sais, c’est que nous serons ensemble
Je vais attendre
Je vais attendre pour vous
Pour l’intérieur de vous est ma joie
A côté de vous, c’est ma vie
Avec vous repose mon âme
Chapter Six
So was this you trying to impress me? By tripping on the carpet. By the way that cinnamon dolce latte is really good. It might be a new favorite. It might be. Said Colin smirking. Oh shut it. I did not trip. As I told you the Earth rotated against my will. Didn’t you come here to help me? Instead you are judging my amazing Earth rotating abilities? I am disappointed at you. Judging someone over they’re abilities. Said Bradley holding his literature book. Ok ok, I’ll stop judging you. Now what is it that you don’t understand? Said Colin smirking. Ok… Here- Bradley hands Colin a yellow folder labeled “To-Do List”- The ones I can’t figure out are the ones marked in yellow. – Do you even understand the material? There has to be like 30 terms! Colin said surprised. And that’s why I need your help. Said Bradley with one of his award-winning smiles. Ok. So let’s starts with the Iambic Pentameter…
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Bad night, Arth? Said Eoin, rummaging in the fridge. “Why are you in my flat? I was informed that you were moving out last week.” Said Bradley throwing himself to the couch. “I knew you wouldn’t live without me.” Said Eoin as he bit an apple. “That means you couldn’t find a flat that was cheap enough, close to the bar and college. And the fact that you can’t cook makes it harder for you to live ‘cause you cant live with just Beer and Healthy Choice’s Café Steamers.” Bradley got up from the couch and heads to the kitchen and slaps Eoin in the head. “So that means you have to pay rent on time, buy groceries and pay half in everything. If you can’t do that I will kick you out.” “I am pleased to inform you that you are going to buy dinner ‘cause as you can see my former flat mate ate everything and now I don’t have anything to eat.” Said Bradley hitting Eoin again but with an orange. “Fine! I’ll order some pizza. At least you have some of that wimpy beer”- Hey! Smirnoff is not a “wimpy beer” and what are you talking about? You drank half of them last week! Said Bradley insulted. Exactly, I didn’t get wasted. Hence why its wimpy and you should buy straight up vodka. What’s the number of the pizza place? Said Eoin after munching another piece of apple and fumbles with his krazor.
______________________________________________________________________________
For what it’s worth
I miss you…
Why do you linger?
Why do you stay?
Can’t you see this can’t happen?
Not this way?
Colin tries to shake his thoughts as he sits down. Closing his eyes he exhales and places his hands on the keys. He opens his eyes; his hands linger over a C7th he shifts his hands as he meticulously starts playing. Exhaling and inhaling with the beats, he closes his eyes. An amalgam of arpeggios, chords bounce off the walls and fly off the tiny cubicle. Students stop and stare at Colin’s piano playing, asking each other “who is the virtuoso pianist?”
When he finished playing, he could feel himself sweaty and hyperventilating. Oblivious to the crowd outside, he closes the piano, picks up his bag and heads to the door. Colin halts as he stares at the people staring back at him. He starts to slowly move towards the door as he looks at the students fleeing the scene and only one figure is left. Colin opens the door and recognizes Eoin. “So why aren’t you studying music. You studied with Gaius didn’t you?” “ Um, yeah I-” Colin started to ramble. “I don’t know why you stopped playing, but you should continue, I’m looking forward to more of you impromptu concertos” Eoin smiles as he flips his black wavy hair to the side as he smiles cockily. “Could you at least tell me what it was?” “The people united will never be defeated, the Variations 27-29th by Federic Rzewski” Said Colin in shock. Eoin walked away as he said “I’ll see you when I see you, mysterious pianist”.
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Here’s a video of the piece Colin played:
Second Chapter of the short story “Let’s Chat Over Coffee”
For the first Chapter go here: http://theartofmusicalpoetry.wordpress.com/2012/02/10/lets-chat-over-coffee/
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Chapter Two
~ I’ll be waiting for you when you’re ready to love me again,
I put my hands up.
I’ll do everything different,
I’ll be better to you,
I’ll be waiting for you when you’re ready to love me again,
I put my hands up.
I’ll do everything different,
I’ll be better to you~
Abruptly ending Colin’s sleep, Adele’s “I’ll be waiting” blasts from his blackberry. He wakes up; hating the universe as he would normally does but a thousand times greater since Adele interrupted a pretty darn good dream. He goes to a the shop with Rachel and as they talk about their classes suddenly that Bradley Pendragon walks up to a chair in a corner of the shop, with a gray Rainsong acoustic-electric studio guitar as he sang “Teenage Dream”, “It will rain”, “Shiver” (which Bradley may or may not have sang that to me, since he was looking at me for the whole time, making me flail and spaz like a kindergartener while Rachel laughed at my socially inept-ness) and every song known to man that may be in a romantic comedy.
Walking to the kitchenette to brew some coffee, Colin hits his toe with the corner of his bed, “YOU MOTHER…- “You seem in a good mood today, huh Cols?” Said Lance, shirtless in his sweats as he drank his coffee observing Colin carefully as he found Colin’s morning mood hilarious. “Shut up Lance, just because you’re a morning person, doesn’t mean you have to flaunt it to the whole universe.” Spat Colin. “And just because you hate humanity doesn’t mean you have to ruin my morning and just before I go to do my morning jog. You need to get laid more often. When you get laid, you wake up happy.” Smirked Lance as he calculated his backlash to Colin’s possible insult. “Just… shut up, ok. Give me my coffee. I didn’t get much sleep, that’s all”– “You say that every day. You need to stop, you know? That internet addiction will kill you someday.” Said Lance as he washed his coffee mug and grabbed his shirt, put it on and as he reached for the door he stopped and looked over to Colin “You seriously need to get laid. See you Cols!” He went out and closed the door just in time as Colin’s black converse hit the door. “I need more coffee…” said Colin sleepily as he smiled thinking back on his dream. “Why am I thinking of that Bradley so much?”
After his surprisingly fun class with Dr. E., Colin felt his cellphone vibrate. Just as he was looking at the unknown number, he waved to Rachel, who ran to the classroom beside Colin’s cursing “Ergh! I woke up late! Hey, can we meet up in the shop today? I need to get my coffee on! TEXT ME!” Before Colin could tell Rachel yes, she was already sitting in the middle of the classroom. As he felt his blackberry vibrate for the thousand time, he answered the phone “Finally you picked up cel! Hey It’s Bradley Pendragon, the guy you were staring in the music building and the guy you sometimes stare at in the coffee shop.” “Um… Hi? And what do you mean I stare at you at the shop? And how the hell did you get my number?” Said Colin. “You think I don’t notice. Anyways, you left your book here. It’s called something of a bird? I don’t have it with me- “YES my “To Kill a mockingbird” How did you get it? Said Colin in shock that he his favorite book was in the hands of somebody else that wasn’t him especially ~his~ hands. “Apparently you dropped it, when you were stalking me…” Said the musician.
“Look, I wasn’t stalking you. And how can we meet up. I need that book.” Demanded the nervous English major who was beside the wall in disbelief of who he was talking to. “Well today I’m going to play at the coffee shop beside Rogers Hall you know the one beside the-“ “ Yes the Humanities building, I know where it is, My dorm’s in Roger and I go to that shop everyday.” “Awesome! So can we meet today?” Asked the musician just a bit more hopeful that he should have. Damn it –dragon. Calm yourself. It’s a random guy sorta stalked you while you were playing. And besides it’s not a date, nor will he see you and he won’t even talk to you. He just needs his book back. “Sure um… at what time will you play?” asked Colin nervously “Well I’m going to be there since 5, ‘cause I have to set up, but I’ll start playing from 6 till 7.” So you just get there. Bradley laughed awkwardly. “Ok then. I was going to the shop today anyways, so I guess I’ll see you there.” Said Colin with a grin and with huge butterflies in his stomach. Not butterflies… pterodactyl like butterflies. “Awesome! See you there.” ~click~
As soon as he heard the click, Colin started to sweat; his heart went at a thousand miles an hours. Why am I so nervous? It’s just to pick up a book and them I’m going to drink coffee in the shop… the same shop Bradley will play for an hour, but I won’t be looking at Bradley. I’ll be with Rachel. With Rachel. Rachel… As soon as he thought of Rachel, he started to write a text her.
As she wishes she would have to stay sleeping in her bed as she tries not to fall asleep in her lit class with the infamous Dr.E. Rachel feels her iPhone vibrate and answers to do something in class
Colin: Omg. SxyDragon just called me! He wants to meet up with me @ the shop TODAY. What should I do?
Rachel almost flips when she reads her and almost squeals out loud. She knew Bradley from their chem and math class last year. In her opinion, Bradley looked like a nice guy. She’s seen him tons of time out of campus. He had that musician type flair. And they had talked in a few occasions, where they talked about music, life, family and whatnot. Colin said she had a date with Bradley but she knew that was ~not~ a date. They left their chem test and went to the shop to rant about a test. That was all. And besides, she had a feeling about Bradley. And she wanted to pair Colin up with ~somebody~ and in these past few months it had been with Bradley. She just had a ~feeling~.
Rachel: Omg! Omg! O.M.G.! When did THIS happen? And tbh, I hate this mofo class… Please tell me your class with this ancient creature was as boring as this one. And since when did he has the codename SxyDragon. Why SxyDragon… unless you fancy him. Do you?
Colin: Shut up. Ok. Idk other codename? Legs? Magicfingers? APD? Idk.
Rachel: Forget about a codename… and APD sounds cool. Is it because Pendragon sounds like Arthur Pendragon, seriously… you need to get your arse out of those Arthurian Legends. lol it sounds like a name of a show or something. Anywhoooo what is THIS all about? You must spill. NOW!
Colin: Well… Last week I was feeling … not well… and I went to the music building. I was thinking of playing something in a random piano, to shake the stress from the midterms. And while I was looking for a practice room, I saw him… playing. Guitar.
Rachel: Guitar huh? Sexy… and Piano? Seriously, you play piano?
Colin: Some best friend I have. I told you that on the second day we met. >_>
Rachel: Right… sorry ^_^’’ for that I’ll pay you a shot tonight.
Colin: Again with the false promises? So you are going with me tonight? You don’t want to do your Romeo and Juliet paper. I know you don’t. And I don’t want to do my Hamlet one. So… we are going.
Colin: Please please please please don’t leave meeee. (Singing Pink’s song)
Rachel: If you please don’t sing. I’ll go… you may think you are a hit away for a grammy, but remember hun… you don’t sing. That’s why you play(ed) piano. Who knows? Maybe Bradley can give you some “voice lessons”
Colin: You stupid ass… I’ll be there at 5:30. He sings at 6. Call me when you get there!
Walking to his dorm, praying to a higher force that Lance isn’t sleeping or doing who knows what in their dorm he thinks about the things he know about Bradley. For once, he knows that he has something to look forward to. He doesn’t normally have plans, they just stay the same: wake up, breakfast (if there’s food/leftovers, but mostly one big cup of black coffee), classes in the morning, lunch, classes, procrastinate homework by reading in the shop, dorm, shower/dinner, do/try to do some homework or study, then crash in the bed. But today, the routine was broken thank God! I couldn’t be able to do the same thing every day… even though technically it’s the “same time” ‘cause I’m going to the shop after college… right? Right. BUT it wasn’t the same since I don’t have homework, or tests (since midterms were last week) so I can indulge in going to the shop and may be have a few drinks with Rachel… Yeah. Sounds like a good plan. He arrives at his dorm number 3A, opens the door and success! No dorm-mate. He smiles as Colin starts getting ready for the evening.
A new project I’m working on. A Short Story with an aspiring guitar player, amateur conductor and a Literature Major with a troublesome past in piano playing. Any names that may refer to any celebrities are purely coincidental.
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Chapter One
The tinkering, chattering, and random yelling engulfed the coffee house as the perky blonde cashier gave an unknowing smile to the lanky, pale, and misanthropic Lit major. Tired of waiting for his large cup of black coffee from the coffee house similar as that famous green lady from Seattle, he walks over a free table and opens his MacBook, plugs in his headphones and just before he can hit play, a screeching cry from the blonde cashier calling his name, summoning him for his coffee. He glares at her, picks up the coffee, ponders on the chair, and blasts “The New Year” by Death Cab for Cutie as he opens To Kill a Mockingbird to read it for the thousandth time.
Finally pleased that the lunch hour madness was behind him and he could read his precious book in peace, as he hears the doors open and he watches Bradley Pendragon enters the shop, and Colin dreads the next hours of his life, since Bradley goes to the shop almost every day as Colin. Colin rolls his eyes meanwhile Bradley yells at his mate Eoin, tackling each other as they walked toward the cashier who miserably failed at taking their order. As they wait for their coffee, Bradley and Eoin scope the room for new “future wives.” Bradley plays along as Eoin’s wingman while Colin watches in silence, judging them as Eoin tries to woo three college girls’ two tables ahead. For an instant Colin’s eyes meet with Bradley’s, and Bradley swears he knows him from somewhere.
After getting their coffee, Eoin and Bradley sit at a table and try to study for their lit midterm. As the hours run by, the coffeehouse dwindles except for the college students, and the blonde cashier stops trying to get Bradley’s attention. Bradley and Eoin express their hatred to toward Dr. Ellis, “the old Gaelic fart that could win an award for making literature even more boring than it already is.” Colin listens to their lament while sipping his third coffee and taking a bite of his peanut butter-filled bagel; he smirks, knowing that they wouldn’t last a day as Lit majors. He thinks of Bradley’s and how he can be a social butterfly but when it comes to literature, he won’t survive even if he had to define and analyze what an iambic pentameter at the sake of his life. He finishes his bagel and thinks that even though he doesn’t seem like the brightest crayon in the box, Eoin looks pretty hot. At the same time, he sort of loathes him for his amazing, swooshy hair. For what seemed like an eternity (but was actually closer to 30 seconds) he stares at man in front of him and his big blue eyes. For some reason his heart feels like it’s going to burst, his hands get sweaty and suddenly he needs to reach for his inhaler from he’s, for all the air in the world vanished and he can’t breathe. Trying to change his mind he starts to read his 30-page review, which he downloaded and printed, directly from Spark Notes and thinks why the hell Ellis gives this class. If only Prof. Torres gave all his lit classes…. If only…
Wandering aimlessly around campus, Colin arrives at the College of Music. In disbelief on how and why the hell he got there, he enters the building in search of a room with A.C. After walking down endless halls and nearly dying from an asthma attack after scaling the never-ending stairs, he reaches the practice room hallway. The rooms remind him of his middle school years, when his mum enrolled him in piano lessons for 6 years. Even though he was good at it, it wasn’t his passion and he was too much of a perfectionist to enjoy spending 5 hours every day in front of a piano. He preferred spending that time in front of his MacBook, watching his favorite shows while eating Jiff’s peanut butter and procrastinating. Of course looking back, Colin figures that nothing has changed; he is the same procrastinating perfectionist from middle and high school, only that he doesn’t play the piano anymore. He turned left at the end of the hallway and he saw a familiar skinny, slightly muscular blonde man. When he checked the cubicle, he noticed it was Bradley tuning a guitar. Colin’s bag crashed on the ground and observed in disbelief as Bradley place Albeniz’s “Asturias” on the stand. Colin thought there was no way Bradley was that good until Bradley started to play.Bradley’s fingers moved on the guitar, and Colin stared in awe. After the first quarter of the piece, he heard Bradley curse; he had started playing without warming up. While he played the C major scale at 4 octaves, Bradley suddenly stopped and caught Colin staring at him opened-mouthed and Bradley glared at Colin; he hated when people watched him practice since in his perfectionist mind everything he played is not up par. Colin got the memo and picked up his bag, mouthed “sorry,” and almost ran away from the room and the building as if it had the deadliest disease known to man. Running away Colin’s mind races, his hands get sweaty again, as he tries to run from the music building with an incredulous face, thinking that Bradley can’t be a musician. He can’t! He can’t play… and especially not guitar! Why a guitar for God’s sake! Why couldn’t it be piano? At least if it were a piano, Colin knew he would be better than Bradley. Why? Why couldn’t he be an engineering major? A nurse? Doctor? Why am I thinking of him anyways? Why is he so important for some reason? As Colin mind races, Bradley walked to the door, opens it, and finds Colin’s copy of “To Kill a Mockingbird” on the ground. He opened the book and saw Colin’s number. He gazed at the empty hallway thinking, who the hell is this guy?
Asturias Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEfFbuT3I6A
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After Hell Week students finally get out of the library and dorms, and kill their already dead brain cells with alcohol. Colin goes to the local pub, orders a pint and some chips, and goes to the most secluded corner where he dropped his bag and takes out his limited-edition copy of “Les Misérables.” The book is in French, obviously, because in Colin’s mind a book should always be read in its language of origin. Translations suck and they can’t truly convey what the author wants. As he turns the pages, pondering whether he should reread the book entirely or just read his favorite chapters, he watches his favorite Linguistic/Psychology major Rachel Trying to make her way through the crowd that was leaving the pub. However, at only 5’3’’ she failed miserably at trying to intimidate people to let her walk inside. Even though she didn’t have a model figure, she was astonishingly beautiful and had the brains to match it, her height being her only “flaw”. Colin didn’t understand why she was always single. She was a total catch! Colin thought as the girl approached Colin, he placed the book carefully on the table at a safe distance from his beer.
“OI, Cols! What’s up? Did you fail all those papers you had to write? Buy me a drink or I’ll tell everybody about Halloween and that you looked like Gaga, but instead you wanted to dress up like Merlin!
“HEY SMITH… calm your tits! I’ll get you a drink soon; first tell me about your midterms. And when are ~you~ going to buy ~me~ some drinks? You are a cash cow. Your dad is freaking rich! Just buy me booze every now and then, hell it could be in Thirsty Thursday! Besides, you know that you drink like a sailor and I can get drunk easily. You won’t break the bank if you buy me a couple of Heineken, you know?” said Colin, lips curled as he drank the last of his beer and almost dropped the bottle in an attempt to be cool.
“Oh shut it! One of these days I’m gonna take you out and make you drink shots!” she replied with a smirk and
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, you keep telling me that, but have I heard the date for this activity? ‘Cause you know that I haven’t.”
“Anyway,” said Rachel, “how’s your new guy friend? Or should I say guy-who-you-stare-at-every-time-he-walks-into-Starbucks?”
“Oi, shut it, you hag!” warned Colin as he smiled, “it’s not MY fault I’m in the shop everyday he goes there. I’m a lit major I need a place to crash when I’m reading, you know how Lance is; I can’t read anything in the dorm!
“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say,” said Rachel. “And besides, isn’t that your type? Prat musicians with whom you can fight but also debate whether Gaga is the new God? And if I know that you wouldn’t (sorta) fancied him, if I didn’t took that chem class with him last-
“I loathe you, Rachel Smith. I. Loathe. You.”
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Last year, I enrolled in the Creative Writing (ENGL.400) at the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico. As the semester progressed, our professor Dr. Mercedes Torres, challenged me in how I wrote literature and music. As the semester came to a close, I had to turn in a chapbook with all of my writing that I composed in the semester. Dr. Torres challenged me in taking a piece that I had in the chapbook and add music to it. Being the overachiever that I am, I gave the breath of music to two of my writing. The first is “Silence” which was inspired by my nephews and their constant battle when the time comes to fall asleep. “Misty Snowy Woods” was inspired by a mist that embraced the mountains one day I was going to San Juan, Puerto Rico and the idea of an old man reminiscing the days with his lover and him visiting his lover’s grave on the day of their anniversary. Here I will explain the process of “Misty Snowy Woods” and how the music came to be.
After the trip I had to San Juan, I wrote the poem in my house. After a day or two I was on a study group session with a dear friend, Kevin Santana. When we had a break, I showed him the poem, and he told me I had to add music to it and add it to the chapbook. Then I started think that I could add music to it, but the question awoke inside of me How?! I don’t know about other composers, but for me I start a project and I leave it, since I don’t know how to finish what I start. After a few minutes I started to whistle a tune (which came to be the motif, a short succession of notes producing a single impression; a brief melodic or rhythmic formula out of which longer passages are developed). After whistling 6 notes, I knew that I had the beginning of the song/poem. I had my MacBook Pro so, I started to check write the notes in my finale 2011. After 15 minutes of deciding, what tone served best for a 4-8 voice piece for a mixed choir, checked the meter. After analyzing that I had an iambic pentameter, I decided the song was best in a 2/4 with a few changes in meter, as the song progressed. After deciding all of this, I started to write on the blackboard we had in the classroom., you can see this in these pictures:
(As you can see here, this is the lyrics with the beat.)
(In this picture you have the motif of the song.)
After doing all of this, I started to write and had the first phrase in no time. After a day or two I had the poem and the song. Here you have the lyrics, an excerpt of the sheet music, and the audio of the song.
Hazy mist
Foggy snow
Clouding mind
Falling slow
Wishing you were close to home…Sighing ghost ‘emorie flow Adjusting to
the homeless home
Blurry signs Vaguely shows Memories fall
To a hazy show
Wandering clouds
Hazy tress
Wishing you were close to meEmbracing you
Blurry dreams
Looking at those white pine treesHazy mist
Foggy snow
Smoggy mind
Surely falls
Crouching low
Kissing you again, once more
And here is the first phrase of the song:
The art of musical poetry 