Category Poetry

Gas Street Basin

freyathewriter 27 Comments

Bypasses and ringroads

motorbikes and cars

modern modes of transport

leave their gaping scars upon this land

so green and pleasant,

we yearn for times gone by

but gazing at the narrow-boat

I wonder if our eye has rose-tinted

our view of the water-born

workhorse, now driven for pleasure

coal-carrying forgotten as we

pursue times of leisure and joy.

The canals were our highways,

industry was fuelled by these watery

paths – fumes, dust and noise

clogging the arteries of England’s

long spine.

———–

This week on dVerse Poetics, Shanyn would like us to write about the rhythm of transport. This long weekend, I have been staying with my family who hail from what southerners in England refer to as The North. Well, I was born and brought up in the West Midlands, which is hardly The North, but we do have a lot of industrial history of which to be proud!

Apparently, my birth city of Birmingham has more canals than Venice, and they were used for commerce in support of the the Industrial Revolution. I imagine that they were dusty, noisy, smelly and very, very busy. Traffic jams of narrowboats would have been commonplace, especially in places such as Tardebigge, which has a flight of  30 locks. Taking a boat through a lock system is not to be taken lightly! These days, the canals are used for pleasure, and I think many people tend to to forget that they were the motorways of their day. So, this was my inspiration! Oh, and Gas Street Basin is where a number of canal systems meet in the centre of Birmingham – very pretty now, not so lovely back in the times when it was a working hub of the canal system.

I hope you enjoy this – please pop over to dVerse to see how my fellow poets have been inspired!

Revelation

freyathewriter 43 Comments

Here, take a look at this book.

The truth lies within, we promise you

No, we can’t share who we are with you

We’ll take far more than we give to you

You’ll realise this once we’ve utilised you

We have two faces, we promise you

Here, take a look at this book.

 

jacmel-kanaval-preachers

———–

This week on dVerse Poetics, our bar-keep Anthony has asked us to respond poetically to the stunning photography of Phyllis Galembo. As Anthony tells us ‘she documents mythic figures of the spirit world within the culture of masquerade in Africa’. Out of the generous selection that she has allowed Anthony to share, I chose the image above. Since we have been given free reign to respond in any way we feel, my response should not be taken as any kind of comment on the religious beliefs of the people Phyllis has chosen to photograph – it’s just how my gut responded, mainly to the masks! I think I might have trust issues….

I hope you enjoy my offering, brief as it is, and do take the time to pop over to dVerse to see what other creative juices have created! No two will be alike, I can promise you!

One for the road

freyathewriter 40 Comments

I always act up when I’ve had a bit to drink
I never tread carefully, don’t stop to think
I always forget – consequences arise
I never can see through another person’s lies
I always become innocent and sweet
I never look, just take a carefree leap
I always regret ignoring my concerns
I never pay attention, forget I need to learn
I always swear ‘I won’t do that again’
I never can think ‘no’, don’t ever say ‘when’
I always think that just one more is fine
I never see until too late – I’ve stepped over the line
It’s so far behind me now
I’ve lost the friends I had
Drink will be my only mate –
How did it get so bad?

———–

This week on dVerse Meeting the Bar, our bar-keep Gay has set us a huge challenge – to create a new form of poetry. I must confess, at first I felt rather floored by this. I’ve never really spent a great deal of time learning form – but then it’s only been a few months since I revisited my love of poetry writing. Its form wasn’t really ever something we learned at school (what a shame), although we did read quite a bit. So… after a little moment of ‘eeek!’ I decided to attack this in a simplistic way.

Rather than trying to research different styles and then getting frustrated at not being able to master the existing version, let alone create something new, I thought about the words themselves, about synonyms, antonyms, that kind of thing (I told you it was basic!). Since I came across this week’s theme just before 7pm UK time (courtesy of Bjorn’s blog), whilst waiting for my train home from Gatwick Airport, I don’t think I’ve done too badly – it was less than two hours ago!

So – my form, which I will name ‘Oppositional Rhyme’ has four ‘rules’:

1) The lines operate in pairs

2) The first word of each line must be the same – in this case, I used ‘I’

3) The second word should be pairs of antonyms – in my example, I used ‘always’ and ‘never’

4) The poem can be any length you like, but there should be four final lines that round off the poem which do not follow the first three ‘rules’. Otherwise it could go on, and on, and on.

Hmm… I thought it was quite simple… but now it doesn’t sound it!

By the way, the theme of this poem has nothing to do with me as such, except that for once in my 4 times a year journey to Jersey, Channel Islands and back (on the same day), I had a little drinky on the flight home. It was very enjoyable – but I do have to be firm with myself because I do have an addictive personality. It’s not too hard for me to imagine the lure of the bottle.

I hope you enjoy my offering – and do take the time to have a look at what the other creative types have dreamed up.