Lyric, Words on a Page II

07/22/2021
By Ed Timperlake

It is symbolically a Christmas in July for Rappahannock County Virginia because a new book of Poetry by T. C. Pelegatta Jr. has just been published.

I had the opportunity to review Ted Pellegatta’s previous works of art,.

He is a fellow former Marine and his first his book,  “Lyric Words on a Page” captured his gifted use of words to leave lasting poetic imagery of America and especially Rappahannock County Virginia and thus celebrate with grace and dignity those  live in such a unique place:

He can be considered as “A warrior poet”

In his life’s journey, he has highlighted the beauty of Rappahannock County Virginia.

It is a land of remarkable beauty on the eastern  side of the mountains known as “the sunny side”  of the Blue Ride.

He has produced two books of note which celebrate the beauty of the region.

In a Rappahannock News Christmas 2020 column, during a trying time for all of us, Ted’s joyous book of brilliantly framed lasting photographs and his first book of poetry showed all that in this time of testing essentially  a 21st Century “Journal of the Plague Year”  period, that the COVID pandemic would not destroy our spirit.

Capturing the pictorial beauty of Rappahannock in a lasting work is Ted Pellegatta’s collection of photographs reproduced in his book “Virginia’s Blue Ridge.”

But proving that not only does Ted have a photographer’s eye he has a poet’s gift with words in his recent work, “Lyric: Words on a Page.”

The late T.S Eliot a gifted renowned poet tried to capture the misery of April in an often quoted line; “April is the Cruelest Month,” in his epic poem “The Waste Land.”

However, Ted counters Eliot’s bleakness with hope and a celebration of life in his opening poem.

“ April”

Cold

Windy

Winters

Long shadow

Spring

Close behind

Morning

No Frost

Flowers growing

March wind

Blowing in April

Plum tree

Blossoming

Smell the air

Smell the earth

Smell the flowers…

With a unique perspective in a “Chef Named Sous” he captures with vivid imagery the quest of an individual who works hard in a kitchen to be called “Chef”

Doing the dance

Make it work

Eye on the prize

Someday

Called Chef

For Rappahannock County that has the world famous “Inn at Little Washington” celebrating the joy of artful food preparation his whimsical poem is in perfect pitch.

Lyric, Volume II is not a political book of poems yet Ted does have an artistic bite when he is righteously upset with a huge ego making it all about themselves.

With America cities and rural areas fighting COVID Ted without mentioning his name calls Dr. Fauci to task:

“Short Man”

Where a mask everywhere

Proclaims short man

Inside

Outside

In your car

Get fined

Get arrested

Maybe die

Months ago

No mask needed

Short man

Large ego

Sitting poolside

No mask

Media darling

Sunglass on

During pandemic and perhaps sadly describing a forever trend his poem “Do As I Say”  laments a lost generation:

Lost generation

Cyber space

No interaction

Hard to measure

Perhaps

Gone forever

Living on

Digital Device.

There are fifty three poems, I suspect in playing off the book title word “Lyric” several can be set to music.

The journey in reading his poems is never ending, read his treasured words and then read them again and again it is a wonderful experience to let one’s mind be captured by his artistic images and subtly profound messages.

His final poem is simply called “ Sperryville” which captures a specific time and place to take the reader on a journey of an historic small town waiting for Christmas but yet symbolically could be any village in America, hence my quip about Christmas in July;

“All quiet

Night before

Wait for man

With reindeer

Dressed in White

Red

Merry Christmas

To all

In the village.