A February wind gusts down Whitehall.
The thin flag flaps but does not fall.
I hear water lapping
And see a flag flapping
Over receeding shores
And rugged moors.
Pale
Ships sail.
Gulls wail.
Masts crack.
There is no turning back.
An old man looks out
Upon the rout.
The shouting dies.
His eyes
Fixed upon the flag, which still flies
Red, white, and blue, against the darkening skies.
The soothing rain
Washes away pain.
My thought’s train
Quieted by the rain.
The wind blows
And my heart goes
High
Untoo the sky.
Would that I could travel with the breeze
And soar amongst the trees.
But I am to the ground tied
And must dwell amongst tears and sighs.
The fallen leaves are dead
Yet Overhead
Birds sing
Presaging spring.
Heels traverse the corridor.
So many have been here before.
Just another shadow falls
On painted walls.
A door must open
And a word be spoken
To the figure from the gloom
Who vanishes soon.
Things remain
The same.
The empty corridor
And Sadness reigning evermore.
The poet lays bare his soul
For the whole
World to see.
So who would a poet be?
Or perchance he hides in clever rhyme
How he does spend his time.
For ‘Tis no crime
To obfuscate a line.
Readers shake their heads.
The poet dreads
Lest they discover
What lies behind the cover …
The below poem was written by Jayne King. I hope to publish more of Jayne’s work in the future.
—
The birds have started to tweet,
Night is turning to day.
Yet I haven’t had a wink of sleep
The Land of Nod seems far away.
Slowly colours are emerging
From the growing light of day
Lengthy shadows, too, have formed
Why is Nod so far away?
Dawn has broken,
Unnatural sleep comes my way.
Have I become undead?
Awake at night and sleeping during the day.
(Copyright Jayne King).
Below is an article which first appeared on my employer’s website. My thanks to my fellow poet and colleague, Toby Wheeler for permission to reproduce the article together with his poem “Happiness”.
On Wednesday 10 February, Toby Wheeler and Kevin Morris will be reading a selection of their poetry. The event will also provide the opportunity for colleagues to read one of their favourite poems.
Here is a little background about Kevin and Toby.
Kevin has been writing poetry since 2012. His latest collection, “Lost In The Labyrinth Of My Mind” is available as a Kindle ebook. Kevin’s work covers a broad spectrum, ranging from poems about nature through to humorous verse.
Toby was first published at the tender age of 7 in a children’s collection of poems called ‘From a Secret Place’.
However he only started writing poetry seriously after graduating from university and completing a placement at Keats House in Hampstead.
His first collection of poems, “27 years, 27 poems” will be published for Kindle in April 2016.
Toby has also written a poem about OCD for the charity ‘OCD Action’ which is due to be released later this year by the charity as part of a collection of poems about mental health. He is now preparing to send poems for possible inclusion into other poetry collections to publishers.
Here is your chance to sample some of Kevin and Toby’s work.
“Raining” by Kevin Morris
“I awoke to the rain
drumming on my window pane.
Opening my lattice I let it in
the purifying water that washes away sin.
The hypnotic sound
of rain falling all around.
All my life I have listened to the rain.
The same drumming
of water coming
from the sky
falling on you and I.
The rain has no end
But you and I my friend
May listen for a while
Smile
then pass on by”.
‘Happiness’ by Toby Wheeler .
I think I’m happy, I don’t know,
What is it anyway?
Is it something beautiful, a calmness perhaps?
Or an acceptance, a thing we just know?
I think I might be happy,
I couldn’t say, I think I may be sad;
I think I may just be happy to be content,
Yes, content is perhaps enough for me;
Even if I found happiness,
How do I keep it?
And if I did, is it a thing you cannot hide?
For everyone I know who’s happy says so.
I think I may be happy,
I smile and laugh from time to time;
I hope that will suffice,
In trying to find that thing called happiness.
The sea roars
Flooding barren shores
Then slowly withdraws
Leaving the sand to dry
And gull’s to cry
In the darkening sky
Birds sing
Yet spring
Is far away.
The day
Is cold.
I think of arms that enfold
And do not hold.
The gold
Coin doth spin
And what some call sin
Enters in.
I think of a girl’s scent
Of those who do, and then repent.
I dwell on heaven
O how close ‘tis to hell!
And think it well
To leave the stone
Alone.
Why this desire
To know the secret fire
That in man does burn
And how he doth turn
Away
From the light of day.
He will go his way
Whate’r the moralists say.
The retro
Must go.
A version of the past
Is sold off fast.
Perhaps I will take a look.
Perchance happen upon an old book.
I meant to visit before
But now the door
Will soon close
On retro clothes.
People are interested in the old ways.
The days
When all was right, or seemed so.
The stock must go
For a song.
Before long
Another business will take the shop’s place.
The bland corporate face
Will occupy another space.
We race
Knowing not where we are going
Or what we may be sewing.
Without a feel for the past
The future beccons, bleak and vast.
I was delighted to receive the below 5 star review of my collection of poems, “Lost In The Labyrinth Of My Mind”,
“This is the third book of poetry I have reviewed by this author, so my expectations were rather high. I did a full reading to get the overall feel for
the poems and the book. This is very much an autumn, winter book of poetry; the time of year when the landscape appears to die leaving one melancholy and
introspective about life in general. But this is not to say that there aren’t some humorous poems. In fact, the poems in this volume seem to cover the
full spectrum of life. And there is one thing which I realized upon my first reading, is that these poems were a pleasure to read aloud like all good poetry
should be. The phrasing allowed the words to roll off the tongue in contentment. One thing I would ask of the reader is to go to the last section of the
book, ‘Why I Write Poetry’ and read this before you start reading the poems themselves. It is my opinion that it will greatly enhance your reading of these
poems and poetry in general. A few of my favorites are, “The Path Through the Woods, The Lost Muse, December, Modernity, Swan, Paris Attacks, and Hurricane”,
to name a few. I highly recommend this volume of poetry by K.Morris”.
For the review please visit http://www.amazon.com/review/R2CWNSOVWULALC/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B01AF5EPVY. To purchase “Lost In The Labyrinth Of My Mind” please go to http://www.amazon.com/Lost-labyrinth-my-mind-Morris-ebook/dp/B01AF5EPVY/ref=cm_rdp_product.
Thank you to the reviewer for taking the time to read and review “Lost In The Labyrinth Of My Mind”.
K Morris - Poet 