Teacher, Watch Out!
If I stare at you
You’ll develop a twitch
If I ignore you
You’ll start to itch
If I look through you
You’ll not be heard
If I watch your lips
You’ll muddle your words
If I close one eye
You’ll feel unsure
If I close two
You’ll disappear
So watch it!
If you set homework
I’ll shut my eyes
And you’ll be in
For a big surprise
You’ll see!
This poem appears in Wanted Alive by Bernard Young.
The Long Weekend
And on the third day
He rose
And feeling only slightly
the worse for wear
He ventured out
into the world again
“What day is it?” He asked
For, verily,
somewhere along the way
He had lost Saturday
And He discovered that it was indeed Sunday
and that in his stupor
He must have slept through Saturday
“I have risen again,”
He told anyone who would listen
And He danced joyfully
on the garage forecourt
as ice melted
and rooftop water
fell upon him
This image and poem originally appeared on blipfoto.com.
4 Nots
1. Do not
get a knot
in your stomach.
Such stress will do you no good.
2. Do not
tie the knot
unless you are
100% certain you should.
3. Do not
forget to knot
each shoelace
or you might fall flat on your face.
4. Do not
tie yourself in knots
unless you are
an escapologist (or a masochist).
Also appeared on blipfoto.
Good Question
‘Oh yes,’ she says,
the lady with the fag,
‘it’s OK for you to observe us
through your viewfinder,
to pop this into your freezer
for consumption later,
to put words into our mouths
and tell our life stories,
but what about you, eh?
What have you got to say
for yourself?’
First appeared on blipfoto.com
A Point Of View
I’m saying it’s a bucket,
a child’s plastic sandcastle building bucket,
that’s been washed up on the shore.
Someone left it, lost it, or,
as summer drew to a close,
decided to chuck it.
The sea took it.
Knocked it around for a while.
Decided to give it back.
I didn’t kick it.
New Arrival
Welcome to your home by the sea.
I know you won’t actually be
sailing on it. We can both agree
on that but I promise it is close by.
I can smell its saltiness and,
with the door open, hear it roar.
But it would make mincemeat, or
should I say… splinters, of you.
Also appeared on blipfoto.com today
Peace
It is hard to believe
that this sea can be rough.
The sun rose above it today.
And the obliging wind
sucked in its cheeks
and went away.
It was only days (not weeks)
ago that a storm lifted roofs
and brought chimneys down.
You wouldn’t think that could be so
if you left the beach, now,
and strolled through the quiet town.
Originally appeared on blipfoto.com
Previous #NaPoWriMo entries:
Birds of a Feather
My cat
is old. All she
wants is food, warmth and a
comfy knee. My cat’s a home bird.
Like me.
Appeared on a poster a very long time ago.
The Boat’s Cat
I’m with the man in the hat.
I’m his lucky black cat.
He’d be sunk without me.
He was lonely on his long boat
though wouldn’t admit it.
He drank rum and slept in his coat
most nights. Woke
with a headache and stiff
neck most mornings.
I reckon he’d been deserted
way back
and sailed alone for a century.
I could see he was all at sea
and falling apart.
I decided to adopt him.
He’s a changed man now,
making a new start,
and I’m the key
that’s unlocked
his padlocked heart.
Originally appeared on blipfoto.com.
My Other Cat Was A Pig
I think he’s trying to ignore me
but unfriendly and moody he ain’t.
He likes his fuss does this puss.
Obviously he’s no saint
but one of the great things about him
is that he settles anywhere
I choose to take him
and will travel miles in the car
without complaint.
He can be a bit of a pest
when I’m reading or typing.
He walks all over the keys
and pjkhoijvlldijvllvhjviljjnb b ;hnd khgligijj.m
Originally appeared blipfoto.com.
Please note!
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It’s good to see that WordPress.com is promoting poetry and National Poetry Writing Month (see blog post here http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2014/04/01/napowrimo-2014/ #NaPoWriMo).
According to the information on http://www.napowrimo.net/about/, “NaPoWriMo, or National Poetry Writing Month, is an annual project in which participating poets attempt to write a poem a day for the month of April.
NaPoWriMo was founded in 2003, when poet Maureen Thorson decided to take up the challenge (modeled after NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month), and challenged other poets to join her. Since then, the number of participants has gotten larger every year, and many writers’ organizations, local, national and even international, organize NaPoWriMo activities.”
By the way, the National part refers to America not UK, but nevermind, I’m joining in anyway. I’ve a bit of catching up to do to go for 30 poems in 30 days, but obviously I will be cheating as I have a lot of poems up my sleeve already and I post a poem most days anyway on blipfoto.com.
To catch up, rather than doing multiple posts on the same day, I’m going to do several poems in each post for the next few days – 3 poems today. And I’ve tagged yesterday’s post giving it a multipurpose of being for UK National Stationery Week as well. So that’s 4 down, 26 to go!
Time Traveller
When he first learned to drive
(it was so long ago
Robin Hood was still alive!)
the roads were quiet but narrow.
Nowadays he travels far and wide
on roads as straight as an arrow
but it’s not always a pleasant ride.
And some journeys are oh so slow!
Posted on blipfoto.com http://www.blipfoto.com/entry/4181958 and inspired by this image (can you see why I mentioned Robin Hood?)
Premature
I always think
of that line from Macbeth
about Macduff
being untimely ripped
from his mother’s womb
when I’m forced to leave
my bed too soon.
I prefer to stay up late
and sleep till noon
but it’s best
to beat the traffic.
Anyway, I’d better
watch what I say
– some poor souls
have to do this
every day.
Originally appeared on blipfoto here: http://www.blipfoto.com/entry/4155217
A Burning Issue
Smoke and fire.
They go together
like a horse and carriage.
You can’t have one
without the other.
A bit like marriage
and divorce, of course.
Originally appeared on blipfoto here: http://www.blipfoto.com/entry/4097263
In honour of National Stationery Week, I’m sharing a poem and picture that I used on Blipfoto a while ago.
I love my notebook.
My new notebook. Blank pages.
Possibilities.
I’ve only learnt about this event today and it’s the last day of the week. Maybe there’ll be another next year for all us lovers of the feel of paper and the flow of a pen. There must be some good alliterative and listing possibilities for poems on this theme. National Stationery Week are using the hashtag #NSW14 and their website is http://www.nationalstationeryweek.com/.
By the way what trick do you use to remember the meaning/spelling difference between stationEry and stationAry? I always think E for envelope that reminds me that stationEry is paper and pens and paperclips, and stationAry is not moving.
PS As I have also decided to set up on NaPoWriMo a week late for 30 poems in 30 days, I’m including this one for that too!
Bernard Young Poet 