Songs of Tristan

By Elizabeth Santowasso Braucht

We all suffer loss in life, be it the loss of a person we love, a pet, health, fortune, identity or fame. In order to assuage the pain of such losses we need to regain balance in our lives. This remarkable man, Poet Tristan, through humor, storytelling, heartbreak, self-deprecation and whimsy, in this, perhaps his first volume of work, helps us to replace that balance through his songs of love and life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Dec 14, 2012
• ISBN: 9781477286968

Elizabeth Santowasso Braucht

Peter T. Dressler, born in Austria in 1932; escaped pre-WWII Europe; was schooled and lived in Baltimore, Md. and Washington, D.C.; entered the Navy, which he often referred to as “the best years of his life;” and taking advantage of the “GI Bill,” graduated from American University. He began a life in government work and the corporate world from which he retired to spend his time on the Chesapeake Bay and Magic Creek, where he became known as “Superfish.” His poetry was inspired by these experiences as well as his childhood and early life. He is married; and, has two adult children and three grand children from his first marriage. He currently resides in both Maryland and North Carolina.

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© 2012 by Elizabeth Santowasso Braucht. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author and owner of the poems.

Published by AuthorHouse 01/09/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4772-8698-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-8697-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-8696-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012920827

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Dedication

Preface

Abandoned Dog

The Face I Didn’t See

Stray Dog Trilogy Stray Dog Murmurs . . . Morning

Stray Dog Murmurs . . . Afternoon

Stray Dog Beginnings

Wearing my Father’s Shoes

My Doot de Doo Christmas

Guitar

Albert Itore

Being Myself

Father’s Day

Sweet Tooth

Of Mouse And Man

Spreading Seeds

Feathered Lady

In Praise Of Older Women

Bird Hunting

Fall Morning

On Sunday Morning

Boris

Boris Watching

Wild Flowers

Winter Flowers

Tristan At His Stalingrad ’97

Buzzards On Sale

Dark Shadows

Enough Already

Just Lookin’

Open Portals

Pretty Lady

Wind Song

Yankee Flipper Madness

Knowing Smile

Endless Love Affair

Critters’ Choice

Snow Messenger Whispers

Water’s Edge

Carrot Tree Chronicles Trilogy

The Carrot Tree

Carrot Tree Reverie

Carrot Tree Reflections

Finally, Amid The Wildflowers

Together Always

Te Deum for Mimi

The Mariner

Hugs Of Yesterday

Ferryman

White Bird Epiphany

Judgment Day

Holly (Bush) In The Mornin’

Loved Him Most

Afternoon Delight

Best In Show

Frivo

Sunset Afternoon

Get Well Soon

Prayer For Becky

Loss Of My Best Friend

Memory Of A Throw-Away Dog

Last Memory

Strange Happiness

Awaiting Happiness

Hello Heartache, Goodbye Happiness

Bonded Forever

Bitter Roots

Feeding Swans

Happy Returns

Swan Call

Swan Song

Swans

Swan In Winter

Swan Song Requiem

Surviving Swan

Swans Restored

Nighttime Visitors

Nightly Dinner Guest

New Friend

New Amour

Unforgettable Feast

Scotty Duck

Redemption

White Flower

Thanksgiving Day

When Winter Comes

Summer Breakfast

Summer Fever

Squirrel Mystery

Raccoon(s)

Tristan’s Home Called Wahnfried House**

Ice Cream Flavors

Change Of Pace

I Have to Stop

Indian Giver

Forever Moments

Mating Dance

Kisses

Beware Of Wonderful

To Hell With Gatorade

Lovemaking

Definitive Moment

Being Liked

If Only

Lucky

Half Off

Always A Sailor

I Accept Nothing

Counterfeit Coin

Who Is That Woman Across The Room?

Anything Less

Looking Glass

Date From Hell

Prisoner Of Desire

Lies

Upon Reflection

Pretty Woman

Lost Dreams

Eating Cookies

Don’t Let Me

Two Reflections

Giggle

Loving Touch

Sensual Roaming

Birthday Aloneness

Magic Gone Missing

Late Life Madness

Changing Faces

Heading Home

False Illusions

Ensnared

Beware Of Happiness

Without Permission

Kissing Or Cooking

Lost Weekend

Will You Like Me Still?

Looking Back

Letter To A Cold Lady

Yesterday’s Smiles

Loneliness

Moving On

Ménage à Trois

Before The Nothingness

Magic Carpet Ride

Missing Shirt

Violin Awakener

Station Wagon Love

Sailor Man

Long Drive Home

Lost Notions

Whiskey Mornings

Discarded Wine

Love Unspoken

Sometime Soon

I Like You

White Lies

Unchained

Wildfire

Past Whispers

Wearing Blue

Forgetting To Forget

Well-Endowed Women

Wild Distraction

Curves

Thanks For That

Last Perfection

Bliss

Yesterdays Remembered

Last Love

At Last, Sunset

Moving On Day

Should Have

Tarrying

Beggar

A Rock To Cling To

Even After Then

Late April Afternoon

Cold December Day

The Last Winter

Coming Winter

Query

Epilogue

Goodbye My Creek

Final Moment

Poet’s Afterword

Dedication

This book is dedicated to

Tristan’s loyal and caring daughter, Roxanne Dressler Bachowski,

to the works of S.T. Coleridge, Edmond Rostand, Omar Khayyam, William Shakespeare, and

the operatic works of Puccini, Verdi, Offenbach and especially Richard Wagner,

all of whom influenced the poet and gave him

the wings to fly above the hardships of his life.

It is especially dedicated to two inimitable and true friends,

Liz Santowasso Braucht, whose energy, skill and perseverance provided the impetus to achieve her goal of bringing to fruition the publication of this first volume of the poet’s collections of songs of life and love,

Peg Wilson Sever, whose patience and marketing knowledge was essential to the outcome,

and to a special lady . . . you know who you are.

Preface

Intimate Moment

When I share with you a poem

it is the most intimate thing I have,

penetrating your mind and heart,

mixing my very essence, being,

with your anxious awaiting,

producing for an instant

a blending of souls

where two become one

locked for a moment

in an endless embrace.

Abandoned Dog

A dog,

abused dog,

frightened dog, alone,

abandoned dog out in the cold.

Someone comes who cares,

a kindness yet unknown,

the gentle hand of God,

unqualified love.

Finally a home,

a friend,

a dog.

The Face I Didn’t See

(Tristan looking back)

The face I didn’t see, he was not there for me,

not at graduation nor the ending of the war.

And, as I matured, still the same things as before,

it’s not he sometimes wasn’t there; he wasn’t there at all.

Stray Dog Trilogy

Stray Dog Murmurs . . . Morning

(The beginnings of the poet’s aloneness)

The National Training School for Boys;

hundred steps leading up that hill,

a dumping place for wayward little boys.

One, two, buckle my shoe.

Everything old, everything cold with fresh paint.

"You’ll be fine in this place, he said, you’ll be just fine;

lots of boys here just like you who won’t conform."

Three, four, shut the door.

Waiting outside the office, locked in silence;

no one to see or feel my building fright;

stray at the pound, waiting for his cage.

Five, six, pick up sticks.

Alone, sitting by myself, looking out the window;

See, see, I cried, "a dog, a lady and a dog;

oh, to be a dog upon a leash and belong to someone."

Seven, eight, lay them straight.

The man who brought me soon returned.

They won’t take you, he said with a frown;

even they won’t take you.

Nine, ten, do it again.

Stray Dog Murmurs . . . Afternoon

(Having been rejected by the National Training School for Boys, my

father and I walk down the same one hundred steps lost within

ourselves and having nothing further to say to each other.)

Nothing more to say except goodbye

as cold and formal as the original hellos.

One thing for sure, they were as glad

to see me go as I was leaving this barren place.

Now down those hundred steps again,

me and my paper suitcase fastened with a rope.

What a pair as we descended the stairway

each suited to the other in our mutual shabbiness.

Waited almost an hour for the bus. Dead silence

between my dad and me. We were as strangers,

him to me, me to him, two disparate people waiting for the bus.

We paid our fares, he sat down in front; I went to the back.

The bus stopped for a passenger; I didn’t see him get on.

Came all the way to the back, asking if he could sit with me.

Flashed a friendly smile and told me not to be afraid;

he took my hand in his, tears running down his face.

"Mein lieber sohn, I’ve come a long, long way to seek you out.

Today is the ending of the old, your childhood days.

It is also the beginning of the new, your pending manhood.

You may be rejected from time to time but be stalwart and unafraid.

"On your trek you will see a sign to show the way;

it will be me watching over you pointing in the right direction;

you will not have family like other boys, but in their place

there will be others who will love you in equal measure."

Then this strange man rose, hugged and kissed me. He said

we’d see each other again in a different time and place.

With that he ambled to the head of the bus; waved goodbye,

but the bus never stopped. I waved goodbye to my friend.

Alone in my seat and very sad, I chanced to look down.

Lying next to me was cross shaped medal edged in silver.*

My God, I thought, it must have fallen from the man’s pocket.

Attached was ribbon. It said Remember me, oh, remember me,

your loving father.

*Knights cross

Stray Dog Beginnings

I was a stray dog, even as a pup,

too