So sweetly, your gentle
love wound its way
around my heart
like delicate passionflower tendrils.
O, but soon it transformed
into a strangling kudzu vine:
clinging, binding, suffocating,
and finally withering
my almost-beating heart —
leaving a silent screaming wound.
You and your
vicious love.
Last month’s editorial page lay rumpled on my floor. Its letters graying and damp-wrinkled, edges curling upward. Broken shells that once held sunflower seeds piled in one corner and a plastic mirror with a silenced bell in the other. How that bell drove me crazy with its incessant, cheap-metal jingle! In retrospect, it wasn’t really that bad. Who would have thought I’d miss the annoying tickle-poke of tiny claws scratching up and down my wires, across and every-which-way? But I do. And the musty fragrance of pastel feathers, some of which are still stuck to me, fluffy reminders of the chirps and tweets that used to be — when I was someone’s home.
This week on Song Lyric Sunday (SLS) Jim has asked us to find a song that features nautical terms, words connected with ships, sailing, sailors, maritime or navigation.
I’ve chosen “Beyond the Sea” by Bobby Darin.
According to Wikipedia, “Beyond the Sea” is the English-language version of the French song “La Mer” by Charles Trenet, popularized by Bobby Darin in 1959. While the French original was an ode to the sea, Jack Lawrence – who composed the English lyrics – turned it into a love song.
Somewhere beyond the sea
Somewhere waiting for me
My lover stands on golden sands
And watches the ships that go sailing
Somewhere beyond the sea
She’s there watching for me
If I could fly like birds on high
Then straight to her arms, I’d go sailing
It’s far beyond a star
It’s near beyond the moon
I know beyond a doubt
My heart will lead me there soon
We’ll meet beyond the shore
We’ll kiss just as before
Happy we’ll be beyond the sea
And never again, I’ll go sailing
I know beyond a doubt
My heart will lead me there soon
We’ll meet, I know we’ll meet beyond the shore
We’ll kiss just as before
Happy we’ll be beyond the sea
And never again, I’ll go sailing
No more sailing
So long, sailing
Bye-bye, sailing
Goodbye, Captain
Songwriters: Jack Lawrence, Charles Trenet, Albert Lasry.
Beyond the Sea, originally titled La Mer, is a timeless song that was originally written in French by Charles Trenet in 1946. Bobby Darin, an American singer, songwriter, and actor, then adapted and popularized the song in English in 1959. Beyond the Sea has since become one of Darin’s signature songs, known for its cheerful melody and romantic lyrics. However, beneath its seemingly light-hearted surface, this beloved tune holds a deeper meaning that resonates with listeners across generations.
The song, rooted in love, speaks of a yearning for a distant lover. This lover isn’t just a person but a symbol of dreams and aspirations. Darin’s words vividly depict a love that transcends physical boundaries, nestled somewhere beyond the vast ocean. He expresses a deep certainty and hope that one day, he will reunite with his one true love. Bobby Darin’s aural voyage is not merely about traversing the ocean’s expanse. It is about the heart’s unwavering belief in the power of love to overcome any barrier, any distance. It embodies the romantic ideal of destiny pulling two souls together, regardless of the space between them.
LOS ANGELES (UPI) Bobby Darin, the brash ambitious teen idol of the 1950s and 1960s who sang “Mack the Knife” and “Splish-Splash” and married Sandra Dee, died today after his second open heart operation He was 37. “He never really came around after the operation,” a spokesman said. “He was just too weak to recover.”
It’s Fandango’s Flashback Friday!
This piece was originally posted for Photo Challenge Day over at the Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie!
During the bus ride home, Sonya savored the days’ events in her mind’s eye.
She still couldn’t believe it actually happened. And it was sweeter, better, and…yummier… than she’d ever imagined. What made it even more extraordinary was that their paths had crossed purely by chance — a magical, mystical, fabulous twist of fate!
Sonya and Russell had always liked one another but never had the opportunity to spend any real time together. Weddings, parties, birthdays and other social gatherings is where they’d run into each other. The noise, music, and laughter made anything more than a few sentences impossible.
But today was different.
Today, Russell happened to be on Sonya’s side of town for a lunch meeting that had been cancelled at the last minute. As he was leaving the restaurant, Sonya was entering, and they literally ran into one another.
Why not have lunch together since we’re both here?
One glass of wine led to a bottle which led to another. They’d ordered food, but were so busy laughing, talking and enjoying each other they’d scarcely touched it.
Eventually, there was a lull in the conversation, and that’s when Russell made his move. He leaned across the table and kissed Sonya right on the mouth. It was long and lingering, and softer than moonlight.
When it ended and Russell sat back down, Sonya could see the burn of desire in his brown eyes. She was sure he could see the same in hers.
As luck would have it, there was a charming little motel right across the street, which is where Sonya and Russell spent the remainder of their first afternoon together.
Sonya sighed a lover’s sigh.
If only he wasn’t married to my twin sister… but now I know why Mona smiles the way she does.
It was the first thing she saw each morning when she woke up, and the last thing she saw before falling asleep. It bungled her dreams and ruined her days.
For as far back as Tammy could remember it had hung there, taking up almost the entire wall. The monstrosity was an eyesore; a waste of valuable space where Barry Manilow and Led Zeppelin posters should have been proudly displayed.
She’d begged them to let her take it down, but her farty old grandparents wouldn’t budge.
“No, dear. It would be disrespectful,” they’d said.
She hated that portrait; the way it mocked her, sat in haughty disapproval of the few friends she had, dismissed her half-assed efforts at self-improvement. It seemed to know she would never measure-up and made fun of her for trying.
She could tell by the way the portrait rolled its sultry green eyes when Tammy glanced its way, hoping for parental approval.
Yes, the portrait was of her mother who had died giving birth to Tammy–another reason for it to hate her. Eventually, she quit trying and accepted herself as she was. Not everyone was cut out to be a svelte, heart-stopping-ly gorgeous and über-talented artiste like ol’ Mommy Queerest up there.
I mean, seriously! Could Tammy help that she was:
a) addicted to Oreos with Double Stuff
b) able and more than willing to devour a party-size Domino’s Ultimate Deep-Dish Extravaganza pizza with double cheese in one sitting, and
c) accustomed to slamming three (okay, four) packages of Twinkies for breakfast‽
Tammy had had enough of the whole thing. It was time to level the playing field.
One dreary afternoon after Horseshoe Pitching 101 let out, Tammy trundled to the college bookstore to purchase supplies for her playing-field-leveling toolkit. The bill for the four items came to less than she’d anticipated, which left the door wide open for a celebratory bag of Oreos.
Later, as she munched the last hunk of cheese-stuffed pizza crust, she took Magic Marker in greasy hand and considered the options:
Would Mom prefer purple-rimmed kitty-cat glasses, or the John Lennon bottle-cap style?
Then there was the moustache: red, waxy handlebar, or a black & bushy Stalin-esque cookie duster…
Oooh! How about an indigo tattoo on one of those over-sized paws that she calls hands?
Ergo, the Ogre 