Were I to walk barefoot
In these leaves
On this cold
Sunny day,
People would say
“He is mad”.
Yet I should be glad
To be free
As the windblown tree
Were I To Walk Barefoot
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Tag Archives: newauthoronline
If A Cat Desires Cream
If a cat desires cream
And to attain her dream
Puts her paw
In the candle’s flame,
Who is to blame?
If, desiring more
(But not the flame)
She does the same
Over and over again
Who then is to blame?
The mouse offers cream
To attain his dream
Of a sleek black queen.
Is he then to blame
When she puts her paw
In the Candle’s flame?
In this rhyme bleak
You may your own answer seek
There Was A Young Lady Named Rose
There was a young lady named Rose
Who went walking without any clothes.
A policeman named Michael
Said “it is vital
That you cover your fingers and toes!”.
There Was A Young Kitten Named Mitten
There was a young kitten named Mitten
Who was by a mouse smitten.
Said Mitten to the mouse
“Come and live in my house”.
Replied the mouse
“No, I am by no means smitten!”.
Shall I Make Something Profound
Shall I make
Something profound
Of an orange on the ground
And a girl who did take
The time to assist
Me when my rucksack spilled?
I shall resist
The temptation to embroider the fact
Of a kind act.
After all, it was nothing profound.
Just an orange on the ground
And a wiff of scent
That did with me stay
When a girl and her man
Went their way.
“The Sigh That Heaves The Grasses” By A E Housman
The sigh that heaves the grasses
Whence thou wilt never rise
Is of the air that passes
And knows not if it sighs.
The diamond tears adorning
Thy low mound on the lea,
Those are the tears of morning,
That weeps, but not for thee.
—
I like the unsentimental nature of this poem. As with much of Housman’s verse, there is no sentimentality here. Some poets attribute human qualaties to the natural world. Not so Housman. In “The Sigh That Heaves The Grasses”, the forces of nature: (the air and the dew), have no awareness of themselves, nor of the dead who sleeps in the “low mound on the lea” The morning dew resembles human tears shed for the dead, but it is not (and can not) be so, for the dew is not human.
Birthday
Tomorrow I shall be forty-nine.
There will be wine
No doubt
And I shall go about
With a smile, for I am not fifty yet.
But you can safely bet
That when I reach that half-century stage
I shall conveniently forget
(For memory fails with age),
And on 6 January twenty-nineteen say
“I am 49 today!”.
There Was A Young Lady Named Spink
There was a young lady named Spink
Who composed a letter using invisible ink.
Her correspondent (who was named Black)
Wrote “I regret that I lack
The means to know what you think!”.
2 Limericks
There was a young man named Dave
Who lived in a draughty old cave.
When his girlfriend Kim
Moved in with him
Her mother did rant and rave!
—
There was a young man named Hyde
Who said “history is on Marx’s side”.
The wheel of history moved on
And Karl Marx is long gone.
As for Hyde, he long ago died.
What Are The Pros And Cons Of Blogging From The Perspective Of A Poet?
Licence to use image obtained – Copyright: 3dlabs2015 / 123RF Stock Photo
What are the pros and cons of blogging from the perspective of a poet? To answer this question one needs to consider matters which touch wholly on poetry, and issues pertaining to blogging more generally. The below should be read baring in mind the caveat that (to state the blatantly obvious) poets are individuals and what works for one will not (necessarily) work for another. With that caveat on the table, here are my pros and cons.
Pros
1. Publishing your poetry on a blog brings it to the attention of a wide audience. The poet gains followers who, in turn spread the word regarding the poet’s work, thereby increasing the blog’s following and enhancing the exposure of the poet’s writing.
2. Having a blog allows the poet to publicise upcoming poetry readings and, of course provide links to their published works (if such exist) on platforms such as Amazon.
3. One of the questions asked when I signed up for an Audio Book Creation Exchange (ACX) account was along the lines of “do you have a blog/website and, if so how many followers do you have?” From the perspective of ACX, they want to know that books published on their platform will sell and a person with an online following has an obvious advantage when it comes to selling books, as (to state the obvious) the more people who are aware of your writing (poetry or otherwise) the greater the number of titles you are (potentially at least) likely to sell.
4. Having a blog enables poets to connect with fellow poets thereby building up a community of like minded individuals.
Cons:
1. Responding to comments can be time consuming (time the poet could be spending writing). One can, of course disable comments on a WordPress blog (WordPress being my platform of choice). However (in my view) a blog without the ability to comment is a dead thing. Comments equal vibrancy and engagement which is why I positively welcome them.
2. Blog followers do not (necessarily) equate to book sales. People follow blogs for many and diverse reasons and some (having subscribed) will forget about your blog and never comment and/or like posts.
3. If all (or significant numbers of your poems) appear online, why should readers buy your books? (they have, after all already read your poems online).
4. Poems published online may (as with any other form of writing) be stolen. One can (and should) include a Copyright Notice on your site. This will, however not prevent the possibility of theft.
Conclusion
If I were not of the view that blogging is not of advantage to me as a poet, I would cease to blog. The fact that I continue to publish and engage online demonstrates that I believe the pros of blogging (from the poets perspective) outweigh the cons.
K Morris - Poet 