Watching the Deadlines Fly By

Peeps might have noticed been having a little trouble with deadlines....the Tuesday one in particular, so I wrote this for you today :)

Watching the Deadlines Fly By

The summer sun was shining 
and hay was being made
the ants were trailing one by one
through the ballustrade

The crickets were all chirping
while I fretted in the shade
and yet I noticed none of this
just deadlines to be made

A multitude of deadlines
from half a hundred things
all tied up with sealing wax
and multi-coloured strings

And now I have those deadlines
as pretty as can be,
it's time to watch them rushing by
like bullets from a train,
so I can hear that wooshing noise
flying past again

A.J. Ponder

In memory of Douglas Adams  "I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by."

The Spider and the Fly by Mary Howitt

    "Will you walk into my parlor?" said the Spider to the Fly,
    "'Tis the prettiest little parlor that ever you did spy;
    The way into my parlor is up a winding stair,
    And I have many curious things to show you when you are there."
    "Oh no, no," said the Fly, "to ask me is in vain;
    For who goes up your winding stair can ne'er come down again."

    "I'm sure you must be weary, dear, with soaring up so high;
    Will you rest upon my little bed?" said the Spider to the Fly.
    "There are pretty curtains drawn around, the sheets are fine and thin;
    And if you like to rest awhile, I'll snugly tuck you in!"
    "Oh no, no," said the little Fly, "for I've often heard it said
    They never, never wake again, who sleep upon your bed!"

    Said the cunning Spider to the Fly, "Dear friend, what can I do
    To prove that warm affection I've always felt for you?
    I have within my pantry, good store of all that's nice;
    I'm sure you're very welcome - will you please take a slice?"
    "Oh no, no," said the little Fly, "kind sir, that cannot be,
    I've heard what's in your pantry, and I do not wish to see!"

    "Sweet creature," said the Spider, "you're witty and you're wise;
    How handsome are your gauzy wings, how brilliant are your eyes!
    I have a little looking-glass upon my parlor shelf;
    If you step in one moment, dear, you shall behold yourself."
    "I thank you, gentle sir," she said, "for what you're pleased to say;
    And bidding good morning now, I'll call another day."

    The Spider turned him round about, and went into his den,
    For well he knew the silly Fly would soon come back again;
    So he wove a subtle web in a little corner sly,
    And set his table ready to dine upon the Fly.
    then he came out to his door again, and merrily did sing,
    "Come hither, hither, pretty Fly, with the pearl and silver wing;
    Your robes are green and purple, there's a crest upon your head;
    Your eyes are like the diamond bright, but mine are as dull as lead."

    Alas, alas! how very soon this silly little Fly,
    Hearing his wily, flattering words, came slowly flitting by;
    With buzzing wings she hung aloft, then near and nearer drew, -
    Thinking only of her brilliant eyes, and green and purple hue;
    Thinking only of her crested head - poor foolish thing! At last,
    Up jumped the cunning Spider, and fiercely held her fast.
    He dragged her up his winding stair, into his dismal den
    Within his little parlor - but she ne'er came out again!

    And now, dear little children, who may this story read,
    To idle, silly, flattering words, I pray you ne'er heed;
    Unto an evil counsellor close heart, and ear, and eye,
    And take a lesson from this tale of the Spider and the Fly.


In my head this poem is less, "dear reader," and more dangerous.  A poem from childhood that although it may not quite match up in adulthood - still contains a something, not the "lesson" of beware flatterers, but the parallel truth about the nature of good and evil.  After all the dear spider is only trying to eat...


Have fun, enjoy the week, and fair warning,  I'll be continuing my spidery theme next week,
cheers. (please note the spider roundup portal is here at http://anafflictionofpoetry.blogspot.co.nz/2013/06/tuesday-poem-spider-poem-roundup-with.html)

cheers,
A.J.

A.J. Ponder's books are available through Rona Gallery, Amazon, Paper Plus and good Wellington bookstores.

Over the Misty Mountains by JRR Tolkein (The Hobbit)

The Hobbit will be coming out at some point, and the thing is - ever since I can remember, I've had these opening credits running through my brain - Smaug devastating the dwarven keep, and flying off down river - his flames turning the water to gold.  Of course this would be accompanied by rousing chanting/singing possibly by the Samoan choir they used in LOTR, and using lyrics from Tolkein's Under the Misty Mountain.   (& preferably not the popular dwarven chant "Gold")

Of course much of this backstory is actually told later in the book, long after the poem - but in a movie it's surely better off upfront with the credits rolling after the fire hits the screen in full tacky 3D.  (Of course I never envisioned that - I mean back in the day 3D was the tackiest, I think my young self would have had an appoplexy ;)  Possibly, though, with the fact that the Hobbit will actually be two movies, maybe they'll leave Smaug's devastation until part two.  I guess so long as that Dale burns, the river turns to golden fire and Smaug looks like he belongs up in the air, dangerous, terrifying and almost elemental - then I'll be happy.

In fact talking about it, I realise some of the details of my little movie are blurring - what a shame, I'll just have to read the book again before I watch the movie.  It's been a long time since my children were seven and "The Hobbit" was the bed-time book of choice, and we were quoting vast chunks of  "here am I, naughty little fly..." Now the bed time reading is serious alone time featuring things like George RR Martin and Brandon Sanderson, and other such unwieldy epics  (ignoring the cute little cat books and the devastatingly off-putting reading logs).  So it will be sweet to get back to my favourite book of all time.

 I am so looking forward to the movie.  The LOTR people may bee playing with my favourite book for over thirty years... but they played LOTR pretty well, and even when I thought their choices were wrong it was still obvious that Tolkien's books had been treated with love and respect.  So bring on the movie.   And bring on the dragon, enter top right screen, turn toward us up the river and let those flames erupt!

And don't forget to read Over the Misty Mountains,  it has to be amongst Tolkein's best poems, not that I'm biased or anything.  But the rhythm is compelling.  I also feel compelled to add just the end of the shorter little ditty that Bilbo's cheekily sings to the spiders of Mirkwood...and I'm probably paraphrasing here and getting it wrong anyway..."here am I naughty little fly, you are fat and lazy, you cannot catch me though you try, in your cobwebs crazy."  It's so perfectly catchy for young uns.

FYI.  The book cover shown is the same copy I read to my children when they were smaller, illustrated by Alan Lee it is quite charming and has survived a lot of reading!

A.J. Ponder

A.J. Ponder's work is available through Rona Gallery, Amazon, and good Wellington bookstores