Today's poet

[freckle]

tsh tsh....hhh!

DT for you....

Winter Walk
John Clare

The winter comes; I walk alone,
I want no bird to sing;
To those who keep their hearts their own
The winter is the spring.
No flowers to please—no bees to hum—
The coming spring's already come.

I never want the Christmas rose
To come before its time;
The seasons, each as God bestows,
Are simple and sublime.
I love to see the snowstorm hing;
'Tis but the winter garb of spring.

I never want the grass to bloom:
The snowstorm's best in white.
I love to see the tempest come
And love its piercing light.
The dazzled eyes that love to cling
O'er snow-white meadows sees the spring.

I love the snow, the crumpling snow
That hangs on everything,
It covers everything below
Like white dove's brooding wing,
A landscape to the aching sight,
A vast expanse of dazzling light.

It is the foliage of the woods
That winters bring—the dress,
White Easter of the year in bud,
That makes the winter Spring.
The frost and snow his posies bring,
Nature's white spurts of the spring.

[Hes]

Imagination:
Are you running from life
or running to life?

I like that very much!!

[XRunner]

One for Al Fowler

The knees, the knees, oh, lord, the knees.
They hurt as bad as doctor's fees.
Piriformis, tendinitis
Shins that splint, severe arthritis
Meniscus torn? The pelvis scanned,
Beware the iliotibial band.


Possibly by Ben Cheever...His book "Strides. Running Through History With An Unlikely Athlete" is worth reading over Christmas.

[Harry H Howgill]

I like that very much!!

I'm just running round in circles my dear!

[freckle]

Thanks X Runner another one for my amazon wish list!!!!
Al- hope your knees improve soon!

One for Al Fowler

The knees, the knees, oh, lord, the knees.
They hurt as bad as doctor's fees.
Piriformis, tendinitis
Shins that splint, severe arthritis
Meniscus torn? The pelvis scanned,
Beware the iliotibial band.

Possibly by Ben Cheever...His book "Strides. Running Through History With An unlikely Athlete" is worth reading over Christmas.

[freckle]

I stretch my arms
James Harpur

I stretch my arms like a swan flying
And watch, weightless, the world turning
So high up I can see – endlessly it seems
Rome and white mountains rising beyond,
Triremes at anchor in still Alexandria
Pearl-divers practising from rocks
The wind wandering through the wilderness.
The sun casts no shadow of the compass.
I am rooted to the spot, rotting inside
I had no choice but to choose this perch
And now I cannot choose any more
Each choice I made was like a nail
Fixing my arms to embrace the world.

[Nathaniel Lee]

For HHH.

Winter Memories.

Shouting,Laughing, Snowball throws,
Three lumps of coal for buttons and a carrot nose.
Running up the big hill sledging oh so fast,
Those winter days of fun i hoped would always last.
Now i'm so much older such times are faraway,
I love to look back on those days as i watch my children play.

By Matt Harmston.

[freckle]

For HHH.

Winter Memories.

Shouting,Laughing, Snowball throws,
Three lumps of coal for buttons and a carrot nose.
Running up the big hill sledging oh so fast,
Those winter days of fun i hoped would always last.
Now i'm so much older such times are faraway,
I love to look back on those days as i watch my children play.

By Matt Harmston.

Aw...thats so lovely Tri, brilliant, lots of lovely images in my mind now as I go to sleep, good night all.......x

[Hes]

Good evening all....

Just back from a training session at the poly (where I had the pleasure of being introduced to another forumite-Hiya deejay!!!!!!!!)....

Catching up on your posts...gosh sounds as if you have had some eye opening experiences...i always wanted to travel but never really got round to it...one day I hope when the kids are up...in the meantime I look forward to hearing all your tales of various jaunts!

anyhow...on a different note....I am still making my way through Staying Alive, the poetry anthology...really liked the following...

Wild Geese
Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting--
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

Hey Freckle...you didn't happen to listen to the book choice on Radio 4 today did you? (was on about 4.30pm as I was driving home from Pickering) One of the books was Staying Alive and they read this poem. I know you already had the book so I have a feeling this is the most amazing coincidence! I loved this poem too and she write the one called 'the journey' that I posted the other day. Think I'll have to get a book of her poems if there is one available. Thanks for posting this.

[freckle]

Hey Freckle...you didn't happen to listen to the book choice on Radio 4 today did you? (was on about 4.30pm as I was driving home from Pickering) One of the books was Staying Alive and they read this poem. I know you already had the book so I have a feeling this is the most amazing coincidence! I loved this poem too and she write the one called 'the journey' that I posted the other day. Think I'll have to get a book of her poems if there is one available. Thanks for posting this.

I wasn't listening but that just makes it that bit more special...i love coincidences and feel like they seem to happen more often these days!...i'm going to turn in now Hes, hope all your plans for your trip are going well although I feel that the thread is missing you already and you haven't even left yet (we are a sentimental lot on here aren't we?)...right i need some sleep so goodnight x