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Bones
Old bones of warriors under ground
Are quiet when the day in done.
When morning comes they make no sound.
They're quiet as we linger on
And wonder when the other side
Will welcome us to pause and stay
Where from the living we, too, hide
And smile while they pass by and pray.
Blood soaked land and sounds of battle
Old bones of warriors under ground
My brother's voice has a death rattle
My heart freezes at the sound
He was cut down long before his time
Like my fathers of days gone by
I have to force my fear-haunted mind
Continue the fight with tear dimmed eyes
Is that reinforcements finally coming?
Will I live to fight another day?
I hear the trumpets and the drumming
It seems to echo from the grave
I see them coming with astonishment unbound:
We go to join old bones of warriors under ground...
Pendragon
(C) 10/16/2012
The Forgotten Dead
The scorched land's thirst
had long been slaked
by the blood which once soaked the earth
leaving the sands still rust stained.
Now parched as if cursed
by battles long fought, lost or won,
neither victories nor defeats hold meaning,
only bitter memories remain
and forgotten heroes.
A murder of ravens,
those carriers of the dead gather
upon the unmarked graveyard,
the old bones of warriors underground
long forsaken.
Can they have any peace
for the nightmares which haunt
their eternal sleep?
Only those scavenger birds
that bore their souls away
still remember where they lie
and the secrets buried with them.
I turn the soil with my Grandad's fork,
Fat handled, ash shafted,
Polished, stained, ingrained,
With the sweat from his hand.
I turn the soil He turned.
Potatoes lie deep
Like old bones of warriors underground,
I dig them out with my Grandad's fork
I dig out my Grandad,
Memories and taties together.
I collect them up in a bucket,
And bring them inside.
Yes, your poem is wonderful because it fragile but it undercurrent of death. Also had me wondered if you were watching 'Time team'.
Favourite lines are:Are quiet when the day in done.
When morning comes they make no sound.
Pen, your poem is greatly admire of the soldier point of view and war.
Favourite lines are:I have to force my fear-haunted mind
Continue the fight with tear dimmed eyes
Dark Muse, your poem was tale of earth being torture by war, the after ward animals take the after over so speak.
Favourite lines are:A murder of ravens,
those carriers of the dead gather
upon the unmarked graveyard,
the old bones of warriors underground
long forsaken.
Prendrel, your poem was of your Granddad, lovely touch of the potatoes and quite unique way of development of a poem from quote.
Favourite lines are: Memories and taties together.
I collect them up in a bucket,
And bring them inside.
winner is : Prendrel because of different way of writing poem. It also remind of my late Granddad.
Thank you Zoolane, The other two poems are amazing, which is why I tried something alternative.
Next up is some Ted Hughes.
The Horses.
I climbed through woods in the hour-before-dawn dark.
Evil air, a frost-making stillness,
Not a leaf, not a bird -
A world cast in frost. I came out above the wood
Where my breath left tortuous statues in the iron light.
But the valleys were draining the darkness
Till the moorline - blackening dregs of the brightening grey -
Halved the sky ahead. And I saw the horses:
I like the first line, but I think I'll go with -
"And I saw the Horses."
and I saw the horses
they looked like
flying torches
racing towards
the heights,
illuminating skies
horizons and the fars
they ran as fast
as light
towards the height of heights
their demena
was serene
their grace was something
seen
a beauty in pristine
and then I saw the horses
and I knew it was sensation
calling for their
return
And the Bloody Morning After...
The last trumpet sounded, a very haunting cry
There was smoke and fire, the Earth shivered and shook
And I saw the horses: white, red, black, pale
The horses are sheer terror to see
But the riders are the true horrors
The white face of Pestilence, gone forth to conquer
The scarlet face of War, blood was its Avatar and its seal
The dark face of Famine, bones showing through translucent skin
Then the pale skull of death, scythe clutched in hand
Flame and sulfur burn in their wake, for Hell follows after
The End is nigh and I hear the horses...
Pendragon(c) 10/22/2012
All Those Horses
A car gets used more than a horse
That doesn't go as fast of course
As when my foot demands more speed
Than I or any horse should need.
A car behaves more sensibly
With no pretentions to be free.
It doesn't throw you, ram your thigh
Against a tree to make you cry,
Embarrass you, insisting it's
The master when it has such fits.
I see those horses: obsolete.
They're glad I'd rather use my feet.
Wild Horses
I lie dreaming in fields of wheat
as I listen to the heart beat of the earth,
steady, it grows louder
pounding against my ear
through the sun dried warmth of the ground,
vibrating in my bones,
it begins to thunder, my eyes open
and I saw the horses come
out of the tall wispy grasses,
with the sun ablaze behind them,
all the world seems to be afire
and they run, as Valkyries,
leaving trails of dust,
they come to sweep me away,
dream-like I smile while they fly
above, one by one,
like feathers, my fingers can reach out
and touch their descending manes,
spirited away I ride into worlds never seen.
Anybody else? Three days to go.
Cacian: "Illuminating skies horizons and the fars" good stuff.
Pendragon: Good theme, came a very close second.
YesNo: Seems the couplets took over a bit.
Dark Muse: Liked it alot, especially the mood it engendered
The winner is ............................Dark muse.
Thank you very much, I will get working on thinking up the next quote
Ok next quote
"And its shadows shall appear,"
~The Bridge by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
There is joy in the hearts of the hopeless.
There is fear in the minds of the proud
Who worry that life will drop them
And the crash of their fall be loud.
There's much pain, it is true, for the fallen
Whose faith in their good life has gone,
But when shadows appear, the forsaken
Shine trust and get joy and go on.
and its shadows shall appear
from behind the curtains
weir
and it shall speak of fear
to ask the real dear
where it shall steer
the tears
now that all is austere?
And Darkness and Death Reined Over All...
I walk the night, a living darkness
I haven't seen a sunrise in years,
And Mother Night has become a witch
So I walk alone, ever going forward
Fear is like a watchdog, Pain an intimate friend
And its shadow shall appear
I drink to its shade and mock at Fear
Pendragon
(c) 11/8/2012
The parting is a bad one,
There's no doubt about that,
And its shadows shall appear,
somewhere down the line,
Revisiting the generations,
The sons of their sons.
“Don't be like that,” said Jacob,
The trickster to his mark,
“It was written, what can I say?”
And he shrugged his Hebrew shrug,
And he smiled that winning smile,
(That had melted his mother's heart,)
And offered his hand to Esau
And Esau knew they must part.
I am busy with NaNoWrMo right now so I probably will not be doing any judging until December, until then keep the entrees coming.
Ok, thank you everyone for the great entires
YesNo: I really liked this, I particularly enjoyed how it started off. It caught my attention and I thought the concept was an interesting one. There were some really good lines here.
cacian: As usual you have such a clever and unique way with words. I really liked the way in which you used rhyme. This was quite interesting to read.
prendrelemick: I cannot say I entirely understand this one, but I did enjoy it and find it entraining. It was quite originally, and I rather liked the touch of humor about it. A well crafted poem.
And the winner is..........
Pendragon: I loved it. Wonderfully imagery, and particularly I loved this line "And Mother Night has become a witch" This poem created such a great and haunting atmosphere.
Dark Muse thank you Pendragon congratulations!
Thank you! Next line comes from Walt Whitman: "my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead." Good luck! Deadline is my wedding anniversary, December 21. Write, poets, write!
What Good is a Pencil ?
So here we are up close in the bed,
But!
My captain lies fallen. Cold and dead,
Embarrassing.!
What good is a pencil without any lead?
Pointless!.
“Its not you, it's me - hard day,” I said,
Excuses!.
She - “Once more my signals you have misread,”
Not again!
“So gerroff I'll read a good book instead,”
50 Shades!
She rolled and took with her all the bedspread
Magnificent!
I admired her rump like a fine Thoroughbred.
Horsewhip?
Ironic are the paths that relationships tread,
Mazey.
For no sooner denied than lust raised its head,
Too late?
Ship of the Damned
He was beyond mad as we sailed into the pale,
the spirits howled amid the fog,
their screams set our nerves on edge
but we were cast adrift, the forever lost,
my captain lies, fallen cold and dead,
but still his ship sails through the dark seas,
unforgiving like an apparition, and we are left in
his quest to seek after the sublime,
his body stiff, with that mad, mad grin
frozen in rigor upon his face, and his eyes,
we can only wonder, do they stare into the depths
of some hellish abyss?
My captain lies, fallen cold and dead.
His successor's fallen, too,
And we must wait while our fates are read.
We don't know what to do.
Today marks 34 years of marriage for us, three wonderful kids, one son-in-law, one daughter-in-law, and my precious new Grandson, Michael Logan Korhari.
That said, Dark Muse has done it again! I declare Dark Muse the winner of this round!
Congratulations, Dark Muse, and congratulations on your new grandson, Pendragon!
Why thank you!
Ok for your next one, I return to an old favorite of my own.
Is but a dream within a dream
From Poe's A Dream Within A Dream
The Nightmare rears his horse,
Chasing me through the Dreamworld
Strange, yet familiar faces gibber
Mouthing blasphemies that freeze my soul
A shadow lurks ahead, turning Green Wood to Mirk Wood
The eye burns into my mind
Names from the past whisper around me
"Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?"
"In the flame of human suffering, man may become more than man"
"Call me Ishmael."
"Ask yourself a question. Do I feel lucky? Well, do you, punk?"
The minds a mess of cluttered schemes
And but a dream within a dream...
Pendragon
Wake me up! It has been fun,
But dreams like this are never done.
It must have started years ago.
Some other dream began it so
In a dream within a dream
The ground stays soft and pleasures scream
Though pain feels real. I like the way
Pain looks like one more pleasant play
To wake me up. I'm up already.
That dreaming ground is what's not steady.
Things have been a bit hectic around here but starting to get back to normal, so I haven't had much time on my hands. I will give to the end of the week, and try and judge on Monday.
I thank you both for taking the time to enter and both your works are great. This one was quite a difficult choice as there were things I really liked about both pieces but I am going to have to go with Pendragon, for I loved the imagery his poem captured.
Pendragon congratulations!!
Thanks Muse and cacian
How about this famous line by Gelett Burgess:
I never saw a purple cow, I never hope to see one
Good luck!
I never saw a purple cow.
I never want to see one.
A pink one's better anyhow.
Bright green would do, or yellow, too.
Don't walk if you must flee one.
I never saw a purple cow
I never hope to see one
but what I saw is
purple time
a pinkish rhyme
a blueish mime
I wish to carry each and one
to the end of my memoire
and so there it is
it's all a laugh
the one that makes awe vivified
I never saw
a purple cow
I never hope
to see one.
I'd shake me head
And think me dead
They're only seen
In heaven.
Divinely kissed
In purple bliss
they hula dance
in moo-moos.
Purple milkshakes
Purple cupcakes
I'll join you when
I get there!
cacian you're up! Congrats! Thanks to the others, well done.
Pendragon thank you !!! :)
ok here is the next famous line:
''let me not to the marriage of true minds. admit impediments. ''
Shakespeare Sonnet 116
due date: 31st May
good luck :)
Anne and Will.
Let nothing come between us.
The balding bard threw down his quill
His wife was chattering still.
Let our true minds be wedded forever despite...
He shouted at his Anne “hush now! ... err... my treasure”
And kicked the dog, for good measure.
Impediments I admit may come between us.
"No I haven't fed the bloody chickens yet!
It was never like this in London, ...err... my pet."
Let not impediments come between true minds.
"Yes, it's about “that woman” if you must know,
No! We were just good friends ... err...my doe"
Let me not admit.. de dum..de dum..di dum..di dum.
"I told you! At a party, I was shmoozing for money,
I hardly know her...err...my honey."
Let me not to marriage... something something... admit impediments.
"She is not my whore for heavens sake!
You're being ridiculous...err... my cupcake."
A marriage of two minds admits not impediments.
"OK OK, I'll change her breasts to dun,
And give her wirey hair if you like ... err... my hun."
Let not to the marriage of true minds, impediments admit.
"And I'm sorry too,
Never forget, I'll always love you."
Let me not to the marriage of true minds, admit impediments.
go out with me?
cha-ching
marry me?
cha-ching
accept this ring?
cha-ching
have my children?
cha-ching
get a divorce?
cha-ching, cha-ching
let me not
to the marriage
of true minds
admit impediments.
just ask
shakespeare
''Let me not to the marriage of true minds, admit impediments.''
Love does not lie in looks, in status, in wealth so fleeting
Love lies in hearts entwined, in shared experience, in synchronized thinking
To admit that things still creep in is to admit defeat
Soul mates traveling on the one way street that is life
The direction and destination is a foregone conclusion
Do we reach our final rest alone or side by side?
I do not choose to entertain the idea of roadblocks or detours
Your mind to my mind, your heart to my heart, forever together
No impediments need apply...
They're married now, already, even though
The ritual they should have gone through first
Was not performed and those who had a claim
Might say they've been abused by all of this.
Who'd want to take a bride who much preferred
A different groom to give her that first kiss?