Now that freckle has mentioned Pam Ayres :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXQ0qf08aGw&NR=1
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Now that freckle has mentioned Pam Ayres :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXQ0qf08aGw&NR=1
That's lovely Freckle. It looks like you are enjoying life at the moment.
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Originally Posted by freckle
Contented little uns=Good mum despite the size of her bum;)Quote:
Originally Posted by freckle
so far from selfishQuote:
Originally Posted by stevefoster
it beggars belief
time will tell the story
as it should be told
but for now stay strong,
run fast and remain bold
i am ashamed to say alf...i found this quite funny!...thanks for posting and all the nice comments about my ditty! xQuote:
Originally Posted by Alf
ps i am lucky i know!
i am a huge fan of jo shapcott..love her voice, like treacle and her clarity...
Matter
Jo Shapcott
He touched my skin
all afternoon
as though he could feel
the smallest particles
which make me up.
By the time he knew each
of the billions of electrons
which fly through my body
every second.
Then I think he was searching
for the particles
not yet discovered
but believed to exist.
Then I didn’t know
what time it was any more
and neither of us knew
which was inside or outside
as he reached somewhere
very deep and fingered gold –
charms, strangers, tops and gravitons –
but not the words he wanted
which only come now.
The aftermath of a love lost
How long must ones heart remain full of sorrow
I wonder, will my heart be repaired by this time tomorrow
How long is too long to wallow and stew, to fret and
Hold onto the forlorn hope of coming back to you
Well said Freckle!
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Originally Posted by freckle
A lovely, wistful poem Rev.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheReverand
Emily Dickinson had a thing or two to say about yearning and wishful thinking.
Wild nights - Wild nights
Wild nights! Wild nights!
Were I with thee,
Wild nights should be
Our luxury!
Futile the winds
To a heart in port,
Done with the compass,
Done with the chart.
Rowing in Eden!
Ah! the sea!
Might I but moor
To-night in thee!
sweet.....well written rev.....Quote:
Originally Posted by TheReverand
hes i love the emily dickinson choice, not sure but don't think she did have many wild nights in the end ? ah well, its good to dream
Sorry but what's a wild night again? :)Quote:
Originally Posted by freckle
Quote:
Originally Posted by freckle
Really enjoyed that. Lovely idea that certainly rings true. I used to read loads, but now I read about half a page every other day! But it doesn't matter, as you say!
Completely inspired by (if not ripping off!) Freckle..
Money used to be mine
and went straight to the bank
with a satisfying clink
now there’s less to go,
sometimes less than a ten pound note,
and this may be swapped for a wooden toy
to hand to my little boy.
To see him push a car round
I don’t need a thousand pound.
Now there’s no mine, there’s ours
And the reason I work is to buy wooden cars!
So there’s never a moment I pine
for money that used to be mine.
AW this is lovely L.F.F. and very timely as I check my bank balance which is looking a bit sad at this time of the month! nice one!Quote:
Originally Posted by L.F.F.
Stolly...perhaps us fell poets should organise a "wild night" soon ha ha ! wonder what it would look like........(cue image)
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_vbrMa5TSSd...nDecadence.jpgQuote:
Originally Posted by freckle
But everyone would keep their Walshes on of course :)
I've only got INOV8s ;)
Looks like The King's Head, Masham on a Friday night....not!:D
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stolly
Cheers marra;)Quote:
Originally Posted by freckle
Think it was this time last year that we had the big night out for Mr Armitage. That was a great success. I just read this - but not sure if I like it.
Oxymorons
Summer school, and jumbo shrimp, of course.
Friendly fire, famous poet, common sense,
and, until very recently, safe sex.
Blind date, sure thing, amicable divorce.
Also there's loyal opposition,
social security, deliberate speed.
How about dysfunctional family?
Eyes blackened, hearts crushed, the damn thing functions.
Some things we say should coat our tongues with ash.
Drug-Free School Zone? No way: it's our money
our children toke, snort and shoot up while we
vote against higher property taxes.
Want a one-word oxymoron? Prepay.
Money's--forgive me--rich in such mischief:
trust officer, debt service, common thief--
these phrases all want to have it both ways
and sag at the middle like decrepit beds.
Religious freedom--doesn't that sound good?
And some assisted living when we're old
and in our cryptic dreams the many dead
swirl like a fitful snow. We'll wake and not
think of our living wills or property.
We'll want some breakfast. Our memories
will be our real estate, all that we've got.
William Matthews (2004)
Hmmm...not sure either Sunbeam. However, it is true that it is almost a year since we met the man himself out on the fells in driving rain and hosted his brilliant readings in Dufton Village Hall afterwards. Here is one of his:
Map Reference
Not that it was the first peak in the range
or the furthest.
It didn't have the swankiest name
and wasn't the highest even, or the finest.
In fact, those in the know
ever had their say about sea-level or cross-sections,
or had their way with angles or vectors,
or went there with their instruments about them,
it might have been more of a hill than a mountain.
As for its features
walls fell into stones along its lower reaches,
fields ran up against its footslopes, scree had loosened
from around its shoulders. Incidentally, pine trees
pitched about its south and west approaches.
We could have guessed, I think, had we taken to it,
the view, straightforward, from its summit,
So,
as we rounded on it from the road that day,
how very smart of me to say or not to say,
what we both knew:
that it stood where its stood, so absolutely, for you.
Simon Armitage
A fell poets' wild night would be a fine thing I reckon! Its about time we all got together again and met some of the other forumites on this thread.
Or perhaps we should have a less Bacchanalian day 'do' that would be family friendly for all the fell poets with parental responsibilities...and dog friendly for those with canines to look after...I could get visiting rights to my terrier for the day or if not, bring a tomato plant or something, they need a bit of looking after! :)
Quote:
Originally Posted by freckle
i can always rely on you to come up with the goods stolly! imagine that photo spread in the fellrunning magazine ? :w00t:..... i like hes' idea i will ponder! xQuote:
Originally Posted by Stolly
I wish to discover the key, the key to the perfect race
Where the miles click by effortlessly, despite the remorseless pace
Is it to do with your stride, covering the tarmac with grace
Maybe more to do with pace and your speed the backend of the race
Is preparation crucial, of this im not convinced
Gels, Isotonics and watches give me Beer, pizza and chips
I dont have the answers after all these years
But one things for sure, always run with a smile on your face
As You Like It
I cast you as the main romantic lead
in what I always knew was just a play,
and one of words not deeds. We didn’t need
the actual kisses. It was enough to say
you yearned to give them, I yearned to receive,
and as the audience in this affair
I was allowed to cherish, lust and grieve
while never laying soul nor substance bare.
Yet now that you’ve refused to act your part,
missed several cues, torn up the script I wrote,
don’t fool yourself my tears are more than art —
that girl and I have always been remote.
As Thespians are sadly prone to do,
my character loved yours; I don’t love you.
Anna Evans
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheReverand
I really like this rev, makes me think of all those running in the edinburgh marathon today trying to get those gels down their necks!
Alf that last choice of yours was brilliant, very slick!
That's really fun Rev' and certainly brought a smile to my face. However, regarding the act of running (uphill at least), in my case I'm usually still aspiring to the smile to replace my fixed sweaty grimace ! If you ever discover that 'key' please share with fellow formites. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by TheReverand
Well said (and written too) 'our' Frecks.Quote:
Originally Posted by freckle
Ooch!Quote:
Originally Posted by Alf
attempting to cook a chocolate and orange cake this afternoon in a (probably vain) attempt to prove to my children that I can cook, rather than just heat things up as my eldest suggests!....anyhow been browsing some d h lawrence poems, he was a bit dramatic was our dh...
every fruit has a secret...
http://www.poetsgraves.co.uk/Classic...rence/figs.htm
pinnys and baking? what can i say
Cor blimey! Old Lawrence got quite carried away there. I love figs and have always thought they were quite a 'seductive' fruit but that's going a little far. :o
Have been lucky enough to have eaten beautiful sunwarmed figs straight from the tree at my friend's house in Gaucin. How was the cake Feckle? Sounds delicious.
Quote:
Originally Posted by freckle
Thirteen Ways with Figs
Michelle McGrane
1.
Silence the village gossip with nutty figs
rolled in crushed peppercorns.
Layer the fiery fruit in a jar between bay leaves.
Store in a dark place for three days.
Leave your offering on her doorstep.
2.
Sweeten your mother-in-law,
a small, crepey woman in a black dress
smelling of mothballs,
with stuffed quails roasted in thick balsamic sauce,
followed by ricotta-rose cheesecake and marzipan-filled figs.
Spill velvet-pink petals over her plate.
3.
Soothe inflamed ulcers and lesions
with a steamed fig, slippery elm, flaxseed poultice.
Wrap around the weeping skin in a muslin cloth.
4.
Pick a ribbed fig from the tree at twilight.
Split the dark cocoon in two.
Rub the wart with amber pulp and seeds.
Tie the halves together again.
Bury them in the flinty earth
under the waning moon.
5.
Cure fatigue, insomnia or nightmares
by boiling milk poured in a pail
with sun-baked figs and turmeric.
Add lavender honey to taste. Drink slowly.
6.
Bind three white Cilento figs
with a crimson ribbon for dreams of love.
Place the fruit under your pillow.
In the morning,
loop the ribbon around your waist.
If your heart is in your mouth,
sear it, eat it with figs.
7.
Beguile your partner with fig-leaf absolute
dabbed along the curve of your neck.
Wear almond blossoms in your hair.
Dance on a terrace with a view of the harbour,
to the flashing grin of an accordionist
who smells of sulphur and plays like the devil.
Clap your hands. This is no time to tiptoe.
8.
On a balmy midsummer evening, wrap up your al fresco meal
at the warped wooden table under the plane tree
with blistered grilled figs, spoonfuls of soft mascarpone
drizzled with orange blossom and rose water.
Smell the mimosa.
Don’t wipe the sugary smudge from your chin.
Carry the sated silence to bed.
9.
Arouse your lover with plump, purple figs in a cool bowl of water.
Break the thin, moist skin with your fingers.
Close your eyes. Listen to your breathing.
10.
On a windy day welcome your new neighbours across the pasture.
Make them feel at home with capocollo,
a sausage of figs, almonds, pistachios and cinnamon.
Fold in leaves
left in a basket on the porch. Follow the dung
trail home, a wasp
hovering at your shoulder.
11.
In autumn, line your pantry shelves with jars of fig jam
scented with cardamom pods. Seal in the sunshine
with smooth wax discs and screw-top lids.
12.
Feed a hungry family
with slow-cooked pork loin and Adriatic fig stuffing.
Serve with golden polenta. Garnish with watercress.
Open bottles of the full bodied local wine.
Taste the olive-wood smoke,
the measure of November’s indulgences.
13.
When the sky pops and hisses with stars,
celebrate the year’s trailing tail.
Prepare fig fillets stuffed with amaretti biscotti
and smoky chocolate slivers.
Serve with steaming espressos before midnight.
Va bene
Also scrumped some from a tree in the garden of a monastery in Spain.
Forbidden Fruit
At the top of the hill
stood the white monastery
where bloody they lay,
the figs beneath the tree.
Perhaps those dutiful monks
tending the garden lovingly
found the seductive fruit
a temptation unseemly.
The fair haired woman
stood on tip toes and deftly
plucked from the branches,
only slightly guiltily,
the sun-warmed plump fruit
that tasted so sweetly,
of honeyed, sultry nights
that they would never see.
Loving the fig-themed verse Hes, especially #7 above and your work
you took the words right out of my mouth DT, i too loved verse 7 especially the notion that "now is not the time to tip toe"...Hes I really enjoyed your fig tale, those figs certainly seemed to have some kind of sensual power! ....flippin eck its not even 9pm yet! :o x i am all for this kind of "distraction" on a sunday night, how else can i avoid thinking about work?Quote:
Originally Posted by Derby Tup
ps...i liked the cake, sophe gave it 9 out of 10 but only had one mouthful!
I was there flogging my self into the ground!! Bloody hard work into a git strong wind :pQuote:
Originally Posted by freckle
aye but knowing you bet you did geet well!Quote:
Originally Posted by TheReverand
First Fig
by Edna St.Vincent Millay
MY CANDLE burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends--
It gives a lovely light!
ficus carica
green or purple skin, pink flesh
covert and inward
now that is good!Quote:
Originally Posted by Derby Tup
Nah...I don't give a fig for ...er...figsQuote:
Originally Posted by Derby Tup