Today's poet

[Alf]

Alf , love this stanza taken from Eve of St Agnes ..... must have been tempting to post the whole poem which read as a whole , or broken down verse by verse, is just very beautiful ....... sublime !



"Beyond a mortal man impassion'd far
At these voluptuous accents, he arose,
Ethereal, flush'd, and like a throbbing star
Seen mid the sapphire heaven's deep repose;
Into her dream he melted, as the rose
Blendeth its odour with the violet,--
Solution sweet: meantime the frost-wind blows
Like Love's alarum pattering the sharp sleet
Against the window-panes; St. Agnes' moon hath set."

John Keats

Glad you enjoyed it MachGirl. I always wanted to post Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti which is a fabulous poem and one of my favourites but it is too long and it is difficult to find a suitable section because it is a continuous narrative of a poem. http://www.bbc.co.uk/poetryseason/po...n_market.shtml

[Old Whippet]

Ah yes. Shakira's hips. Under-represented in poetry and a most contemporary reference. The good folk at google or youtube will help make sense of this fine poetic allusion.

Ha ha ! this is one of your finest OW! shakira's hips?

Alf- I did like the Keats, especially the reference to stars that throb

[OneOffPoet]

and Shakey's she-wolf video is something else....

**takes cold shower/thinks of speedos (same effect)**

[Derby Tup]

Simon Armitage CBE on Radcliffe & Maconie on Radio 2 very shortly

[Alf]

Simon Armitage CBE on Radcliffe & Maconie on Radio 2 very shortly

Just listening to it while watching the footy and looking at the forum as well (who says blokes can't multitask )

[Derby Tup]

Just listening to it while watching the footy and looking at the forum as well (who says blokes can't multitask )

Good work Alf!

The Stranglers sounded fantastic

[freckle]

Folded Linen

returning
(home)
to folded linen
and the memory of
h-a-n-d-s
which folded
it
therein
lies
a gift

[Harry H Howgill]

Lovely one Freckle.

Folded Linen

returning
(home)
to folded linen
and the memory of
h-a-n-d-s
which folded
it
therein
lies
a gift

[Alf]

Folded Linen

returning
(home)
to folded linen
and the memory of
h-a-n-d-s
which folded
it
therein
lies
a gift

If its only "marginally better" it must have been pretty good before freckle

[Alf]

The Ambition Bird

So it has come to this
insomnia at 3:15 A.M.,
the clock tolling its engine

like a frog following
a sundial yet having an electric
seizure at the quarter hour.

The business of words keeps me awake.
I am drinking cocoa,
that warm brown mama.

I would like a simple life
yet all night I am laying
poems away in a long box.

It is my immortality box,
my lay-away plan,
my coffin.

All night dark wings
flopping in my heart.
Each an ambition bird.

The bird wants to be dropped
from a high place like Tallahatchie Bridge.

He wants to light a kitchen match
and immolate himself.

He wants to fly into the hand of Michelangelo
and come out painted on a ceiling.

He wants to pierce the hornet's nest
and come out with a long godhead.

He wants to take bread and wine
and bring forth a man happily floating in the Caribbean.

He wants to be pressed out like a key
so he can unlock the Magi.

He wants to take leave among strangers
passing out bits of his heart like hors d'oeuvres.

He wants to die changing his clothes
and bolt for the sun like a diamond.

He wants, I want.
Dear God, wouldn't it be
good enough to just drink cocoa?

I must get a new bird
and a new immortality box.
There is folly enough inside this one.


Anne Sexton