Remembering Roberta Flack

There are some singers whom you will never forget. Roberta Flack is one of them. Her lush voice washes over you like a liquid massage, soothing all your anxieties, and smoothing all the rough corners away. She simply is fabulous!

Two of her hits are my favorites: Killing Me Softly with His Song and The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.

From RobertaFlack.com:

“Internationally hailed as one of the greatest songstresses of our time, GRAMMY Award winning Roberta Flack remains unparalleled in her ability to tell a story through her music. Her songs bring insight into our lives, loves, culture and politics, while effortlessly traversing a broad musical landscape from pop to soul to folk to jazz. She is the only solo artist to win the GRAMMY Award Record of the Year for two (2) consecutive years: The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face won the 1973 GRAMMY and Killing Me Softly with His Song won the 1974 GRAMMY.

Classically trained on the piano from an early age, Ms. Flack received a music scholarship at age 15 to attend Howard University. Discovered while singing at the Washington, DC nightclub Mr. Henry’s by jazz musician Les McCann, she was immediately signed to Atlantic Records. With a string of hits, including, The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, Where Is the Love (a duet with former Howard University classmate Donny Hathaway), Killing Me Softly With His Song, Feel Like Makin’ Love, The Closer I Get to You, Tonight I Celebrate My Love, and Set the Night to Music, Roberta Flack has inspired countless artists with her musical brilliance and honesty.

Described by Reverend Jesse Jackson as “socially relevant and politically unafraid”, Ms. Flack is very active as a humanitarian and mentor. She founded the Roberta Flack School of Music at the Hyde Leadership Charter School in the Bronx, providing an innovative and inspiring music education program to underprivileged students free of charge.

In 2010, Ms. Flack founded The Roberta Flack Foundation whose mission statement is to support animal welfare and music education. In 2019, she awarded grants to Anasa Troutman’s Shelectricity and filmmaker Carol Swainson.

In 2018, Ms. Flack retired from touring and continues to make special appearances.

In 2020, Ms. Flack received a GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition, she raised awareness and funds for Feed The Children.org during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Dawn Pisturino

March 6, 2023

Copyright 2023 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.

“On Cupid’s Broken Wings” on Spillwords

I am pleased and humbled to announce that my poem, On Cupid’s Broken Wings, has been published today on Spillwords Press. I want to thank Dagmara K. and her staff for publishing it. If you like my poem, please remember to like it on Spillwords, too. Thanks!

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!

On Cupid’s Broken Wings

by Dawn Pisturino

On Cupid’s broken wings,

He landed at my door,

An instrument with broken strings,

No music at his core.

His arm wrapped up in dirty slings,

His leg — an oozing sore,

I welcomed him, and my heart sings

With love, and so much more!

With honeyed lips, I kissed him . . .

Please visit Spillwords to read the rest of the poem. Thank you!

[Note: I haven’t been posting much lately because I’ve been working on the final project for my university class. The class is almost over!]

Dawn Pisturino

February 14, 2023

Copyright 2023 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.

Old-Fashioned Christmas Cookie Recipes

(Photo by Bruna Branco on Unsplash)

[NOTE: I’ve been busy with major housecleaning, shopping, doing Christmas stuff, cooking, doing homework for an online class called “Online Obsessions,” and hanging out with my husband before he returns to work next week (he’s been off for the last three months recovering from a total knee replacement). I’m getting caught up with responding to your comments and visiting your blog sites. I apologize for the delay!]

I inherited these recipes from my mother, and I have no idea where she got them, but these are the cookie recipes I use at Christmas. They also make great cookies for Valentine’s Day. Rich, sugary, buttery, spicy, and delicious!

Old-Fashioned Butter Cookies

3 cups sifted flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup butter or margarine (butter is best)

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

2 tbsp. cream or milk

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Sift flour with baking powder and salt and set aside. Cream the butter. Gradually add sugar to the butter, creaming well. Stir in egg, cream, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients gradually and mix well. Chill for at least an hour in the refrigerator. Roll out, one third at a time, on floured surface to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. (This dough also works well in a cookie press.) Place on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 400 degrees for 5-8 minutes or until edges turn golden brown. Let cool. Frost with powdered sugar frosting and decorate.

Gingerbread Cookies

1/2 cup shortening (butter works best)

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup dark molasses

1 egg

2 1/2 cups sifted flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. ginger

1 tsp. cloves

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream shortening and sugar well. Blend in molasses. Add egg and beat well. Stir in sifted dry ingredients. Chill the dough for three hours in the refrigerator. Roll dough on floured surface to 1/8 – 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Bake on ungreased cookie sheets at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. (Do not over-bake.) Let cool. Dust with powdered sugar or frost with powdered sugar frosting and decorate.

Serve your cookies with milk, hot chocolate, tea, or coffee, and enjoy!

I love the Hot Chocolate Scene from Polar Express:

Christmas is coming! Make it Merry! And today is the Winter Solstice – the shortest day of the year! Or, longest night – however you want to look at it. LOL!

Dawn Pisturino

December 21, 2022

Poetry Book Review: Gabriela Marie Milton

(Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash)

Woman: Splendor and Sorrow by Gabriela Marie Milton (2021). Available on Amazon.com.

I met Gabriela a year ago, when she was editor for MasticadoresUSA. Impressed by the quality of the poems and prose I read there, I began to submit poems – both old and new – for her consideration. Well, she published them! And I have been following her ever since. It was her kindness and encouragement which prompted me to start writing poetry again after a long hiatus. She inspires me to reach farther and try harder than ever before.

A Pushcart nominee. A #1 Best-Selling Author on Amazon. The 2019 Author of the Year at Spillwords Press. Gabriela has published two books of high caliber poetry, co-authored anthologies, and edited the recent Amazon Best-Seller, Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women, which she published with Ingrid Wilson of Experiments in Fiction. She resides in a higher realm of imagination, pulling ideas and images out of the clouds that Wow! the reader and transport him/her to another world. She employs language that is lush, exotic, sensual, and stimulating to all five senses. She is her poetry. Her poetry is her. She pushes the boundaries of creativity and encourages others to do the same. She is poet, teacher, mother, friend, divine goddess of the poetic art form. Many of her themes revolve around the strength, resilience, and beauty of women. She adores children, the magic of childhood, and the blessings of motherhood. And then, there’s Love! — and the perpetual tango between two lovers.

Woman: Splendor and Sorrow is a testament to the hypnotic power of love and its ability to elevate us to the heights of ecstasy or fling us into the burning depths of Hell. Every word is exquisitely crafted:

“each word I write cries on the tunes of spring,

a spring that ends in graveyards and in dreams

the night I abandoned you on that bench and left

snows in my mind the syllable of hell

I wanted to return

I wanted to love you . . .”

Poetry and love are the divine twins that rule Gabriela’s heart:

“Poetry?

Oh, poetry was too good to be read.

We tasted it and ate it with silver spoons.”

Gabriela runs her own publishing house now, Literary Revelations Publishing, which seeks to publish high-quality poetry and fiction that grab the reader unawares and trample down the boundaries of creativity.

Websites: Short Prose

Literary Revelations Publishing

~

Dawn Pisturino

November 20, 2022

Copyright 2022 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.

Cat and Ghost Game

It was strange

The way the candle light

Seemed to bounce across the ceiling,

In leaps and bounds,

Like a playful poltergeist

Putting on a show.

In the background,

Where we sat,

The eerie black shadows

Seemed to lie in wait,

Like a big black cat,

Ready to pounce

At any moment

On the poor elusive spirit.

We waited anxiously on the sofa,

A silent audience,

And watched the cat and ghost

Game before us.

The cat lay still before the dancing ghost,

Licked its lips as it watched its prey

Dance closer and closer to Death,

Raised its haunches, flicked its tail,

And with one subtle gust of breath,

Pounced suddenly and completely

Atop the overconfident ghost,

Extinguishing it forever.

We smiled, then closed our lips, drew close,

And pressed them hard together

Beneath the warm black darkness

Which covered us, like a blanket.

Alone at last, we sniffed

The lingering odor of scented wax

And began a new game, called love.

1980

Dawn Pisturino

October 12, 2022

Copyright 1980-2022 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.

September Song/September Morn

(Photo by Sandy Millar on Unsplash)

My autumn decorations are up, and I’m already planning menus for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. My husband was recently diagnosed with borderline diabetes, so cooking will be a little more challenging this year. But we can enjoy the changing season and all that nature brings us. One of my favorite jazz standards that I always think of at this time of year is “September Song.” Originally introduced on Broadway in the 1938 musical, Knickerbocker Holiday, it has been performed by Frank Sinatra and other acclaimed crooners. Chances are good that you’ve heard it.

(Frank Sinatra – September Song)

September Song

When I was a young man courting the girls
I played me a waiting game
If a maid refused me with tossing curls
I’d let the old Earth take a couple of whirls
While I plied her with tears in lieu of pearls
And as time came around she came my way
As time came around, she came

When you meet with the young girls early in the spring
You court them in song and rhyme
They answer with words and a clover ring
But if you could examine the goods they bring
They have little to offer but the songs they sing
And a plentiful waste of time of day
A plentiful waste of time

Oh, it’s a long, long while from May to December
But the days grow short
When you reach September
When the Autumn weather turns the leaves to flame
One hasn’t got time for the waiting game

Oh, the days dwindle down to a precious few
September, November
And these few precious days
I’ll spend with you
These precious days
I’ll spend with you

Songwriters: Kurt Weill, Maxwell Anderson. For non-commercial use only.

And then, there’s the beautiful “September Morn” performed by the fabulous Neil Diamond:

(For the lyrics, click here: https://genius.com/Neil-diamond-september-morn-lyrics)

This year, the autumn equinox will occur on Thursday, September 22, 2022. I’ve already treated myself to a generous cup of hot chocolate, which sounds crazy in the heat, but the temperature was actually pretty cool this morning.

And right now, we’re enjoying the last of the harvest moon in-between cloud covers.

(Photographer unknown)

Happy September! Autumn will be here soon!

Dawn Pisturino

September 14, 2022

Copyright 2022 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.

Old Dreams – A Poem

(Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash)

Old Dreams

So many years! —

And still your memory

Lives in my heart

As a vibrant heartbeat,

Beating new life into

Old dreams . . .

~Dawn Pisturino~

August 19, 2022

Copyright 2022 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.

Sweet Revenge

(Photo by Jennifer Marquez on Unsplash)

Sweet Revenge

If love is pain,

I nailed you to the cross

With revenge so sweet,

It blossomed into a crown of thorns.

~ Dawn Pisturino ~

August 15, 2022

Copyright 2022 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.

The Skeptic’s Kaddish – Poetry Partner #98

I am pleased and proud to announce that my poem, The Age of Elegance, has been published on The Skeptic’s Kaddish, and David ben Alexander has penned his marvelous response to it. Please visit his site here to read our poems and show your support.

Thank you so much!

Dawn Pisturino

July 17, 2022

Copyright 2022 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.

Cheap Wine, Dried Salame, and YOU

 My husband was one of those “bad boys” that girls fall in love with and parents deplore. With his black jacket and black leather cap, he looked like a Sicilian gangster out on a hit.

His pent-up anger spilled out of him in dangerous ways. For example, he mapped out a plan whereby every bank in the city of San Francisco could be robbed on the same day.

His dark nature captivated me, and soon, I was hooked for life.

We fought like cats and dogs, but oh, the fun we had! We went treasure hunting in crazy, out-of-the-way places, finding cold hard cash lying in the sand in a cave. We drove up and down the Pacific Coast Highway in his green Fiat X-19, enjoying the sun on our faces, the wind in our hair. We hiked through the redwoods on Mt. Tamalpais and watched the ocean tides under a full moon at Ocean Beach.

One day, singing at the top of his lungs, my husband suddenly stripped down and drove naked with the top of his car open along the 92 over to Half Moon Bay. Thrilled and excited, I watched for the cops, laughing all the way.

On cool, foggy nights, we slipped away into the darkness and made love on sandy beaches. On warm afternoons, we packed a picnic snack: a bottle of Riunite Lambrusco and a link of dried salame. Sun, warmth, ocean air, sand, green grass, and a hazy glow of love and darkness and friendship between us.

After our daughter was born, we included her in our crazy life. Archery at the range on King’s Mountain, afternoon tea at Agatha’s, strolling the malls, tramping through the sand at Half Moon Bay, riding the carousel at the San Francisco Zoo, flying kites down on the Marina.

Those days are over now. Our daughter is grown, and we’re not as skinny as we used to be. We live in the desert in Arizona, work, walk the dog, watch TV, and complain about the heat, wind, and dust. But whenever I go back to California, I relive those glory days of sunshine and salt air. Whenever I spot a bottle of Riunite or a link of dried salame at the grocery store, I remember foggy nights and making love in the sand.

So let me fill my plastic cup with cheap red wine, arrange slices of salame and cheese on a paper plate, and offer this toast to the man I love:

I LOVE YOU, DEAR HEART, MY LOVER, MY BEST FRIEND, MY MENTOR, MY DEVIL’S ADVOCATE, MY DARK KNIGHT — AND I ALWAYS WILL.

Happy Father’s Day!

(Father’s Day is Sunday, June 19, 2022 in the USA)

Dawn Pisturino

June 16, 2022

Copyright 2012-2022 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.