BY PAVI AGRAWAL There is a particular species of English religious poet whose work one encounters, from time to time, in the pages of The Tablet or the quieter corners of the literary press. He is learned, sincere, metrically competent, and possessed of a devotional earnestness that can feel, to the less devout reader, rather like being cornered at a drinks party by a man … Continue reading Versing the Mystery
BY GRAHAM CUNNINGHAM Some of us appear to have forgot that the train service has stopped else why are we all stood here waiting like a bunch of goons? Soon they’ll be pulling up the tracks and when Mr Henry gets the sack the grass will grow and the whole place will return unto the dunes. Choo choo train where have you gone now don’t … Continue reading You Blew Smoke Into Our Eyes
This darksome burn, horseback brown, His rollrock highroad roaring down, In coop and in comb the fleece of his foam Flutes and low to the lake falls home. A windpuff-bonnet of fawn-froth Turns and twindles over the broth Of a pool so pitchblack, fell-frowning, It rounds and rounds despair to drowning. Degged with dew, dappled with dew Are the groins of the braes that the … Continue reading Inversnaid
BY NANCY KRAYENHOF For this one farmer the worries are over, lie down and rest your head, Your time has been and struggles enough, put the tractor in the shed. Years were not easy, many downright hard, but your faith in God transcended, Put away your tools and sleep in peace. The fences have all been mended. You raised a fine family, worked the land … Continue reading Close the Gate
BY EMILY DICKINSON I started early, took my dog, And visited the sea; The mermaids in the basement Came out to look at me. And frigates in the upper floor Extended hempen hands, Presuming me to be a mouse Aground, upon the sands. But no man moved me till the tide Went past my simple shoe, And past my apron and my belt, And past … Continue reading By the Sea
BY JOHN DYER Up Grongar Hill I labor now, And reach at last his bushy brow. O, how fresh, how pure the air! Let me breathe a little here; Where am I, Nature? I descry Thy magazine before me lie! Temples and towns and towers and woods, And hills and vales and fields and floods, Crowding before me, edged around With naked wilds and barren … Continue reading The Country Walk
BY RAINER RILKE My eyes already touch the sunny hill. going far beyond the road I have begun, So we are grasped by what we cannot grasp; it has an inner light, even from a distance- and changes us, even if we do not reach it, into something else, which, hardly sensing it, we already are; a gesture waves us on answering our own wave… … Continue reading A Walk
There is no path I’d rather roam, than these narrow lanes about my home, to leave my troubles far behind, as I follow its track to places kind. Past verges green and crops of gold, up gentle hill, along valley fold. past flower meadow, over silver stream, as I lose my thoughts to natures dream. Perhaps this is the path my ancestors walked, where a … Continue reading English Country Lane
WHAT have I done for you, England, my England? What is there I would not do, England, my own? With your glorious eyes austere, As the Lord were walking near, Whispering terrible things and dear As the song on your bugles blown, England – Round the world on your bugles blown. Where shall the watchful sun, England, my England, Match the master-work you’ve done, England, … Continue reading England
BY JOHN CLARE A Little Lane, the brook runs close beside And spangles in the sunshine while the fish glide swiftly by And hedges leafing with the green spring tide From out their greenery the old birds fly And chirp and whistle in the morning sun The pilewort glitters ‘neath the pale blue sky The little robin has its nest begun And grass green linnets … Continue reading On a Lane in Spring
BY MAC LOGAN Aye, Davy lad, the time is come for one more year to pass you by. But where’s the sense o’ lookin’ glum? With ageless wings you still can fly. One thing, I guess, is worth a note but hardly begs a song of glee; the hobblin’, limpin’, awkward gait that’s driven by your agein’ knee. That lumpy, bumpy, creakin’ joint; … Continue reading Davy’s Birthday
BY DAVE CANNON The sunshine enlightens my spirit, Breaching the darkest corridors of the soul, Generating a golden radiance that illuminates my every move, The coloured petals of cherry blossom cushion my footsteps, And stimulate my senses with a scent of true splendour, Laying a sheath of sweet aromatic silk that caresses the skin, The gentle breeze whispers throughout the treetops, And catches the falling … Continue reading A Picture of Heaven
BY TARQUIN RAFFERTY-SUTHERLAND The sombre full-moon peaks behind a bloated, pitch-black cloud; pregnant with the promise of a great down-pour. It’s eerie glowing light filters down and finds your face, in the tormented twilight’s deepest, darkest hour. …and the the blood pounds in your ears and your subconscious fills with childhood fears; the terror seems to make you float and horror grabs you by the … Continue reading Monsters
BY MAC LOGAN Smothered, hidden, cobweb-bound, cached facets twitch yet gather dust. No casement dare transparent show the fury, dread and craven lust. There in the dark, restrained, they twitch … and sob and spark and never die. Deep in seams of psyche hid, caged, not dormant. Wild, they lie. Pupae-like they squirm and strain, mutating, breakout ever near. Unpredicted, crouched to pounce, where lost control leaks … Continue reading The Dark Corner
BY MAC LOGAN There central in th’ appointed place He stands composed and stern, with grace Eyes focused, clear, direct, and strong He gazes o’er the teeming throng A benefactor great and kind Admired worldwide for wealth and mind Strong his brow and great his poise Exemplar for a’ men and boys His metal fist can’t swat the gull That stands oblivious … Continue reading Carnegie and the Seagull
Tendrils of mist unfurl Diffuse light Dissipate Rocky crags take solid shape Stark Desolate Waves pound the shore Strong Rhythmical Seabirds spring towards infinity Light Delicate Soar high on sea-breeze eddies Flotsam of the hurricane Primal colour Mixed on a celestial palette, Splashed with abandon on the canvas. Copyright Mac Logan Mac Logan is a Scottish Poet & Author. Continue reading Arran Morning
BY MAC LOGAN The day dank dawns and drizzle drips. Lank-branched leaves hold waiting drops To splash an eye, a cheek, my lips. Grey heaven cries and cannot stop. I walk the last few yards to … Dad Heart braced, alone I take the door And standing there, his other lad, I push the bell and wait some more. The minutes pass till brisk strides … Continue reading Dad’s Farewell
BY RUCHIRA GHOSH The creator of the world, Lord, God , Almighty, innumerable names; Is the greatest musician of all. Behold the harmony in the Universe, Not one discordant note, all steps matched. The magnificent sun rises punctually at dawn, At day’s end sets over the western horizon. Earth’s rotation and revolution accomplished, Day in and day out…in perfect symmetry. Tiny buds unfurl, blossom and … Continue reading Rhythm of Life
BY MAHIMA SHARMA What do you seek from Life? What do you seek from the Divine? Health, wealth or peace from Sunshine? Or the ultimate blessings of the mighty Divine? What do you seek everyday from Life… Have you ever discussed it with family or Wife? The needs, the wants…or any urge that haunts? The greed, the grants…or the societal pressure that commands? What do … Continue reading What You Seek, O Human?
BY JENNY LONG Poetry is big business online. There has been a boom in digital poetry in the last few years and sites like Spillwords have become some of the largest on the Web. Up there at the very top of destinations for online poets’s work is The Poetry Fellowship based in the United Kingdom. The Poetry Fellowship is based in a Georgian building in Taunton … Continue reading The Poetry Fellowship
