Miscellaneous:

[Nikos Tselepides]

AND THIS WHOLE SEA

A good bow wave, no cloud and
the sun my best friend. Post-dawn haze.
Four seagulls following us.
I smoke and lean seaward
and look at the Aegean’s dolphins
as they jump and dance with the ship.
The gnarled faces of the older sailors
and the wooden rich smell of the old deck.
Blue, and its unique shade of separateness.
Alone, among the self-sufficient
and proudly functional items: the railing,
the chain, the ropes and lines, the bollards,
the compass binnacle, the deadeyes
and davits, the shelter deck, and the ladders.
See how this blue turns to silver
westward. Sparkles and shines
like a living, new-born color. The brine
is like dust on the parapet, moving
with the weather and salting the tongue.
The steward walks past with his monkey
in trail. The think tank ticks in his head.
The monkey’s tail makes delicate curves.

I turn towards the port quarter. A small
fishing boat comes into view, low against
the water, light on topsides. Who knows
what they’ve been through this journey.
One learns to keep silent at first contact.
In all twelve directions, blue water topped
with silver and white, fading into grey.
“She was black, liked her boubou, her tattoo,
and the nuts of cashew, Watusi, Rasta Lola,
Papua, Guru, and Zulu. We danced Reggae
all night.” A wave crashes near me
and the boat rolls deeper into its course.
I have three precious worlds left to tend to:
The light in the eyes of this black girl,
the memory of her shrine, and this whole sea.




==============

Nikos Tselepides
from SEA JOURNEYS
Jan. 6th, Aegean Sea, heading southeast.

[erikestabrook]

very good poem, rich in detail

[PaintedDiary]

The Following Text Is Quoted:

Originally Posted by Nikos Tselepides

AND THIS WHOLE SEA



I turn towards the port quarter. A small
fishing boat comes into view, low against
the water, light on topsides. Who knows
what they’ve been through this journey.
One learns to keep silent at first contact.
In all twelve directions, blue water topped
with silver and white, fading into grey.
“She was black, liked her boubou, her tattoo,
and the nuts of cashew, Watusi, Rasta Lola,
Papua, Guru, and Zulu. We danced Reggae
all night.” A wave crashes near me
and the boat rolls deeper into its course.
I have three precious worlds left to tend to:
The light in the eyes of this black girl,
the memory of her shrine, and this whole sea.




==============

Nikos Tselepides
from SEA JOURNEYS
Jan. 6th, Aegean Sea, heading southeast.

Dear Nikos,

I found this poem very intriguing, as I read it several times. The last stanza is of particular interest. As I have stated, I am drawn to poems about the Ocean or Sea. This was a very descriptive piece as the visuals were outstanding. Could you expand a bit on the the last three lines?

{{{~~**KIM**~~}}}

[Nikos Tselepides]

Dear Painted Diary,

Glad you liked the poem.

It was written while at sea, on a merchantship, where I spent three weeks in January to do some paper work and write. Captain and shipowner close friends.
Now the 2nd stanza owes a lot to the fact that I was listening to the songs of Serge Gainsbourg, the famour French composer, singer, artist etc.
First then read this:
Serge Gainsbourg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
It is important to read all you can on him, so you understand the rest.
Then: the lines
“She was black, liked her boubou, her tattoo,
and the nuts of cashew, Watusi, Rasta Lola,
Papua, Guru, and Zulu." come from a song by Gainsbourg, to which I was constantly listening while on the boat on my player. They are a paraphrase in English of the original French lyrics of a song of his called DAISY TEMPLE--a nice reggae piece of music.
Here are the French Lyrics of the song, where he plays with the ending ou, using words that rhyme with out or u.:

DAISY TEMPLE

Oh Daisy Temple
Tu aimes les boubous
Tu aimes ta nounou
Tu aimes les cachous
Et les noix de cajou (Noix= Nuts)

Oh Daisy temple

Tu aimes les boubous
Tu aimes les gourous
Les rastas les papous
Watuzis et zoulous

Oh Daisy temple

Tu aimes les boubous
Tu aimes les tatous
Tu as tout les atouts ( YOU HAVE ALL THE ADVANTAGES)
Et tu es prête à tout (YOU ARE READY FOR EVERYTHING)

Oh Daisy temple
------------------
Above, I have in parentheses translation notes. TU AIMES means YOU LIKE, so you can translate all the song easily now.

Now the third part: Gainsbourg's song had the effect of making me phantasize about having sex with the black girl described in the song. Then the last lines of the poem are a take-off from that phantasy, as if it were all real, and this gave me a way to end the poem in a nice manner and on a tense note--tension being an all-imporant factor in my poems.
I hope all this makes it clear.

I speak and write French like a Frenchman, and his music affects me, and his poetry as well.

You can go here to listen small parts of all his songs, including Daisy Temple:
Virgin Digital : sergegainsbourg : auxarmesetcaetera

Click on the speaker image at the right edge.

If you send me a proper email address, I can send you Daisy Temple in a zip file as an mp3 and you can have the whole song.

Visit also:

Paroles des chansons de Serge Gainsbourg ♫ 236 textes disponibles ♪ Paroles.net (for lyrics of all his songs--lyrics is "paroles: in French)

To hear and see a video of one his best songs, MELODY NELSON, where he sings with his wife Jane Birkin, go here:

Tête de chou, le site de Serge Gainsbourg depuis1999 (press on the player to hear "Melody Nelson"--click on "suivant" to hear the next song in the album--there are many, on "precedent" for previous, and "retour" means "back"--you can hear all the songs there)

Now you never expected this kind of explanation, did you?

Thanks for the comments.

Below are pics of Serge and Jane:

[Mysty]

Dear Nikos.... I thoroughly enjoyed this and the music ... Beautiful descriptions and you are so right ... it does fit in so well with the music you were listening to while writing this. Thank You so very much for sharing this wonderful write with me and the music too of course. How did you know I love music?

~Mysty~

[Nikos Tselepides]

Who does not enjoy music? No one.

Thanks for the comments, and glad you liked the music.

Poetry as the written word is also music--we all know that.


Thank you again.

[Ariono-jovan Labu]

some cold stone imagery you canvased in this movement of music. a very indepth observational piece artist. the second stanza had me smiling wide ready to dance myself. this reminds my of the caribe so. keep the ink spilling yeah. unidos-

[MsJacquiiC]

Nice to see you posting ARIONO
-------------------
-------------------

NIKOS - what can I say about this poem? This is truly a work to behold - quintessential really, something that will last the test-of-time... Imagery: vivid - Content: wild - Vybe: sensual and sleek - much like the sea itself.

The Following Text Is Quoted:

Alone, among the self-sufficient
and proudly functional items: the railing,
the chain, the ropes and lines, the bollards,
the compass binnacle, the deadeyes
and davits, the shelter deck, and the ladders.
See how this blue turns to silver
westward. Sparkles and shines
like a living, new-born color.

I really enjoy the list you presented. Interesting texture actually... "the deadeyes and davits" really stands out as more than just one-dimensional items - Doth you poesy in riddle? But this stanza gently segues into another interesting list which begins one of the most fabulous poetic endings I've yet to read:

The Following Text Is Quoted:

“She was black, liked her boubou, her tattoo,
and the nuts of cashew, Watusi, Rasta Lola,
Papua, Guru, and Zulu. We danced Reggae
all night.” A wave crashes near me
and the boat rolls deeper into its course.

Ah! Dancing the reggae - Equating the motion of the sea to Black Woman? This Webmistress tends to wonder if your rhythm can handle such a dance --- Truly though - this is an interesting concept, as I once danced on a cruise ship.... New Orleans near the French Quarter. I was 14 and in wonderland - This poem is mature, but still the essence of wonderland escapes ever so gently...

Exotic is the word... You fantasize exotic ecstacy?

Thanx for the sharing.

Jacquii.

[Nikos Tselepides]

Jacquii,

Thanks for the good comments. I appreciated your critical comments, and as you know, the more the better for me.

"You fantasize exotic ecstacy?"-- I do not know about that, but if you see my reply above, you will understand. If you also hear the song, you will see more of this poem.

I am also devious: some of this poem is directed to a black girl somewhere on the net and I have notified her to come here and read it. It stunned her.

Thanks again. The list works because it brings out the solidity of the real world, without which nothing exists.

[zaac]

not to be rude, but for me all this micro description got really old for me by the the time i got to the end of the first stanza. and i'm still not sure what it was about. aside from painting a picture of a harbor and small boats, it didnt seem to go anywhere. sorry, i dont mean anything bad by it. i have done the same thing before...got so caught up in the intricacies of setting a scene that i forgot to write about anything.

zaac