Today's poet

spring is just a couple of snowy fell runs away...

Begin
Brendan Kennerly

Begin again to the summoning birds
to the sight of light at the window,
begin to the roar of morning traffic
all along Pembroke Road.
Every beginning is a promise
born in light and dying in dark
determination and exaltation of springtime
flowering the way to work.
Begin to the pageant of queuing girls
the arrogant loneliness of swans in the canal
bridges linking the past and the future
old friends passing through with us still.
Begin to the loneliness that cannot end
since it perhaps is what makes us begin,
begin to wonder at unknown faces
at crying birds in the sudden rain
at branches stark in the willing sunlight
at seagulls foraging for bread
at couples sharing a sunny secret
alone together while making good.
Though we live in a world that dreams of ending
that always seems about to give in
something that will not acknowledge conclusion
insists that we forever begin

Hello all again, long time no post, but not so much of a long time no lurk.... Just recovering from reading V. An epic on a number of levels!

As usual, no inclination to write until something happens. THis time, i noticed my local market town is dying. The cinema has gone, there are no places to eat of note anymore, the library is gone and the list grows. We don't look after High Street and town centres in the UK, so a growing gamble on people's need for stuff have made high streets into shopping centres now, not places to buy things, eat, read, be. This is a real shame. Noone seems to think about what high streets should have on them. Well i do, probably too much. SO here's the resultant offering (and sorry about the German!)


High Street Blues


Putting the sell into gesellschaft
Took the own right out of town
Leaving us, ironically
With nowhere nice to have our t

It isn’t our place to be anymore
No variation, just ‘shop’ or ‘store’
An illuminated faceless place
Just visible from outer space

Time was you’d shop, eat, catch a flick
The town is gone, is derelict
Gemeinschaft could have worked so well
A place to nurse, protect and dwell

My town is shadows, boarded up dreams
Distant landlords, aft of the scenes
Cut their losses, cut and run
How’d we get here? What have we done?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by freckle

thats just uber cool..."the intimate support of water" such a visceral and elegant line ...nice one mossy

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Those two lines grabbed me as well freckle. Good choice Mossy, I hadn't read that one despite it being in my Norman MacCaig book.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by OneOffPoet

Hello all again, long time no post, but not so much of a long time no lurk.... Just recovering from reading V. An epic on a number of levels!

As usual, no inclination to write until something happens. THis time, i noticed my local market town is dying. The cinema has gone, there are no places to eat of note anymore, the library is gone and the list grows. We don't look after High Street and town centres in the UK, so a growing gamble on people's need for stuff have made high streets into shopping centres now, not places to buy things, eat, read, be. This is a real shame. Noone seems to think about what high streets should have on them. Well i do, probably too much. SO here's the resultant offering (and sorry about the German!)


High Street Blues


Putting the sell into gesellschaft
Took the own right out of town
Leaving us, ironically
With nowhere nice to have our t

It isn’t our place to be anymore
No variation, just ‘shop’ or ‘store’
An illuminated faceless place
Just visible from outer space

Time was you’d shop, eat, catch a flick
The town is gone, is derelict
Gemeinschaft could have worked so well
A place to nurse, protect and dwell

My town is shadows, boarded up dreams
Distant landlords, aft of the scenes
Cut their losses, cut and run
How’d we get here? What have we done?

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Nice to have you back OOP and I enjoyed your poem. Town centres can be very depressing places these days. Not only have a lot of shops closed but many have been replaced with pawn shops. The only new shops are usually mobile phone shops, we have loads of them !

Quote:

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Originally Posted by freckle

spring is just a couple of snowy fell runs away...

Begin
Brendan Kennerly

Begin again to the summoning birds
to the sight of light at the window,
begin to the roar of morning traffic
all along Pembroke Road.
Every beginning is a promise
born in light and dying in dark
determination and exaltation of springtime
flowering the way to work.
Begin to the pageant of queuing girls
the arrogant loneliness of swans in the canal
bridges linking the past and the future
old friends passing through with us still.
Begin to the loneliness that cannot end
since it perhaps is what makes us begin,
begin to wonder at unknown faces
at crying birds in the sudden rain
at branches stark in the willing sunlight
at seagulls foraging for bread
at couples sharing a sunny secret
alone together while making good.
Though we live in a world that dreams of ending
that always seems about to give in
something that will not acknowledge conclusion
insists that we forever begin

---

Great ending to that one freckle. I don't usually suffer from SAD but this winter is getting to me a bit at the moment, only the sanctuary of the hills is stopping me getting depressed. Roll on Spring :thumbup:

I'm in the same boat Alf. Getting up in the mornings is really flipping hard and as soon as it gets dark, all I want to do is snuggle up and hide away! I'm really enjoying my running and that's giving me a lift and work is good but its amazing how much I've slowed down. I always think I'll do loads of new artwork in January/February because I have less commitments and deadlines but the reality is that I struggle with the winter so I just slow down and get half as much done as I would if it was summer. I'm not depressed but can feel that delicate line is very close. Nevermind, it also means that I'm reading more and am actually just sorting and editing some of my haiku to enter in a competition.

I quite like this one:

the silent blackbird
feathers plumped against the cold
saves his song for spring

Hope you feel better soon!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Alf

Great ending to that one freckle. I don't usually suffer from SAD but this winter is getting to me a bit at the moment, only the sanctuary of the hills is stopping me getting depressed. Roll on Spring :thumbup:

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hes

I'm in the same boat Alf. Getting up in the mornings is really flipping hard and as soon as it gets dark, all I want to do is snuggle up and hide away! I'm really enjoying my running and that's giving me a lift and work is good but its amazing how much I've slowed down. I always think I'll do loads of new artwork in January/February because I have less commitments and deadlines but the reality is that I struggle with the winter so I just slow down and get half as much done as I would if it was summer. I'm not depressed but can feel that delicate line is very close. Nevermind, it also means that I'm reading more and am actually just sorting and editing some of my haiku to enter in a competition.

I quite like this one:

the silent blackbird
feathers plumped against the cold
saves his song for spring

Hope you feel better soon!

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That is such a wonderful haiku Hes. Keep em coming.

Chin up, laces tight
Anticipating freshness
Head up to those fells

;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mossdog

That is such a wonderful haiku Hes. Keep em coming.

Chin up, laces tight
Anticipating freshness
Head up to those fells

;)

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Very positive that one Mossy and good of course :thumbup:

The Call of the Open

Which yet joined not scent to hue,
Crown the pale year weak and new;
When the night is left behind
In the deep east, dun and blind,
And the blue noon is over us,
And the multitudinous
Billows murmur at our feet,
Where the earth and ocean meet,
And all things seem only one
In the universal sun.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Thanks Mossy. This is great, had a fab run on Saturday through my favourite woods and up onto moors. Saw a gorgeous hare and fell about in the snow a lot. Really enjoyed it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mossdog

That is such a wonderful haiku Hes. Keep em coming.

Chin up, laces tight
Anticipating freshness
Head up to those fells

;)

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