Today's poet

[Einar]

Ta! Here's another I've just found.

Glow-worm

Talking about the chemical changes
that make a body in love shine,
or even, for months, immune to illness,
you pick a grub from the lawn
and let it lie on your palm – glowing
like the emerald-burning butt
of a cigarette.
(We still haven’t touched,
only lain side by side
the half stories of our half lives.)

You call them lightning bugs
from the way the males gather in clouds
and simultaneously flash.
This is the female, fat from a diet
of liquefied snails, at the stage in her cycle
when she hardly eats; when all her energy’s
directed to drawing water and oxygen
to a layer of luciferin.
Wingless, wordless,
in a flagrant and luminous bid
to resist the pull to death, she lifts
her shining green abdomen
to signal yes, yes.

Vicki Feaver

[freckle]

Loved your last choice Einar just sublime!

....I am loving the Robins this time of year...




The Robin
Thomas Hardy

When up aloft
I fly and fly,
I see in pools
The shining sky,
And a happy bird
Am I, am I!

When I descend
Toward the brink
I stand and look
And stop and drink
And bathe my wings,
And chink, and prink.

When winter frost
Makes earth as steel,
I search and search
But find no meal,
And most unhappy
Then I feel.

But when it lasts,
And snows still fall,
I get to feel
No grief at all
For I turn to a cold,
stiff Feathery ball!

[Mossdog]

I know it's not exactly poetry but still very talented and has plenty of 'soul' too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rteKA...eature=channel

also check out 'souljacked'

[Alf]

Some great poems posted in last couple of days. I loved the 'Glow-worm' poem that Einar posted and freckle's posting of the Carol Ann Duffy poem 'Hour'

The glow-worm reminds me of the "investment" that living organisms make that can result in life or death to them. Just the simple act of destroying a spider's web can condemn the spider to death as it may have invested its last energy resources in building it.

Anyway a "wintry" poem on the surface of it though its more about desensitisation.

The Snow Man


One must have a mind of winter
To regard the frost and the boughs
Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;

And have been cold a long time
To behold the junipers shagged with ice,
The spruces rough in the distant glitter

Of the January sun; and not to think
Of any misery in the sound of the wind,
In the sound of a few leaves,

Which is the sound of the land
Full of the same wind
That is blowing in the same bare place

For the listener, who listens in the snow,
And, nothing himself, beholds
Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.

Wallace Stevens

[OneOffPoet]

Hello everyone

I still get nervous when i post something I've written. At least I'm back on familiar territory. Rather topically for me, I've been thinking about all the help you get when on a BGR. it moved me to tears on more than one occasion, and i felt compelled to try and express that. But not just that. The fact that those at the start have to hang onto you for dear life whilst those later on are trying to keep you going, the road crew managing that transition from one stage/side of the road to the other and the fact that you, then contender, are the common denominator, the baton. The thread on the BGR bit of the forum about bad jokes also made me laugh and gets a nod here too. I also had to mention the physical change from spritely fellrunner to gaunt hanger-on (greyhound to ghost...).

I really enjoyed writing this (more than you will enjoy reading it i suspect) as it reminded me so much of my days out of the BGR and of adventures to come. It's not a poem that flows so well, but neither does a BGR!!


Baton

I'm a human baton
Pass me on
between this roadside grassy verge
and the other one

I'm a human baton
Keep me strong
Keep the calories going in
and put the kettle on

I'm a human baton
Straining the leash to go faster
Fuelled by rest and adrenalin
and pasta

I'm a human baton
Getting heavier each peak
but curiously easier to carry
now I'm getting weak

I'm a human baton
Please stop me thinking
Just talk crap and keep me drinking
"Have you heard the one...?"

I'm a human baton
Borne by friends and friendly strangers
Asking nothing for their labours
and so more humbling than the mountains

I'm a human baton
In a monster of a relay
Passed from Pillar to post
moving from greyhound to ghost

I'm a human baton
You bought me home
Intact, but cover blown
by my tears of gratitude

[freckle]

Hello everyone

I still get nervous when i post something I've written. At least I'm back on familiar territory. Rather topically for me, I've been thinking about all the help you get when on a BGR. it moved me to tears on more than one occasion, and i felt compelled to try and express that. But not just that. The fact that those at the start have to hang onto you for dear life whilst those later on are trying to keep you going, the road crew managing that transition from one stage/side of the road to the other and the fact that you, then contender, are the common denominator, the baton. The thread on the BGR bit of the forum about bad jokes also made me laugh and gets a nod here too. I also had to mention the physical change from spritely fellrunner to gaunt hanger-on (greyhound to ghost...).

I really enjoyed writing this (more than you will enjoy reading it i suspect) as it reminded me so much of my days out of the BGR and of adventures to come. It's not a poem that flows so well, but neither does a BGR!!


Baton

I'm a human baton
Pass me on
between this roadside grassy verge
and the other one

I'm a human baton
Keep me strong
Keep the calories going in
and put the kettle on

I'm a human baton
Straining the leash to go faster
Fuelled by rest and adrenalin
and pasta

I'm a human baton
Getting heavier each peak
but curiously easier to carry
now I'm getting weak

I'm a human baton
Please stop me thinking
Just talk crap and keep me drinking
"Have you heard the one...?"

I'm a human baton
Borne by friends and friendly strangers
Asking nothing for their labours
and so more humbling than the mountains

I'm a human baton
In a monster of a relay
Passed from Pillar to post
moving from greyhound to ghost

I'm a human baton
You bought me home
Intact, but cover blown
by my tears of gratitude

Just awesome OneOff, i like the repetition involved which I think conveys both endurance and rythmn...excellent stuff!

[freckle]

Some great poems posted in last couple of days. I loved the 'Glow-worm' poem that Einar posted and freckle's posting of the Carol Ann Duffy poem 'Hour'

The glow-worm reminds me of the "investment" that living organisms make that can result in life or death to them. Just the simple act of destroying a spider's web can condemn the spider to death as it may have invested its last energy resources in building it.

Anyway a "wintry" poem on the surface of it though its more about desensitisation.

The Snow Man


One must have a mind of winter
To regard the frost and the boughs
Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;

And have been cold a long time
To behold the junipers shagged with ice,
The spruces rough in the distant glitter

Of the January sun; and not to think
Of any misery in the sound of the wind,
In the sound of a few leaves,

Which is the sound of the land
Full of the same wind
That is blowing in the same bare place

For the listener, who listens in the snow,
And, nothing himself, beholds
Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.

Wallace Stevens

I like this a great deal...I am not sure if I have "a mind of winter" but we will sharp find out if the snow comes tomorrow as predicted!

[Harry H Howgill]

I especially liked Pillar to post, Greyhound to ghost.

Nice on OOP

Hello everyone

I still get nervous when i post something I've written. At least I'm back on familiar territory. Rather topically for me, I've been thinking about all the help you get when on a BGR. it moved me to tears on more than one occasion, and i felt compelled to try and express that. But not just that. The fact that those at the start have to hang onto you for dear life whilst those later on are trying to keep you going, the road crew managing that transition from one stage/side of the road to the other and the fact that you, then contender, are the common denominator, the baton. The thread on the BGR bit of the forum about bad jokes also made me laugh and gets a nod here too. I also had to mention the physical change from spritely fellrunner to gaunt hanger-on (greyhound to ghost...).

I really enjoyed writing this (more than you will enjoy reading it i suspect) as it reminded me so much of my days out of the BGR and of adventures to come. It's not a poem that flows so well, but neither does a BGR!!


Baton

I'm a human baton
Pass me on
between this roadside grassy verge
and the other one

I'm a human baton
Keep me strong
Keep the calories going in
and put the kettle on

I'm a human baton
Straining the leash to go faster
Fuelled by rest and adrenalin
and pasta

I'm a human baton
Getting heavier each peak
but curiously easier to carry
now I'm getting weak

I'm a human baton
Please stop me thinking
Just talk crap and keep me drinking
"Have you heard the one...?"

I'm a human baton
Borne by friends and friendly strangers
Asking nothing for their labours
and so more humbling than the mountains

I'm a human baton
In a monster of a relay
Passed from Pillar to post
moving from greyhound to ghost

I'm a human baton
You bought me home
Intact, but cover blown
by my tears of gratitude

[Harry H Howgill]

November evening:
The moon is up, rooks settle,
The pubs are open.

Wendy Cope

[Alf]

Saw this Haiku on a T Shirt:

Haiku are easy
But Sometimes Don't Make Much Sense
Hippopotamus