{"id":448,"date":"2015-01-06T03:44:23","date_gmt":"2015-01-06T03:44:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/judywinchell.com\/?page_id=448"},"modified":"2015-01-13T19:36:53","modified_gmt":"2015-01-13T19:36:53","slug":"ode-to","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/judywinchell.com\/?page_id=448","title":{"rendered":"Ode to Saul Bellows"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"bard_college\"<\/a>In 1951, I embarked on an educational journey at the very prestigious and progressive Bard College in upstate New York. I was seventeen years old, internally frightened and outwardly pretending I knew it all.<\/h2>\n

I made a conscious decision to keep my mouth shut and my brain open to new discoveries and ideas so I would actually learn things that would make me feel less stupid.<\/p>\n

By the time I reached my junior year, I became savvy, less afraid and sometimes cocky. It was then I met author and professor Saul Bellows, who spent that year at Bard writing his first novel, and teaching creative writing and poetry.<\/p>\n

\"saul_color_pink1\"<\/a>His class had filled up immediately but I heard he had an eye for the ladies so I put on my sexiest outfit and sidled up to him in the coffee shop, introduced myself and begged for a place in his poetry class. He acquiesced and I had the privilege of spending an amazing semester with him. Just listening to him speak was pure poetry. He had a way with words that was both inspiring and empowering. It was a semester filled with self exploration and an opportunity to view my soul. Our final assignment was to write a sonnet in iambic pentameter, and so after thirty hours of intense work, I did it. I\u2019m both thrilled and honored to report I got an A+ from Saul Bellows, who I grew to admire and respect and lost my heart to at the same time.<\/p>\n

\"adventures-augie-march\"<\/a>Shortly thereafter Saul Bellows published \u201cThe Adventures of Augie March\u201d which immediately became a best seller and the catalyst for his very long writing career which took off like wildfire.<\/p>\n

The following is the only sonnet I ever wrote and I dedicated it to one of those teachers that moved me and helped to transform my thinking in a very profound way.<\/p>\n

In 1998 my sonnet was chosen to be included and published in \u201cOf Time and Tide\u201d, a collection of poetic artistry and literature.<\/p>\n

Sonnet 1<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Our paths entwined beneath the lunar rage.
\nTempests unleashed within, were greater still.<\/em><\/p>\n

My fiery core set blazes to its cage
\nAnd we, fused with the earth at (corpus) will.<\/em><\/p>\n

Unbound by shackled bodies blend, unchecked
\nBlood merged with blood.<\/em><\/p>\n

At the periphery
\nOf heavens portals spread, reborn, we waked,
\nbut then descended into space and sea.<\/p>\n

You left, and I in solitude had drawn the shade.
\nPerception failed where blindness took its place
\nto blanket embers.<\/em><\/p>\n

They extinguished, bade
\nforth outer frost perplexing in disgrace.<\/p>\n

The ebb has passed, like tidal waves.
\nOn shore the fire lumens brighter than before.<\/em><\/p>\n

Saul Bellows became one of the great writers of our time and I was left with one of the greatest memories of my time. When I think about that experience, I smile. He had a huge influence on me choosing to live a magical life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 1951, I embarked on an educational journey at the very prestigious and progressive Bard College in upstate New York. I was seventeen years old, internally frightened and outwardly pretending I knew it all. I made a conscious decision to … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-448","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/judywinchell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/448"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/judywinchell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/judywinchell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/judywinchell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/judywinchell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=448"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/judywinchell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":557,"href":"https:\/\/judywinchell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/448\/revisions\/557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/judywinchell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}