The T. Collection – A Retrospective

This is the 15^th poem of the series, and as of now, the last. I’m not sure if there will be more as 15 seems to be the ‘target’ number.

Transcending Time

In the mists of incense

That float toward the heavens

Your spirit lifts my being

In the flickers of candlelight

That softly illuminate this space

Your presence caresses my essence

In the melody of the music

That layers the air with song

Your voice washes over my soul

In the memories of our union

That linger just under consciousness

Your love transcends death

Alice Vedral Rivera - 2006

The T. Collection – A Retrospective

THAT YEAR

That year when you offered me a

lifeline in the form of your hand

that pulled me out of misery

into your heart

That year when you taught me how to

live freely and still love in the

midst of the war zone of shattered

childlike dreams

That year when you fed me with deep

honeyed sounds of pure devotion

and wrapped me in warm blankets of

utmost safety

That year when you introduced me

to the many forms of tactile

sensual and fevered pleasures

of making love

That year when you shared that passion

which required equality

and refused to take my willing

subservience

That year when I was showered in

absolute truth with affection

and basked in the wide eyed glow of

your smiling face

That year when I found hope in the

wake of my own faithless failures  

and was privy to glimpses of

ultimate joy

That year when I destroyed our dreams

of a life together full of

love and laughter – reluctant

necessary choice

That fateful year full of countless

pivotal points will forever

live in my soul till the end of

eternity

© Alice Vedral Rivera - 2008

The T. Collection – A Retrospective

Sounds from the Stereo

Music of Mozart,

Of Tchaikovsky

Voices of Peter,

Paul and Mary

Harmonies of the

Mommas and Poppas

Vocals of Sarah

Vaughn, Rod McKuen

Transport my soul to

Space outside of time

Locked in your embrace

Safe in your arms

© Alice Vedral Rivera  2006

The T. Collection – A Retrospective

WISTFULNESS

You were not

smiling in the

few photos

I had of you

Yet what I

remembered most

was your smile

big, broad and wide

You’d always

smiled when you

looked at me

it touched my heart

Now I longed

to see that smile

beam at me

just one more time

If only from

a photograph

© Alice Vedral Rivera - 2006

The T. Collection  -  A Retrospective

love_vs_war_mp3.mp3

(download)

Click here to download:

love_vs_war_mp3.mp3 (10.52 MB)

Music and mix by Extra Sensory Perception

LOVE vs. WAR

You came back from Vietnam

Severely battered but not broken

Aged beyond your years

You had lied about your age

To fight against the ideology

That occupied your native land

For a nation that gave you a home

In a country that was just the battleground

I recognized you as a special breed

You loved in ways I couldn’t appreciate

Giving yourself fully to me

While I was another’s wife

Willing to take on his responsibilities

Believing we could heal each other

Not realizing that his not loving me

Made it easier to manipulate me to stay

I never forgot that look on your face

The sound of your voice raging with pain

I believe something in you broke that day

Something the horrors of war couldn’t touch

But love had brought you to your knees

Made you vulnerable to an extreme

And I wasn’t certain that you could get back up

Yet I couldn’t regret choosing my son over you

I saw you once on the street five years later

Carrying your briefcase just as I remembered

I had just had my second child with him

I hesitated before turning the car around

Just long enough for you to disappear

A trace – an English Ovals cigarette butt – left behind

At home I pulled out photographs and jewelry

As I listened to tapes you had made for me – I wept

I often wondered what you did with your life

Between the time I saw you last and your death

Alice Vedral Rivera - 2006

The T. Collection – A Retrospective

Marigolds_mp3.mp3

(download)

Click here to download:

Marigolds_mp3.mp3 (982 KB)

From the ‘Intimately Yours’ cd available on CD Baby – soundscape by Chuck F. Berglund

MARIGOLDS

When I see marigolds

I remember the time

We strolled down the alley

Hand in hand

Stopping to kiss

You stooped down

Picked some marigolds

Gave them to me

A sign of your love

And then I get

A flashback

Of the pain

On your face

As I walked

Out of your life

Not knowing then

It would be forever

©Alice Vedral Rivera - 2005

The T. Collection – A Retrospective

You spoiled me for other men…

You spoiled me for other men

Those afternoons so long ago

When you introduced me to good wine

And sweet liqueur, then filled the time

With rhyme and music, song

And now, forever, I shall long

For simpler times when we were young

You spoiled me for other men

Those afternoons so long ago

When you taught me carnal pleasures

Were not the only feats that measure

A man’s capacity to love

To marry the tender and the tough

Exceptional sex is not enough

You spoiled me for other men

Those afternoons so long ago

When you showed me that the finer things

In life are best had when two bring

Together what they each possess

That in the sharing is success

To truly savor happiness

You spoiled me for other men

Those afternoons so long ago

When memories come flooding back

I realize it’s you I lack

For years such tears my eyes produced

I cried to have to cut you loose

I wish you hadn’t made me choose

You spoiled me for other men

Those afternoons so long ago

When you introduced me to good wine

And sweet liqueur, then filled the time

With rhyme and music, song

And now, forever, I shall long

For simpler times when we were young….

Alice Vedral Rivera - 2005

The T. Collection – A Retrospective

STANDARD OF MEASURE

I love you - you needed to

Hear it – I needed to

Say it - were your words

Such a softness of voice

Incomparably yours

Decades later unparalleled

By any of the others

I had never liked the

Sound of my name until

Your lips gave it a tenderness

None had ever sought to express

And I realize

You are the standard against which

I measure every single

Other lover

© Alice Vedral Rivera - 2006

The T. Collection – A Retrospective

REFLECTIONS – November 1971

An old ticket stub

Barnum and Bailey

Clowns, high wire acts

Acrobats, bears, lions

And elephants

Everyone should see

The circus at least

Once in their lifetime

So you took me

A matchbook untouched

The Sybaris Lounge

Drinks at the Hancock

Chicago at sunset

Your loving eyes

View from the bathroom

Unforgettably

Undeniably

Gorgeous and plush

Then you took me down

To The Ninety-Fifth

Exquisite dinner

For dessert - crepe suzette

Great coffee and

View of the lake looking

Out at the stars

Nervous - you had a

Special surprise

You pulled out the box

A solid gold charm

Engraved with an ‘A’

For my twenty-first

Birthday – tangible

– proof of your

Unfaltering love

‘Signature shorthand’

When turned around

AMA TB L

ERSB  GND

  HW     H

© Alice Vedral Rivera - 2006

The T. Collection – A Retrospective

Thatcher Woods Revisited/Sylvan Nymph Initiation

Dry crunch of

Kaleidoscope

Leaves beneath

Our stumbling feet

We sauntered through

Thatcher Woods

Taking in deep

Crisp, brisk, bracing

Autumn flavored

Atmosphere

My hands held back

Against a tree

Mouth-open, red-hot

Scarlet kisses

Floated past my

Neck landing onto

Crimson red lips

Fallen jacket

Buffer for our

Descent onto

Nature’s golden 

Forest pallet

Sylvan Nymph

Initiation

Commenced forthwith

Refastening

Jeans just in time

In the distance

Children’s laughter

Invading our

Sanctuary

As you, sacred love,

Gently brushed away

Leaves captured within

My long, wind-blown hair

© Alice Vedral Rivera - 2006