No.33

Edith Piaf, Roger McGough, Bette Midler, Jacques Brel, Dylan Thomas, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, Robert Burns, Spike Middleton, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Maya Angelou, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Elizabeth Bishop, Shel Silverstein, Walter de la Mare, Eleanor Farjeon, etc.

Timothy Winters

Charles Causley 1917-2003

Timothy Winters comes to school 

With eyes as wide as a football-pool, 

Ears like bombs and teeth like splinters: 

A blitz of a boy is Timothy Winters. 

His belly is white, his neck is dark, 

And his hair is an exclamation-mark. 

His clothes are enough to scare a crow 

And through his britches the blue winds blow. 

When teacher talks he won't hear a word 

And he shoots down dead the arithmetic-bird, 

He licks the pattern off his plate 

And he's not even heard of the Welfare State. 

Timothy Winters has bloody feet 

And he lives in a house on Suez Street, 

He sleeps in a sack on the kitchen floor 

And they say there aren't boys like him anymore. 

Old Man Winters likes his beer 

And his missus ran off with a bombardier, 

Grandma sits in the grate with a gin 

And Timothy's dosed with an aspirin. 

The welfare Worker lies awake 

But the law's as tricky as a ten-foot snake, 

So Timothy Winters drinks his cup 

And slowly goes on growing up. 

At Morning Prayers the Master helves 

for children less fortunate than ourselves, 

And the loudest response in the room is when 

Timothy Winters roars "Amen!" 

So come one angel, come on ten 

Timothy Winters says "Amen 

Amen amen amen amen." 

Timothy Winters, Lord. 

Amen. 

-o0o-

A new Week End Blog

THE BEST OF MY CHOICE MY DELIGHT

begins tomorrow 

FRIDAY 31st AUGUST

thebestofmychoicemydelight.blogspot.com

and will be updated every week end

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

No.32
Edith Piaf, Roger McGough, Bette Midler, Jacques Brel, Dylan Thomas, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, Robert Burns, Spike Middleton, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Maya Angelou, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Elizabeth Bishop, Shel Silverstein, Walter de la Mare, Eleanor Farjeon, etc.

Kubla Khan

(a vision in a dream) 

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan 

A stately pleasure-dome decree: 

Where Alph, the sacred river, ran 

Through caverns measureless to man 

   Down to a sunless sea. 

So twice five miles of fertile ground 

With walls and towers were girdled round; 

And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills, 

Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree; 

And here were forests ancient as the hills, 

Enfolding sunny spots of greenery. 

But oh! that deep romantic chasm which slanted 

Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover! 

A savage place! as holy and enchanted 

As e’er beneath a waning moon was haunted 

By woman wailing for her demon-lover! 

And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething, 

As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing, 

A mighty fountain momently was forced: 

Amid whose swift half-intermitted burst 

Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail, 

Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher’s flail: 

And mid these dancing rocks at once and ever 

It flung up momently the sacred river. 

Five miles meandering with a mazy motion 

Through wood and dale the sacred river ran, 

Then reached the caverns measureless to man, 

And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean; 

And ’mid this tumult Kubla heard from far 

Ancestral voices prophesying war! 

   The shadow of the dome of pleasure 

   Floated midway on the waves; 

   Where was heard the mingled measure 

   From the fountain and the caves. 

It was a miracle of rare device, 

A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice! 

 A damsel with a dulcimer 

   In a vision once I saw: 

   It was an Abyssinian maid 

   And on her dulcimer she played, 

   Singing of Mount Abora. 

   Could I revive within me 

   Her symphony and song, 

   To such a deep delight ’twould win me, 

That with music loud and long, 

I would build that dome in air, 

That sunny dome! those caves of ice! 

And all who heard should see them there, 

And all should cry, Beware! Beware! 

His flashing eyes, his floating hair! 

Weave a circle round him thrice, 

And close your eyes with holy dread 

For he on honey-dew hath fed, 

And drunk the milk of Paradise.

-o0o-

No.31

Edith Piaf, Roger McGough, Bette Midler, Jacques Brel, Dylan Thomas, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, Robert Burns, Spike Middleton, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Maya Angelou, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Elizabeth Bishop, Shel Silverstein, Walter de la Mare, Eleanor Farjeon, etc.

What If This Road

Sheenagh Pugh

What if this road, that has held no surprises

these many years, decided not to go

home after all; what if it could turn

left or right with no more ado

than a kite-tail? What if its tarry skin

were like a long, supple bolt of cloth,

that is shaken and rolled out, and takes

a new shape from the contours beneath?

And if it chose to lay itself down

in a new way; around a blind corner,

across hills you must climb without knowing

what’s on the other side; who would not hanker

to be going, at all risks? Who wants to know

a story’s end, or where a road will go?

-o0o-

No.30

Edith Piaf, Roger McGough, Bette Midler, Jacques Brel, Dylan Thomas, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, Robert Burns, Spike Middleton, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Maya Angelou, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Elizabeth Bishop, Shel Silverstein, Walter de la Mare, Eleanor Farjeon, etc.

My Heart Leaps Up

William Wordsworth 1770 - 1850

 My heart leaps up when I behold 

   A rainbow in the sky:

So was it when my life began; 

So is it now I am a man; 

So be it when I shall grow old, 

   Or let me die!

The Child is father of the Man;

And I could wish my days to be

Bound each to each by natural piety.

-o0o-

No.29

Edith Piaf, Roger McGough, Bette Midler, Jacques Brel, Dylan Thomas, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, Robert Burns, Spike Middleton, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Maya Angelou, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Elizabeth Bishop, Shel Silverstein, Walter de la Mare, Eleanor Farjeon, etc.

Now that You Too Must Shortly Go

Eleanor Farjeon 1881-1965

Now that you too must shortly go the way 

Which in these bloodshot years uncounted men 

Have gone in vanishing armies day by day, 

And in their numbers will not come again:

 

I must not strain the moments of our meeting 

Striving for each look, each accent, not to miss, 

Or question of our parting and our greeting, 

Is this the last of all? is this—or this? 

 

Last sight of all it may be with these eyes, 

Last touch, last hearing, since eyes, hands, and ears, 

Even serving love, are our mortalities, 

And cling to what they own in mortal fears:—

But oh, let end what will, I hold you fast 

By immortal love, which has no first or last.

-o0o-

No.28
Edith Piaf, Roger McGough, Bette Midler, Jacques Brel, Dylan Thomas, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, Robert Burns, Spike Middleton, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Maya Angelou, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Elizabeth Bishop, Shel Silverstein, Walter de la Mare, Eleanor Farjeon, etc.

On the Farm

R.S. Thomas 1913-2000

There was Dai Puw. He was no good.

They put him in the fields to dock swedes,

And took the knife from him, when he came home

At late evening with a grin

Like the slash of a knife on his face.

There was Llew Puw, and he was no good.

Every evening after the ploughing

With the big tractor he would sit in his chair,

And stare into the tangled fire garden,

Opening his slow lips like a snail.

There was Huw Puw, too. What shall I say?

I have heard him whistling in the hedges

On and on, as though winter

Would never again leave those fields,

And all the trees were deformed.

And lastly there was the girl;

Beauty under some spell of the beast.

Her pale face was the lantern

By which they read in life’s dark book

The shrill sentence: God is love.

-o0o-

No.27

Edith Piaf, Roger McGough, Bette Midler, Jacques Brel, Dylan Thomas, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, Robert Burns, Spike Middleton, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Maya Angelou, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Elizabeth Bishop, Shel Silverstein, Walter de la Mare, Eleanor Farjeon, etc.

Ae Fond Kiss

Robert Burns 1759-96

Ae fond kiss, and then we sever; 

Ae fareweel, and then forever! 

Deep in heart-wrung tears   I'll pledge thee, 

Warring sighs and groans I'll wage thee. 

Who shall say that Fortune grieves him, 

While the star of hope she leaves him? 

Me, nae cheerfu' twinkle lights me; 

Dark despair around benights me. 

I'll ne'er blame my partial fancy, 

Naething could resist my Nancy; 

But to see her was to love her; 

Love but her, and love forever. 

Had we never lov'd sae kindly, 

Had we never lov'd sae blindly, 

Never met—or never parted— 

We had ne'er been broken-hearted. 

Fare thee weel, thou first and fairest! 

Fare thee weel, thou best and dearest! 

Thine be ilka joy and treasure, 

Peace. enjoyment, love, and pleasure! 

Ae fond kiss, and then we sever; 

Ae fareweel, alas, forever! 

Deep in heart-wrung tears   I'll pledge thee, 

Warring sighs and groans I'll wage thee! 

-o0o-

No.26
Edith Piaf, Roger McGough, Bette Midler, Jacques Brel, Dylan Thomas, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, Robert Burns, Spike Middleton, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Maya Angelou, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Elizabeth Bishop, Shel Silverstein, Walter de la Mare, Eleanor Farjeon, etc.

Let Me Die A Youngman's Death

Roger McGough

Let me die a youngman's death 

not a clean and inbetween 

the sheets holywater death 

not a famous-last-words 

peaceful out of breath death 

When I'm 73 

and in constant good tumour 

may I be mown down at dawn 

by a bright red sports car 

on my way home 

from an allnight party 

Or when I'm 91 

with silver hair 

and sitting in a barber's chair 

may rival gangsters 

with hamfisted tommyguns burst in 

and give me a short back and insides 

Or when I'm 104 

and banned from the Cavern 

may my mistress 

catching me in bed with her daughter 

and fearing for her son 

cut me up into little pieces 

and throw away every piece but one 

Let me die a youngman's death 

not a free from sin tiptoe in 

candle wax and waning death 

not a curtains drawn by angels borne 

'what a nice way to go' death

-o0o-

No.25
Edith Piaf, Roger McGough, Bette Midler, Jacques Brel, Dylan Thomas, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, Robert Burns, Spike Middleton, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Maya Angelou, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Elizabeth Bishop, Shel Silverstein, Walter de la Mare, Eleanor Farjeon, etc.

The Other Side of a Mirror

Mary Elizabeth Coleridge 1861-1907

I sat before my glass one day, 

And conjured up a vision bare, 

Unlike the aspects glad and gay, 

That erst were found reflected there - 

The vision of a woman, wild 

With more than womanly despair. 

Her hair stood back on either side 

A face bereft of loveliness. 

It had no envy now to hide 

What once no man on earth could guess. 

It formed the thorny aureole 

Of hard, unsanctified distress. 

Her lips were open - not a sound 

Came though the parted lines of red, 

Whate'er it was, the hideous wound 

In silence and secret bled. 

No sigh relieved her speechless woe, 

She had no voice to speak her dread. 

And in her lurid eyes there shone 

The dying flame of life's desire, 

Made mad because its hope was gone, 

And kindled at the leaping fire 

Of jealousy and fierce revenge, 

And strength that could not change nor tire. 

Shade of a shadow in the glass, 

O set the crystal surface free! 

Pass - as the fairer visions pass - 

Nor ever more return, to be 

The ghost of a distracted hour, 

That heard me whisper: - "I am she!"

-o0o-

No.24
Edith Piaf, Roger McGough, Bette Midler, Jacques Brel, Dylan Thomas, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, Robert Burns, Spike Middleton, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Maya Angelou, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Elizabeth Bishop, Shel Silverstein, Walter de la Mare, Eleanor Farjeon, etc.

One Art

Elisabeth Bishop 1911-79

The art of losing isn’t hard to master;

so many things seem filled with the intent

to be lost that their loss is no disaster.

Lose something every day. Accept the fluster

of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.

The art of losing isn’t hard to master.

Then practice losing farther, losing faster:

places, and names, and where it was you meant

to travel. None of these will bring disaster.

I lost my mother’s watch. And look! my last, or

next-to-last, of three loved houses went.

The art of losing isn’t hard to master.

I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,

some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.

I miss them, but it wasn’t a disaster.

—Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture

I love) I shan’t have lied. It’s evident

the art of losing’s not too hard to master

though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.

-o0o-

No.23

Edith Piaf, Roger McGough, Bette Midler, Jacques Brel, Dylan Thomas, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, Robert Burns, Spike Middleton, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Maya Angelou, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Elizabeth Bishop, Shel Silverstein, Walter de la Mare, Eleanor Farjeon, etc.

I Remember, I Remember

Thomas Hood 1799-1845

I remember, I remember, 

The house where I was born, 

The little window where the sun 

Came peeping in at morn; 

He never came a wink too soon, 

Nor brought too long a day, 

But now, I often wish the night 

Had borne my breath away! 

I remember, I remember, 

The roses, red and white, 

The vi'lets, and the lily-cups, 

Those flowers made of light! 

The lilacs where the robin built, 

And where my brother set 

The laburnum on his birthday,— 

The tree is living yet! 

I remember, I remember, 

Where I was used to swing, 

And thought the air must rush as fresh 

To swallows on the wing; 

My spirit flew in feathers then, 

That is so heavy now, 

And summer pools could hardly cool 

The fever on my brow! 

I remember, I remember, 

The fir trees dark and high; 

I used to think their slender tops 

Were close against the sky: 

It was a childish ignorance, 

But now 'tis little joy 

To know I'm farther off from heav'n 

Than when I was a boy. 

-o0o-

No.22

Edith Piaf, Roger McGough, Bette Midler, Jacques Brel, Dylan Thomas, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, Robert Burns, Spike Middleton, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Maya Angelou, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Elizabeth Bishop, Shel Silverstein, Walter de la Mare, Eleanor Farjeon, etc.

Hold Fast to Dreams
Langston Hughes 1902-67

Hold fast to dreams

For if dreams die

Life is a broken-winged bird

That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams

For when dreams go

Life is a barren field

Frozen with snow. 

-o0o-

No.21
Edith Piaf, Roger McGough, Bette Midler, Jacques Brel, Dylan Thomas, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, Robert Burns, Spike Middleton, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Maya Angelou, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Elizabeth Bishop, Shel Silverstein, Walter de la Mare, Eleanor Farjeon, etc.

The Passionate Shepherd to his Love

Christopher Marlowe 1564-93

Come live with me and be my love, 
And we will all the pleasures prove, 
That Valleys, groves, hills, and fields, 
Woods, or steepy mountain yields. 

And we will sit upon the Rocks, 
Seeing the Shepherds feed their flocks, 
By shallow Rivers to whose falls 
Melodious birds sing Madrigals. 

And I will make thee beds of Roses 
And a thousand fragrant posies, 
A cap of flowers, and a kirtle 
Embroidered all with leaves of Myrtle; 

A gown made of the finest wool 
Which from our pretty Lambs we pull; 
Fair lined slippers for the cold, 
With buckles of the purest gold; 

A belt of straw and Ivy buds, 
With Coral clasps and Amber studs: 
And if these pleasures may thee move, 
Come live with me, and be my love. 

The Shepherds’ Swains shall dance and sing 
For thy delight each May-morning: 
If these delights thy mind may move, 
Then live with me, and be my love.

-o0o-

No.20

Edith Piaf, Roger McGough, Bette Midler, Jacques Brel, Dylan Thomas, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, Robert Burns, Spike Middleton, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Maya Angelou, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Elizabeth Bishop, Shel Silverstein, Walter de la Mare, Eleanor Farjeon, etc.

The Song of the Battery Hen

Edwin Brock 1927-97

We can't grumble about accommodation:

we have a new concrete floor that's

always dry, four walls that are

painted white, and a sheet-iron roof

the rain drums on. A fan blows warm air

beneath our feet to disperse the smell

of chicken shit and, on dull days

fluorescent lightening sees us.

You can tell me: if you come by

the north door, I am in the twelfth pen

on the left hand side of the third row

from the floor; and in that pen

I am usually the middle one of three.

But even without directions, you'd 

discover me. I have the same orange-red

comb, yellow beak and auburn

feathers, but as the door opens and you

hear above the electric fan a kind of

one word wail, I am the one 

who sounds loudest in my head.

Listen. Outside this house there's an

orchard with small moss-green apple

trees; beyond that, two fields of

cabbages; then on the far side of

the road, a broiler house. Listen:

one cockerel grows out of there, as 

tall and proud as the first of the hour of the sun.

Sometimes I stop cackling with the others

to listen, and wonder if he hears me.

The next time you come here, look for me.

Notice the way I sound inside my head.

God made us all differently,

And blessed us with this expensive home.

-o0o-

No.19

Edith Piaf, Roger McGough, Bette Midler, Jacques Brel, Dylan Thomas, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, Robert Burns, Spike Middleton, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Maya Angelou, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Elizabeth Bishop, Shel Silverstein, Walter de la Mare, Eleanor Farjeon, etc.

Love's Philosophy

Percy Bysshe Shelley 1792-1822

The fountains mingle with the river 

   And the rivers with the ocean, 

The winds of heaven mix for ever 

   With a sweet emotion; 

Nothing in the world is single; 

   All things by a law divine 

In one spirit meet and mingle. 

   Why not I with thine?— 

See the mountains kiss high heaven 

   And the waves clasp one another; 

No sister-flower would be forgiven 

   If it disdained its brother; 

And the sunlight clasps the earth 

   And the moonbeams kiss the sea: 

What is all this sweet work worth 

   If thou kiss not me? 

-o0o-

No.18

Edith Piaf, Roger McGough, Bette Midler, Jacques Brel, Dylan Thomas, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, Robert Burns, Spike Middleton, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Maya Angelou, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Elizabeth Bishop, Shel Silverstein, Walter de la Mare, Eleanor Farjeon, etc.

So Much Happiness

Naomi Shihab Nye

It is difficult to know what to do with so much happiness.

With sadness there is something to rub against,

a wound to tend with lotion and cloth.

When the world falls in around you, you have pieces to pick up,

something to hold in your hands, like ticket stubs or change.

But happiness floats.

It doesn’t need you to hold it down.

It doesn’t need anything.

Happiness lands on the roof of the next house, singing,

and disappears when it wants to.

You are happy either way.

Even the fact that you once lived in a peaceful tree house

and now live over a quarry of noise and dust

cannot make you unhappy.

Everything has a life of its own,

it too could wake up filled with possibilities

of coffee cake and ripe peaches,

and love even the floor which needs to be swept,

the soiled linens and scratched records . . .

Since there is no place large enough

to contain so much happiness,

you shrug, you raise your hands, and it flows out of you

into everything you touch. You are not responsible.

You take no credit, as the night sky takes no credit

for the moon, but continues to hold it, and share it,

and in that way, be known.

-o0o-

No.17
Edith Piaf, Roger McGough, Bette Midler, Jacques Brel, Dylan Thomas, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, Robert Burns, Spike Middleton, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Maya Angelou, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Elizabeth Bishop, Shel Silverstein, Walter de la Mare, Eleanor Farjeon, etc.

Song of Fairies Robbing an Orchard

Leigh Hunt 1784-1859

We, the Fairies, blithe and antic, 

Of dimensions not gigantic, 

Though the moonshine mostly keep us, 

Oft in orchards frisk and peep us. 

Stolen sweets are always sweeter, 

Stolen kisses much completer, 

Stolen looks are nice in chapels, 

Stolen, stolen, be your apples. 

When to bed the world are bobbing, 

Then's the time for orchard-robbing; 

Yet the fruit were scarce worth peeling, 

Were it not for stealing, stealing. 

-o0o-

No.16

Edith Piaf, Roger McGough, Bette Midler, Jacques Brel, Dylan Thomas, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, Robert Burns, Spike Middleton, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Maya Angelou, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Elizabeth Bishop, Shel Silverstein, Walter de la Mare, Eleanor Farjeon, etc.

A Bird Came Down The Walk

Emily Dickinson 1830-86

A Bird, came down the Walk - 

He did not know I saw -

He bit an Angle Worm in halves 

And ate the fellow, raw, 

 And then, he drank a Dew

From a convenient Grass -

And then hopped sidewise to the Wall 

To let a Beetle pass -

He glanced with rapid eyes,

That hurried all abroad -

They looked like frightened Beads, I thought,

He stirred his Velvet Head. - 

Like one in danger, Cautious,

I offered him a Crumb,

And he unrolled his feathers, 

And rowed him softer Home -

-o0o-

No.15

Edith Piaf, Roger McGough, Bette Midler, Jacques Brel, Dylan Thomas, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, Robert Burns, Spike Middleton, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Maya Angelou, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Elizabeth Bishop, Shel Silverstein, Walter de la Mare, Eleanor Farjeon, etc.

A Wish

Samuel Rogers 1763-1855

Mine be a cot beside the hill,

A bee-hive's hum shall sooth my ear;

A willowy brook, that turns a mill,

With many a fall shall linger near.

The swallow, oft, beneath my thatch,

Shall twitter from her clay-built nest;

Oft shall the pilgrim lift the latch,

And share my meal, a welcome guest.

Around my ivy'd porch shall spring

Each fragrant flower that drinks the dew;

And Lucy, at her wheel, shall sing

In russet gown and apron blue.

The village-church, among the trees,

Where first our marriage-vows were giv'n,

With merry peals shall swell the breeze,

And point with taper spire to heav'n. 

-o0o-

No. 14

Edith Piaf, Roger McGough, Bette Midler, Jacques Brel, Dylan Thomas, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, Robert Burns, Spike Middleton, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Maya Angelou, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Elizabeth Bishop, Shel Silverstein, Walter de la Mare, Eleanor Farjeon, etc.

The Night of the Scorpion

Nissim Ezekiel

I remember the night my mother

was stung by a scorpion. Ten hours

of steady rain had driven him

to crawl beneath a sack of rice.

Parting with his poison - flash 

of diabolic tail in the dark room -

he risked the rain again.

The peasants came like swarms of flies 

and buzzed the name of God a hundred times 

to paralyse the Evil One.

With candles and with lanterns 

throwing giant scorpion shadows 

on the mud-baked walls

they searched for him: he was not found.

They clicked their tongues.

With every movement that the scorpion made his poison moved in Mother's blood, they said.

May he sit still, they said

May the sins of your previous birth 

be burned away tonight, they said.

May your suffering decrease 

the misfortunes of your next birth, they said.

May the sum of all evil 

balanced in this unreal world

against the sum of good

become diminished by your pain.

May the poison purify your flesh

of desire, and your spirit of ambition,

they said, and they sat around

on the floor with my mother in the centre,

the peace of understanding on each face.

More candles, more lanterns, more neighbours,

more insects, and the endless rain.

My mother twisted through and through,

groaning on a mat.

My father, sceptic, rationalist,

trying every curse and blessing,

powder, mixture, herb and hybrid.

He even poured a little paraffin

upon the bitten toe and put a match to it.

I watched the flame feeding on my mother.

I watched the holy man perform his rites to tame the poison with an incantation.

After twenty hours 

it lost its sting.

My mother only said 

Thank God the scorpion picked on me

And spared my children. 

-o0o-

No.13

Edith Piaf, Roger McGough, Bette Midler, Jacques Brel, Dylan Thomas, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, Robert Burns, Spike Middleton, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Maya Angelou, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Elizabeth Bishop, Shel Silverstein, Walter de la Mare, Eleanor Farjeon, etc.

Baking of Tarts

E.Y. Milner

Today we have Baking of Tarts. Yesterday

We had Simple Salads. And a fortnight tomorrow

We shall have How to Garnish Cod cutlets. But today

Today we have Baking of Tarts. The viewers

Ogle their screens in a flurry of breathless excitement,

For today we have Baking of Tarts.

This is the plastic mixing bowl. And this

Is the rolling-pin and the board, whose use you will see

In a moment. And this is the transparent oven

Which in your case you have not got. The speaker

Warms to her theme with ardent, unflagging exuberance,

Which in our case we have not got.

This is the strawberry jam which is neatly extracted

With a gentle thrust of the spoon. And please do not let me

See anyone licking his fingers. It is perfectly easy

If you have any jam in your pot. The viewers

Are silent and motionless, never letting anyone see

Any of them licking their fingers.

And this you can see is the lard. The purpose of this

Is to prevent the pastry from sticking. We can smear it

Rapidly backwards and forwards: we call this

Greasing the tin. And rapidly backwards and forwards

The viewers are fumbling for biscuits and spilling their coffee:

They call it ruining the carpet.

They call it ruining the carpet. It is perfectly easy

If your mind is attempting to cope with the cookery expert

While your hands are engaged in juggling with saucers and plates

And trying meanwhile to secure a reasonable share

Of the cheese straws, which in our case we have not got:

For today we have Baking of Tarts.

-o0o-

No.12

Edith Piaf, Roger McGough, Bette Midler, Jacques Brel, Dylan Thomas, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, Robert Burns, Spike Middleton, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Maya Angelou, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Elizabeth Bishop, Shel Silverstein, Walter de la Mare, Eleanor Farjeon, etc.

THE ROSE

Bette Midler

Some say love, it is a river, that drowns the tender reed,

Some say love, it is a razor, that leaves your soul to bleed,

Some say love, it is a hunger, an endless aching need,

I say love, it is a flower, and you, its only seed.

Its the heart afraid of breaking, that never learns to dance,

Its the dream afraid of waking, that never takes the chance,

Its the one who won't be taking, who cannot seem to give,

And the soul afraid of dying, that never learns to live.

When the night has been too lonely and the road has been too long,

And you think that love is only for the lucky and the strong,

Just remember in the winter, far beneath the bitter snows,

Lies the seed, that with the sun's love in the spring becomes the rose.

-o0o-

No.11

Edith Piaf, Roger McGough, Bette Midler, Jacques Brel, Dylan Thomas, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, Robert Burns, Spike Middleton, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Maya Angelou, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Elizabeth Bishop, Shel Silverstein, Walter de la Mare, Eleanor Farjeon, etc.

Sea Fever

John Masefield 1878-1967

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,

And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;

And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,

And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide

Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied; 

And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,

And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,

To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife;

And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,

And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.

-o0o-

No.10

Edith Piaf, Roger McGough, Bette Midler, Jacques Brel, Dylan Thomas, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, Robert Burns, Spike Middleton, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Maya Angelou, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Elizabeth Bishop, Shel Silverstein, Walter de la Mare, Eleanor Farjeon, etc.

DISILLUSIONED

Lewis Carroll 1832-98

I painted her a gushing thing,

With years about a score;

I little thought to find they were

At least a dozen more;

My fancy gave her eyes of blue,

A curly auburn head:

I came to find the blue a green,

The auburn turned to red.

She boxed my ears this morning,

They tingled very much;

I own that I could wish her

A somewhat lighter touch;

And if you ask me how

Her charms might be improved,

I would not have them added to,

But just a few removed!

She has the bear's ethereal grace,

The bland hyena's laugh,

The footstep of the elephant,

The neck of a giraffe;

I love her still, believe me,

Though my heart its passion hides;

She's all my fancy painted her,

But oh! how much besides!

-o0o-

No.9

Edith Piaf, Roger McGough, Bette Midler, Jacques Brel, Dylan Thomas, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, Robert Burns, Spike Middleton, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Maya Angelou, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Elizabeth Bishop, Shel Silverstein, Walter de la Mare, Eleanor Farjeon, etc.

 Caged Bird

Maya Angelou

1928-2014

A free bird leaps

on the back of the wind   

and floats downstream   

till the current ends

and dips his wing

in the orange sun rays

and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks

down his narrow cage

can seldom see through

his bars of rage

his wings are clipped and   

his feet are tied

so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings   

with a fearful trill   

of things unknown   

but longed for still   

and his tune is heard   

on the distant hill   

for the caged bird   

sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze

and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees

and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn

and he names the sky his own

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams   

his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream   

his wings are clipped and his feet are tied   

so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings   

with a fearful trill   

of things unknown   

but longed for still   

and his tune is heard   

on the distant hill   

for the caged bird   

sings of freedom.

-o0o-