Today's poet

[TheReverand]

thanks for your positive thoughts on my ramblings ladies x

[freckle]

your welcome stevie and thank you for so many fabolous choices of late...

one poem b4 the land of nod ...


Land Love
DOUGLAS DUNN

We stood here in the coupledom of us.
I showed her this — a pool with leaping trout,
Split-second saints drawn in a rippled nimbus.
We heard the night-boys in the fir trees shout.
Dusk was an insect-hovered dark water,
The calling of lost children, stars coming out.
With all the feelings of a widower
Who does not live there now, I dream my place.
I go by the soft paths, alone with her.
Dusk is a listening, a whispered grace
Voiced on a bank, a time that is all ears
For the snapped twig, the strange wind on your face.
She waits at the door of the hemisphere
In her harvest dress, in the remote
Local August that is everywhere and here.
What rustles in the leaves, if it is not
What I asked for, an opening of doors
To a half-heard religious anecdote?
Monogamous swans on the darkened mirrors
Picture the private grace of man and wife
In its white poise, its sleepy portraitures.
Night is its Dog Star, its eyelet of grief
A high, lit echo of the starry sheaves.
A puff of hedge-dust loosens in the leaves.
Such love that lingers on the fields of life!

[Hes]

I really like both of your choices Freckle, particularly The Hug.x

[freckle]

Considering Magic by Elizabeth Jennings

Don't think of magic as a conjuring trick
Or just as fotune-tellers reading hands.
It is a secret which will sometimes break
Through ordinary days, and it depends

Upon right states of mind like good intent,
A love that's kind, a wisdom that is not
Pleased with itself. This sort of magic's meant
To cast a brilliance on the dark trains of thought

And guide you through the mazes of the lost,
Lost love, lost people and lost animals.
For this, a sure, deep spell of care is cast

Which never lies and will not play you false.
It banishes the troubles of the past
And is the oldest way of casting spells.

This has a whimsical feel to it stevie i really enjoyed it thank you

[freckle]

Getting Older
Elaine Feinstein

The first surprise: I like it.
Whatever happens now, some things
that used to terrify have not.

I didn’t die young, for instance. Or lose
my only love. My three children
never had to run away from anyone.

Don’t tell me this gratitude is complacent.
We all approach the edge of the same blackness
which for me is silent.

Knowing as much sharpens
my delight in January freesia,
hot coffee, winter sunlight. So we say

as we lie close on some gentle occasion:
every day won from such
darkness is a celebration.

[Alf]

your welcome stevie and thank you for so many fabolous choices of late...

one poem b4 the land of nod ...


Land Love
DOUGLAS DUNN

We stood here in the coupledom of us.
I showed her this — a pool with leaping trout,
Split-second saints drawn in a rippled nimbus.
We heard the night-boys in the fir trees shout.
Dusk was an insect-hovered dark water,
The calling of lost children, stars coming out.
With all the feelings of a widower
Who does not live there now, I dream my place.
I go by the soft paths, alone with her.
Dusk is a listening, a whispered grace
Voiced on a bank, a time that is all ears
For the snapped twig, the strange wind on your face.
She waits at the door of the hemisphere
In her harvest dress, in the remote
Local August that is everywhere and here.
What rustles in the leaves, if it is not
What I asked for, an opening of doors
To a half-heard religious anecdote?
Monogamous swans on the darkened mirrors
Picture the private grace of man and wife
In its white poise, its sleepy portraitures.
Night is its Dog Star, its eyelet of grief
A high, lit echo of the starry sheaves.
A puff of hedge-dust loosens in the leaves.
Such love that lingers on the fields of life!

Great choice freckle.

[Alf]

Kindness

Before you know what kindness really is
you must lose things, feel the future dissolve in a moment
like salt in a weakened broth.
What you held in your hand,
what you counted and carefully saved,
all this must go so you know
how desolate the landscape can be
between the regions of kindness.
How you ride and ride
thinking the bus will never stop,
the passengers eating maize and chicken
will stare out the window forever.

Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness,
you must travel where the Indian in a white poncho
lies dead by the side of the road.
You must see how this could be you,
how he too was someone
who journeyed through the night with plans
and the simple breath that kept him alive.

Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,
you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.
You must wake up with sorrow.
You must speak to it till your voice
catches the thread of all sorrows
and you see the size of the cloth.

Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,
only kindness that ties your shoes
and sends you out into the day to mail letters and purchase bread,
only kindness that raises its head
from the crowd of the world to say
it is I you have been looking for,
and then goes with you every where
like a shadow or a friend.

Naomi Shihab Nye

.

[XRunner]

I am sure Hes will realise the significance of this poem......

The Hare And The Fox

The fox lay still behind the curtain
beside the wall.
The hare was running with nimble foot
O'er the wall.
Was ever brighter a moon-lit night,
Before, behind me, left and right,
O'er the wall!

The fox laughed low by the curtain
beside the wall.
The hare was running with daring foot
O'er the wall.

I am so happy for everything!
Hello? Why go you with mighty spring
O'er the wall?

The fox lay hid behind the curtain
beside the wall.
The hare dashed to him with reckless foot
O'er the wall.

May God have mercy, but this is queer! --
Good gracious, how dare they dance so here
O'er my dining room wall! :thumbup:

(adapted from a poem by Bjoenstjerne Bjornson)

There will be mayhem if the fox catches that hare:w00t:

[stevefoster]

One day the end will come
And i'll ask myself, What have i done
Sat on my bum, posting on a forum
Should really shut up and go for run

So tomorrow i'll jog, with my dog
Probably fall headfirst in a bog
Or fall backwards upon my bum
Be reet, at least i'll have some fun

[Cliveybaby]

Something I penned in the late 90's when I was racing. apologies in advance


The arrival of cars brings the playing fields to life
People alight eager to register their entry
Signing the declaration – ‘On your head be it’
Hands fumbling trying to pin numbers on vests

Bodies mill around in various colours of cloth
Are there really so many makes and patterns?
The experienced are relaxed, smiling and swapping jokes
Newcomers are nervous and self conscious

Runners disappear to perform their warm up
Some sprinting erratically other taking careful strides
Muscles and tendons stretched in preparation
Systems primed, ready to switch into overdrive

Tensions building as the time for ‘off’ draws near
Fingers twitching ready to start the watch
The whippets head for the front line
Mortals gather in the pack behind

The starter wishes good luck to all
On your marks GO – what about set?
A mad rush to get to the front
Avoid getting caught in the bottleneck

The pace drops on the first ascent
Reality focused on the task ahead
Who’s been doing their hill homework?
How can he run s fast up this?

The top and tired legs start stretching out
Flat paths allow a rise in speed
Track athletes show their metal
Reborn after the pain of the climb

A descent changes the rhythm
Disengage brain and freefall to the bottom
Co-ordination a thing of the past
Grit your teeth and hang on

The races has it’s own peculiar lifecycle
Hard climb, fast flat and swooping downhill
Places are won and lost throughout
How close is the person behind you?

The marshal urges you on to greater things
Shouting your position in the field
Not far to go – keep pumping
Breathing hard, heart beating like a bass drum

At last – the final drop to the finish
Can you catch the plummeting figure in front of you?
From somewhere you manage to summon a sprint
Hurling yourself across the line

Then it is over, the pain is gone
The agony replaced by euphoria
The smiles on the finishers say it all
Hard as it was it was worth it!