When I bought a fine old castle
The resident vampire caused me great hassle.
Both her and a ghost
Would eat all my toast!
So I decided to leave for Newcastle!
When I bought a fine old castle
The resident vampire caused me great hassle.
Both her and a ghost
Would eat all my toast!
So I decided to leave for Newcastle!
I have awoken, after wine,,
With a girl who’s heart
Was not mine,
And romanticising her in rhyme,
Have created art
Through a lie.
But love and lust
Both end in dust.
And there I
Must one day lie.
Sometimes a poem stays with me, not because it is, necessarily, one of my favourites, but due to the memories associated with it. One such poem is Richard Cory by Edwin Arlington Robinson:
“Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.
And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
“Good-morning,” and he glittered when he walked.
And he was rich—yes, richer than a king—
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.
So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.”
I remember going to meet a friend in a local pub. It was a beautiful summer evening and I was looking forward to seeing my friend and enjoying good conversation over a few cooling pints.
When I got to the pub we did indeed enjoy a few pints whilst sitting in the pub garden, close to the fish pond.
My friend is, I’m pleased to say still very much alive and kicking. So why does that poem resonate with me so powerfully? Perhaps because it poignantly evokes the fragility of life and how death comes to us all (including those who we least expect it to visit as a consequence of their own actions.)
Having written the above, I am not entirely convinced by my own answer. Yet, whenever I think of Richard Corry, I remember walking to the pub to meet my friend and discussing the poem with him (albeit briefly) over a few convivial pints on a beautiful summer evening.
Memories are indeed strange things.
When a naughty young lady named Lou
Said, “Kevin, I really do miss you!”,
I said to her, “honey,
You miss all my money!”,
She said, “yes, that is perfectly true!”.
A poet entranced
By branches that dance
In summertime.
Lost in rhyme
he walks the same
Woodland path
After sweet rain.
Nature laughs
As branches pour
Forth their store
Of sweet summer rain
When the telescreens went on the blink,
A few took a lover
But, most, being fearful of Big Brother
Did not think
To riot. The Proles stayed quiet,
(Though members of the Thought Police
Where found drowned
In the poorer quarters of town).
Then, when the telescreens all got restored,
Things went on just as before.
My clock chimes
On a spring day.
Women and wine
Are mine,
But my springtime
Has passed
And the fast
Tick tock
Of antique clocks
Appeals not
To girls in heels
Who do not
Feel their clock
Soon must stop.
In my lonely hours
I have known
The pull of flowers.
I have grown
Weary of being alone
And bought wine
And flowers
To while
Away the time
With painted smiles
And blossom,
Fallen as I.
Below are 2 poems from my recently released humorous collection, “My Friend’s Robot Girlfriend and Other Humorous Verses”, followed by links to the book on Amazon.
I awoke to a very loud knocking,
In bed with the beautiful Miss Hocking.
She said, “I can not pretend
That I don’t have a boyfriend!”
I said, “Is that him knocking, Hocking?”
—
When a young lady named Kate
Said, “Kevin, you really do procrastinate!”
I said, “I beg your pardon!
But I am doing this garden!
But perhaps the garden can wait…”
Links:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C5L3V51S/ (Kindle for the UK).
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5L3V51S/ (Kindle for amazon.com customers).
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C5KVPS78? (paperback for UK customers).
https://www.amazon.com/Friends-Robot-Girlfriend-Humorous-Verses-ebook/dp/B0C5L3V51S/ (paperback for amazon.com customers).
I am pleased to announce that my humorous collection of poetry, “My Friend’s Robot Girlfriend and Other Humorous Verses”, is now available in Kindle and paperback from Amazon.
A humorous collection of verses ranging from the slightly risqué to the quite frankly ridiculous.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C5L3V51S/ (Kindle for the UK).
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5L3V51S/ (Kindle for amazon.com customers).
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C5KVPS78? (paperback for UK customers).
https://www.amazon.com/Friends-Robot-Girlfriend-Humorous-Verses-ebook/dp/B0C5L3V51S/ (paperback for amazon.com customers).