2008 IMBOLC/LUGHNASADH SHORT POEM ENTRIES

[katsu]

Notice: Please add your original short poems for the current Eisteddfod here. Short poems must be 30 lines or less.

[Frog]

The Sentinels Stand Watch

White wisp trails drift across the land
The icy touch of Crone blanket the land with a frosty hardness
Coccoon the earth with a watery crust
Silent Sentinels watch over the sleeping Goddess, wearing their uniforms, cloaks of brown

Beneath the cover, the lovers embrace stirs the life of the land
In the protective womb of the earth the seed draws strength
With a force and power unrecognised it pushes sunwards
Silent Sentinels watch over the waking Goddess, wearing their uniforms, cloaks of green and brown

The first signs of Spring not yet ready to show
Like a parade assembling, the majesty of spectacle just preparing
Like a firework display, the touchpaper not yet lit
The Silent Sentinels watch over the Goddess, ready to wear their uniform cloaks of green,

[DaRC]

Summer's End
=========
Summer's end is the acid season
when the hedgerow pallet lights taper
and mycelic eruptions arise.
From below their noses shout "Liberty!
Escape the strict Turing tests of reason."

This green pleasant land's gone pointillist,
mists glow from a neo-impressionist's
vision where brilliant colours rise,
caped in green absinthe nights. Freedom!
They run from the mordant boundaries.

Daylight langours; stretched, taught and thin.
Night creeps over, smothering, falls on
this season's acrylic coloured cloth.
Like glamourous virgin veils
to be lifted and corrupted.

Internally too the hours cause change
when the rebellious mind hastens
towards dormancy, day dreams and rest.
The will cracks whip, rakes leaves trims hedge
reminding nature bills must be paid.

[Cottilion]

Our Trainride

Page for page
word by word
my life moves on
day by day
I pass

From birth till death
my world continues
Remembering only moments in time
Scenery passes and will be forgotten
What changes does it bring, this life of mine?

For some time we will be connected
our lives will move as one
Same track, same destination
now we hope for a smooth ride.
without distortions, none

[pangurban]

The Promise of Spring.

The promise of Spring
was evident this morn
in the blush of pale green buds
covering the trees like a mantle.

And here and there green shoots
push through the dark earth.
New life from crocus bulbs planted
last Autumn tide and forgot till now.

And soon ewes heavy with young
will give birth on bitter hillsides.
To lambs with springs in their legs
who run and jump for joy.

But what of my soul dark and cold,
still frozen with winters chill.
The promise that the Maiden brings
starts a melting within me.

Then Winters stillness and silence
that echoed within in me is banished
And an answer to the Maiden comes
from deep within my soul.

It is the young God of the green wood
birthed again within me young and virile.
And so the mystery unfolds again
Young God and maiden join once more.

In my soul new life is born again
The chill of winter recedes once more.
Springs warmth is promised soon
To melt my winter hardened heart.

Pangur-ban 6/1/08

[City Druid]

New beginnings



Uncurl myself
Awake to life
Beneath the apple tree

Sun in my face
Spring in my step
a new world to see

a blank canvas
a fresh start
O what awaits for me

[wyeuro]

echoes
(note: a

flat

is a treeless, featureless flat area)

crossing the bristled limestone and the dark
dew-stained lichens of the flat, the stark
wattles with their hook-barbed spikes instead
of leaves on either side, and there ahead

the green and russet mallee, you’re aware
of something other than the shifting air
and the unshifting light, and something more
than the limestone fossil of an ocean floor…

when a crow disturbs the grain of time,
just for an echoing moment you hear rhyme
a fragment of a cry, a faint half-word
that is the echo of, but not the bird

and when the old man kangaroo bends down
to nip the spear-grass bristles from the ground,
something – not the shadows, not the air –
moves with him, both is and isn’t there.

one hot morning, when i put my hand
down to a pearl-pink flower in ochre sand
thinking, conventionally, how frail, how fine
for this harsh land – a black hand moved with mine!

[dreamguardian]

This poem was inspired when I was at a very low time and all seemed lost:

Natures Glimpses

Out of nowhere comes
A glimmer of hope,
Truth’s worth searching for,
Gives reason to cope
Something to look for
Or maybe to gain,
The feeling is simple,
The answer’s plain.


Rob Muir, 2008

[Fox]

(I wrote this almost exactly 2 years ago.)

A Perfect Moon

A perfect crescent moon in the frozen western sky
Brighid smiling over the rugby pitch
A laughing moon, a moon to make you cry
A moon to make you spread your wings and fly

All this moons lacks is a wicked, wicked witch
Dangling a shapely leg among the stars
Or a wolf running through the trees to find his bitch
And pausing to to howl, unearthly, eldritch

A frozen puddle beside a hulking car
Glitters, frost etched like a poem in runes
A jewel that even flood-lights cannot mar
And more eloquent than this poor poem by far

The sound of children laughing, ancient tune,
Running up the pitch to score a hard-fought try
A moment like an oasis beside an arid dune
Children laughing, playing beneath a perfect moon

[Arth Seren]

River Bride

Her veil cascades timelessly down the rocks
Into the pools below
The rainbow is her head dress
The Gulls her pages.
As she reaches up to kiss her beloved
His leafy fingers stretch down
And caress her face and neck
Sending kisses deep within her flowing form.
Her train snakes throughout the landscape,
Sunlight catching the liquid diamonds
That play on the surface,
Adorning her endless robes.
“Come, run and dance with me”
She calls to him
“Chase me through the land,
until I am still once more,
Then bear your roots deep down into me
And drink in my eternal love”.

26th July 2007
From the pictures of Niagra Falls in my Living Room, and my memories of being there.

[RedKite]

While in Glastonbury, for the OBOD Winter Gathering, I purchased a few greetings cards which had wonderful pictures created by Wendy Andrews.  ( http://www.paintingdreams.co.uk ).
Her web site is well worth a look - the Goddess Wheels are fantastic (P.S. I don't know her and I'm not on commission)
One of the cards I purchased was "Winter Solstice Spiral" and it triggered something...

...so I wrote the following to go with the picture - See It HERE


New Life

Hare came hopping through the snow
Pond’ring what he did not know
There were stirrings, ‘neath the Earth,
That could only mean new birth

Past Solstice, a day or two
Not expecting something new
This had caught him on the hop
Could it be the first Snowdrop?

Winter had just froze the soil
Yet this plant began its toil
Tender shoots, without a sound,
Pushed apart the solid ground

Ground, that wore down Hare’s sharp claws!
Do these shoots have different laws?
Laws that bring claws such hard strife
Did not damage softer life!

There it was… the first green tip
Hare sat back and marvelled it
First one shoot… and then… another
Given by our loving Mother

Sensitive nose smelt the Maiden
Ere she passed by, heavy laden
With new life to give to all
Hidden ‘neath the first snow fall

Crone to Maiden, in a leap
Seems she had no time to sleep
There are many day ‘til May
But she’ll pass by… ev’ry day

© RedKite 2007

[crystall_child]

I'm the first to admit I'm no poet, but I'm trying

Dreamtime

I awoke to the sound of the water,
Rushing by as I lay on the bank.
Not a moment before I was sleeping,
‘Neath an ancient oak who stands in the woods.

Awe takes my breath at the sight I behold,
At the colours and beauty I see.
The flowers, the trees and the lady too
Who walks as if floating on air.

She beckons me there, to sit by her side,
And wondrous stories she tells.
Of things as they were, and are, and can be
And how to down this path called life.

She heralds the coming of springtime now,
At her side walks the most graceful of things
The beauty of this creature knows no bounds
All who behold Deer feel their heart sing.

The message they bring is a simple one,
And to my friends I am grateful for this.
Life is no race, there’s no tape at the end,
To measure who reached their goals first.

It is clear that my springtime is over,
But Autumn is not yet begun.
The summer of life is a happy time,
Of long lazy days beneath warm skies.

It’s time to slow and enjoy the view,
Taking time to discover all that’s new.
The Deer shows us grace and a way that we,
Can live our lives and know we are free.

Take time to stop and smell the flowers
Play with children, sit and think for hours.
And most important, above all be true,
Powerful and positive, take time to be you.

[Aylyn]

The idea to this poem came last night, when It was horribly cold, but clear outside. Therefore, it is titled "Last Night"

Last Night

A halo around the moon
stars, gleaming in the darkness,
the path covered in ice,
my breath steaming in the air.
Time of darkness.

Yet there is a promise,
a hint of life in the ground.
Soon it will be stirring
and come to the surface.
Time of awakening.

I walk in the darkness
feeling cold and lost.
Listening to the promise
of awakening within me.
Time of my life.

[susan]

Dewdrops

Glimmering like crystals
Suspended in limited time
Caught in the web
Ready to fall at any moment
Dancing like diamonds
In the memory of my mind
Glittering and shining
Ready to let go
Disappear into the ocean
And all that you know
Laughter within
And laughter without
Sparkling like sequins
Without fear or doubt
Ready to fall
And ready to say hello
Letting go of all that is
And all that you don't know
Fearlessly you fall
And fearlessly you say hello.

[serenarian]

This is a very short poem, inspired by Ceridwen. It literally 'came out of nowhere' one evening when I was relaxing, and as such it is one that I like very much.

Silver Woman

She dances in the moonlight, wild and free
Hair like spider web floating in the breeze
Feet light as the shallow stream
Her heartbeat the sound of the earthly drums
One with nature, one and the same
Her face reflecting the smile of the Mother Moon
As liberated as the planets above
As strong as the earth below.

[Ade Sundog]

It's Snowing Dead Animals

Don't turn on the light
Come and see
A deep Winters Eve
A million Souls afloat
Look closely at the Eve
At awl the doom again
At awl the smiles and tails,
Brush your breath
From the glass.

The Sky is heavy and low
Whispers in the dark,

Every snowflake has a face
Drifting and Falling
Silent by .