We Were: What? Answer in a poem.

[Pendragon]

We Were Poets

The world may or may not remember our names.
That which they call “fame” is like the flame on a candle,
It can give a light in the darkness, but it flickers at its best.
The time we spent together here,
Will one day be just another file in the computer of our memories.
And a grandchild may ask me somewhen,
What we were, and what it was all about—

We were poets.
We were fledglings trying out new wings,
Older poets learning different ways to dramatize our lines,
And now and then there would be a masterpiece from each of us
That the rest could appreciate and idolize.

We were poets.
We were songs that made the world sing,
Contests that challenged us to go beyond anything before,
Imagery that painted the pictures within the reader’s head,
Forms, and rhymes, free verse long and short—

Never be ashamed to just stand up proud and say:
“You want to know how we spent our days?—
We were poets…

Dale Harris
© 8/7/07

[Virgil]

Pen, this is absolutely excellent! I loved these lines:

That which they call “fame” is like the flame on a candle,
It can give a light in the darkness, but it flickers at its best.

And of course your concluding stanza is to be pinned on a board for constant reminder:

Never be ashamed to just stand up proud and say:
“You want to know how we spent our days?—
We were poets…

Loved it.

[CdnReader]

.

we were children

peanut butter and jelly on sticky fingers
silent giggles behind mom's back
tickle fights, rolling around the livingroom floor
irrepressible

we loved Lassie and Mighty Mouse
we kicked stones to the curb
and we made blood pacts with friends
whose names we can no longer remember

we built treehouses in the summer
ice forts in the winter
we chewed gum and passed notes in class
and we couldn't wait for the bell

we rode our bikes everywhere we could
we put hockey cards in the spokes
because we loved the "click-click-click"
we traded comic books for
five-cent bottles of root beer
and fragrant ropes of red licorice

the wind blew us wherever
it would
and we let it take us

we were free

.
cdn/07aug07
.

[Pendragon]

the wind blew us wherever
it would
and we let it take us

we were free


We did and we were, were we not, Cdn? Beautiful. http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l108/AbsalomKane/Smilies/Benie.gif

[dibyendra]

.

we were children

peanut butter and jelly on sticky fingers
silent giggles behind mom's back
tickle fights, rolling around the livingroom floor
irrepressible

we loved Lassie and Mighty Mouse
we kicked stones to the curb
and we made blood pacts with friends
whose names we can no longer remember

we built treehouses in the summer
ice forts in the winter
we chewed gum and passed notes in class
and we couldn't wait for the bell

we rode our bikes everywhere we could
we put hockey cards in the spokes
because we loved the "click-click-click"
we traded comic books for
five-cent bottles of root beer
and fragrant ropes of red licorice

the wind blew us wherever
it would
and we let it take us

we were free

.
cdn/07aug07
.

Wow, beautifully presented the memories of childhood ! I enjoyed this poem a lot. :thumbs_up

[dibyendra]

We Were Poets

The world may or may not remember our names.
That which they call “fame” is like the flame on a candle,
It can give a light in the darkness, but it flickers at its best.
The time we spent together here,
Will one day be just another file in the computer of our memories.
And a grandchild may ask me somewhen,
What we were, and what it was all about—

We were poets.
We were fledglings trying out new wings,
Older poets learning different ways to dramatize our lines,
And now and then there would be a masterpiece from each of us
That the rest could appreciate and idolize.

We were poets.
We were songs that made the world sing,
Contests that challenged us to go beyond anything before,
Imagery that painted the pictures within the reader’s head,
Forms, and rhymes, free verse long and short—

Never be ashamed to just stand up proud and say:
“You want to know how we spent our days?—
We were poets…

Dale Harris
© 8/7/07

Very impressing poem Dale. :thumbs_up You're a great poet. I'm very much inspired by your poem and wishing to put my poem here soon.

[PrinceMyshkin]

We were constantly at war
with that pursuing past tense
that kept taking bites
out of the present.

We were desperate
for the future
which might, of course,
turn out to be a house on fire.

We were somewhere
lost in the fun-house.

[Granny5]

.

we were children

peanut butter and jelly on sticky fingers
silent giggles behind mom's back
tickle fights, rolling around the livingroom floor
irrepressible

we loved Lassie and Mighty Mouse
we kicked stones to the curb
and we made blood pacts with friends
whose names we can no longer remember

we built treehouses in the summer
ice forts in the winter
we chewed gum and passed notes in class
and we couldn't wait for the bell

we rode our bikes everywhere we could
we put hockey cards in the spokes
because we loved the "click-click-click"
we traded comic books for
five-cent bottles of root beer
and fragrant ropes of red licorice

the wind blew us wherever
it would
and we let it take us

we were free

.
cdn/07aug07
.

Cdn, I'm your fan. Did we grow up together? My husband asks the same question!! This so brings back memories. You've hit just about everything we did, except we called our friends out with Tarzan yells and played hide and seek in the cotton fields after dark. I really enjoy reading and re-reading this one.

[ampoule]

We Were Poets

The world may or may not remember our names.
That which they call “fame” is like the flame on a candle,
It can give a light in the darkness, but it flickers at its best.
The time we spent together here,
Will one day be just another file in the computer of our memories.
And a grandchild may ask me somewhen,
What we were, and what it was all about—

We were poets.
We were fledglings trying out new wings,
Older poets learning different ways to dramatize our lines,
And now and then there would be a masterpiece from each of us
That the rest could appreciate and idolize.

We were poets.
We were songs that made the world sing,
Contests that challenged us to go beyond anything before,
Imagery that painted the pictures within the reader’s head,
Forms, and rhymes, free verse long and short—

Never be ashamed to just stand up proud and say:
“You want to know how we spent our days?—
We were poets…

Dale Harris
© 8/7/07

Yes, oh yes, and yes.
And though I wrote this for a poet friend of mine, it could speak for either gender.

My Poet

Deep within himself he knows
How it goes with someone's soul.
He sees lives with his words
And gently gives us clues.
Anxious to be understood
He longs to share his heart,
Even through the hurt and pain
That has been cast by others.
Noble are his thoughts and deeds
And the way he leads his life.
A wonderful, peaceful, pensive man,
The friend I need so much.
Needing his past and watching his future
Help soften his present day.
A day he carefully guards
Who may enter it.
Yielding to what life gave him
And knowing he's been blessed
My poet, my shining knight stands
Protecting honor and love.

AMP~December First TwoThousand

..

[Pendragon]

We were constantly at war
with that pursuing past tense
that kept taking bites
out of the present.

We were desperate
for the future
which might, of course,
turn out to be a house on fire.

We were somewhere
lost in the fun-house.

But survivors somehow, n'est c'est pas? Thanks, Jerry!


Yes, oh yes, and yes.
And though I wrote this for a poet friend of mine, it could speak for either gender.

My Poet

Deep within himself he knows
How it goes with someone's soul.
He sees lives with his words
And gently gives us clues.
Anxious to be understood
He longs to share his heart,
Even through the hurt and pain
That has been cast by others.
Noble are his thoughts and deeds
And the way he leads his life.
A wonderful, peaceful, pensive man,
The friend I need so much.
Needing his past and watching his future
Help soften his present day.
A day he carefully guards
Who may enter it.
Yielding to what life gave him
And knowing he's been blessed
My poet, my shining knight stands
Protecting honor and love.

AMP~December First TwoThousand

..A most lovely poem. I hope your friend realized how truly blessed he was to be imortalized by this poem...

Pen

Who We Were

I was born in 1960 in a Nation fighting problems,
We had the war in Vietnam going like no mercy,
And the taint of segregation fouled us still.
Lost my daddy to that all that insanity—
And he was one of the ones who came back to America,
He just never came back home.
So among all of this madness and this bloodshed,
When a President was assassinated,
And a man who spoke only of peace would follow suit—
Then this President’s own brother, and other innocents not so famous;
We who were born had to grow up…

Who were we?

We were those who dared to make a stand on what we chose to believe,
Never backing down one inch if someone else did not agree—

We were those who dared to chase a dream until we could become what we wanted,
Shutting out every voice that declared, “You cannot do it!” We pressed on undaunted!

We were those that dared to ask the questions others feared might cause disturbance,
For it was not enough to know what had happened, we needed to know why the occurrence—

We were those who found a place in Faith that went somewhere other than the norm,
And those who dared to question if God existed at all in any form—

We were the poets, songwriters, and the singers, changing the world with written rhyme,
It may be we were successful, but the only answer lies with time—

We were the world…

Pendragon
© 8/8/07

[dramasnot6]

You just capture the soul of poetry Pen, your beautiful poem resonates with all us aspiring writers :)

[Pendragon]

You just capture the soul of poetry Pen, your beautiful poem resonates with all us aspiring writers :)Well, Drama, I count myself as one of the aspiring if that is where you place yourself... No, there are no masters and apprentices here... we are poets, one and all!

Pen

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l108/AbsalomKane/Smilies/PuppyLove.gif

[Bii]

We were Strangers

We were strangers once.
Unknown faces in a swelling
human sea.
We moved with the rush of
the tide; flotsam and jetsam
floating aimlessly amongst
the crowds.
A sudden eddy slipped you
into my current. We spin,
caught in a whirlpool
that brings us closer
and closer.
Sometimes we touch,
briefly, when the ebb
and flow allows.
It won’t last, this love.
It is a force of nature
beyond our control.
And so we wait
for the day when
the sea will part, and
we will be strangers again.

[PrinceMyshkin]

We were Strangers

We were strangers once.
Unknown faces in a swelling
human sea.
We moved with the rush of
the tide; flotsam and jetsam
floating aimlessly amongst
the crowds.
A sudden eddy slipped you
into my current. We spin,
caught in a whirlpool
that brings us closer
and closer.
Sometimes we touch,
briefly, when the ebb
and flow allows.
It won’t last, this love.
It is a force of nature
beyond our control.
And so we wait
for the day when
the sea will part, and
we will be strangers again.

What extraordinary power in this, and what drama when the beautifully maintained decorum gives way to that quietly acquiescent sad end, a re-enactment of "this is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper."

[NickAdams]

*Applauds*

[Bakiryu]

We were lovers
Whose illusions ate them raw, and bone and bare
Into crumblings hills of ivory white
Piled like a curse above the earth

Burned as quickly as moths to flame
Strangers to each other
Who by some chance of destiny met

We were, once
A tiny growing hope
On beaches far away
Which grew and grew
and turned the world
Into a memory of never.

Yikes! and my muse it's gone :bawling:

[Pendragon]

We were lovers
Whose illusions ate them raw, and bone and bare
Into crumblings hills of ivory white
Piled like a curse above the earth

Burned as quickly as moth to flame
Strangers to each other
Who by some chance of destiny met

We were, once
A tiny growing hope
On beaches far away
Which grew and grew
and turned the world
Into a memory of never.



Yikes! and my muse it's gone :bawling:Lovely Ryu. Go catch that runaway Muse!http://smilies.vidahost.com/games/ff/ff4/ff4creature/alligator.gif