Welcome to Marc Livanos!

Tonight I'd like to post Marc Livanos' poems.  Thank you for your patience, Marc!

Thankfulness

Dear Lord, our blessings over-flow.

Thank you for our health.
It is great to be alive,
especially Memaw who is still with us.
(She does need a lot of help.)

Thank you for country music.
It is great to listen to at night,
especially the sentimental songs.
(Makes we want to drown my sorrows.)

Thank you for our shoebox of pictures.
It is great to have precious memories,
especially old ones from another day.
(No one is left that cares.)

Thank you for hickory trees.
It is great to hear twigs twitch,
especially when the wind whips them like chimes.
(This too brings to mind Memaw.)

Thank you for lessons learned.
It is great to learn from trials,
especially when we meant to do our best.
(No one should ask for more.)

And now, we earnestly pray for
quick answers or your
intercession on our
on-going journey of life.
(Sympathy would be nice.)

Banter

Fudge chocolate water
nips at my boat’s keel.
Hurry-up gravy
drips from the clouds.

No fast food here.
No hectic pace.
Merely nature’s spectacle
unseen from home.

No ego-friendly interactions.
No sour-puss expressions.
Unimportant fixations
are without substance.

No clinging perceptions.
No ready comebacks.
Just a clear mind to
hear simple words.

Experience nature’s rhythm
to form staples in your life,
like wholesome banter
amongst friends.

The End Time

The world was a terrible mess

with much resentment and unrest.

So, God sent His son to save mankind.

Though unwavering in His love, Jesus was crucified.

On judgment day, He’ll return to take those good

in thoughts and deed to the promised land.

So, sinner-man don’t get caught with your lies.

Report before you run out of time, cause

you know darn well where you’re going. 

Homer’s Eyes

What did Homer see?
A barren savannah of rocks
resting before the stars in boredom.
A man child in the shadows
dancing before a sea of scalloped bays.
Casually, he started telling a mythical tale.
“Done that,” said the stars.

From Homer’s keen mind,
rushed out words
telling a tale of war’s utter waste.
Harbingers of the sacrifice of a leader’s daughter,
sacrilege of an enemy’s body,
death of heroes,
years wasted and ways lost.

The stars were ever stained
by the cruelties of war.
A realization sighted
by a blind person.
Homer gifted
generations of mankind,
with a war poem on peace.

The Wanderer

Journeys - 

        trigger deep emotions

        long forgotten,

        illuminate memories 

        floating sleepily by,

        open gateways for

        wandering souls, 

        harmonize the past

        with the future,

        sear intuitive images 

        of our inevitable end,

        beckon us

        to ponder - 

Are we nothing but shadows

dancing in the corner 

of our eyes?

Serene Embrace

Primordial images abound 

in a slowly draining river,

inhaling egos.

Water never loses its way 

roads eventually decay,

leaving great plans in disarray.

Quiet waters reflect havens

free of worries,

silencing anxieties.

Open skies never end 

in a blue panache, 

spreading sweet serenity.

Egos remain unquenched,

in an emptiness,

beseeching validation.

And as existentialism floats  

in this never-ending moat,

nature softly whispers - 

Let the river guide you.

Old Tree

Old tree, what do you see?

A life worth sharing?

You stand still, while

life revolves around you.

Is there a purpose, or

just that single view?

You look to the sky, and

it looks back at you.

You’re entrenched in your part

but can’t see the earth’s curve.

I see the universe

but can’t see my place in it.

I care for you

and you for me.

This is our part.

This is our life.

Marc's bio follows:

My poems have appeared in Straylight Magazine, Poet’s Espresso Review, Stray Branch Magazine, Old Red Kimono, Ship of Fools, Song of the San Joaquin Quarterly, Emerald Coast Review, Toasted Cheese Literary Journal, The Sunday Poet, WestWard Quarterly, PKA's Advocate, The Pink Chameleon, JerryJazzMusician.com, and others. I am presently taking graduate courses at the University of West Florida.

He is also the founder of the Santa Rosa County Writer’s Workshop.   His chapbooks “Panhandle Poet - Solitude” and “Panhandle Poet - Second Helpings” are available online at barnesandnoble.com.

Let's finish with some music by jazz musicians from Florida.  

You may recognize Nat Adderley's "Work Song":  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmwsQ_dHrFM

I didn't know that he did "Canteloupe Island"!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6OKJn4_sho

Pee Wee Ellis has worked with James Brown and Van Morrison, but this song is from a solo album of him:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odWm7TbUkc4

Mustn't forget Jaco Pastorius.  This is his "Portrait of Tracy":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXOnhzoC-i8