Today's poet

[MachGirl]

Freckle ,

What a very brave , positive and inspiring poem !

Although I hardly know you , infact don't know you at all really .... I have read your posts and todays poem and feel something very familiar . Maybe it's the journey .....maybe we are on the same journey ....
Hope you are back online soon , stay determined x

[Alf]

Some really lovely choices on here today, I love the idea of a shakespeare thread tho i reckon it would take me an age to work my way through them!

Anyhow, I think my internet connection may be temporarily disconnected soon for a fews days....just wanted to say thanks to all for their kind and supportive words over the past couple of weeks...hope to be back sooner rather than later, but until then....

The Journey
Mary Oliver

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice--
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.

"Mend my life!"

each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.

It was already late

enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do--
determined to save
the only life you could save.

Great choice freckle. Get yourself down your local internet cafe in the meantime.

[freckle]

Freckle ,

What a very brave , positive and inspiring poem !

Although I hardly know you , infact don't know you at all really .... I have read your posts and todays poem and feel something very familiar . Maybe it's the journey .....maybe we are on the same journey ....
Hope you are back online soon , stay determined x

Aw thank you that so very sweet Machgirl! and thanks Alf too...not long now! x

[Old Whippet]

Some really lovely choices on here today, I love the idea of a shakespeare thread tho i reckon it would take me an age to work my way through them!

Anyhow, I think my internet connection may be temporarily disconnected soon for a fews days....just wanted to say thanks to all for their kind and supportive words over the past couple of weeks...hope to be back sooner rather than later, but until then....

The Journey
Mary Oliver

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice--
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.

"Mend my life!"

each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.

It was already late

enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do--
determined to save
the only life you could save.

Brilliant choice. Totally apt and takes me back a few months too. Painful as it may be, if you dont look after yourself, you'll be no use to anyone else. Good luck with the move.

[Old Whippet]

Getting chilly again. Laces frozen stiff after tonight's head-torch run.
I always think of this 1st verse of Eve of St Agnes as a wonderful description of a bitterly cold night. I can't really be arsed with the next 41 verses though! Too romantic and meandering for this impatient old hound.

John Keats (1795–1821). The Poetical Works of John Keats. 1884.

39. The Eve of St. Agnes


I.

ST. AGNES’ Eve—Ah, bitter chill it was!
The owl, for all his feathers, was a-cold;
The hare limp’d trembling through the frozen grass,
And silent was the flock in woolly fold:
Numb were the Beadsman’s fingers, while he told 5
His rosary, and while his frosted breath,
Like pious incense from a censer old,
Seem’d taking flight for heaven, without a death,
Past the sweet Virgin’s picture, while his prayer he saith.

[Hes]

This is a really good choice OW! Although I did have to study the whole poem at school, it is the first verse that I remember and it is bitterly cold here tonight. Nice to see you on here too.

Getting chilly again. Laces frozen stiff after tonight's head-torch run.
I always think of this 1st verse of Eve of St Agnes as a wonderful description of a bitterly cold night. I can't really be arsed with the next 41 verses though! Too romantic and meandering for this impatient old hound.

John Keats (1795–1821). The Poetical Works of John Keats. 1884.

39. The Eve of St. Agnes


I.

ST. AGNES’ Eve—Ah, bitter chill it was!
The owl, for all his feathers, was a-cold;
The hare limp’d trembling through the frozen grass,
And silent was the flock in woolly fold:
Numb were the Beadsman’s fingers, while he told 5
His rosary, and while his frosted breath,
Like pious incense from a censer old,
Seem’d taking flight for heaven, without a death,
Past the sweet Virgin’s picture, while his prayer he saith.

[Hes]

Good luck Freckle! Thinking of you and wishing you all the happiness possible in your new abode and life. My mum gave me the Mary Oliver poem to take on my travels in 2003 and it echoed so well how I felt at that time. Stay strong and positive.xxx

Aw thank you that so very sweet Machgirl! and thanks Alf too...not long now! x

[Mossdog]

In lieu of a Christmas Card to all formites....

[little tree]

BY E. E. CUMMINGS

little tree
little silent Christmas tree
you are so little
you are more like a flower

who found you in the green forest
and were you very sorry to come away?
see i will comfort you
because you smell so sweetly

i will kiss your cool bark
and hug you safe and tight
just as your mother would,
only don't be afraid

look the spangles
that sleep all the year in a dark box
dreaming of being taken out and allowed to shine,
the balls the chains red and gold the fluffy threads,

put up your little arms
and i'll give them all to you to hold
every finger shall have its ring
and there won't be a single place dark or unhappy

then when you're quite dressed
you'll stand in the window for everyone to see
and how they'll stare!
oh but you'll be very proud

and my little sister and i will take hands
and looking up at our beautiful tree
we'll dance and sing
"Noel Noel"


Have a 'good one' and here's to looking forward to a bounty of verse next year.

[Mossdog]

and here's a Christmas pressie..er....but only if you've got an iphone (sorry)...

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/poetr...on/id370143863

[Mossdog]

and here's a Christmas pressie..er....but only if you've got an iphone (sorry)...

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/poetr...on/id370143863

And for those of you (like me :boohoo who remain iphoneless..here's a 'Christmas cracker'...

Happy Christmas Auntie Peggy

For Christmas I bought my Auntie
A brand new wooden leg
I didn’t have it specially made
No I just got it off the peg
You may say it’s not a nice gift
Or even that it’s a killer
It wasn’t her main present though
It was just a stocking filler

Paul Curtis