Taking Poetry to the Next Level ~ Multi-Media: Listen to and Watch My Latest Poems

Watch a multi-media film featuring my poem, "Why I Love You," from the book Unsung Love Songs. This film was created by artist, Jennifer S. Peña, and provides the viewer with a voice recording of my poem, a musical background and images that float across the screen.

Check it out by clicking HERE.

Why I Love You … in 35 Words


Breath, beyond which my hands extend,
is where you live.

Only you are safe,
when my moods mingle with cloudbursts.

Your acoustic guitar fills the house with music,
leaving no corner without joy’s pure sound.


Cristina M. R. Norcross
(from the book Unsung Love Songs, Feb. 2010)
Copyright 2009
*****

Listen to my poem "Waiting to Swim" right now! Click HERE


Waiting to Swim


The hotel room is empty,
save for our mess of clothes.
You are already deep in conference.
I can no longer keep the cleaning ladies at bay,
so I gather up solo essentials
and take my place by the concrete pool.

The days are hot and open in The Bahamas –
spread out like white flames on wheat.
I imagine your pen scratching paper,
while I read –
adjusting my shades
and this unforgiving bathing suit.

There is no escaping the floor to ceiling fish tank.
Marine life follows me through the lobby –
my pacing in time with aquatic circles.
Night settles with quiet steps.
The door opens,
and our solitary days join
into a jagged puzzle
of business and vacation.


Cristina M. R. Norcross
Copyright 2009
www.FirkinFiction.com
Unsung Love Songs (Forthcoming, Feb. 2010)
*****


Watch words bounce and glide as meaning finds its focus in the short visual clip featuring my poem "The Red Drum" from the book of the same title. Film created by John Norcross.

Click HERE


The Red Drum
(Inspired by the writing of Stanley Kunitz)


Your heart – a red drum.
Taut leather bound
to the infinite shape of a circle,
seeks the music of other beating hearts.

Sound changes,
when a strong wind blows,
when the leather is rain-soaked,
when the sun makes the circle
jump into the light.

“I made this,”
says the drum.
Dreams take shape in the air,
with each, bellowing note.
“Now change it by living,”
says the drum’s stick.
Sing a new song.
“Truth –
Of thee I sing.”

Many more layers of change
bring syncopated rhythms,
ballads of longing,
and newly discovered voices.

Your heart is a red drum –
now crimson with passion,
tomorrow the sun makes it pink –
a tender, summer rose.
Sing your transformation to the world.
Beat the drum.
Beat the drum.
Beat the drum.

Cristina M. R. Norcross
Copyright 2008
The Red Drum (Nov. 2008)