Rudy Francisco

My sis shared this and I just had to, it was so good.

June Too Soon

Source

It was a brisk
January morning
Where the sun was
Warming the air still cool
From the night before,
But still it did not
Warm the chill in me.

I sat across from
The doctor in his office.
The fourth doctor,
As I was not satisfied
With the opinions of
The three doctors before him.

The expression on his face
Was grave,
The appropriate term for
What he was about to tell me.
With a voice devoid of any emotion
But sympathy, he told me
That my cancer was in
The advance stages,
And I have up to June
To live.

I suppose I was in shock
Or some zombie like state
Of acceptance which allowed me
To act normal and make my way home.

At home,
I cried and cried and cried
Until all my tears were spent,
And all that was left was
The silent, dry, body wracking sobs.
They too were spent
And were replaced by a deep slumber.

The next morning,
I awoke embraced in a sense
Of calm, that was equal
To the stillness of the surface
Of a quiet lake.
In that calm, I was resolute,
In that calm, I chose to live.
I chose to live.

In the weeks that followed,
I forgave my enemies,
And asked for their forgiveness.
I told my friends and family
How much I loved and appreciated them,
That even when I pass on,
My love for them will remain.

In the months that followed,
I lived!
I climbed mountains,
I dove in oceans,
I fell from the sky
Like a fallen angel.

In the months that followed,
I ran with the bulls,
I danced the samba
In the Brazilian Carnival,
I saw the Northern Lights
And a polar bear.

In the months that followed,
I ate good food,
Drank good wine
In the company of good people.

In the months that followed,
I laughed.
I laughed till I cried.
I laughed till no more sound came.
And my face held a constant
Smile.

Soon June came,
Then July,
Then August,
Then the other months,
But I didn't care because
I was living.

By August, two years later,
I had lived my life
Completely.
I did all I wanted to do,
I saw all I wanted to see,
And it was only
When I was done living
That I allowed myself to die.

On the last day of August,
Two years later,
I died.

June was too soon,
But August, two years later
Was far enough for me.

Moments

The rain fell
At a 45º angle
And I watched it
As I lay under my covers.
My bed was right
By the window.

There was no where else
I wanted to be,
This place, right here
Is where I'm supposed to be.

Feeling the coolness
As I touched the window pane,
And relishing the warmth
That embraced my body.

The rifts of some melody
By Duke Ellington
Plays lazily through
My room and I savoured it
Like a glass of Pinot Grigio.

Just at that moment,
A ray of sun cuts through
The clouds creating
A mini rainbow, I exhale
Completely.

How sweet it is,
Moments like this
Are meant to be experienced
In their entirety,
Uninterrupted.

Moments like this
Are like a glass of fine wine,
A chunk of perfectly aged cheese,
A dish made with love,
And a hug,
You hope never ends.

The thing about moments like this
Is they have to end.

If they lasted forever,
You will never appreciate them.
The moment passes,
Becoming a sweet memory
To be savoured over and over,
And to serve as a reminder
That moments like this
Exists.

So this moment ends
With Mi Amour rousing
From his slumber and
With that end,
A new moment begins.

New Challenge

I'll be honest, I've been missing my weekly challenge, so I returned to my source, Alice's blog on My Modern Met and went searching. It was not my first time, but nothing was hitting me as a series I would have wanted to do until Monday I saw this and I had to do it. Here is the info from the blog post

Call it daring, dark, dramatic and even haunting. Just don't call it unoriginal. This is the work of Rocco Ancora.

Popular Photography just released its list of their Top 10 Wedding Photographers of 2011 and it included the talented Melbourne, Australia-based photographer. Pop Photo calls the ten the "best in the business," chosen for their art of creativity, adventure and individualism. "For decades, wedding photography was stilted and conventional," says Aimee Baldridge, editor of Pop Photo. "But recently, an adventurous spirit rising in both couples and photographers has shifted the rules. Individuality is now key, whether that means bringing in landscape photography techniques, photojournalism or hipster style. No matter how edgy they may be, though, wedding photogs still need to get a shot of Nana dancing with her 7-year-old grandson."

Out of the ten, what drew us to Rocco Ancora's work was that his photos looked like paintings. This is, of course, on purpose. “I draw a lot from Renaissance art and Pre-Raphaelite paintings, and from Rembrandt and Vermeer,” he explains. “I’m fascinated by the way they used light.”

Ancora's distinct style has been called classical and romantic. In addition to paintings, his photography is also inspired by old films from the '40s and '50s (like in the film noir genre).

Here are a few pics:

 

Why do I want to write poetry to these images? To me they are beautiful, I love the rich colours, I love how the photographer made the imagery look like it was painted. I love the drama and how it creates a story and I have a soft spot in my heart for film noir. I truly look forward to this challenge and I hope you enjoy the poems I come up with.