Today's poet

[Alf]

I was away most of the weekend in the Lakes so have just been catching up on the posts to this thread and there were some excellent original poems posted as well as other poet's selections.
I particularly liked the Herakles and N-Dubya offerings very much and Hes and her "Fathers and lovers" really grabbed me

[Mossdog]

Journey's End


When the long day's tramp is over, when the journey's done,
I shall dip down from some hilltop at the going down o' the sun,
And turn in at the open door, and lay down staff and load,
And wash me clean of the heat o' day, and white dust o' the road.

There shall I hear the restless wind go wandering to and fro
That sings the old wayfaring song — the tune that the stars know;
Soft shall I lie and well content, and I shall ask no more
Than just to drowse and watch the folks turn in at the open door.

To hail the folk I used to know, that trudged with me in the dust,
That warmed their hands at the same fire, and ate o' the same crust,
To know them safe from the cold wind and the drenching rain,
Turn a little, and wake a little, and so to sleep again.


Cicely Fox Smith

That's really a lovely, calming poem DT - good find - many thanks.

[Mossdog]

Great choice from the frecklemeister That's one of those selections that makes you immediately want to google the Poet's name and works.

The Impossible

Chain-Walk, Kincraig
for Iain

Who knows what we can do? When friends believe
In us, the chrysalis grows tight and splits
And, struggling out, we fly. Your basalt cliffs
Rose up that day like panic. I swallowed hard,
So scared, my two-day migraine slid away.
Yet when I grasped the chains, they were all muscle,
A warmth of linked hands. Then into an hour’s
Hauling, up and over-ing, inching downwards,
Toes socketing home, holdfasts to hand.
An afterwards, next year, that you’ll remember –
Kestrel leaning upon warm cliff-top air,
Nonchalant grasses, and the glittering Forth.

Anna Crowe © 1997
from Skating Out of the House (Peterloo 1997)

This is excellent HHH.

[Mossdog]

This is excellent HHH.

Opph...sorry Alf!!!

[XRunner]

Another freckle poem

Faint Refrain

Elizabeth Songstaffe; whose name
is inscribed in my gold-edged bible,
how was your life composed?

Did your pockets brim
with grace notes that scattered
like freckles on a nose?

Were you awkward
as a lonely clap, sounding after
a symphony’s first movement?

Born one hundred years ago,
your death was not recorded–
yet, I hear a faint refrain.

Did you once hum across prairies
on humid evenings, or lilt between bramble
and heather on mud-soaked moors?

Were you house-bound, gazing through
leaded windows while landscapes
blurred into the sea?

I imagine you, a ballad of emotion,
deep with French horns, wistful violins
and whimpering flutes,

ascending quietly into a mysterious
finale, while the cadence of your life
slowly lowered into another accord.

Karen Kelsay

[freckle]

Journey's End


When the long day's tramp is over, when the journey's done,
I shall dip down from some hilltop at the going down o' the sun,
And turn in at the open door, and lay down staff and load,
And wash me clean of the heat o' day, and white dust o' the road.

There shall I hear the restless wind go wandering to and fro
That sings the old wayfaring song — the tune that the stars know;
Soft shall I lie and well content, and I shall ask no more
Than just to drowse and watch the folks turn in at the open door.

To hail the folk I used to know, that trudged with me in the dust,
That warmed their hands at the same fire, and ate o' the same crust,
To know them safe from the cold wind and the drenching rain,
Turn a little, and wake a little, and so to sleep again.


Cicely Fox Smith

I am really busy with work at the moment and various other things which is why I haven't been on the thread much so to read thi stonight was lovely....what a beautiful restful poem, just what the doctor ordered! and Alf I loved the Crowe poem too I think I will look up more of her work. Hes, Stef, DT and OW some lovely haiku...and X runner i need to look up that poem as i couldn't read the feint properly!....by the way Herakles I thought it was cool that you posted your poem on the anti hate thread...back soon

[freckle]

Another freckle poem

X runner that is a fine poem i really liked the penultimate verse (ironically the one i couldn't read), for the visually impaired amongst us here is the readable version...

http://wilderness.motleyvision.org/2...omment-page-1/

really nice poem thanks! I would love to be described as "a ballad of emotion".

[freckle]

[quote=Alf;317988]Great choice from the frecklemeister That's one of those selections that makes you immediately want to google the Poet's name and works.

The Impossible

Chain-Walk, Kincraig
for Iain

I agree with Mossy's red highlights.....
these words are really special...

Who knows what we can do? When friends believe
In us, the chrysalis grows tight and splits
And, struggling out, we fly.

could be the motto of the fell poets society?

apparently anna crowe does poetry walks and you are requested to bring "stout" shoes...

http://www.list.co.uk/event/197217-p...the-landscape/

[freckle]

Hey I just remembered....its Spring!

The enkindled spring
DH Lawrence

This spring as it comes bursts up in bonfires green,
Wild puffing of emerald trees, and flame-filled bushes,
Thorn-blossom lifting in wreaths of smoke between
Where the wood fumes up and the watery, flickering rushes.

I am amazed at this spring, this conflagration
Of green fires lit on the soil of the earth, this blaze
Of growing, and sparks that puff in wild gyration,
Faces of people streaming across my gaze.

And I, what fountain of fire am I among
This leaping combustion of spring? My spirit is tossed
About like a shadow buffeted in the throng
Of flames, a shadow that’s gone astray, and is lost.

I is shattered...offski

[freckle]

Wot no fell poets?