Nov 29, 2010

Poetry Bus Challenge. November 29th.

From 3 prompts offered this week by Dana Bug, I chose to -
Write about the place you dream of living someday . . . .




In an Ancient Kingdom
Anywhere, as long as there is water.
So here will do. I'd watch the quiet Tweed,
the anglers' expert wrists, the flash of sunlight
from their lines and lures, and peer into
the deep, dark, peaty pools where cautious trout
gobble and gaze and will not take the fly.


Or walk the uphill track to Linhope Spout
deep in the Cheviots. The legends say 
this pool is bottomless.  The river Linn
flumes from an overhanging scarp and flings
its moor drained torrent in. Wet-suited boys
follow the fall. They say the colours change
from clear, through yellow, yellow-green and brown
and brown to deepest black as they plunge down.
Here will suit me. I'll cheer them at their sport,
hurrah their heads as they come bobbing up,
yelling the thrill of being bold, and young.


And maybe best, to take your evening walk
along the low-tide sands at Bamburgh.
The sea is quiet. The breeze has strolled away.
Close to your feet the small waves lap and roll.
Inland to west, the sky turns red and gold.
The sands stretch on and on. The air turns cold.
Folk with their dogs pass by with quiet "Goodnights"
The brighter stars show us their little lights.
This lovely land. This good place to grow old.




  

17 comments:

  1. This is lovely. I know that it's Dr. M's dream to one day live by water of some kind. Any of these locations would suit him just fine (except we probably want them to be on THIS side of the ocean).

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  2. '...here will do.'
    'here will suit me.'
    you say, what a lucky one... content where you are. wonderful and poetic are your words and sentiments. nice.

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  3. Ah but what's it like when its raining?
    Seriously though, there is much to envy in your contentment.

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  4. I've read your poem three times. The first time for the pleasure of seeing where you would go. That is a sentence fragment, but it starts with a capital letter! The second time to find out why I liked it so much, to study line breaks, word choices, cadence. That is another fragment! The third time to walk back through it with you for the pleasure of it, again. That was my third sentence fragment, and it started with a capital letter. You won't be the last person alive who begins sentences with capital letters if I am still alive.
    Good, good poetry.
    Another fragment.

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  5. You paint a beautiful picture - at least, when the weather is behaving. I doubt the scene would be so idyllic today...

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  6. Lovely. Makes me want to live there myself.

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  7. .... the stuff dreams are made of.

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  8. it sounds idyllic the way you write it up - wonderful poetry... and there's something to be said for wanting to live exactly where you do - I feel the same way

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  9. here will do...perfection except of those uncooperative trout. Love the colors of the water and the land and those little lights that follow you home!

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  10. You've clearly pondered this before. What a wonderful description, I think you've made it my dream place too!

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  11. In an Ancient Kingdom

    I think we'd all choose to live in one of those- it smacks of permanence.

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  12. Can I go there too? Sounds fantastic.

    Great writing.

    thanks for visiting my place

    cheers from Uruguay

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  13. This must be why I like cricket too. Apart from the poetry, comments of others adequately assessed, I am simply captivated by the names "Or walk the uphill track to Linhope Spout". Linhope Spout. The mind boggles as it does with covers, gully, silly mid on. They take tea and go indoors when it rains but don't play extra time in lieu, then after five days play, the match is as likely as not to be drawn! How upper class time wasting is that? Gloriously so, and some series go for five such maches, longer than an Olympic Games! The Poms are strange beasties indeed and I love 'em.

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  14. Dr FTSE, I've neglected your blog this week, and you've rewarded my return with a humdinger of a poem. Glorious. Lovely place, wonderful words. Thank you.

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  15. That's really lovely. I think I might like to live there too. And not at all silly.

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  16. fantastic work..

    End of The Year Awards 4 Friends of Jingle or Jingle Poetry Community

    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! xxx

    keep up the excellence,

    link a poem to our potluck tomorrow, give us the cheers to continue...

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WV's turned off. Glad to see this is catching on. I don't want my readers to work for nothing for folk whose OCR software doesn't work properly.