by Amy Clampitt cold nights on the farm, a sock-shodstove-warmed flatiron slid underthe covers, mornings a damascene-sealed bizzarrerie of fernworkdecades ago nowwalking in northwest london, teabrought up steaming, a Peek Freanbiscuit alongside to be nibbledas blue gas leaps up singingdecades ago nowdamp sheets in Dorset, fog-hunghabitat of bronchitis, of longhot soaks in the bathtub, ofContinue reading “On The Disadvantages Of Central Heating”
Category Archives: My blog
The Destruction Of Sennacherib
by Lord Byron The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold,And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.Like the leaves of the forest when summer is green,That host with their banners at sunsetContinue reading “The Destruction Of Sennacherib”
O Love! Thou Makest All Things Even
by Sarah-Flower Adams O Love! thou makest all things evenIn earth or heaven;Finding thy way through prison-barsUp to the stars;Or, true to the Almighty plan,That out of dust created man,Thou lookest in a grave 0 to seeThine immortality!
Hopalong finds a pal
I am amazed that after three months my three-legged fox is proving himself to be a trier. I mean to say he has four legs but as regular readers will know one of his back legs just dangles from the knee joint. Since Christmas Hopalong has had me on edge day after day, or ratherContinue reading “Hopalong finds a pal”
The British
by Benjamin Zephaniah Take some Picts, Celts and SiluresAnd let them settle,Then overrun them with Roman conquerors.Remove the Romans after approximately 400 yearsAdd lots of Norman French to someAngles, Saxons, Jutes and Vikings, then stir vigorously.Mix some hot Chileans, cool Jamaicans, Dominicans,Trinidadians, and Bajans with some Ethiopians, Chinese,Vietnamese and Sudanese.Then take a blend of Somalians,Continue reading “The British”
Memento
by Yevgeny Yevtushenko Like a reminder of this lifeof trams, sun, sparrows,and the flighty uncontrollednessof streams leaping like thermometers.and because ducks are quacking somewhereabove the crackling of the last, paper-thin ice,and because children are crying bitterly(remember children’s lives are so sweet!)and because in the drunken, shimmering starlightthe moon whoops it up,and a stocking crackles atContinue reading “Memento”
Gazing at Spring
by Xu Tao Flowers bloom:no oneto enjoy them with.Flowers fall:no onewith whom to grieve.I wonder when love’slongingsstir us most -when flowers bloom,or when flowers fall?
Up sticks and we’re heading home to the land of the Red Dragon
We talked a lot that Sunday, the love of my life and myself. The point is that anything I said involved convincing myself that I would not just hop from job to job. I had responsibilities. I had a family. It was my darling who put her finger on it and broke the deadlock. AsContinue reading “Up sticks and we’re heading home to the land of the Red Dragon”
Verses on a Butterfly
Fair Child of Sun and Summer! we beholdWith eager eyes thy wings bedropp’d with gold;The purple spots that o’er thy mantle spread,The sapphire’s lively blue, the ruby’s red,Ten thousand various blended tints surprise,Beyond the rainbow’s hues or peacock’s eyes:Not Judah’s king in eastern pomp array’d,Whose charms allur’d from far the Sheban maid,High on his glitt’ringContinue reading “Verses on a Butterfly”
For a row of laurel shrubs
They don’t want to be your hedge,Your barrier, your living wall, the no-goGo-between between your propertyAnd the prying of dogs and strangers. They don’tWant to settle any of your old squabblesInside or out of bounds. Their new growthIn eight-foot shoots goes thrusting straightUp in the air each April or goes offHalf-cocked sideways to recconoiterWilder dimensions:Continue reading “For a row of laurel shrubs”
Robin's Nest 