Originally Posted by freckle
Aw...you are all so kind...and those jammy dodgers are doing the trick!..thank you
Evening all....
So many different lengths of time
Brian Patten
How long does a man live after all?
A thousand days or only one?
One week or a few centuries?
How long does a man spend living or dying
and what do we mean when we say gone forever?
Adrift in such preoccupations, we seek clarification.
We can go to the philosophers
but they will weary of our questions.
We can go to the priests and rabbis
but they night be busy with administrations.
So, how long does a man live after all?
And how much does he live while he lives?
We fret and ask so many questions -
then when it comes to us
the answer is so simple after all.
A man lives for as long as we carry him inside us,
for as long as we carry the harvest of his dreams,
for as long as we ourselves live,
holding memories in common, a man lives.
His lover will carry his man's scent, his touch:
his children will carry the weight of his love.
One friend will carry his arguments,
another will hum his favourite tunes,
another will still share his terrors.
And the days will pass with baffled faces,
then the weeks, then the months,
then there will be a day when no question is asked,
and the knots of grief will loosen in the stomach
and the puffed faces will calm.
And on that day he will not have ceased
but will have ceased to be separated by death.
How long does a man live after all?
A man lives so may different lengths of time.
Ooh I like that Freckle, very profound.
I am able to keep my mind steadily
on one job or plan as long as necessary.
Take, as an example, skimming.
Choose the right stone: not so much circular
but one that sits in that natural spanner
between thumb and trigger finger.
A pocket watch would be too perfect.
Pull!
Keep low. Follow through but leave the trailing arm
and lend that stone a certain r.p.m. of spin
so it kicks, sits up at the taste of water.
Count the fourth, fifth, sixth, whatever else
is extra. Walk home. Drop down
into a wider world.
Simon Armitage
What a fine poem Harry...so eloquently describing the lure of simplicity, the almost meditative qualities of such activities...respite from the "wider world" with all of its complications......really beautiful.....
Love (III)
George Herbert
Love bade me welcome: yet my soul drew back,
Guiltie of dust and sin.
But quick-ey’d Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning,
If I lack’d any thing.
A guest, I answer’d, worthy to be here:
Love said, You shall be he.
I the unkinde, ungratefull? Ah my dear,
I cannot look on thee.
Love took my hand, and smiling did reply,
Who made the eyes but I?
Truth Lord, but I have marr’d them: let my shame
Go where it doth deserve.
And know you not, sayes Love, who bore the blame?
My dear, then I will serve.
You must sit down, sayes Love, and taste my meat:
So I did sit and eat.
Last edited by freckle; 20-01-2010 at 09:47 PM.
I've not skimmed a stone since last summer. Must do it again soon.What a fine poem Harry...so eloquently describing the lure of simplicity, the almost meditative qualities of such activities...respite from the "wider world" with all of its complications......really beautiful.....
Some statistics:
Fell Poets Society has 4,369 posts: started 18 Oct 2009; 95 days old, has 46 posts per day
Fell Ponies has 8,579 posts: started 4 Oct 2007; 840 days old, has 10 posts per day
Quiet Round Here has 26,397 posts: started 3 Jan 2007;1,114 days old, has 24 posts per day
Oh lordy...that can mean one of two things surely?:
i) we are all very creative and productive people on this here thread!
or
ii) we should all get out a bit more often!
ps....x runner...is that a haiku? :-) :-)
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