Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Fairy Song by John Keats

I.
Shed no tear! oh, shed no tear!
The flower will bloom another year.
Weep no more! oh, weep no more!
Young buds sleep in the root's white core.
Dry your eyes! oh, dry your eyes!
For I was taught in Paradise
To ease my breast of melodies,--
Shed no tear.

Overhead! look overhead!
'Mong the blossoms white and red--
Look up, look up! I flutter now
On this fresh pomegranate bough.
See me! 'tis this silvery bill
Ever cures the good man's ill.
Shed no tear! oh, shed no tear!
The flower will bloom another year.
Adieu, adieu -- I fly -- adieu!
I vanish in the heaven’s blue,--
Adieu, adieu!

II.
Ah! woe is me! poor silver-wing!
That I must chant thy lady's dirge,
And death to this fair haunt of spring,
Of melody, and streams of flowery verge,--
Poor silver-wing! ah! woe is me!
That I must see
These blossoms snow upon thy lady's pall!
Go, pretty page! and in her ear
Whisper that the hour is near!
Softly tell her not to fear
Such calm favonian burial!
Go, pretty page! and soothly tell,--
The blossoms hang by a melting spell,
And fall they must, ere a star wink thrice
Upon her closed eyes,
That now in vain are weeping their last tears,
At sweet life leaving, and these arbours green,--
Rich dowry from the Spirit of the Spheres,
Alas! poor Queen!

And if this isn't enough Fairy Poetry For you, why not go here to my Portal to Fairy Tale Poetry here, and find some of the best Fairy poetry there is.

A.J.
My books can be found at Rona Gallery, Amazon, and good Wellington Bookstores.

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Count Your Spoons

Count Your Spoons

We needed spoons
Old Mother Hubbard
and I
so we ransacked
that cupboard

The poor old dog
didn't stand
a chance- 
no gallivanting
up and down
and all around town
when you're counting spoons

Sport goes first
at a dozen spoons for a wig,
that jig
is too darned expensive

Housework,
at two spoons and a cake fork -
maybe not today
or tomorrow

Still, no worries
let's leave the tripe, and the pipe
it's hard to eat
when the cupboard is bare

Forget the wine
white or red
or standing on your head-
We're counting spoons

School,
work,
play
standing up,
taking a walk,
every luxury is
bartered away

Once you've
dragooned every spoon,
determination will get you to the day,
when there are only
three spoons left-

Begged,
Borrowed,
and Stolen.

A.J. Ponder 



Today's poem is brought to you in honour of the  Spoon Theory (http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com/articles/written-by-christine/the-spoon-theory/) Hope you enjoy.

A.J.

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

The Dinosaurs are Running Wild


Having just seen the film Jurassic World, I'm wondering if it's alright to even like such a colossal waste of...special effects.I guess it's a bit like having bubbles blown in your brain - sure it's fun, but you wonder how many brain cells had to die to bring you a steaming pile of - "Ooo look! It's a dinosaur with big teeth!"

So I thought I'd write a dinosaur poem. But every time I try, you wouldn't believe it but lyrics from Weird Al's Jurassic Park derail everything.


So poem...

Jurassic Park is frightening in the dark
 
Nope. Weird Al lyrics again...


A huge tyrannosaurus ate our lawyer
Well, I suppose that proves... they're really not all bad.


So, it's the dinosaurs that aren't all bad...or the lawyers - because at least they're edible? Okay really this isn't helping, Weird Al. I still need a poem, and your lyrics are brainworm candy.

I recall the time they found those fossilized mosquitoes...

Seriously, there has to be points for any poem (or song in this case) that manages to start with a line like that. But it's destroyed my whole dinosaur vibe...so unless something changes, next week's poem wont feature anything dinosaur related at all. It'll probably be something catchy like Ode to My Earworm.

I know I can't wait, can you?

A.J.

In the meantime why not check out tuesdaypoem.blogspot.com  or for animal poems...I've just realised how short I am of animal poems...I will eventually put up a hub...but in the meantime why not visit my cat posts here. After all, cats are pretty scary to anything smaller than they are. Also if you follow me, I will be turning up from time to time on Saharsblog.com, in her Ask an Author feature:http://www.saharsblog.com/category/ask-an-author/


 






Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Waste Not

Rivers of
garbage
run down to
a sea
drowning
in plastic bags


It's an island you could walk on,
but not if you're a fish.
An island you could
place in an engine
and drive
around the world

but first you have to smash through
the barriers
of discarding what you see,
to discover
what you want

and how to get there

For who are we to
mine for gold in
uranium
mine for uranium
in rock

Everything we need
runs through our fingers.
All we have to do is
reach out
and take what is ours
to protect
what is not

A.J. Ponder

Some more links to go with the ones I put up a couple of weeks ago on "Working Towards Waste Not", where I posted a video of Bill Gates drinking - shock! horror! water!! And there are a few more links about recycling waste including companies "mining" gold and other precious metals in sewerage.

Gold and uranium mining. Believe it or not gold and uranium are often mined hand in hand, although not so long ago, uranium, was usually left in the tailings. So maybe someone should have asked Bill Gates if he'd rather drink recycled sewerage or uranium? http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/dec/05/nuclear-greenpolitics. 
 
Turning plastic bags into diesel fuel?  When? And yes, maybe we shouldn't be using them at all, but it's a bit late for that so... http://news.illinois.edu/news/14/0212bags_oil_brajendrakumarsharma.html

Have a great week,
A.J.

P.S.  I'm not sure I can manage to live waste free like these people, but it's a great goal, and one we should be working toward as a community :)
http://www.zerowaste.co.nz/
http://www.recycle.co.nz/problemsize.php
http://www.rubbishfree.co.nz/ 

And lastly...This...http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/07/01/hawaii-plastic-bag-ban_n_7702382.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000010   (if you're not sure why they've done it, scroll down for the surfer)