Delighted, I return to the stained glass
studio in a dream. A Maltese Seraph
is nigh, pleased by crafted canvasses.
Peace plays in her illuminated laugh
for she is moved by both the fired art
and wholesome scenes piously framed
in elongated windows. Pure light darts
between beauty forged by artistic fame
and the silvered coats of horses pulling carts
on the village street. St Jacobs, a plain land
praising simplicity: a message of heart
heard in her voice, seen in the lay of hands.
But a wink teases as she lifts suncatchers,
seeing sweet figolli in each pastel patch.
*Above, a picture of Figolli,a Maltese cookie decorated with bright icing and enjoyed at Easter. Like two dimensional Easter Eggs ;)
This is to our friend, an angel of Soup, who is from Malta.
About the studio
Heartbreaking! The studio which I so loved has closed its doors. The shop lives on in my memory and dreams. Suspended on chains were countless stained glass ornamentations, strung in perfectly straight lines to create the illusion of walls. The Studio had too many windows to count and the light would stream through each grouping of glass, creating the effect of small, glowing rooms. I wish now I?d taken a picture. The pictures in this blog of stained glass are from a studio in Muskoka, which I may highlight on another sonnet.
About St Jacobs
St Jacobs is a Mennonite Village. It is common to see people drive by in horse and buggy.Old order Mennonites wear clothes of another century. The women wear prayer caps and pinafores, calico dresses, no make up, no adornments. The men wear black suits, black hats, solid shoes. Some of the old order Mennonites even STILL work their land with a horse drawn plow, make solid wood furniture without a single tool that requires electricity and do not own phones.
About the Poem
I specifically chose to plop our Charmaine into this colour imbued shop with elaborate art, so unlike the village where it ?was? situated. The juxtaposition was important to me. Also, the Mennonite view to ?keep things simple? is shared by Charmaine, whose writes can have strong themes yet often choose, wisely, to refrain for overly elaborate words or hidden meanings. She likes things to be understood, to be clear, as do the Mennonites.
I think that our Charmaine is so filled with light, reflects what is good and INTENSIFIES it, like a suncatcher, so I chose words carefully to emphasize the comparison. Delighted and illuminated were intentionally used. Charmaine is a spiritual woman who shows such grace on the soup. I used faith inspired language: Seraph, peace, wholesome, piously. I wanted the euphony, the ... cadence?...of a hymn. I hope I captured this effect in MaltEse, pEace, ScEnes, piouslY, beautY, SimplicitY, StrEET, tEases, FigollI (which I imagine is pronounced Fig-ole-lee (yes, Charmaine?), ShE, SwEEt ... As a Christian, I associate hymns with this sound because of jEEEsus, the long E sound often stressed or held. Nigh, an old word, I use in a contemporary form with the theme of an olden art, timeless ways
I edited the word ?Sheen? and changed it to ?Silvered? but wonder if I should have
I?m a fan of alliteration and used it here Crafted/Canvasses, Peace/Play, Between/Beauty etc...
Now, the comparison between the cookie and the stained glass windows was to echo the aha moment of a haiku, a form which Charmaine enjoys ...
I usually do not use the nearly even a third of the amount of adjectives and adverbs which I use here, but I am happy with the finished piece
About Contemporary Sonnets
Contemporary sonnets are free to use whatever rhyme scheme they choose or the poets can invent their own. Rhyme are not necessarily ?perfect? rhyme but can use a wide variation of rhyme styles. Actually, rhyme is not even required. Also, there is no RIGID syllable count, but most counts do remain within the 9-11 range. A sentence may end mid line or even just one word into a line for effect and weight. Meter is not usually considered in contemporary sonnets..
Many contemporary sonneteers WORSHIP the classic sonnets (I know I do) so most prefer to KEEP the volta, though some may leave that magic spin for the last lines, as opposed to the traditional 9th line in an Shakespearian sonnet, per say. Contemporary sonnets SEEM to be liked by the editors of literary/academic journals. Many of today?s sonneteers are being lauded for releasing the sonnet from its captivity in archives, libraries and musty tomes and modernizing it enough that FRESH ones would appeal to the modern tastes of today?s readers.
Some photos of St Jacobs
Old barn silo have actually been turned into cool shops, inside floors seem to "wind" reminiscent of old spiral staircases