This weeks New Poem:Are You Afraid Of The Dark?

Here is my latest piece of writing, another poem. This time a sombre piece, written again to a creative writing prompt from a random pass on the web sites offering these. 

A strange one for me, I started without any idea of where the subject would take me as I often do when using a prompt. And in this case I actually started the poem (the first verse and a half) by using a poetry generator. I use the strategy to give me a first line or two but never take what is offered without some heavy editing.

The prompt I used was "Are You Afraid Of The Dark?" As an adult, I am not but what would make me feel this way? Perhaps a dream .... a nightmare? Or did something happen on a camping trip as a child? Maybe You could make your own mind up?

OK, here it is...

sourced from Pixabay (creative commons)

Are You Afraid Of The Dark?

Once upon a midnight sombre,

Through which came tapping, tapping, tapping.

In there stepped a haunting downbeat,

Still is rapping, still is rapping.

I felt compelled to scour the setting

I awoke with such a start.

Ah, distinctly I was strumming,

"Take thy woe from out my heart".

At that my soul knew fear.

The thunderclouds spoke of death.

Whilst in the earth I saw a grave,

My body failed to draw a breath.

I heard a maniacal, muted moaning;

A solemn, sepulchral shrieking.

I believed my time was over

As I heard my spirit weeping

I had never been so frightened,

Never dreaming of these shadows;

And the creatures I imagined

From long forgotten barrows.

But just before I drew my last breath

A light appeared in the eastern sky. 

The coming dawn rode to my rescue

The demons dissolved before my eye.

Years later grown into adulthood,

Still remembering that fright;

When asked why I am afraid of the dark,

I confess the happenings that night.

Thanks for reading, I have actually collected enough poems for a fourth poetry book ( well perhaps a pamphlet would be a better description) but it will be available on Amazon sometime soon if things go well.

The Journal Jar, A Surprise Poem

A surprise because I was looking at one of Monna Ellithorpe's post on Writing prompts and she mentioned a Journal Jar. Never heard of this ; then surf over to see what it is all about.

Anyway, I had written a poem from one of the prompts offered and feeling at a loss for something to do, I though I might try another. But upoon reading the post I though, "Why not?" and proceeded to write a poem about writing a poem. Mmmm, I seem to have done that before now I think about it.

Well here it is:-

THE JOURNAL JAR

Each day I open up my journal jar,

When I find time to rest. 

I pick a slip from deep within,

To provide a little test.

Chose at random that's the key 

And write a poem upon request.

A poem based upon the prompt

Now in your hand, Just do your best.

That's all I ask, and nothing more,

Apply your writer's mind. Invest

In words, attest to deeds to come.

Or maybe even deeds repressed.

Just write, compose, transcribe your thoughts;

Don't leave them unexpressed.

Don't wait, it will work out in the end,

resulting in a poem, to leave you  most impressed.

Seems like there are days when words just flow, of course there are many days when it is almost impossible to start. Just take things as they come and make the most of the good days. Seems to be the best way to treat it, don't you think.

Thanks for the visit and hope you enjoyed the poem.

Information Overload, A New Poem

Another light-hearted piece of creative writing based on a writing prompt from Monna Ellithorpe. I do enjoy writing from a limited set of prompts, as I don't have to think, "Now which one shall I choose?" I pick the one of two or three which Monna has selected for that week and then I can concentrate on the subject matter. I find it so much more fun and easier. Lists of hundreds can be found on the internet but they simply confuse me. I suppose that I should pick a number at random and use that one but .....

 This week I read a contribution from another writing friend (before writing my own) and found it was very similar in direction to what I at first, was intending to write. So I took the hard way out and changed my attitude to the prompt - of course this is always possible. Part of the fun really.

Anyway, a little tongue-in-the-cheek attitude in what follows is not amiss in light of the research I have been involved in on the internet over the recent past.

Information Overload

As a scientist, I am used, to searching out the truth;

Information is the basis of my trade.

But so many of my friends just click a link and find, 

That truth is not always what's displayed.

Information is at hand, for those who wish to search

The problem is to know what to conclude.

It's tempting to believe simply everything you read

And forget it's information overload.

The first and easy choice may not provide that truth,

Despite it being easy to believe.

The resourceful knowledge seeker, will not presume

To find. the truth in all that he perceives

Anyone at all, can with illusions fill a screen.

Anyone can write though not bestowed

With intelligence and knowledge of the simple facts.

Take heed, reject information overload

Thanks for visiting and reading (you did didn't you?) my newest poem. I hope you enjoyed it and smiled -  just a little.

New Poem - Wild River

Well I am having such a difficult time and my poems are reflecting this, Another dark image in this one.

Wild River

I see a wild river blocking my path

I see a bridge destroyed in their wrath

I see a dark army no quarter allowed

I see myself lonely but brave, head unbowed

River Wye at Ross, photograph by the blog owner

Ahead's a wild river,  I must cross o'er

A boat is the answer, but would it be slower

Than the approaching horde at my back

The bridge is no answer; ruined, burnt and black

The Rollright Stones, The Kings Men
photo by the blog owner

I'll cross that wild river, cross and survive;

I'll summon my friends, let them know I'm alive.

My supporters will rally and help me across,

I'm not done yet, I'm no albatross.

I wont be a burden, wild river or not

But I know I need help, to cut that knot.

I'll take what is offered, no more and no less

And I'll pay back my dues by being a success.

. 

Christmas display at Wyevale garden centre

photo by blog owner

Excuse the "silly photos but this poem would not come easily. In these circumstances, I often create a photo board. Just a little trick which helps me to get the story together - sometimes.

A New Poem - Daffodil Destruction

I am usually very much against poetry that doe not rhyme. Of course when I put this view to friends and others alike, I am inundated with examples of non-rhyming examples. But today, I was in a hurry to complete a poem and found that rhymes were not forthcoming. And so, I found myself writing what I would normally call a piece of prose. OK, it is based on lines and at least it has a metre of sorts, but I feel that I have failed. It is a compromise which I am not really happy with. You might say it is out of my comfort zone but I was desperate to get out of the "Slough Of Despond" I have found myself in over the past couple of weeks.

A vase of floribunda daffs, blown down by a storm

So, aims achieved, I present a new poem. Actually I used the same prompt for this poem that I used for the poem in the last post. Of course it was a prompt which could be interpreted in a very free way. It was provided once more by my friend Monna Ellithorpe, one of her weekly writing prompts.

Make up your own mind and please feel free to criticise, or otherwise, in the comments section below. The poem is called ................

Daffodil Destruction

Yesterday, 

We had a beautiful array

Of daffodils in our garden.

People passing

Had commented on the colours,

Of the late spring display.

But that wind

Blew up fast, from out of nowhere

And kicked the best for six

The floribunda,

With their heavy heads bowed;

Were no match, and fell prostrate.

I found them,

Their heads in the dirt this morning.

Wistfully, I collected the fallen heroes.

An assignment

Beckoned, to make them proud;

A gift for a mothers grave.

   

Winding Rivers, A New Poem

Winding Rivers

                                       water colour painting by the author

Winding rivers

Sending shivers

Mental quivers

My life withers

Raging torrents

Stormy comments

Constant torments

Makes no real sense

Understanding

So demanding

Notwithstanding

Lifelong stranding

What's the meaning

No redeeming

Constant screaming

Pain repeating

Inside my head

A new poem from a prompt which surprised me, kinda came from nowhere.  Without further comment this time.

I'm on a roll

I hate to say it but with a second new poem so quickly since the last, could I be on a roll? This is another in response to a prompt on the same website by as the last post by my friend Monna Ellithorpe.

Not quite decided on a title yet and it is still in a rough, unedited form but I am recording it here because I am so happy to be creating again.

The Mystery Parcel

One damp and dismal morning last week

I answered a knock on the door

The postie was waiting with a parcel for me

Unexpected, exotically packaged but more ...

It did not have a full address, 

He'd done well to deliver this mail

The name was clear, it was for me alright

But this delivery could well have failed.

I gratefully took it from his hands

With heartfelt thanks and praise,

And carried it carefully to my den

Prepared to free my prize, to be amazed.

I really had no inkling, no idea at all

Of who may have sent this parcel

Addressed with such a tenebrous remit

It may never have reached me at all.

So I set about the task required, 

Not knowing what I would find.

Soon I held a simple box, devoid of any note,

I raised the lid and thereI found confined

A bundle of vintage photographs

Dog-eared and monochrome

Displaying almost familiar faces

Fondly remembered from back home

A treasure chest of memories

A prize I tightly grasped

But who and why and where

Amongst the questions yet to ask.

A few places where change is needed but it's a poem and I want to shout it out loud. Hope you read and enjoy.

New Poem, A Connection To The Past

Wow, they say not to apologise for long breaks in posting but this has to be a record. I had not been finding time for writing for a long time due to personal issues. However, A new weekly writing prompt on an old friends, new web site caught my eye. Monna has for a long time been working to bring new creative writers together and to offer encouragement. This new site has a regular writing prompt to help get you started and I decided to "have a go".

This was the result, of the prompt, (an inscription in an old book":-

A Connection to the Past

I am holding in my hands a battered, tattered book

I saw it on the bookshelf and just had to take a look.

The cover stained, page edges foxed

A history waiting to be unboxed,

For me, the pages of a volume such as this

Will always speak so loud and lead to an abyss

Where I become as one with the narrative within

And lose myself to some adventure waiting to begin.

And then I think of others who have held this work before

Having found its heroines and heros on some far, far, foreign shore

Did they read it to forget some dismal, dreary task

Or maybe, like me, it was simply to be enjoyed – why ask?

For reading is a pleasure, an indulgence to revere;

A diversion from whatever life brings, a new frontier.

But the greatest pleasure an old book can bring at last

Is to find a pale inscription, a connection to the past.

Basically I was at a loose end for an hour or so and wanted to try this. It is a first draft, almost straight from the pen (well the keyboard anyway) although I did google a couple of synonyms to help. Actually I quite like it and may find myself doing more in which case this blog could well be resurrected. I would like that.

A new paperback, a new poetry collection

The third collection of my poetry is available on Amazon, called Nightmare and other poetry.

However for readers of this blog a free download is available from SCRIBD, under a different cover but with identical content. This may not always be free so don't delay, get your copy now. That's me trying to see you a free copy, LOL. But seriously I posted an embedded copy of this book in my a little while ago in a post on this blog, you can of course read it from here. It has been updated using the latest formatted copy which I used for publishing via Createspace so both agree - within a few typos caused by the conversion process.

Actually, the software that Scribd use to convert MS Word files does not do the job as well as that of Createspace (an Amazon company) so there are a few typos which I am going to have to clean up. In the near future but I hope that this does not spoil your enjoyment of the poems.

I have been busy publishing my three completed volumes of poetry plus an art related book. This has now been completed and so I am now catching up with some art tutorials. All this has taken a toll of the writing of new poetry, and I have written no new poetry since the 21st March this year, which can be found on this blog.

I hope by the end of the month I will be writing poetry again. Please keep an eye out for these published first on this blog.

My new novel, stage 2

I said in my last post that I will be following a method, called the snowflake method to design the novel , and in my first post stage one was a single sentence of less than 15 words to encapsulate the entire novel.

The method uses the analogy of the description of a snowflake by fractals, i.e. a simple shape is made ever more complex by applying simple rules. Such as this image from a Julia set.

Stage 2 is to expand this single sentence to a full paragraph which touches on the novels introduction, the three main disasters (as used to design the novel, although of course there may be more) which affect the direction of the story and the actions of the main characters. And finally the ending, how the final disater is overcome and the ending of the novel.

Eadwyne's Encounter With FEAR*

Eadwyne recruits a force from his lands, to join his Kings’s army in a distant war. Before leaving his <court magician / friend / steward> attempts to use an ancient spell to provide protection for the detachment and ensure their safe return. He gets the spell wrong and Eadwyne (unbeknownst to himself) is <split> and an evil twin is created, to become his nemesis.

The war goes badly for the King at first, and lasts much longer than expected. Eadwyne eventually returns home to find his land is ruled by his nemesis who is known by the nickname FEAR. The villagers find their nightmares are stolen and their worst fears are becoming a reality.

Eadwyne is imprisoned when he tries to reclaim his castle and sentenced to rot in the dungeons with his band.

There is a successful escape attempt and Eadwyne gradually learns of who FEAR is and what is needed to put matters right. In the subsequent necessary <activities> Eadwyne becomes infatuated with a woman who helped with the escape, and makes her his lifelong partner. With the downfall and complete disappearance of FEAR, life returns to normal for the honest folk of Eadwynes villages. 

N.B. I have used the parentheses < > to bracket names, etc which I need to research a little more.

*A working title only

My biggest fear: PROCRASTINATION. I have already listed in my notebook two other ideas for plots and a way of finding more ideas from a dream notebook which I kept for several months a few years back. On the surface ideas which could be used in this novel ...... but still, I need to focus on one at a time.

I have been researching FREE software to help design the story, characters and landscape of the novel. I have found two or three which might help and I intend to select TWO to try out in parallel over the next few weeks. I will have more to say about these in future posts.

A last word:- the snowflake method is analogous to an outline but does include some helpful tips as you work through it. I will also be listing a few ways of creating an outline to balance the experience of creating this my first novel.

I should say that as the author of a number of technical reports/theses and many on-line articles, I would not attempt any writing project of a reasonable length without having a skeleton to build upon. I do however realise that writers like people are very different and individual. You must assess whether this process is the right way for you to progress. For example, I never seem to write poetry with any forethought as to where it is going. I start at line 1 and forge ahead - but that is another matter.

A new project - my first novel

Yes, that's right after over 50 years of writing non-fiction, lyrics and lately poetry, I am attempting my first novel. 

Sci-Fi and Fantasy have always been my favourite genres and so I have decided that one of these two will be the way I will go. I have been seeing so much of late relating to "how-to-do-it" that I started to wonder if I had it in me and the last session finally stung me into action. I have made promises before but never quite carried them through so I am making this public right from the start as a sort of rod for my own back. That way it might get finished. I have no timing in mind at the moment however, so don't hold your breath.

Of course, I may need to start another blog to cater for this new direction for my creative writing but that is something for another day. I will be taking a few steps along the road before I do that.

Talking about a few steps, the early stages can be likened to outlining a technical report or thesis, of which I am very familiar buut there are many references to the method for those writers less well-off. One article, called "The Snowflake Method" reads very well and I shall be particularly be taking note of the many aspects of writing which sound like very good advice to a sheer novice. Simpler although just as effective articles on outlining abound on the internet.

Step 1 in The Snowflake Method, is to write a sentence giving a top level overview of the novel. The sort of thing you will see when a book is advertised, so it must encompass thte story and the main character and the goals. So here is my second attempt. I needed to shorten my first, as the method recommends no more thaan 15 words. here it is:-

Our Battle-worn hero returns home from war to find his kingdom ruled by "Fear".

I am still not sure about this but each stage can be modified as you work through the method. It will do for now. I have put Fear into inverted commas because the antagonist will be an evil twin of our hero, created by a magical accident as he left to go to war.

But that's enough for now, I am eager to get on with the next stage, although I will be hoping to create the world in which this story unfolds from scratch, just a whim!

BTW, no title yet! I will sort that out as the story unfolds.

Creative writing prompts for poems

I am really suffering from a bad case of writers block. Nothing is happening for me at all this month. I have become so desperate that I have been searching for poetry prompts on the internet and thought that I would share a site with you. Creative writing now.

Let me give a couple of examples, I hope that the site owner won't mind:-

9) Write a poem from the perspective of a character in a fairy tale.
10) Write a poem using all of the following words: moth, angle, cloth, tangle.
11) Write a poem that tells the story of a specific love affair or marriage.
12) Write a poem in the form of a message or letter to your future self.
13) Write a poem about the color red or another color. (Some ideas for brainstorming: How does the color make you feel? What things do you associate with that color?)

Go to Creative Writing Now for many, many more examples. Oh, and wish me luck using a few of these.

Links to poetry sites and useful resources

I am having a very barren few weeks with no new poems, as I mentioned in the last post I am recording snippets in my note book but nothing is really gelling and I am not finishing anything. So today I am going to list a few sites which I have been looking at for inspiration and new skills/etc.

Poets United - a community for poets who blog

Can U Write, naming a poem

GypsyWhim - a new artists community

Poetic parfait - poetry (what else?)

Haiku Heights - weekly prompts for Haiku

Poetry Foundation - poetry, articles resources

Poetry express - imagine, create, connect

Creative Writing Now - prompts for poetry

Just a contest - poetry competitions in the UK

Well that seems to be a good start and of course many of these will suggest other links for poets.

My Poetry Takes A New Direction

In answer to the questions I posed to myself in a recent post, the Difference between amateur and professional poetry, I have been trying out a new way of writing poetry.

I am not sure if this makes my poetry any better, if it is any good at all, or indeed if I like it. However I am determined to "improve" my writing and this is very much an experiment to see how things work out. Thus far I have approached poetry as a means of entertainment. Coming from writing songs, my poetry was simply an extension of my lyrics. However the more I read about poetry, it seems that poetry should be more than this. I am not sure that I agree and this seems to be very much an academic view but to get anywhere in the various poetry writing contests and potentially getting published, one needs to join in with the fashions as set by those academics.

I intend to write a post about my feelings on this very soon. But for now, here is my newest poem:-

AUTUMN


Summer recedes,
days lengthen,
nights draw in.
Warm clothing erupts from hiding
deep in wardrobe recesses.
The year creeps on.

Shadowed trees
Proudly silhouetted
Against a darkening evening sky.
Leaves whisper,
“We are still here”.
Soon colours yellow, gold red and ochre
will carpet the ground
beneath those ancient giants,
boughs reaching
to the sky above.
The year grinds on.

Autumn extravaganza
Harvested and stored,
Larders bulging.
Winter arrives
The year slides around.
Almost a bout of free writing but there was a lot of editing involved. However, there is still not much use of metaphors and word pictures. Maybe I still need to work on it, leave it a couple of weeks and come back again; see where I can take it?

The project continues ....................

The Clerihew - another poetry form

 Well if I have to say so myself, writing poetry to a different format seems to have released a torrent of new ideas.

I decided to try another form and see if the change did me some good creatively. Which one I wondered. The answer was presented in a new Squidoo Lens on the subject of The Clerihew, I came across whilst browsing. It is a humerous or whimsical format a format invented by a Edmund Clerihew bently. Basically it is a four line poem, with a rhyming sceme of AABB but no metre or syllable count restrictions, the lines often having irregular length.

It is often biographical; written about a person, and the first line should contain, or consist solely of that persons name.

So, my first two examples are from the world of pop music:-

You'll be aware that Mick Jagger

Despite his wrinkles has a swagger

But looks are deceiving

Just look at the attention he is receiving

and the second uses the cockney rhyming slang, Hank Marvin = Starvin'

Starvin' Hank Marvin

Gets my feet tappin'

He's my guitar Hero

All others rate zero

And this one in honour of the olympics

Consider Sir Roger Bannister

Raised to knighthood from just a mister

In championship style

He ran a four minute mile

I will be looking hard at other forms to widen the scope of the poetry I am writing. The discipline seems to work for me.

More daily poems

This has been more fun than I imagined. Not really making the one a day, but the average is good. Seems like I have to have the opportunity in order to write. Note to myself: need to create this opportunity and provide thte time.

Well I have another three and I am very happy with these so lets get right down to the nitty gritty:

25^th June

A Healing Circle

 Round and round and round we go

Follow the path, all we need to know.

Find the centre that’s the plan,

Return again a better man.

Round and round and round we’re yet

Upon a path ordained, it’s set

From here to there and then return.

A healing circle, look and learn.

Round and round and round we walk.

The path is clear, no need to talk.

It spirals in, then out again.

A healing prayer to ease the pain.

My wife and I visited a “Garden of Well-Being” inGloucestershire, called Matara. The gardens have been designed to create a sense of calmness, and contain elements of Japanese (Zen garden) and Celtic traditions (mazes or labrynths). The double spiral is a common form of the single route labrynth and is called here a healing circle. The idea being that you walk forward to get to the centre and by keeping going in the same direction you reach the exit, a different exit of course.

I started to write this lying in bed in the hotel we stayed in for two days visiting two wonderful gardens. It was very early and most of it came to me without too much conscious thought but I had to write it down before I forgot it. At 5.00 a.m. this would have been a distinct possibility.

The first verse came out in one go. The second verse was a little more difficult to find and in fact it nearly did not get written. I wrote the third verse after the first and thought that the poem was complete but after a little break decided to add another verse. The second line of the last verse originally read:

" It spirals in, it spirals out."

However, rhyming with “out” was difficult and so came up with the alternative seen above.

The last verse eventually appeared, still using the same repetition as the other verses for the first line. The rhyming couplet gave me a little trouble, which is why the second line is a little stilted The word order being a little unnatural although not unforgivingly so.

The third line also took two attempts, firstly:

“From here to there and back again”

The lack of a suitable rhyme again led me to change to a slightly different tack.

When a lyric or poem “falls” out on to the paper quickly, without needing too much concentration on my part, I often find that it is one of my favourites. Although it is only days since this was written, I believe this will be the case with this poem. I must admit to being quite pleased with it.

25^th June

As in a dream!

I am so glad that I did get up and write the last poem down. When I got back in bed I was obviously on overdrive and another poem came very quickly to mind. Again it did not need much work from me, the lines coming very easily. This time I did not write the poem down straightaway, I allowed myself to drop off to sleep – and of course later on upon reawakening, I had completely forgotten it. I remembered that I had completed it but could not even remember the theme or subject of the poem except that it was something to do with the visit of the day before. Just like a dream it had evaporated completely.

A warning to get ideas down on paper as soon as possible and whatever you are doing.

26^th June

The Black Tower

A calming scene of luscious green

A tangled woody bower,

A colourful riot before one’s eyes

And then afar a tower.

The tower is in black stone built,

The local stone is sand,

I cannot help but wonder why

The builder made this stand.

The crenellations ‘round the top

Add to the mystery

Like a castle on a hill top proud.

The man a dreamer, he.

Was it a show of daring-do

Or was there a special reason?

But either way, to travellers’ eyes

It stands out all year, each season.

A photo of a distant tower seen at Old Sodbury, Gloucestershire. I was struck by the colour of it as we drove by. Virtually all other buildings were in the oolitic limestone common to the Cotswold area. In fact the councils will not allow any other materials to be used for new buildings in an effort to maintain the scenic beauty of this wonderful location.

I have very little to say about this poem, it being another one that came out very easily. Again, the last verse was written before the final verse but not an uncommon issue, I would guess. In the third verse above the third and fourth lines have been changed, the originals being:

“Looking to all who pass it by

Like a castle, there to see”

I am very glad that I took a few seconds to change it.

 Oh yes, crenellations are the shapes of the rectangular, protective devices seen around the battlements and towers of a castle. A note on the tower from Wikipedia:-

There is a crenellated tower on the escarpment immediately above and to the East of the village, resembling a rook chesspiece, visible from the main road, that performs the function of a ventilation shaft (the first of six) for the Chipping Sodbury Tunnel, on the main railway line from South Wales, via Bristol Parkway to London Paddington). These shafts were designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for the Great Western Railway, which runs through the village and under the hill above it.

Actually I am going to call it a day for this post there, I will post the third poem in my next posting.

Poetry, Beginning To Write Again Many Years

If you have read some of my previous posts here or my poetry-basedSquidoo lenses, you will be aware that the poetry I have been posting on the internet was almost all writtten many years ago in my youth. I have mentioned that my interest in writing has been reawakened by the postings. However, I have not been active in this endeavour.

In order to kick-start myself into action I am going to try and write a poem everyday. I am not sure if I can carry this off but if I do it will lead to a number of short, probably poorly written and an eclectic range of subjects. All to the good perhaps, especially the latter. Also, looking on the bright side, I should be able to edit the better ones into something to be proud of. The hope is that the action of writing will have three major affects:-

• Writing more will encourage more writing
• Writing more will encourage creativivty in my writing
• Writing more will improve my consistency and skills in writing

If I seem to be repeating myself it is because I have great expectations of writing more. So everyday I will be making notes and putting a couple of stanzas down on paper. I will be editing as I go of course which is of course a standard part of the writing process. However I hope that by frequently posting  some of the "best" on this blog, more editing of course, I will get back into the business of writing poetry again.

Here are three which I have writen on the first two days of this project. Nothing came on the third day but I do feel good about them.

 

20^th June (My thanks and apologies to William Shakespeare for the inspiration.)

Rush Hour

Hustle, bustle, toil and ruffle

Clothes protecting from the weather.

Rushing through the snow and rain

To their place of work ordained, 

Commuting colleagues all together.

Every morning it’s the same.

In the evening, repeat procedure

But carry out in reverse order.

Buses, trains and cars a-honking

Stressful signs of people waiting

To get home a little quicker;

Lord, O Lord, please heed their praying.

Played around with many rhyming schemes but settled on this one. Not usual for me - but after reading lots of free and non-rhyming poetry I wanted to be different. The first stanza came together and I worked on it for sometime using ABCCBC.

The original second line was, “Clothes worn keeping out the weather”. I may still keep it yet. Actually on second thoughts, to go back to the rhyming scheme, I am stayin with the original. Leaving, “Clothes worn to keep us warm” as second reserve.

The last two lines in stanza 2, after failing originally to maintain the rhyme scheme were,

“For the next stage of their journey

To get home, Lord heed their praying.”

NB. I moved the word “procedure” from line to line three times during the writing of this poem.

Shopping

Spending money, joining queues;

Oh boy, what joy

I can think of better things

To occupy my mind.

And if it should come to it,

I rather spend my time

Doing almost anything else,

Than shopping

I get no satisfaction

From brash new fashion.

I don’t need or get along

With must-have toys for boys.

Why are they so needed?

It really is a mystery,

A waste of world resources.

That’s shopping!

Wow, I thought I had finished this but have made several minor and a couple of major revisions to it whilst typing.  These were mostly to improve the metre and rhythm of the lines in the poem.

Apologies to Messers Jagger and Richards, but I declined their original line to improve the metre here.

21^st June

Rain

It’s raining again, oh goody!

They told us we were short of water

And to use a hose was out of order.

In case of use a fine would follow

But now that’s sounding rather hollow.

It’s raining again, oh goody!

The shortest yet! Written during a few minutes waiting for a colleague at work.

I will of course keep you up to date with this project, hopefylly more posts (and poems) will follow rapidly.