Sunday, May 30, 2010

Europa Poets' Gazette No. 74

Shark
The shark
swims in the big blue sea
beside you
and me
So be on the lookout
for that shark
in the sea
For he might grab...
You
or me.
© Richard Griffiths 11.11.08

Europa Poets' Gazette No. 74

Those People
Those people who are blind of heart and can’t see
The difference between good and bad are staid,
They look beyond the stars where they may flee
Into themselves where fearful black holes wait.
A ship that travels deep inside your brain,
Where Grevilles of an alien world address
And prove to you that you were born to pain:
To haunting paranoiac fear, no less.
But then, when we confront and touch this fear,
We learn its weakness and its origin
And how it is created, when we veer
Away from claiming all that’s nourishing
To leave behind the chasms that are bad
To reach the summit of our destined fate.
A Dream
A dream, outside myself, of better times;
Of times, where all my cells co-operate;
A time where nothing stems the flowing rhymes;
A time when need and love communicate.
Then I shall see the sunset, hypnotised,
The glistening sea reflected in my eyes,
Then I must float on thermals, systemised,
Where souls attempt a journey Heaven-wise.
Where they use magic in this dream of life
And all hold hands and Lodge to become one,
When all belong within this merging hive
That makes life strive towards the rising sun.
I must confess that I would like to go
Where we can drown and die in life's sweet woe.
© Joe Lake

Europa Poets' Gazette No. 74

Teach Me
I’ve just arrived: I’m alone, and new here.
Armed only with eyes and ears, and internet.
I’m trying to discover what I should fear,
to learn what’s a worry and what’s a good bet.
I’ve faced fears before and know what it takes,
but find myself in a panic and a dither
thinking of your Devils, wallabies and snakes
and all the other evils that bite, snap and slither.
I dread it will be reported that I almost died
somewhere among your eucalypts and pine,
bitten by a strange marsupial oddly
transmogrified
into overgrown rodent or revived thylacine.
But most I fear your Aussie love of rhyming verse
will nudge my Kiwi poetry from bad to worse.
© Tim Heath April 14, 2010

Europa Poets' Gazette No. 74

I’ve put bird netting over the peas I just planted and my lawn has just been mowed, and Judy cut down some trees which she loves doing with our electric chainsaw. I’ve decided not to write my autobiography because it’d be too boring
The two sonnets on the right are reverberations of the sixteenth century poets, Greville and Lodge, respectively. Check how cunningly I integrated their names. As I’ve advertised below, we’ll have our Burnie Gold Pot (donated by last year’s winner, Pete Stratford) that will be filled by all of you with gold coins for the winner. The judging will be done by six people from the audience, so come along on Friday, July 16,
5.30 pm, at the Burnie Library.
Burnie Shines With Poetry will be held also at the library on October 22 at 5.30 pm.

Europa Poets' Gazette No. 74

Waiting On A Bridge
The glow from lampposts lining Le Pont Alexander 111
Was reflected on the Seine’s still night waters -
Like pearls on black silk.
I waited for a Parisian man to stop and join me
In contemplation, but on that trip long ago
Love passed me by;
Perhaps I’ll return one day
To the place where lovers meet.
© June Maureen Hitchcock May, 2010

Europa Poets' Gazette No. 74

Left Herself
Gulls, white, in the gather-gloom
circle and shriek,
Steady her on outstretched wings,
Even higher, she sees them,
Calling in the dream,
Feels the wind in her face
as tears of joy,
She has left the others
and herself,
Marvels through vacant cloud,
High journey is beautiful
behind closed eyes,
It is this dream that cradles,
Awake in veil sleep,
Earthly in the armchair,
Does that move, too?
Gulls are far below now,
Disorganised in order flight,
Flecks as birds that once tussled
over scraps on ragged lawn,
Long before the song began,
This living dream is exquisite,
And endures even in
Heaven’s lofty blue.
© Michael Garrad May 2010


Coalman
Black,
Skin black,
Streak black,
Sweat congealed,
Eyes peer through
mask face,
Cap black,
Shined by sack, black,
From cart to bin,
Chunk-coal
thunders into
hungry abyss,
White teeth
pierce black,
Shroud of black,
Smile warms
this bitter day
as flames
gorge precious fuel.
More snow,
White on black,
He will be back,
Thank God!
© Michael Garrad April 2010

Europa Poets' Gazette No. 74

My comments in the May issue concerned physical pain and how people deal with it, how, in some cases, they make pain a companion.
But there is another pain - a mental pain. It is just as real but very often there are no physical symptoms. The pain is deep in the mind, affecting every facet of daily life.
Those who look on rarely have any idea what this pain is like. They say they understand but they really have no concept of this agony. It’s not a companion.
It is a cancer but not always terminal, although here are cases where it is. It’s all about the mind in chaos and if you haven't taken that journey, then lucky you.
The eyes give it away. Look deep, if you care at all, and you will see.