Tag dVerse Meeting the Bar

Fair Game

freyathewriter 38 Comments

They swagger, these gifts of the gods
Draped in Savile Row
Handmade brogues squeaking
Signalling their advance
Sleek terminals flashing green and red
The latest billions to be made
Orchestrated by one perfectly manicured digit
A rarefied world, this domain of the trader
Tiger women diluting the testosterone just enough
To become the next female BSD.
(I don’t have the balls
In all senses of the word).
They all walk and talk a good game
Ride the highs and lows with aplomb
Possessing animalistic grace, a certain panache
Revelling in the glory, drowning the losses in Moët & Chandon
Or inside their bonus-bought classic car
Seats rubbed smooth with 90mph sex and cocaine
Shagging the pressure away in a City side street.
Rare beasts, these,
Stalking, hunting down that one trade
Chasing mammon, winner takes all
But I wonder, when it comes down to it
When I see those who drew the short straw
Carrying their belongings in a cardboard box
Incongruously shabby against their Cartier adornments
Leaving their ivory tower for the last time
Facing down the cameras as journalists hunt in packs
Trading titillation for the headline news
I wonder – do they think it was worth it, after all?
Probably.

*****

This week, Brian, our host at dVerse Meeting the Bar wants us to consider character – something more akin to penning short stories and novels, rather than poetry. Fabulous! I love a challenge!

My take is all about that much-maligned character, the City trader. I have worked in the Square Mile since last century (no, really!) and have met and seen a few in my time. Some are as bad as the press paints them, many are not. All of them have guts, that’s for sure! I haven’t based my poem on anyone in particular – consider it an amalgamation of many traits I have seen (in traders and other types) over the years.

I hope you enjoy my offering – and please do join us! The hosts all work extremely hard to make the community a success.

My Man Joe – dVerse Meeting the Bar

freyathewriter 39 Comments

Here’s my long-overdue return to dVerse Meeting the Bar. This week, Gay is asking us to write a song! Now that’s a poetry form that brings back strong memories for me – I immediately thought of my mum singing along to Steeleye Span’s ‘All Around My Hat’ as she did the housework, and being taken to a Chieftans’ concert (and falling asleep – aaah, I was only very young!). Folk music is something that my family really enjoys – there is even morris dancing going on too (my mum again, with my step-dad playing an important musical role too).

Suffice to say, I’m a fan of the old folksy ballad, singing of love, loss, pride and passion. So, here’s my attempt… It’s inspired by the centenary year of the Great War – the War to End All Wars (if only). It’s simple, yet I hope it works.

Do visit the other poets who take part in this wonderful community… you’re in for a treat! And do let me know what you think of my song.

*****

– My Man Joe –

My sweetheart Joe is big and strong
With a twinkling eye and a ready smile
He works on the railways all week long
Just to buy me a posy on a Friday

(chorus)
I’ll always be with you, I’ll always be true
I’ll stand by your side, forever be true

My fiancé Joe cuts a fine dash
Driving his engine through the valleys
He collects his wages and gives me cash
Just to buy me a dress for our wedding

(chorus)
I’ll always be with you, I’ll always be true
I’ll stand by your side, forever be true

My husband Joe is a fine, proud dad
He plays with his boys on a Sunday
He sings in church, gives thanks and is glad
For his family, luck and fortune

(chorus)
I’ll always be with you, I’ll always be true
I’ll stand by your side, forever be true

My soldier Joe walks proud and tall
Marching away to the trenches
God bless my man! God bless them all!
Please let him come back safely

(chorus)
I’ll always be with you, I’ll always be true
I’ll stand by your side, forever be true

My man Joe gave his life and soul
On the far away fields of Flanders
For my boys and me he’ll not grow old
Nor ever be forgotten.

(chorus)
I’ll always be with you, I’ll always be true
I’ll stand by your side, forever be true

Threshold – dVerse Meeting the Bar

freyathewriter 35 Comments

Here’s my latest entry into the dVerse Meeting the Bar. This week, Gay is asking us to reflect on ourselves, think about how we talk, what we say, reveal a little piece of us in poetry form. I confess, I found this tough, tough, tough. This year, life in the Freya world has been turned upside down, and then all the pieces put back in some form of random order, so I’m not really sure who this ‘me’ is. I think I’m at a chrysalis stage, just deciding what butterfly I’m going to be (positive spin, do you see?).

So, I’m not sure if I fulfil the brief, but better some words than none at all. I do use the language, it sounds typically British as well, I feel (a bit stilted, somewhat diffident, perhaps)?

Do visit the other poets who take part in this wonderful community… you’re in for a treat!

*****

– Threshold –

Being at a crossroads
Or maybe halted by a sudden fork,
not sure which direction I’ll follow,
even where the turn will take me
when I blink and look again –
I’m not sure of myself
Nor do I understand which me I am.
The work me is part of it
But what is the other me like?
How do I behave?
What do I do, or say, differently
when the responsibility is
sloughed off as I walk through the front door?
Some days, I bring it home.
Not my work concerns per se
Just the demeanour.
I think it’s time for a reinvention.
Long overdue, frivolity has been a stranger at my door.
Perhaps with jollity’s return,
the prospect of a new beginning
won’t leave that taste of fear
on my tongue.
The taste that stops the words
seeping out.