Today's poet

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hes

Running to Discover

My bruised mind,
battered by the chaos of India,
finds solace in the stillness of home.
Running through the dimming light
the fog hides and transforms
the once familiar trees and hedges.
An air pregnant with possibility
gives birth to startling sounds.
The squawk of a disgruntled guinea fowl
as my bouncing torch beam
picks out its sleeping form.
A low mournful bellow,
milk-swollen and patient,
the cows await their master.
Sulphurous light spills from the barn
where the strains of a violin
drift away in the mist.
The sullen farmer’s melancholic choice,
surprising and beautiful,
makes me wonder.
My ears ring with the sounds of the wind
and my heartbeat as I ascend.
Gritty, muddy footfalls splashing up the hill.
A clattering in the branches
as a pheasant takes fright.
Below the bridge a torrent rages
the stream now a river,
gorged by the thaw.
Nearing home and
the unfamiliar shape ahead turns
revealing a winter-weary mare
She lowers her head
as we both discover
Who I am.

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This is absolutely stunning Hes! well done! :) particularly like the last line...........wow!

Hes, I like that as much as any original work we've had. Loved 'gorged by the thaw'! :cool:

Aye, you can always rely on me to lower the tone like!......

Hot and cold

A woman who my mother knows
Came in and took off all her clothes.

Said I, not being very old,
'By golly gosh, you must be cold!'

'No, no!' she cried. 'Indeed I'm not!
I'm feeling devilishly hot!'

Roald Dahl

Quote:

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Originally Posted by freckle

Aye, you can always rely on me to lower the tone like!......

Hot and cold

A woman who my mother knows
Came in and took off all her clothes.

Said I, not being very old,
'By golly gosh, you must be cold!'

'No, no!' she cried. 'Indeed I'm not!
I'm feeling devilishly hot!'

Roald Dahl

---

I like a good Dahl

Hes that was fantastic. I like the Dahl too.

Life without Love.

I once had aphrodites ear, no more,
Just withering looks and evil incantations,
My free and endless love in a cage with locked door,
Life is empty, silent, devoid of infatuations.

In a world of billions i'm truly alone,
Transparent, invisible cursing my conception,
Should have never been here not born,
Then i wouldn't have to feel this emotional infection.

On my headstone damaged and among thorns and weed,
No-one can quite see as nobodies been,
Where there should be an epitaph no words to read,
No meaning to death just like the life that been.

By Matt Harmston

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tri-mind

Life without Love.

I once had aphrodites ear, no more,
Just withering looks and evil incantations,
My free and endless love in a cage with locked door,
Life is empty, silent, devoid of infatuations.

In a world of billions i'm truly alone,
Transparent, invisible cursing my conception,
Should have never been here not born,
Then i wouldn't have to feel this emotional infection.

On my headstone damaged and among thorns and weed,
No-one can quite see as nobodies been,
Where there should be an epitaph no words to read,
No meaning to death just like the life that been.

By Matt Harmston

---

liking the term "emotional infection" tri

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Hes

Running to Discover

My bruised mind,
battered by the chaos of India,
finds solace in the stillness of home.
Running through the dimming light
the fog hides and transforms
the once familiar trees and hedges.
An air pregnant with possibility
gives birth to startling sounds.
The squawk of a disgruntled guinea fowl
as my bouncing torch beam
picks out its sleeping form.
A low mournful bellow,
milk-swollen and patient,
the cows await their master.
Sulphurous light spills from the barn
where the strains of a violin
drift away in the mist.
The sullen farmer’s melancholic choice,
surprising and beautiful,
makes me wonder.
My ears ring with the sounds of the wind
and my heartbeat as I ascend.
Gritty, muddy footfalls splashing up the hill.
A clattering in the branches
as a pheasant takes fright.
Below the bridge a torrent rages
the stream now a river,
gorged by the thaw.
Nearing home and
the unfamiliar shape ahead turns
revealing a winter-weary mare
She lowers her head
as we both discover
Who I am.

---

Magnifico! Hes

The Kama Sutra of Kindness: Position No. 2

should I greet you
as if
we had merely eaten
together one night
when the white birches
dripped wet
and lightning etched
black trees on your walls?

it is not love
I am asking

love comes from years
of breathing
skin to skin
tangled in each other's dreams
until each night
weaves another thread
in the same web
of blood and sleep

and I have only
passed through you quickly
like light
and you have only
surrounded me suddenly
like flame

the lake is cold
the snows are sudden
the wild cherry bends
and winter's a burden

in your hand I feel
spring burn in the bud.

Mary Mackey

Mossy...i love this line and wish I had wrote it....

in your hand I feel
spring burn in the bud.

nice one

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by freckle

liking the term "emotional infection" tri

---

I agree. What a beautifully written and 'strong' poem TM. But raises the question......

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

From Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem In Memoriam:27

I watched a German subtitled dvd of the film 'North Face' last night. In a final scene, one of the characters reflected that "to have loved is to have lived, and I have lived..."

Any thoughts on this issues, poems to challenge/support this proposition?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by freckle

Mossy...i love this line and wish I had wrote it....

in your hand I feel
spring burn in the bud.

nice one

---

me too, but I often lament at my own lack of talent in comparison to the poems posted on this forum, or those written by fellow threadateers!:D

That is stunning. So many wonderful images from just one run. I love the thought of the farmer listening to the violins. You couldn't make it up.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Hes

Running to Discover

My bruised mind,
battered by the chaos of India,
finds solace in the stillness of home.
Running through the dimming light
the fog hides and transforms
the once familiar trees and hedges.
An air pregnant with possibility
gives birth to startling sounds.
The squawk of a disgruntled guinea fowl
as my bouncing torch beam
picks out its sleeping form.
A low mournful bellow,
milk-swollen and patient,
the cows await their master.
Sulphurous light spills from the barn
where the strains of a violin
drift away in the mist.
The sullen farmer’s melancholic choice,
surprising and beautiful,
makes me wonder.
My ears ring with the sounds of the wind
and my heartbeat as I ascend.
Gritty, muddy footfalls splashing up the hill.
A clattering in the branches
as a pheasant takes fright.
Below the bridge a torrent rages
the stream now a river,
gorged by the thaw.
Nearing home and
the unfamiliar shape ahead turns
revealing a winter-weary mare
She lowers her head
as we both discover
Who I am.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mossdog

........I often lament at my own lack of talent in comparison to the poems posted on this forum, or those written by fellow threadateers!:D

---

I was just thinking the same Mossy, especially the wonderful verse you find regularly ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mossdog

I agree. What a beautifully written and 'strong' poem TM. But raises the question......

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

From Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem In Memoriam:27

I watched a German subtitled dvd of the film 'North Face' last night. In a final scene, one of the characters reflected that "to have loved is to have lived, and I have lived..."

Any thoughts on this issues, poems to challenge/support this proposition?

---

Hi again Mossy

Your question brought to mind this little chinese poem by Hu Shih

A trifle

I too have wished not to love
That I might escape love's agony,
But now after much appraisement,
I willingly accept love's agony.

That pretty much sums it up for me!.............................;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by freckle

Hi again Mossy

Your question brought to mind this little chinese poem by Hu Shih

A trifle

I too have wished not to love
That I might escape love's agony,
But now after much appraisement,
I willingly accept love's agony.

That pretty much sums it up for me!.............................;)

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Hu Shih? Who she?

Like the sentiment though.

Evening all! Thanks for your lovely comments about my poem...I am really glad you liked it. It is always a bit unnerving posting long stuff as it isn't my forte but I just felt like it. It was an ethereal run, with all that fog and odd little scenarios, but I feel so much more myself after it.

Tri, your poem was really wonderful, very moving.

I loved the Kama Sutra of Kindness, MossDog. Absolutely brilliant! I am copying and pasting it into my slowly growing folder of favourites from this thread (saves trawling back at a later stage).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by freckle

Hi again Mossy

Your question brought to mind this little chinese poem by Hu Shih

A trifle

I too have wished not to love
That I might escape love's agony,
But now after much appraisement,
I willingly accept love's agony.

That pretty much sums it up for me!.............................;)

---

Yes, it seems to me that most poets side with the "it's better to have..." perspective, but personally I'm still undecided. It's straying a little but Emily Dickinson wrote:

My life closed twice before its close

My life closed twice before its close--
It yet remains to see
If Immortality unveil
A third event to me

So huge, so hopeless to conceive
As these that twice befell.
Parting is all we know of heaven,
And all we need of hell.

I can't tell whether the events she referred to were 'luuuuuvvvvvve' related, nor can I ascertain from the last two lines whether she considered these to be heaven or hell (or both), so I'm putting Emily down, like me, as an 'undecided' re the proposition:D (and doesn't her poem give you the shivers? It does me).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mossdog

Yes, it seems to me that most poets side with the "it's better to have..." perspective, but personally I'm still undecided. It's straying a little but Emily Dickinson wrote:

My life closed twice before its close

My life closed twice before its close--
It yet remains to see
If Immortality unveil
A third event to me

So huge, so hopeless to conceive
As these that twice befell.
Parting is all we know of heaven,
And all we need of hell.

I can't tell whether the events she referred to were 'luuuuuvvvvvve' related, nor can I ascertain from the last two lines whether she considered these to be heaven or hell (or both), so I'm putting Emily down, like me, as an 'undecided' re the proposition:D (and doesn't her poem give you the shivers? It does me).

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i love that poem.... i guess what your question is pertaining to is the risk associated with falling in love with someone, and one of the major risks is losing them and the associated pain...that made me think about the following poem which has been posted before...i find it very moving.....

Time does not bring relief

Time does not bring relief; you all have lied
Who told me time would ease me of my pain!
I miss him in the weeping of the rain;
I want him at the shrinking of the tide;
The old snows melt from every mountain-side,
And last year's leaves are smoke in every lane;
But last year's bitter loving must remain
Heaped on my heart, and my old thoughts abide.
There are a hundred places where I fear
To go - so with his memory they brim.
And entering with relief some quiet place
Where never fell his foot or shone his face
I say, 'There is no memory of him here!'
And so stand stricken, so remembering him.


Edna St Vincent Millay (1892 -1950)

another one pertaining to the the pain associated with the loss of a loved one....gets me every time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_a-eXIoyYA

Quote:

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Originally Posted by freckle

i love that poem.... i guess what your question is pertaining to is the risk associated with falling in love with someone, and one of the major risks is losing them and the associated pain...that made me think about the following poem which has been posted before...i find it very moving.....

Time does not bring relief

Time does not bring relief; you all have lied
Who told me time would ease me of my pain!
I miss him in the weeping of the rain;
I want him at the shrinking of the tide;
The old snows melt from every mountain-side,
And last year's leaves are smoke in every lane;
But last year's bitter loving must remain
Heaped on my heart, and my old thoughts abide.
There are a hundred places where I fear
To go - so with his memory they brim.
And entering with relief some quiet place
Where never fell his foot or shone his face
I say, 'There is no memory of him here!'
And so stand stricken, so remembering him.


Edna St Vincent Millay (1892 -1950)

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Nice one Freckle! I was just thinking about the very same poem. I am of the belief that it is better to have loved and lost...at least you feel that you have experienced a profound part of being human. Then again, I am an incurable romantic and have lost loves so I don't have much choice, thinking positively is infinitely preferable to wishing it all never happened!:o

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Derby Tup

I was just thinking the same Mossy, especially the wonderful verse you find regularly ;)

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Ah yes and Mossy has been known to write a nice bit of verse...i seem to recall a very good one called a runners prayer?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mossdog

I agree. What a beautifully written and 'strong' poem TM. But raises the question......

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

From Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem In Memoriam:27

Any thoughts on this issues, poems to challenge/support this proposition?

---

Absolutely! Far better!

You've got to risk it for a biscuit. :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by freckle

i love that poem.... i guess what your question is pertaining to is the risk associated with falling in love with someone, and one of the major risks is losing them and the associated pain...that made me think about the following poem which has been posted before...i find it very moving.....

Time does not bring relief

Time does not bring relief; you all have lied
Who told me time would ease me of my pain!
I miss him in the weeping of the rain;
I want him at the shrinking of the tide;
The old snows melt from every mountain-side,
And last year's leaves are smoke in every lane;
But last year's bitter loving must remain
Heaped on my heart, and my old thoughts abide.
There are a hundred places where I fear
To go - so with his memory they brim.
And entering with relief some quiet place
Where never fell his foot or shone his face
I say, 'There is no memory of him here!'
And so stand stricken, so remembering him.


Edna St Vincent Millay (1892 -1950)

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Yes, I remember you posting that one before, it's so very moving - wasn't she referring to Scott (of the Antarctic that is)? Of a similar vein, but in my opinion far less eloquent is this...(it's a bit too affected 'me thinks' (sorry for that affectation too!:D) and not written from the integrity of feeling that characterized Edna's poem, but maybe I'm doing Kit a disservice!).

Seek Not My Heart
by Kit McCallum
Oh gentle winds 'neath moonlit skies,
Do not you hear my heartfelt cries?

Below the branches, here about,
Do not you sense my fear and doubt?
Side glistening rivers, sparkling streams,
Do not you hear my woeful screams?

Upon the meadows, touched with dew,
Do not you see my hearts a'skew?
Beneath the thousand twinkling stars,
Do not you feel my jagged scars?

Seek not my mournful heart kind breeze,
For you'll not find it 'mongst these trees.

It's scattered 'cross the moonlit skies,
Accompanied by heartfelt sighs.
It's drifting o're the gentle rain,
A symbol of my silent pain.

It's buried 'neath the meadow fair,
Conjoined with all the sorrow there.
It's lost among the stars this night,
Too far to ease my quiet fright.

No gentle winds, seek not my heart,
For simply ... it has torn apart.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Harry H Howgill

Absolutely! Far better!

You've got to risk it for a biscuit. :)

---

Risk it for the biscuit??? HHH, you can always be relied on to offer nuggats of profound wisdom in a humourous package!!:D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Harry H Howgill

Absolutely! Far better!

You've got to risk it for a biscuit. :)

---

but only, only, if its for a Custard Cream HHH :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mossdog

Yes, I remember you posting that one before, it's so very moving - wasn't she referring to Scott (of the Antarctic that is)? Of a similar vein, but in my opinion far less eloquent is this...(it's a bit too affected 'me thinks' (sorry for that affectation too!:D) and not written from the integrity of feeling that characterized Edna's poem, but maybe I'm doing Kit a disservice!).
.

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No that was Anne Michaels in Ice House but...that is definitely one of the best and most beautiful poems about loss.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hes

Risk it for the biscuit??? HHH, you can always be relied on to offer nuggats of profound wisdom in a humourous package!!:D

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That phrase used to be the name of a quiz on a local radio station in Scotland when I lived up there. It kind of stuck in my head. It isn't one I use every day! :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hes

Risk it for the biscuit??? HHH, you can always be relied on to offer nuggats of profound wisdom in a humourous package!!:D

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Um, shouldn't that be 'nougats' Hes?:D

http://crookedshore.wordpress.com/20...anne-michaels/

It can be found above.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hes

No that was Anne Michaels in Ice House but...that is definitely one of the best and most beautiful poems about loss.

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Oophs! I stand corrected. Thanks Hes.:)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mossdog

but only, only, if its for a Custard Cream HHH :D

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Choccy digestive (plain) for me I'm afraid. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mossdog

Um, shouldn't that be 'nougats' Hes?:D

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nahhh not where I come from! then poeple would call them nooogars.;)

Love's Secret


Never seek to tell thy love,
Love that never told can be,
For the gentle wind doth move
Silently, invisibly.

I told my love, I told my love
I told her all my heart,
Trembling, cold, in ghastly fears,
Ah! she did depart.

Soon after she was gone from me,
A traveller came by,
Silently, invisibly,
He took her with a sigh

William Blake

this thread is on fire tonight. Tri - heart rending and moving. hes - maybe longer poems suit you after all - I really enjoyed this; reflective, moody, surreal (in fact ethereal) and ultimately affirming. Damn good value!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hes

nahhh not where I come from! then poeple would call them nooogars.;)

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http://web.mit.edu/cms/bcc/blogpics/nestle_nuggets.gif

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Harry H Howgill

Choccy digestive (plain) for me I'm afraid. :)

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Possibly only challenged by a dark chocolate Hob-nob as my favourite biscuit :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Derby Tup

Love's Secret


Never seek to tell thy love,
Love that never told can be,
For the gentle wind doth move
Silently, invisibly.

I told my love, I told my love
I told her all my heart,
Trembling, cold, in ghastly fears,
Ah! she did depart.

Soon after she was gone from me,
A traveller came by,
Silently, invisibly,
He took her with a sigh

William Blake

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Beautiful choice DT!

But...am I reading this correctly? Treat em, mean keep em keen? You tell them you love them and they run away so you are supposed to be all cool and uncommunicative? :(

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Old Whippet

this thread is on fire tonight. Tri - heart rending and moving. hes - maybe longer poems suit you after all - I really enjoyed this; reflective, moody, surreal (in fact ethereal) and ultimately affirming. Damn good value!

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Thanks very much OW, I'm honestly really chuffed that you like it. It was written partly on the hoof and partly whilst waiting for my immersion to heat up.:)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Derby Tup

Possibly only challenged by a dark chocolate Hob-nob as my favourite biscuit :)

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Ginger biscuits enrobed in dark chocolate...oh...my...god!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Derby Tup

Possibly only challenged by a dark chocolate Hob-nob as my favourite biscuit :)

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Hold on, hold on!!!! wot about jammy dodgers like!

Blind date with a biscuit enthuasist

Malted milk are OK
Chocolate digestives are here to stay
But if you want to know the way to my heart
Give me a jammy dodger from the start

Hob nobs provide sustenance
Chocolate bourbons are pretty cool
But if you want my love baby
Give me jammy dodgers for fuel!

Oh dear...i have OFFICIALLY lost it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!must get some sleep tonight!