New Year's Day 2

Where should all the days go

If they slip by

as fast as this one?

The sun never shone so lazily

in its bed of blue

watching over

Dunes and sand --

the sun-bleached bones of mountains

accumulated in the hectic tide 

And should all my days

end in a tidal surge

on the briny surf

With seaweed at the ankles

and castles on the beach -

Let those castles be built high

Let them stand before

the endless tide

under the patient sun

Let there be

fantastical turrets

before all is washed away...

And the sun rushes off

to its liaison 

with the other side of the world.

A..J. Ponder 

Tuesday Poem. Can't see it

When the world is black

and the colours you can see

are behind your eyelids

Bright as

Neurons

Flashing in the night -

signalling

a Bright and

dark beginning.

Reach out your arms

and feel the solid world

beneath your fingertips -

Rough and

real 

Harsh in the soft

darkness -

Warm in the cold

night. 

A..J. Ponder 

I keep on promising that I'll have cheerful poems.  And maybe one day I will :)  Like last week's "to the sea" I'm missing one of the poets that stood out at the Tuesday hub, Harvey McQueen .  Anyway the Tuesday Poem hub is dedicated to him this week.  "Reading Janet Frame" at the Tuesday Poem hub.  And his blog  stoatspring, is well worth reading as a "live memoir" of his poetry and his struggle with illness.

To the Sea

 

To the Sea

Green Tears fall beneath the willow tree,

I lie beyond that veil of tears,

If you should look for me

The softest rain falls from above,

The river runs below,

Wherever it is running I will surely go

So look not to the cold hard earth,

The oceans they will hide me,

I will hold my true love's hand and she will walk beside me.

A..J. Ponder
With the death over the Christmas break of noteable Tuesday poet Harvey McQueen,  whose anthology "These I Have Loved," only came out this year.  I felt there needed to be something appropriate so I have posted the poem I wrote at the funeral of my Grandfather.  It seemed apposite.  Harvey's bravery in the face of serious illness, and ability to work through reminded me rather of my grandfather, and the watery theme also seemed appropriate.  


Best wishes for the new year everyone, and especially for all those who have lost loved ones over Christmas. 

A..J. Ponder - author page

The Twelve Days of Christmas - revisited

Sick of Christmas Cheer?
Stuck interminably in all twelve of the days of Christmas?
Maybe it's time for something new?

On the first day of Christmas an ET gave to me

A Suitcase from a pear tree

On the second day of Christmas an ET gave to me

Two Mutant Doves

and a

Suitcase from a pear tree

On the third day of Christmas an ET gave to me

Three Fallen  Angels

Two Mutant Doves

and a

Suitcase from a pear tree

On the fourth day of Christmas an ET gave to me

Four eye-phones calling

Three Fallen  Angels

Two Mutant Doves

and a

Suitcase from a pear tree

On the fifth day of Christmas an ET gave to me

Five wooden stakes

Four eye-phones calling

Three Fallen  Angels

Two Mutant Doves

and a

Suitcase from a pear tree

On the sixth day of Christmas an ET gave to me

Six Sparkling vampires

Five wooden stakes

Four eye-phones calling

Three Fallen Angels

Two Mutant Doves

and a

Suitcase from a pear tree

On the seventh day of Christmas an ET gave to me

Seven Planets spinning

Six Sparkling vampires

Five wooden stakes

Four eye-phones calling

Three Fallen Angels

Two Mutant Doves

and a

Suitcase from a pear tree

On the eighth day of Christmas an ET gave to me

Eight Robot Slaves

Seven Planets spinning

Six Sparkling vampires

Five wooden stakes

Four eye-phones calling

Three Fallen Angels

Two Mutant Doves

and a

Suitcase from a pear tree

On the ninth day of Christmas an ET gave to me

Nine golden rings

Eight Robot Slaves

Seven Planets spinning

Six Sparkling vampires

Five wooden stakes

Four eye-phones calling

Three Fallen Angels

Two Mutant Doves

and a

Suitcase from a pear tree

On the tenth day of Christmas an ET gave to me

Ten Laser Guns

Nine golden rings

Eight Robot Slaves

Seven Planets spinning

Six Sparkling vampires

Five wooden stakes

Four eye-phones calling

Three Fallen Angels

Two Mutant Doves

and a

Suitcase from a pear tree

On the eleventh day of Christmas an ET gave to me

Eleven nuclear explosions

Ten Laser Guns

Nine golden rings

Eight Robot Slaves

Seven Planets spinning

Six Sparkling vampires

Five wooden stakes

Four eye-phones calling

Three Fallen Angels

Two Mutant Doves

and a

Suitcase from a pear tree

On the twelfth day of Christmas an ET gave to me

Twelve Spaceships Landing

On a world that's completely human free

The End

(Well, of course it is.)

A..J. Ponder - Amazon author page



Maybe one day I'll do a somewhat tidier version of this. But it more was more a bit of nonsensical fun than anything else.  Hope everyone is enjoying the festive season and having a bit of a break from work.  


Cheers.

Tuesday Poem: Secret Santa: Christmas, Downtown Melbourne by Pamela Morrison

Christmas, Downtown Melbourne

Ding dong

Ding

Dong

A man enters the post office

Ding dong

His knuckles are grey

Ding dong ding

He walks past the card stand

Dong ding

His feet are bare

Dong dong

He stops and bends down

Ding dong ding

His paper bag is ripped

Dong

He looks up at the roof

Ding dong

One eye is open, the other is half shut

Ding ding

He draws a deep breath

Ding

No-one sees him, no-one is looking

Dong

Now the man is starting to sing

The notes of Jerusalem

Are bold as a bell

They rise to the vault of the ceiling

Then descend

Every space is filled

Every person is still

The last note has landed

Shoppers and postal workers stomp and clap

Ding dong dong ding dong dong ding ding dong

Ding dong dong ding dong ding dong dong dong ding

A person in uniform walks to the man

Turns him, takes him away.

Pamela Morrison

Pam wrote this poem about a pre-Christmas experience she had several years ago. It seems rather sad that it ends the way it does - as she captures the magic and finally the pathos of the incident.

A Dunedin based poet, Pam is an ex-journalist who has had "the odd poem published."   Now in a completely different line of work, she's enjoying having no deadlines, and not having to write other people’s stories.  She loves sharing her work with others, and she is a fantastic part of the Tuesday Poetry blog group and an avid blogger -  more of her poems can be found here at her blog site where she continues to explore the world with words.

 So cheers Pam and all the other poets on the Tuesday Poem site for making this a memorable year in poetry.

A..J. Ponder - Amazon author page

This Way to Grandma's

You think you are

standing on the path

just talking

but your words give you away

they sell your loved ones,

and murder your future.

If I was not a wolf

your inevitable betrayal would make me cry

but I am what I am

so I lick my lips

and lean in

with  an affectation of slothfulness

swaggering in my certainty

that while you  see me

you cannot see through

to the wolf inside

How could you?

So be a lamb

And talk your way to the table.

A..J. Ponder - Amazon author page


Some poems can be moments of inspiration and some can take a little more -- encouragement.  This is one of those poems.  But while it hasn't been particularly obliging in itself, it has spawned at least two other poems so far, including: "fairy tale conventions."

To read the featured poem on the Tuesday Poem Blog—and link to other Tuesday Poets posting around NZ and the world—either click here or on the Quill icon in the sidebar.
(Also for anyone who likes a slightly twisted Little Red Riding Hood - Roald Dahl's version is here , I rediscovered it after I posted this.) or for more fairytale poetry click here to my Fairytale Poetry Hub

Find my stories and support my writing on ko-fi 

And tell me which poems you'd like to see in my upcoming poetry book—2024? https://ko-fi.com/ajponder

 

Eulogy to battles lost

As requested this is a little homage to Firefly / Serenity (written 23rd November 2010).  Although if you don't like such things, I still believe the last verse to be worth reading. And yes there is deliberately no full stop at the end, for hope should never end with such finality. 

Take my love

You cannot miss

Slipping into space

On rickety engines

Tied together with

Chewing gum

Take my land

There's power in the verse

Even as heroes

Fall to wayside robbery

To survive, to get even,

To hide the truth of

A world

A universe

Bought and sold

Take me where I cannot stand

Malcontents

Hanging on a thread

Doctors, preachers, thieves

Breaking bread

Hiding chocolate

Toting guns

Retorting hot as fire

And cold as reckoning

Fools staking out a claim

to what they cannot hold

I don't care

So long as I'm flying

The inevitable betrayal

Should not hurt

So very much

Mere boulders knocked downstream.

River

Waterfall quick

Tumbles into madness

And away

 

I'm still free

A pretence as deep and wide

As the sky itself

Bound with

foolish reason

Cut through with civility

You can't take the sky from me

Bereft, 

the rooms

entwined with flowers

lie empty

a memorial to

those who died

A testament to hope

A..J. Ponder - Amazon author page  (of course the highlighted lines are from Joss Whedon - I hope he can forgive me, given this is a homage to his show)