This one required a commitment. The "river of time" danced in my head as a possible avenue for the poem in 2006. Fortunately, I got the idea very early in the year because I thought that showing a particularly scenic view of the Delaware river during all four seasons might just work as a video.
A snowy day set the scene for winter quite nicely. All it required after that was marking the calendar to capture "season scenes" from the same location on the river. Putting it all together in a coherent fashion was going to be the challenge especially since I had committed myself to this setting and theme. I recall that the rhyming proved quite tricky in this edition. I had abundant ideas but some simply proved unworkable in the chosen form. Eventually, it all came together.
I think this theme was also reflected by a state of increased peace in my life. Even with the HP job having ended, I rapidly found another interesting opportunity at XM satellite radio. I was also doing some occasional work on QVC as a tech expert during early morning broadcasts. My possibilities and and potential were expanding in satisfying ways and I was appreciative. I was also six years into a nurturing and supportive relationship with Jeri, precious to me beyond words. This is all part of my journey on the river.
This is the final video to date. The next five poems will all be cards, up to and including the most current.
Christmas 2006
by
Richard Perrotti
Life is an on-going, free flowing river
We float on in pockets of time.
Seasons are markers, signposts of passing
Ever constant; eternal; sublime.
A year sinks its roots into winter
When life appears dormant and slow.
Darkness and ice serve as contrast
To nurture what’s dozing below.
Beneath the surface is passion,
Awaiting its cue to burst forth.
In spring the world comes to life again,
Having regained its true north.
Summer sizzles and then slows down
To a bright and blazing malaise.
Thunderstorms bellow and light up the sky
In a show filled with awe and amaze.
The name “Fall” seems anticlimactic
For a finale so colorful and grand.
To so gracefully shed all one’s foliage
And watch a year’s efforts disband.
Overlaying this eternal story
Is a snapshot entitled “your name.”
As you capture your precious moments of life,
The seasons serve as the frame.
This river of life knows no Christmas;
It’s a season created by man.
Yet it perfectly captures the spirit
As if it were part of the plan.
Brotherhood and love will lie sleeping,
To be waked by a seasonal spark.
Then the heat and craze of December,
Dissolves in a holiday arc.
So whether it’s your first, or tenth, or hundredth,
Celebrate beyond boundary and reason.
For it’s not about seasons of your life,
But the living in your seasons!
December 2006 events:
4th - An adult giant squid is caught on video by Kubodera near the Ogasawara Islands, 1,000 km (620 miles) south of Tokyo.
5th - Commodore Frank Bainimarama overthrows the government in Fiji.
6th - NASA reveals photographs taken by Mars Global Surveyor suggesting the presence of liquid water on Mars.
7th - A tornado struck Kensal Green, North West London, seriously damaging around 150 properties.
9th - Moscow suffers its worst fire since 1977, killing 45 women in a drug rehabitational center.
10th - One million Lebanese opposition supporters gather in downtown Beirut, calling for the government to resign.
11th - The International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust is opened in Tehran, Iran by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
12th - Peugeot produces its last car at the Ryton Plant signalling the end of mass car production in Coventry, formerly a major centre of the British motor industry.
13th - The Baiji, or Chinese River Dolphin, announced as extinct.
15th - First flight of the F-35 Lightning II.
20th - A judge rules against the death penalty in the case of Naveed Haq, a man convicted in the shooting death and injuries at the Jewish Federation in Seattle.
21st - Puzzle Play aired to network Ten, replacing In the Box
26th - The 2006 Hengchun earthquake with 7.1 magnitude hit Taiwan.
30th - Madrid Barajas International Airport is bombed.
30th - Saddam Hussein is executed by hanging.
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