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-

No.8

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.

BEREFT

Thomas Hardy

1848-1928

In the black winter morning

No light will be struck near my eyes

While the clock in the stairway is warning

For five, when he used to rise.

Leave the door unbarred,

The clock unwound,

Make my lone bed hard -

Would 'twere underground!

When the summer dawns clearly,

And the appletree-tops seem alight,

Who will undraw the curtain and cheerly

Call out that the morning is bright?

When I tarry at market

No form will cross Durnover Lea

In the gathering darkness, to hark at

Grey's Bridge for the pit-pat o' me.

When the supper crock's steaming,

And the time is the time of his tread,

I shall sit by the fire and wait dreaming

In a silence as of the dead.

Leave the door unbarred,

The clock unwound,

Make my lone bed hard -

Would 'twere underground!

-o0o-

No.7

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.

POLLY GARTER'S SONG

from Under Milk Wood

Dylan Thomas 1914-53

I loved a man whose name was Tom,

He was strong as a bear and two yards long.

I loved a man whose name was Dick,

He was big as a barrel and three feet thick.

And I loved man whose name was Harry,

Six feet tall and sweet as a cherry.

But the one I loved best awake or asleep

Was little Willy Wee and he's six feet deep.

Oh, Tom Dick and Harry were three fine men

And I'll never have such loving again,

But little Willy Wee who took me on his knee,

Little Willy Wee is the man for me.

Now men from every Parish around

Run after me and roll me to the ground,

But whenever I love another man back,

Johnny from the Hill or sailing Jack,

I always think as they do as they please

Of Tom Dick or Harry who were tall as trees.

And most of all I think when I am by their side

Of Little Willy Wee who drowned and died.

Now when the farmers boys on the first fair day

Come down from the hills to drink and be gay,

Before the sun sinks I'll lie there in their arms

For they're good bad boys from the lonely farms.

But I always think as we tumble into bed

Of little Willy Wee who is dead, dead, dead.

-o0o-

Drinke to me, onely

Ben Jonson 1572-1637

Drinke to me, onely, with thine eyes,

And I will pledge with mine;

Or leave a kisse but in the cup,

And Ile not looke for wine.

The thirst, that from the soule doth rise,

Doth aske a drinke divine:

But might I of Jove's Nectar sup,

I would not change for thine.

I sent thee, late, a rosie wreath,

Not so much honoring thee,

As giving it a hope, that there

It could not withered bee.

But thou thereon did'st onely breath,

And sent'st it back to mee:

Since when it growes, and smells, I sweare,

Not of it selfe, but thee. 

-o0o-

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 AND FRIENDSHIP

 Emily Bronte 1818-48

Love is like the wild rose-briar, 

Friendship like the holly-tree— 

The holly is dark when the rose-briar blooms 

But which will bloom most constantly? 

The wild rose-briar is sweet in spring, 

Its summer blossoms scent the air; 

Yet wait till winter comes again 

And who will call the wild-briar fair? 

Then scorn the silly rose-wreath now 

And deck thee with the holly’s sheen, 

That when December blights thy brow 

He still may leave thy garland green. 

-o0o-

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 BRITISH

Benjamin Zephaniah 

Take some Picts, Celts and Silures*

And let them settle,

Then overrun them with Roman conquerors. 

Remove the Romans after approximately 400 years

Add lots of Norman French to some

Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Vikings, then stir vigorously. 

Mix some hot Chileans, cool Jamaicans, Dominicans,

Trinidadians and Bajans with some Ethiopians, Chinese,

Vietnamese and Sudanese. 

Then take a blend of Somalians, Sri Lankans, Nigerians

And Pakistanis, 

Combine with some Guyanese

And turn up the heat. 

Sprinkle some fresh Indians, Malaysians, Bosnians,

Iraqis and Bangladeshis together with some

Afghans, Spanish, Turkish, Kurdish, Japanese

And Palestinians, 

Then add to the melting pot. 

Leave the ingredients to simmer. 

As they mix and blend allow their languages to flourish

Binding them together with English. 

Allow time to be cool.

Add some unity, understanding, and respect for the future,

Serve with justice and enjoy. 

Note: All the ingredients are equally important. Treating one ingredient better than another will leave a bitter unpleasant taste.

Warning: An unequal spread of justice will damage the people and cause pain. Give justice and equality to all. 

-o0o-

*The Silures were a powerful and warlike tribe occupying south east Wales 

-o=0=o-

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 MEANT TO DO MY WORK TODAY 

Richard Le Gallienne 1866-1947

I meant to do my work to-day-

But a brown bird sang in the apple-tree,

And a butterfly flitted across the field,

And all the leaves were calling me.

And the wind went sighing over the land,

Tossing the grasses to and fro,

And a rainbow held out its shining hand-

So what could I do but laugh and go? 

-o0o-