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Dr. Sue Song (or Poem) of the Month “Winter Rhythm” Positive Entertainment

Dr. Sue Song (or Poem) of the Month “Winter Rhythm” Positive Entertainment

Dr. Sue November 2020
Dr. Sue November 2020, Photo by SuZen

Do you like a Creative Challenge? Do you enjoy songs, poetry, art, and nature? Do you like combining words with music or pictures? Do you like learning and/or teaching, and sharing?

Here is your Song/Poem Challenge of the Month!

Create a song or poem inspired by a month, season, and/or holiday – with an optional image. If you don’t compose music, write a lyric or poem.

Here is “Winter Rhythm” my song and poem inspired by December with an image of migrating geese.

Scroll down for printed lyric, explanation of the poem and my creative process – which may inspire yours! Music is available on request. Click on Image to Enlarge.

Winter Rhythm

Winter Rhythm, something in the sky
Makes the geese sense snow in the air...and fly

Winter Rhythm, something in me grieves
Golden autumn clings to the trees...then leaves

Once upon a summertime we waltzed in sweet romance
Now our steps don't rhyme and we don't dance

Out of rhythm, but trying not to show
In your mind you're gone like the spring 
And though December leaves try to cling
Like the geese, I know...it's time to go

"Winter Rhythm" Words and Music by Susan Horowitz 
copyright 2020
Please request permission to share.

Here’s my explanation of the poem/lyric and my creative process. I hope it inspires your own creativity and love of songs, art, and literature.

My Creative Challenge is a Song or Poem for December. My season is the turn from autumn to winter – from November into December.

I started with the Title – “Winter Rhythm.” I took the title from a music festival sponsored by Urban Stages Theater in New York City (urbanstages.org/winterrhythms)

I like the musicality of the word “rhythms” (which I shortened to “rhythm”) and the connection to the winter season.

I wanted an image from nature that reflects seasonal change – like the migration of birds. I thought about the mallard ducks in the pond of a local park. However, “Ducks” (with the sharp “cks” sound) seemed too sharp, so I changed it to “geese” (with a soft “s” sound) which slid nicely into “sense”.

Migrating geese sense the coming of winter and fly south. How does that connect to other aspects of nature and to human emotions? In the second verse, the glorious golden leaves of autumn turn brown, wither, and fall. I am sad to lose their beauty – which also suggests human loss.

The form and rhythm of the first two verses is the same – which also allows the music to repeat and satisfies our ear – we “catch” the melody. Both verses open with the refrain “Winter Rhythm.”

Now it’s time for a change – the “bridge” of the song, which usually has a different rhythm, melody, and feeling or thought. We shift focus from late autumn/early winter sadness to a memory of summertime happiness. The first two verses introduced the word “rhythm,” but now we focus on a different rhythm – a “waltz,” which has a 3/4 rhythm and is associated with romantic dancing.

The last verse returns to the current season, connects earlier parts of the song and reveals their meaning. “Rhythm” shows up in the refrain, but now the romantic relationship feels “out of rhythm” awkward and forced. “You” (the beloved) are already disconnected from the “spring” (youthful enthusiasm) of early love. As “December leaves” cling to a tree, the speaker wants to cling to the beloved, but realizes that their romance is now frail, fading and falling away. It’s time to move on. “Like the geese, I know…it’s time to go.”

My main poetic influences in writing this song lyric are sonnets of William Shakespeare, which often connect nature (including seasonal change) and human emotions, and the poetry of Edna Saint Vincent Millay – especially her poem “The Spring and the Fall.” The music (in a minor key) suggests sadness – and is available on request.

I hope you enjoy my song lyric/poem and explanatory notes. Enjoy more Blogs with Songs, Comedy, and Entertaining, Educational Virtual Tours. I am Susan “Dr. Sue” Horowitz, Ph.D., Writer-Performer-Professor-Guest Speaker. I programs, including intertactive workshops, in-person and online.

Please use the contact form on my web site to send me an Email, or find me on Facebook, Linked In and YouTube Channel www.youtube.com/drsuecomedian

(Note: Thanks to Suzen, Photographer (suzennyc.com) for this November photograph of me, taken on our walk in the High Line Park, NYC (thehighline.org) and to Michael Lynch – Website Consultant – and to You – My Dear Readers!)

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Susan (“Dr. Sue”) Horowitz, Ph.D.
Entertaining Motivational Speaker-Author-Educator-Singer/Songwriter.

Book: “Queens of Comedy”
(Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett, Joan Rivers, Phyllis Diller, and more!)
smashwords.com/books/view/219367

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Dr. Sue Daffodils Positive Entertainment

Dr. Sue Nature & Poetry Positive Entertainment

Hello. This is Dr. Sue (Susan Horowitz, Ph.D,) I live in Manhattan, New York, the epicenter of our current pandemic. I say “current” because, this too shall pass – especially if we take care of our health – physical and mental. It’s March, 2020, early spring – one of my favorite times of year. I’ve been spending lots of time in my apartment. I wanted fresh air and a way to connect to the beauty of nature. Social distancing is important, so I decided to go for a solo walk in a local park – no mass transportation, and no crowds. After a short walk in the park, I came across these beautiful fields of daffodils. (Please scroll down for video). These golden-trumpeted flowers reminded me of the ending lines from one of my favorite poems: “I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud” by William Wordsworth, written in the early 19th century. The last line of the poem is: “And then my heart with pleasure fills and dances with the daffodils.” Wordsworth writes about how, when he is feeling depressed,  (“in vacant or in pensive mood”),  he remembers the daffodils moving in the wind. The memory lifts his spirits and he feels pleasure as he imagines “his heart…dancing with the daffodils.” Many of us are feeling isolated and lonely and bored as we self-isolate to protect our health, and the health of our loved ones and community. This is the wise and generous thing to do. It’s easy to become depressed as the public media and worried friends share frightening statistics and stories – – and interpretations that can lead to personal despair. What can we do? We can take care of our physical health, and by now, we know what to do (social distance, hygiene, etc.) We can take care of our mental and spiritual health. We can manage and limit our exposure to negativity. We can focus on opportunities for growth and learning, on healthy routines, on hobbies, and on beauty. We can enjoy the beauty of nature – either in reality (like my solo walk), in memory (like William Wordsworth’s poem), or virtually (in videos, photographs, and text). I hope you enjoy this video of me and my daffodils! Dr. Sue Shares Uplifting Poem About Daffodils

Susan (“Dr. Sue”) Horowitz, Ph.D.

Book: “Queens of Comedy” (Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett, Joan Rivers, Phyllis Diller, and more!) www.smashwords.com/books/view/219367 Musical: “SssWitch”: www.ssswitch.net  www.YouTube.com/drsuecomedian https://www.youtube.com/feed/my_videos