Penelope in Israel
An Acrostic in Mantinades¹
Paralysed I perceived deeper within and wider without,
Entering the El Al² plane fluttering to Israel stout.
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Never had I been so afraid and so proud to be Jewish.
Everyone can discover the truth which is often bluish.
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Lovely to see the country whose name I wear like a lion.
Only my mane has waned on my way to awakened Zion.
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Penelope sewed so much for so much more, when she saw him.
Every part of me, even my hair, hummed Israel a hymn.
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In the streets, the sounds seemed muffled by the cries flying up high.
Now, many more Jews finally understood the Roman lie.
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In the supermarket, the tomatoes looked like Turkey’s flag.
Some Dogs tend to bark for all the displeasure of losing tag.
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Radicalism is the opium of the people as well,
Although most religions preach love and life for the gospel bell.
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Enveloping my mind with thoughts of Athena’s true story,
Lifted my heart, letting me tally all Israel’s glory.
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¹ A mantinada typically consists of a Cretan 15-syllable rhyming couplet. Mantinades is the plural.
² El Al, which means “upwards”, “to the skies” and “skywards”, in Hebrew, is the name of Israel’s flag carrier.
About the Creator
Patrick M. Ohana
A medical writer who reads and writes fiction and some nonfiction, although the latter may appear at times like the former. Most of my pieces (over 2,200) are or will be available on Shakespeare's Shoes.
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'20/20'
"Do It Again" the track that would ultimately open the Beach Boys final album on Capitol Records which was released on February 10th 1969 had originally been released as a single in August of 1968. The track was the first of many post-Pet Sounds era throwbacks to the early Beach Boys sound which would become continually more cliched and eventually lead the Beach Boys to the level of self-parody they would eventually succumb to in the 1980s while their closest contemporaries The Beatles nearing the end of their run in 1969 would go on to be viewed as the most influential band of all time. However, the song itself is not bad on its surface, and it opens with a futuristic sounding (for 1969) drumbeat captured by then-Beach Boys engineer Stephen Desper using tape delays on the drums performed by Dennis Wilson and John Guerin. The song has been re-recorded numerous times over the years on various Beach Boys-related projects most notably the 2011 re-recording at Capitol studios featuring the five surviving Beach Boys at the time backed instrumentally by various members of both the Brian Wilson Band and Mike Loves touring "Beach Boys" to promote the then upcoming Beach Boys 50th Anniversary reunion tour in 2012. The hammering and power drill sound at the end of the song was an excerpt from a track called "Workshop" that was to be a part of the uncompleted "SMiLE" album.
By Sean Callaghan6 days ago in Beat
Comments (2)
Very different acrostic - great work! I just subscribed.
A medical writer who reads and writes fiction and some nonfiction, although the latter may appear at times like the former.