Tag Archives: poets

There Once Was a Place

There once was a place

Where men went

To find a kind

Of temporary content

And many a girl’s face

Graced that place

Where men could buy

A lie

Of love.

But perhaps a few

Believed it was true.

 

Some poor fools

Tried to buy

Girl’s love

With jewels.

The girls would smile

And would inwardly say,

“He is good

For a while

Until his money runs away”.

 

 

Sometimes, girls awaking from sleep

Would weep

And when kindly men

Heard them cry

They would wonder “why

Do I

Try to buy

Her love?”.

 

Some men would die

Inside and lose all empathy.

For such a He

The payment of a fee

Made everything okay

And he could say

And do

Whatever he wanted to.

 

Not all girls took drugs

And few had thugs

Keeping them in the life.

But poverty’s sharp  knife

May cause us all

To slip and fall.

 

Some women freely chose

To give a certain part,

(But never their heart)

To men for a fee.

Though some deny

That such women freely chose

Or maintain that she

Is the minority

And that the privileged few

May have true

Freedom, while the majority

Are not free.

 

The place has long gone

But the profession lives on.

In dark streets

And expensive hotels

Client and girl meet

And the poet tells

How a fee

Often obfuscates morality.

And how all must

End in dust.

And

At Christmas Time

At Christmas time

I compose a rhyme

Of winter weather

And us all together

Emptying the wine

As we talk of bygone times,

While the clock on the wall

Watches us all

Until sleep calls

Us one by one

And we are gone.

A Young Lady’s Reputation

A young lady of this great nation

Is well known for her spotless reputation.

Her name it is Miss Heather

And we’ve never been seen together

Which explains that young lady’s spotless reputation …

 

As I Walked a Great Country Estate

As I walked a great country estate

I met with that feisty Miss Kate.

When I said, “is it pleasant

To play at being a peasant?”,

She said, “get off my father’s estate!”.

Dogs

On the ground

Logs lie

While all around

Joyous dogs

Spend their day

In play

Unaware of the decay

Of logs

And of how I

Envy dogs

In their play.

Binmen

The binmen know

Where the single go

For solitary takeaway.

The meal for 1

Fills the trash

While the used condom

Is often found

On the needled ground

But no cash

Equals no company.

Doors Bang on Winter Nights

Doors bang

On winter nights.

Something clangs.

 

 

The brightest light

Must fade and die.

And tonight I

Hear the wild wind’s

Great  impersonal roar.

 

 

And when the doors

Bang and slam

I know I am

Just windblown dust.

 

 

Rules of Behaviour

When a young lady named Miss Hocking

Said, “your behaviour is really quite shocking!”,

I said, “what I done

I done it in fun!”.

She said, “your grammar is also shocking!”.

What is the Purpose of Poetry?

An interesting piece on Medium entitled What is the Purpose of Poetry? https://medium.com/the-howling-owl/what-is-the-purpose-of-poetry-147ba89ef9b0.

 

For me, poetry is valuable in and of itself. As with love and friendship it matters because it matters. If you where to pin me down and insist that I provide a fuller explanation, then I would say that poetry matters because it stirs the emotions. It speaks to who we are/explores what it is to be human.

 

As an aside, I am often puzzled by those who derive great pleasure from pop music (which almost invariably rhymes), yet dislike poetry, much of which rhymes! Perhaps the dislike by some of poetry stems from them having it drummed into them at a tender age rather than having discovered it for themselves.

 

My love of poetry was sparked by a school teacher, Mr Delacruz who recorded several cassettes for me, including a number of poems. In addition, I spent many hours in the school library discovering poetry for myself via anthologies such as Palgrave’s Golden Treasury and the Oxford Book of English Verse.

 

As always, I would be interested to hear your views regarding the purpose of poetry/what poetry means to you.