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Is Poetry a Dead Art? (Part 4)

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    mr. mustardmr. mustard Posts: 48,888
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    Sometimes when I'm writing I may only come up with a few lines but I hang on to them because, perhaps, at some future date they may grow into something more.
    Same here Scottie, I never throw away jottings on old scraps of paper. Looking at them weeks later, they can spark new material or fit something they didn't at the time. The examples you gave are all intruiging and full of strong imagery. I like the single teardrop poems and the Hebrides and clown ones are fascinating too :)
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    mr. mustardmr. mustard Posts: 48,888
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    archiver wrote: »
    Trouble with guessing is it largely depends on one's mood. Personally, I disabled PMs from day one, so if anyone wants to discuss a point they must do it openly and moderately.
    Thanks John, I never got a chance to answer your post last time :kitty:
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    mr. mustardmr. mustard Posts: 48,888
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    Noe Soap wrote: »
    Bullying of all kinds is reprehensible not least internet trolling as mentioned often in these pages; well described sad scenario Musty. With best wishes welcome back to your regular place in your thread, thanks for the feedback good sir. Frank
    Cheers Frank :) Limited edit time meant mistakes stayed in Janet & prudence, worst of all in the repetition of 'town'. I can't stand repeating words close together :D

    Thanks for your kind words my friend. I hope Biz is alright, this her longest absence from the thread :(:)
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,333
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    (prompted by Musty's latest)
    music makers

    music makers
    silence breakers
    where would we be
    without them?
    I for one would be left with
    way too many thoughts
    on this and that
    and reasons I should doubt them

    By the way Musty I'm doing a USA National Poetry Month sub elsewhere daily, will try to keep in touch Frank.
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    archiverarchiver Posts: 13,011
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    Wishing you abundant skills for the poetry month Frank, and I enjoyed your and Musty's music tributes. All seconded of course. Usual subject matter from me. Inspired by discussions:

    Home Baking.

    Ain't no knowledge without learning.
    Ain't no truth without discerning.
    Can't have infinity.
    No perfection I can see.

    Draw a circle in your mind.
    At the centre you find
    a lovely piece of cake,
    but the baker's on the make
    and he wants your very soul
    for an infinite roll.

    There's other kinds of food
    and it isn't being rude
    to argue that the deal
    isn't even real.

    Faith in the hereafter
    may lead to disaster
    in my humble view.
    So tell me something new.
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    daznov11daznov11 Posts: 4,025
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    Faithful soldier to the end,
    Marches with no hesitation.
    No mercy for my special friend,
    It will indeed wreck our foundations.

    True. Not an uncommon trend.
    We shall soon be unfixed
    And this we both did comprehend.

    Though in long nights of Winter,
    Never did I truly consider
    That fateful day we must spliter.

    But then he sprung an hour foward,
    And though our days are longer,
    They are numbered and we are surely conquered.
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    mr. mustardmr. mustard Posts: 48,888
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    Noe Soap wrote: »
    (prompted by Musty's latest)
    music makers
    It's always nice to prompt a poetic ricochet :D Where would we be without music makers indeed Frank? For me, certain songs bring back the past, what I was immersed in at the time. They are psychological signposts and nothing else conjures up old emotions better :)

    Good luck with the American Poetry thing by the way Frank :kitty:
    archiver wrote: »
    Home Baking.
    Faith in the hereafter
    may lead to disaster
    A fascinating recipe of thought again John :) I do have faith but I keep it to myself - a lot of problems come when believers trumpet their ideals. I go my own way without a flock or Book of rules. Enjoyed the poem :kitty:
    daznov11 wrote: »
    Faithful soldier to the end,
    Marches with no hesitation.
    An intriguing poem of unrest Daznov :) It seems to be about two soldiers who are split up by duty or possibly death. I may be wrong but either way I enjoyed the tale :)
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    mr. mustardmr. mustard Posts: 48,888
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    Mavis's Third Leg

    Hello Jean, heard the latest?
    Sit down, this is no ruse,
    It really is the greatest,
    You won't believe the news!

    I said to Mrs Davis
    Who couldn't quite take stock,
    When I bumped into Mavis,
    I nearly dropped with shock.

    While living as a hermit,
    Believe me Jean, I beg -
    I really must confirm it,
    She grew another leg!

    She made the point it's handy,
    Old Mavis told me how
    She's still extremely bandy
    But no one sees that now.

    Oh God it's such a riddle,
    It's on the right-hand side,
    Her right one's in the middle,
    The left one sticks out wide.

    And Ted is discontented,
    In bed it stops their play,
    Each time she has consented
    Three thighs gets in the way.

    The bike's for sale, though Teddie
    Said peddling's kept her slim,
    It's hard to cycle steady
    When you've an extra limb.

    She tends to contemplate now
    The song called Jake the Peg;
    Well Jean, you're up to date now
    On Mavis's third leg.


    ©
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    mr. mustardmr. mustard Posts: 48,888
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    Smilodon

    The Smilodon let's study,
    Red sabre-toothed, paws muddy,
    A cat who guzzled bloody.

    Ten inches, fangs were hanging
    And roars would start drums banging,
    Alarm bells on and clanging.

    Noise stopped, abrupt suspension
    Until fear's intervention
    And silent creeping tension.

    Men gripped the spears that never
    Could muzzle once or tether
    The fiercesome fangs that sever.

    The cat pounced only when you
    Felt safe in some green venue;
    A mammal on the menu.

    The wild ones made a bee-line,
    This sabre-toothed and free line,
    Hail Smilodon, the feline.


    ©
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    mr. mustardmr. mustard Posts: 48,888
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    O Rossetti

    O Rossetti
    No confetti
    Lights your touching art,
    O Rossetti
    Heal my petty
    Unrequited heart.

    Lizzie Siddal
    Was a riddle
    And a femme fatale,
    Anyone tries
    Laudanum sighs
    Softly and turns pale.

    She you painted
    Chose a tainted
    Suicidal way,
    Crosses varnished
    When love's tarnished
    Each man rues the day.

    O Rossetti
    Sorrow's jetty
    Moors us to the dead,
    But you'd shun that
    With the one that
    William Morris wed.

    Jane you'd follow,
    Drown and wallow
    In her eerie grace,
    Gorgeous, broody
    Deep and moody
    Jane's intensive face.

    O Rossetti
    Women glow in
    Portraits left by you,
    When I partake
    In a heartache
    Only they will do.


    ©
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    sandydunesandydune Posts: 10,986
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    Waving

    High on a mountain
    low on a tree
    sits a talkative birdy
    waving at me


    :D
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    mr. mustardmr. mustard Posts: 48,888
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    sandydune wrote: »
    High on a mountain
    low on a tree
    sits a talkative birdy
    waving at me
    Brilliant Sandy :D I love your nature poems :kitty:
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    mr. mustardmr. mustard Posts: 48,888
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    Waterfall

    A waterfall with waves like milk
    Foamed till my mind transcended,
    The water looked as soft as silk,
    How lovely it descended.

    Surrounded by a forest sheen,
    Its secret home was hooded,
    An overlooked and pleasant scene
    In regions thickly wooded.

    Tides fell like colonnades onto
    A stream where they perfected
    Delightful stars of splashing blue
    And sunlight was reflected.

    I still think of the waterfall,
    What harmony was seen there,
    I felt as if I'd heard the call
    Of god within his green lair.


    ©
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    sandydunesandydune Posts: 10,986
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    Brilliant Sandy :D I love your nature poems :kitty:
    Thanks Musty:D

    Nature speaks, in the only way it can.:D

    Your poems speak of variations and directions.:D
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    scottie2121scottie2121 Posts: 11,284
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    Inspired by the painting 'Windows in the West' by Avril Paton

    http://www.glasgowwestend.co.uk/people/avrilpaton.php



    Windows in The West

    Red slabs of sandstone,
    slow weathered in time and lives,
    a neighbourhood stacked.

    Set, close upon close,
    dwellings carved in ancient stone,
    step to step apart.

    Windows in the west
    draw the spreading scarlet glow
    of waking street lamps.

    Lives spread, front to rear,
    humdrum domesticity
    played out day on day.

    Night falls, glow-worm lit
    window-casts mottle the street
    while voyeurs steal past.

    Windows set in stone,
    impressed patchwork of lime-light,
    each framing its show.

    Nightly lit-to-view
    stacked proscenium windows
    play supporting acts.

    Shapes shift in each space,
    each out of time, out of pace,
    white noise to the eye.

    A dull, nightly glow,
    a show slowly unfolding
    in generations.

    A hopscotch of light
    shuttered at each curtain-fall,
    lives now unobserved.

    Drawn curtains close in
    unspeakable acts, snatched from
    the voyeur’s hard gaze.

    The night’s performance
    drawn down to a shadowplay
    of banality.
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    archiverarchiver Posts: 13,011
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    ^^ Real poetry that is scottie. Wonderful to watch.

    Eternal Doubt.

    I heard it from a blackbird.
    All words are absurd.
    All concepts best before
    their reasons to implore.

    Later on the same day
    life took my breath away
    and everything I ever knew
    turned the sky a shade of blue.

    Fun is in the finding out.
    I drink to eternal doubt.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,333
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    Masters View

    I am addicted to sport
    Masters golf for four
    of its red letter days
    is a pre Easter feast
    an annual fest l fete
    with zeal and zest
    and await with much
    bated anticipation.
    It matches feats of
    great achievement
    with visual treats
    a pleasure to comport
    this couchpotato
    self before, that’s me
    and my widescreen
    TV for hour on hour
    gripped by the fatal
    power of vicarious
    pleasure a literal
    treasure
    : Augusta’s
    georgeous green
    Georgian vistas to
    gratefully gorge on.
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    mr. mustardmr. mustard Posts: 48,888
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    T. Rex on the TV

    Top of the Pops, a dream came true
    When teenage prison walls fell through,
    A singer bopped and haunted too.

    As Telegram Sam's presence showed
    A metal guru's figure glowed,
    Three minutes making life explode.

    The dead of school he would anull,
    He took me from its wasted skull
    To Beltane, where suns never dull.

    Guitar and bongos filled the air,
    Marc posed and gave an elfin stare
    For people who were young and fair.

    If our front room was ever lit
    By golden runes of love that hit,
    T. Rex on the TV were it.


    ©
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    mr. mustardmr. mustard Posts: 48,888
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    Red slabs of sandstone,
    slow weathered in time and lives,
    Another well-constructed and absorbing write Scottie :) I'm unfamiliar with the artist, but you certainly brought her work to life :)
    archiver wrote: »
    Later on the same day
    life took my breath away
    Who knows what a blackbird's thinking John? William Blake made the same point about a sparrow. I like the sudden burst of joy in this poem, some of the best moments in life are unexpected :kitty:
    Noe Soap wrote: »
    a pleasure to comfort
    this couchpotato
    Nice golfing ode Frank :D I caught a bit of Bubba's tearful reaction on the news - well done to him :)
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    mr. mustardmr. mustard Posts: 48,888
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    It looks like Biz has left the DS building :( What a shame, I do miss her and hope she's alright :(:)
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,333
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    Titanic's Sinking

    15th April Nineteen Twelve a date in history's pages
    in which to delve, how many folk died that day, like
    any other, as harsh mortality went on its morbid way
    no stats can say. Most mundane fatality is not news.
    But this was the hot story for the papers of a disaster;
    multiple deaths in a frozen cold hell of icebound sea.
    frantic people fighting for life in dire plight. Mad panic
    in the North Atlantic on the steamship RMS "Titanic."

    (also am aware of a sad synchronisity today because of the Hillsborough tragedy). Frank , 15 April.
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    mr. mustardmr. mustard Posts: 48,888
    Forum Member
    Noe Soap wrote: »
    15th April Nineteen Twelve a date in history's pages
    A thoughtful tribute to a tragedy that eternally catches the public imagination. Well written as ever Frank. I see a menu from the Titanic is about to be auctioned for some incredible amount :o
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    scottie2121scottie2121 Posts: 11,284
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    Elegy

    I walk among faded flowers,
    toppled grey headstones,
    binding weeds.
    A deep faint odour stains my senses.

    Each stone marks the final deposit of melting tissue and bones.
    Each stone marks a life summed up in a few letters and numbers.
    A lost place of pilgrimage,
    a source of guilty neglect.

    Why put me in a strange place laying with strange people?
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    mr. mustardmr. mustard Posts: 48,888
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    The Cloud

    The vale looked so light and verdant
    As I trekked across the way,
    Till a cloud appeared in the distance,
    A juggernaut vast and grey.

    No shower or bolts of lightning,
    No storm-driven gusts were planned,
    Just a battleship slowly sailing
    Over surrendered land.

    The countryside lost importance
    As the cloud enlarged on high,
    A dark uninvited vision
    Filling the canvas of sky.

    That all-enveloping giant
    Conquered from west to east;
    While horizons were drained of colour,
    Regions of shadow increased.

    Despite the looming oppression
    And lack of anything blue
    I never sensed total foreboding
    And smiled when the sun broke through.

    I noticed that beams were now shining,
    A reprieve had been allowed
    And angels arrived in the darkness
    Of a suddenly changing cloud.


    ©
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,333
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    Keep Off Sign for Earth Day

    I imagine a giant Hollywood sign it goes:
    "Keep Away You UFOs!""
    "Bypass! All Good Aliens!" says the huge
    keep off this grass sign I propose,
    "by wise design for all that
    you hold fine, if your ethics
    are as I suppose, better than ours
    intelligent life from far-off stars.
    Avoid! this place for all your worth
    I cannot recommend this planet Earth.
    All the graces Nature provided
    mankind foolishly derided.
    It is not run to good purposes
    by its divided leaders
    the human beings are selfish bleeders
    those benign creatures: porpoises.
    Yes, we headed for space
    but that was rivals in a race
    we eat our pets and hit each other
    kill our families and lovers
    every religion promotes hate
    yet there is Poetry, so wait!
    Seeing this sign by happenstance
    give us a chance."
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