Submit your work, meet writers and drop the ads. Become a member
Lee Janes Dec 2012
Hey my Suffolk angel,
Eyes of a dreamy hue,
Haven't heard off you for ages,
Thinkin' of you too true.

As I go through the movin' stages,
Wantin' to read my pages,
Can't bare these silent phases,
Where is my ‘how do you do'?

Oh no! you're not forgettin',
Our laughin' and our walkin'?
Please remember our fun talkin',
And the kisses I laid on you.

So how has been your week?
Is the weather still so bleak?
Can't tell you how I still seek,
Your hug my sweet honeydew.

I'll leave this rhyme I'm ‘scribing,
The gods I am a bribing,
‘Cause my heart is all a sighing,
With this song my tongue a-grew!

Have a good day ‘my dove Emily',
Kind hellos from ‘your Lee-Bee',
Awaitin' the time when I see thee,
You know I would die for you.

I hear the birds a tweet,
Dreaming of you so sweet,
From top to your delicate feet,
A more beautiful vision than any I knew,
Did you fall from the sky so blue?
I truly do adore you
Fair stood the wind for France
When we our sails advance,
Nor now to prove our chance
Longer will tarry;
But putting to the main,
At Caux, the mouth of Seine,
With all his martial train,
Landed King Harry.

And taking many a fort,
Furnished in warlike sort,
Marcheth towards Agincourt
In happy hour;
Skirmishing day by day
With those that stopped his way,
Where the French gen'ral lay
With all his power;

Which, in his height of pride,
King Henry to deride,
His ransom to provide
Unto him sending;
Which he neglects the while,
As from a nation vile,
Yet with an angry smile
Their fall portending.

And turning to his men,
Quoth our brave Henry then,
"Though they to one be ten,
Be not amazed.
Yet have we well begun,
Battles so bravely won
Have ever to the sun
By fame been raised.

"And for myself (quoth he),
This my full rest shall be;
England ne'er mourn for me,
Nor more esteem me.
Victor I will remain,
Or on this earth lie slain;
Never shall she sustain
Loss to redeem me.

"Poitiers and Cressy tell,
When most their pride did swell,
Under our swords they fell;
No less our skill is
Than when our grandsire great,
Claiming the regal seat,
By many a warlike feat
Lopped the French lilies."

The Duke of York so dread
The eager vaward led;
With the main Henry sped
Amongst his henchmen.
Exeter had the rear,
A braver man not there; -
O Lord, how hot they were
On the false Frenchmen!

They now to fight are gone,
Armour on armour shone,
Drum now to drum did groan,
To hear was wonder;
That with the cries they make
The very earth did shake;
Trumpet to trumpet spake,
Thunder to thunder.

Well it thine age became,
O noble Erpingham,
Which didst the signal aim
To our hid forces!
When from a meadow by,
Like a storm suddenly,
The English archery
Stuck the French horses.

With Spanish yew so strong,
Arrows a cloth-yard long,
That like to serpents stung,
Piercing the weather;
None from his fellow starts,
But, playing manly parts,
And like true English hearts,
Stuck close together.

When down their bows they threw,
And forth their bilbos drew,
And on the French they flew,
Not one was tardy;
Arms were from shoulders sent,
Scalps to the teeth were rent,
Down the French peasants went -
Our men were hardy!

This while our noble king,
His broadsword brandishing,
Down the French host did ding,
As to o'erwhelm it;
And many a deep wound lent,
His arms with blood besprent,
And many a cruel dent
Bruised his helmet.

Gloucester, that duke so good,
Next of the royal blood,
For famous England stood
With his brave brother;
Clarence, in steel so bright,
Though but a maiden knight,
Yet in that furious fight
Scarce such another.

Warwick in blood did wade,
Oxford the foe invade,
And cruel slaughter made
Still as they ran up;
Suffolk his axe did ply,
Beaumont and Willoughby
Bare them right doughtily,
Ferrers and Fanhope.

Upon Saint Crispin's Day
Fought was this noble fray,
Which fame did not delay
To England to carry.
O, when shall English men
With such acts fill a pen;
Or England breed again
Such a King Harry?
martin Nov 2016
I come on me bike tonight,
Blast bor,
That wind were agin me the whole blinkin way
I wholey hoop that change afore I goo hoom agin.
NIGEL May 2016
Suffolk Evening-A Prose Poem

Brown, parched, burnt;
Fire kissed by sun,
Ochre meadows of strewn stubble
Drift away from damp, decaying barns
As the last orange gleam of day
Steals into another warm night.

Crows weave in high taut circles,
Spilling their croaked admonishments
Over empty fields left to sleep in the glow
Of a resplendent transparent moon.

Broad ridged expanses
Lie naked underfoot,
Imbued with the toil of the forgotten.

Ancient flint spires pierce the horizon
Stacked on land veined by silting slits of stony wetness.
All is still ; silent in remembrance.
Mary Gay Kearns Jan 2019
We met through a latched gate
down a straight concrete path
With flowers and grass on either side
To a white cottage with a
Thick thatched roof.
To the right of the front door
Was a climbing, yellow,’ Chelsea’ rose.

The garden was an orchard of tenderness with
Five elderly leaning apple trees bearing fruit.
And David Austin roses in a variety of colours
Many wild and cultivated flowers grew and plentiful
Of bird song.

Roger and I sat together at a small
Table and chairs
And were given a delightful meal
Of chicken and vegetables
Followed by ice cream and mixed fruit salad
After resting with cups of tea
I wandered round the garden to see all the
Beauty of this wilderness and a boat in a large
Rather dilapidated shed
Later to be rebuild into a fine garage of
Original Suffolk stone and two wooden doors.

Our time together was very precious to me.
Filling in much that I had heard about, but
Never encountered, from a very dear relative.

In the afternoon we went into Bury St Edmunds central
To see the Cathedral, Abbey Gardens, with resplendent
Flower beds frequently replenished in an abudance of colourful changes and the antiquated book shops.
The day was concluded with strawberries and cream in the
Park sitting on a bench in the sun.

We had a long journey back to Watford.
I never forget this day so unusual was it
Made by my friend.

Love Mary xxxx
Joe Cole Jan 2015
Not poetry, just reminiscing

When I came out of the army in 1985 after serving for 24 years I settled in the county of Suffolk where my first wife came from

Suffolk with old fashioned ideas and old fashioned views. In fact unless you had been resident for at least 20 years some of the villagers still classed you as an outsider.

Anyway I decided to get an allotment (not sure what you call them in the U S) so that I could grow my own vegetables.

Just across from me was the plot rented by Allen, 70 going on a hundred years old. I never did find out. Anyway it was early spring and I stood there scratching my head when Allen wandered over

" What's up boy" he said

I explained that I was new to the area and new to growing vegetables and wasn't to sure about when to start getting seed into the ground

He looked at me with those timeless eyes and said

"Sit bare arsed on the ground boy and if your **** still ain't cold after 10 minutes then that'll be the time to sow"
And that my H P friends is the honest truth
Lee Janes Jan 2013
You removed your delicate hand away
From your *****, and sprinkled
Stardust upon the moon tonight.

While the clouds obeyed her secret palms,
She parted them enough
For her borrowed light to shine through.

Her beams glittered cataract diamonds,
As any found within Leone’s chest;
Upon boulders centred within this field.

So I approached, aloft, pedestal-like,
And mimicking David’s marble form
Gleaming bright in the Florence midday heat,

With no less than a thousand eyes
Gazing upon his dreaming stare,
I perched and mused of my lady-fair.

While above, each star hummed
It’s distant faint tune, and twinkled
Their beat towards Earths gentle breath.

I inhaled the air freezing this night;
Into, not only my lungs,
But my heart reached over to lend her appetite.

Aided by the cool soft wind,
My voice was never the more raised
Above a lonely child’s whisper.

Thus I began: ‘I thought of how
This glorious globe, with her wondrous hue,
Is the envy of all these great spheres,

‘And to muse with the ebb
Of immeasurable times flow
Over the laments of my darling dove,

‘To relay through my mind,
All the moments I could
Have been with your willing body,

‘The many scenes I should
Have been with you. Those times
I should have said exactly

‘What I felt when you were with me,
When I possessed you
Within my gaze. I rue those chances,

‘And missed opportunities. Know that
You occupy my slumbered visions
From when sleep closes my eyes,

‘Till the birds of dawn awakens them.
And as the year closes,
Since first I kissed your smooth cheek,

‘Know humbly, within your breast,
That you were the shining beacon,
A light which guided me over stormy seas.

‘I pray, realise my words,
Softly spoken from the pages sent
To your hands, were meant for your heart,

‘And your smile, mixed with glances,
Were always a true delight
You bestowed on to me.

‘I let you bathe in my soul,
And I truly thank you,
And forever sing your name aloud.

‘I sit alone here under a chilly
Suffolk night and think
The heavens bright of you.

‘Months have fled, and ease of
My sorrow toward the sky
Is a gift I must offer for my changeless love.’

And ending, ‘Take what you wish, my dove,
But please, I beg on bended knees,
Please, do not take my memory of you.’

These words were cupped on the north wind,
While the moon spread a veiled
Duvet of polished silver over the field,

Spilling dew upon the grass
Bleeding from her sheen, moist,
Velvet sheets of liquid nectar.

Before my eyes, the grass stood to attention.
A million green-eyes begged
More from my heated pores.

Amazed; for rooted to the soil,
Adding immense weight to the ground;
They calmed their sway to my measures.

Clouds rushed over to hear, even
The rested sun-chariot peeped
Back over the forbidden western shores.

The birds of day appear, crying
A chattered song for the suns yearning.
Clouds began to weep uncontrollable tears.

As a ripple from a pond, speeds
Over the smooth surface towards
The shade of the blessed river bank,

As did a wave flow from one end
Of the field to these boulders,
And with fresh breath, these blades spoke,

And graced my ears with speech:
‘Oh soon to be spirit, we can sense
What is about to come on to you.

‘Your love, you love, with every
Drop of blood that beats
Within ones heart, we envy you.

‘Can there ever be a time,
Where eagles roar; when lions fly;
Lambs bite; or wolves graze on us?

‘Ever an instance, a time to come,
Where the moon becomes the sun,
In turn, the giver of life, the moon?

‘When the earth, herself, slows,
And rotates back along her axis?
Men born old; death at birth?

‘Hills, majestic sloping hills, iron flat?
Rivers become grain; ocean freeze over;
Skies, and air, turn to solid?

‘Science; vain in being,
Predicts too much; and beauty
Is lost forever in her words.

‘May some farm boy look through
A hole in that there fence,
And sneak a peak at me,

‘May he run to his herd and tell
The leader of the flock the sight
His eyes just bore in witness.

‘For your cries; may a sudden
Rush of blush greet your lady’s cheeks;
May her legs tremble; her hips grow weak.

‘Let the once ferocious deep blue
Calm his waves, and in his face,
Mirror the skies glorious expanse.

‘The moon; may the moon, believe
That she is not eternally alone,
Swimming in the inky black;

‘Let her study her reflection;
And fall in love with her new mate.
May the stars, count not all, shrink

‘The distance between themselves,
Place tender arms around one another,
In a much longed-for embrace.

‘Finally; may Orion, when touching
Western waters; let him relinquish his sword,
And stem the rains from the bellowing east.

‘We feel your pain!’ And they ceased.
They too, felt my joy.
For my wonderful words spun;

Mingled with undiluted wine placed in a
Golden goblet from a heart-stricken tongue;
Which lapped the chilly air while I spoke freely.

‘I knew once a sweet tender maid,’ I began,
‘And without diminishing
The daughters of this night away from you,

‘I will swiftly say she became my voice.
And as the buds burst free
From winters icy hold; and as around

‘Earths eternal prisioned orbit
Spans another of her quarters,
When the sun strikes intense onto Saharan sands;

‘I was with her, and she with me too.
She graced my songs with galloping mane
And eagle striking ***** of wind.

‘She tenderly flowed through my veins,
As any stream from high sacred fountains;
Any river that deposits into sea;

‘Any artists stroke from his brush
To canvas, that paints oil drenching
Figures of unrivalled beauty.’

I paused my strain, and glanced
At our moon, hung high; hung also;
On my every word, halting her route.

‘And with this’, I continued, ‘and your tones
You gifted to me upon these boulders,
I take this poisoned flower from out my pocket.

‘My young blood presented this to me,
Long ago; for the sun has yoked
His steeds passed four full moons since.

‘He too, my brother, calls aloft
To the tunes of music; he too,
Guides his hand to the strums of natures beats.

‘Against that aged oak, with acorns
Spread at its feet, my brother, leaning
His back to its wrinkled trunk,

‘Plucking in harmony strings which,
In his blonde presence never lay slack;
And flinging away his melodies on the breeze,

‘Spoke thus; “If any time on your travels,
A day presents itself, when you find
Yourself sitting upon those boulders there;

‘“And the moon in her glory,
Glows a frosty crystal white, and the voices
In their millions sway to your laments,

‘“Eat this; for your time has come.
One night waits for all of us and all must
Walk the path of death, and walk it only once.

‘“Look to your moon, and bade it goodbye.
Glance at the grass, and bid it adieu.
And say, above all, farewell to your lady.”
So I eat, and sing farewell my love, with a kiss.’
Nigel Morgan Dec 2012
There's a passage in a story by John Buchan where a minor character explains how a good mystery story is created: take at least three random subjects or events and connect them together. Here goes.
 
A toothbrush
Covent Garden
Wildflowers*
 
Interesting to let the mind float free and subjects appear unbidden, thought Marcus. The moon had risen and out at sea its reflections caressed the swelling waves. Calm the night after such a day of being about.
 
Gregory had phoned him, early. Marcus had been lying in bed. Sylvia had just returned from the bathroom and had folded herself into his arms. Their collective feet had conversed amicably as early morning feet do. She was still tingling a little from the passion they had shared, stretching herself languorously like a cat coming into the warm after a cold night out.
 
'Marcus,' said Gregory, 'it's today.' And that was all. The line went dead, but that was all he needed to know.
 
He extricated himself from Sylvia who was intent either on sleep or further love-making. She was incorrigible, but so so desirable.
 
I'll just take a toothbrush he thought as he swiftly shaved. He picked a new pink one still in its packet and put it in his bag with the papers, a map, his camera . . .
 
He thought about Ripley as he steered the car onto the motorway. That character fascinated him and he wondered if its inventor Patricia Highsmith had ever known such a man; a nice good-looking man, but selfish and nasty. Marcus wondered if he was selfish and nasty. He reckoned he was.
 
When he reached Covent Garden, parking illegally in Jermine street, he wasted no time in walking directly to Turino's. There, amongst the tourists and the out of town shoppers was Greg.
 
'I have this little package for you. Don't open it until you reach Southwold. Park in front of the Lion Hotel. Do nothing until she appears, which she will do after her lunch with the doctor. Then follow her. We think she'll go to Ben's. If she does we want the pictures . . . and as explicit as possible. Leave the package.'
 
It's at least two and a half hours to this village on the Suffolk coast. Until Ipswich he scarcely regarded the early summer colours, the plaintive skies, fields stretching to woods, the occasional grandeur of parkland.
 
He stopped for coffee at a services and called Sylvia.
 
'Hi Sylvia it's me.'
'Where are you? I was hoping we'd spend the morning together.'
'Well Greg called . . . I'm on my way to the seaside.'
'Oh . . . no time for Sylvia today?'
'Not today'
'Tonight?'
'if all goes to plan'
' You journalists, you're all the same . .'
 
But he wasn't. He was different. He didn't just write, he could investigate, uncover things, hack into mobile phones, get the compromising images.
 
Yes, she was going to Ben's . North, on the Norwich road. No hesitation. She drove fast. He had to have his wits about him. When she turned off the main road to the mill he carried on, then doubled back and two miles further on parked within sight of the building.
 
Her red car was there the courtyard. He decided on getting in from the garden so left the road for an adjoining field. Waist high in a profusion of grasses and wildflowers Marcus made his way painstakingly towards a collection of outbuildings, the indoor swimming pool, garages, an office.
 
The pictures were good. Both of them, together. The architect and the broker. Lovers, conspirators, thieves. They deserved everything coming to them.
 
He had entered the mill briefly. There were voices upstairs, a little laughter and then silence. He left the package on the kitchen table propped up against a vase.
 
They'd been following her movements for months after he'd taken his suspicions to Fred. Yes, he'd been so lucky. A wine bar conversation, an aggrieved employee, a few leaked documents and it all came together. And now this . . . the ****** stuff the paper loved.
 
He decided not to go back to Sylvia tonight but walk by the sea, let the gentle whoosh of water on the pebbled strand sooth his ruffled conscience. He had done his job. There would be other intrusions. Investigations, revelations. Mr Nice but nasty like The Talented Mr Ripley, he thought.
Mateuš Conrad Jan 2016
you want war, you have world war two spitfire pilots to serve your post-colonial migration; and yes, i'll twitch my eyes; ha ha cuisine scots using ginger.

there's a quintessential
fascination with cabbage
among the mutli-cultural
asians of england being picky
concerning scandinavians
and the slavs...
politico i could say as much
about indian spices.. but they're
granulated i admit,
so there's less stink in the armpits;
or there isn't, given chanel cardamom:
assimilated asians into british
society don’t use raw herrings and cabbage
to joke about other european ethnicities
while waving the st. george
of that great fake curry of suffolk.

i've been telling the turks about sauerkraut for years
to match up a purposive additive for the lamb kebab;
sours to cut through the lamb fat like the chillies
cutting through.
martin Jul 2013
They were different times

The only thing I know about old man Venn
He used to tie two cats' tails together
Hang them over the washing line
To watch them fight
Cruel old man Venn

There was a man in the village
He killed dead pigs
If a farmer had a pig die
He'd cart it home then squeal and shriek
Like a dying pig
Then pass off the meat as fresh
Everyone knew about it

A couple in the village were always arguing
One night the man said he was going to drown himself
In the pond
She said do you go an' do it in someone else's pond
I ha' got to drink that water

Jim said there'll be a fire in the village afore long
Russell said how d'you know that then?
Down at Hall Farm I see him stripping the paint off his window
With a blow torch
Right near the thatch
He knows better  'an that
Sure enough the old farmhouse burnt to the ground
He built a bungalow with the insurance money
Old Jim was right again

Russell met his wife to be during the war
He had a few days leave but not long enough to go home
So he stayed with his mate in Lancashire
Ended up marrying his mate's sister
She came down to Suffolk
One of the local women said to her
Where do you come from?
Lancashire she said
I didn't think you was English she said

A farmer said to Jim
That wholly made me sweat to write out your cheque
For thatching this year
Med me sweat fust said Jim

For hurdle making they would cut ash pole in the wood
Using hand axes
When they finished the women from nearby cottages
Would come and pick up the chips to start their fires
Just a few little tales, not really poems but I had an urge to write them down :)
Jo Baldwin Oct 2015
Hello Joe, I'm married to Jim
I'm sure that you remember him
I know it's been a lot of years
I'm sure there's been a lot of tears
I'd like to help, to reconcile
So think about it for a while
I am a soldier, you were too
We both did what we had to do
And we both know war takes a toll
It leaves a black mark on your soul
No matter what you try to do
It makes it hard to be with you
Whiskey just won't chase away
The ghosts that haunt you every day
Before you know just what you've done
You lost your wife and lost your son
The damage done you can't undo
And I'm sure that's not lost on you
Your son's a man and he's so fine
I'm very proud to call him mine
I know it's more than 20 years
You may be rightly full of fears
I hear his childhood wasn't great
A violent time and full of hate
In Germany, the cold war chill
And home grown trauma left him ill
Back to Suffolk, civvy street
Life still violent, not too sweet
But Jim grew into quite a guy
His childhood makes me wonder why
He overcame as time flew by
It's not the beatings that you gave
That helped him learn to be so brave
Your son's a pilgrim brave and true
Despite and not because of you
But now I've found you, Happy Day
So what you got to say?
I've been looking for my husbands father, Joe Cole. I found him here. I've never met him but am looking to do so. I'd like to know what sort of man he is
I.

L'esprit des sages te contemple,
Mystérieuse Humilité,
Porte étroite et basse du temple
Auguste de la vérité !
Vertu que Dieu place à la tête
Des vertus que l'ange au ciel fête ;
Car elle est la perle parfaite
Dans l'abîme du siècle amer ;
Car elle rit sous l'eau profonde,
**** du plongeur et de la sonde.
Préférant aux écrins du monde
Le cœur farouche de la mer.
C'est vers l'humanité fidèle
Que mes oiseaux s'envoleront ;
Vers les fils, vers les filles d'elle,
Pour sourire autour de leur front ;
Vers Jeanne d'Arc et Geneviève
Dont l'étoile au ciel noir se lève,
Dont le paisible troupeau rêve,
Oublieux du loup, qui s'enfuit ;
Douces porteuses de bannière,
Qui refoulaient, à leur manière,
L'impur Suffolk vers sa tanière,
L'aveugle Attila dans sa nuit.

Sur la lyre à la corde amère
Où le chant d'un dieu s'est voilé,
Ils iront saluer Homère
Sous son haillon tout étoile.
Celui pour qui jadis les Iles
Et la Grèce étaient sans asiles,
Habite aujourd'hui dans nos villes
La colonne et le piédestal ;
Une fontaine à leur flanc jase,
Où l'enfant puise avec son vase,
Et la rêverie en extase,
Avec son urne de cristal.
**** des palais sous les beaux arbres
Où les paons, compagnons des dieux,
Traînent dans la blancheur des marbres
Leurs manteaux d'azur, couverts d'yeux ;
Où, des bassins que son chant noie
L'onde s'échevelle et poudroie :
Laissant ce faste et cette joie,
Mes strophes abattront leur vol,
Pour entendre éclater, superbe,
La voix la plus proche du Verbe,
Dans la paix des grands bois pleins d'herbe
Où se cache le rossignol.
Lorsqu'au fond de la forêt brune
Pas une feuille ne bruit,
Et qu'en présence de la lune
Le silence s'épanouit,
Sous l'azur chaste qui s'allume,
Dans l'ombre où l'encens des fleurs fume,
Le rossignol qui se consume
Dans l'extatique oubli du jour,
Verse un immense épithalame
De son petit gosier de flamme,
Où s'embrasent l'accent et l'âme
De la nature et de l'amour !

II.

C'est Dieu qui conduisait à Rome,
Mettant un bourdon dans sa main,
Ce saint qui ne fut qu'un pauvre homme,
Hirondelle de grand chemin,
Qui laissa tout son coin de terre,
Sa cellule de solitaire.
Et la soupe du monastère,
Et son banc qui chauffe au soleil,
Sourd à son siècle, à ses oracles,
Accueilli des seuls tabernacles,
Mais vêtu du don des miracles
Et coiffé du nimbe vermeil.

Le vrai pauvre qui se délabre,
Lustre à lustre, été par été,
C'était ce règne, et non saint Labre,
Qui lui faisait la charité
De ses vertus spirituelles,
De ses bontés habituelles,
Léger guérisseur d'écrouelles,
Front penché sur chaque indigent,
Fière statue enchanteresse
De l'austérité, que Dieu dresse,
Au bout du siècle de l'ivresse,
Au seuil du siècle de l'argent.

Je sais que notre temps dédaigne
Les coquilles de son chapeau,
Et qu'un lâche étonnement règne
Devant les ombres de sa peau ;
L'âme en est-elle atténuée ?
Et qu'importe au ciel sa nuée,
Qu'importe au miroir sa buée,
Si Dieu splendide aime à s'y voir !
La gangue au diamant s'allie ;
Toi, tu peins ta lèvre pâlie,
Luxure, et toi, vertu salie,
C'est là ton fard mystique et noir.

Qu'importe l'orgueil qui s'effare,
Ses pudeurs, ses rebellions !
Vous, qu'une main superbe égare
Dans la crinière des lions,
Comme elle égare aux plis des voiles,
Où la nuit a tendu ses toiles,
Aldébaran et les étoiles,
Frères des astres, vous, les poux
Qu'il laissait paître sur sa tête,
Bon pour vous et dur pour sa bête,
Dites, par la voix du poète,
À quel point ce pauvre était doux !

Ah ! quand le Juste est mort, tout change :
Rome au saint mur pend son haillon,
Et Dieu veut, par des mains d'Archange,
Vêtir son corps d'un grand rayon ;
Le soleil le prend sous son aile,
La lune rit dans sa prunelle,
La grâce comme une eau ruisselle
Sur son buste et ses bras nerveux ;
Et le saint, dans l'apothéose
Du ciel ouvert comme une rose,
Plane, et montre à l'enfer morose
Des étoiles dans ses cheveux !

Beau paysan, ange d'Amette,
Ayant aujourd'hui pour trépieds
La lune au ciel, et la comète,
Et tous les soleils sous vos pieds ;
Couvert d'odeurs délicieuses,
Vous, qui dormiez sous les yeuses,
Vous, que l'Eglise aux mains pieuses
Peint sur l'autel et le guidon,
Priez pour nos âmes, ces gouges,
Et pour que nos cœurs, las des bouges,
Lavent leurs péchés noirs et rouges
Dans les piscines du pardon !

III.

Aimez l'humilité ! C'est elle
Que les mages de l'Orient,
Coiffés d'un turban de dentelle,
Et dont le Noir montre en riant
Un blanc croissant qui l'illumine,
Offrant sur les coussins d'hermine
Et l'or pur et la myrrhe fine,
Venaient, dans l'encens triomphant,
Grâce à l'étoile dans la nue,
Adorer, sur la paille nue,
Au fond d'une étable inconnue,
Dans la personne d'un enfant.
Ses mains, qui sont des fleurs écloses,
Aux doux parfums spirituels,
Portent de délicates roses,
À la place des clous cruels.
Ecarlates comme les baies
Dont le printemps rougit les haies,
Les cinq blessures de ses plaies,
Dont l'ardeur ne peut s'apaiser,
Semblent ouvrir au vent des fièvres,
Sur sa chair pâle aux blancheurs mièvres,
La multitude de leurs lèvres
Pour l'infini de son baiser.
Au pied de la croix découpée
Sur le sombre azur de Sion,
Une figure enveloppée
De silence et de passion,
Immobile et de pleurs vêtue,
Va grandir comme une statue
Que la foi des temps perpétue,
Haute assez pour jeter sur nous,
Nos deuils, nos larmes et nos râles,
Son ombre aux ailes magistrales,
Comme l'ombre des cathédrales
Sur les collines à genoux.
Près de la blanche Madeleine,
Dont l'époux reste parfumé
Des odeurs de son urne pleine,
Près de Jean le disciple aimé,
C'est ainsi qu'entre deux infâmes,
Honni des hommes et des femmes,
Pour le ravissement des âmes,
Voulut éclore et se flétrir
Celui qui, d'un cri charitable,
Appelante pauvre à sa table,
Etait bien le Dieu véritable
Puisque l'homme l'a fait mourir !

Maintenant que Tibère écoute
Rire le flot, chanter le nid !
Olympe, un cri monte à ta voûte,
Et c'est : Lamma Sabacthani !
Les dieux voient s'écrouler leur nombre.
Le vieux monde plonge dans l'ombre,
Usé comme un vêtement sombre
Qui se détache par lambeaux.
Un empire inconnu se fonde,
Et Rome voit éclore un monde
Qui sort de la douleur profonde
Comme une rose du tombeau !
Des bords du Rhône aux bords du Tigre
Que Néron fasse armer ses lois,
Qu'il sente les ongles du tigre
Pousser à chacun de ses doigts ;
Qu'il contemple, dans sa paresse,
Au son des flûtes de la Grèce,
Les chevilles de la négresse
Tourner sur un rythme énervant ;
Déjà, dans sa tête en délire,
S'allume la flamme où l'Empire
De Rome et des Césars expire
Dans la fumée et dans le vent !

IV.

Humilité ! loi naturelle,
Parfum du fort, fleur du petit !
Antée a mis sa force en elle,
C'est sur elle que l'on bâtit.
Seule, elle rit dans les alarmes.
Celui qui ne prend pas ses armes,
Celui qui ne voit pas ses charmes
À la clarté de Jésus-Christ,
Celui là, sur le fleuve avide
Des ans profonds que Dieu dévide,
Aura fui comme un feuillet vide
Où le destin n'a rien écrit !
Lee Janes Dec 2012
Pluck two feathers from cupid's wing,
Fly, bring thou thy muses I sing.

The warbled sung, that lark on high,
Tracing thou name; through dots on frosty sky.

Echoes blow clouds, reveal white torch bright,
Light love blinds, in cold Suffolk night.

Hail! For eastern far, amber dim glow,
Open earth's eye-lid, as colours over dark flow.

Till the veil touches peak, high'n mount Helicon,
Floats on mirror'd water, beauty of the swan.
judy smith Feb 2017
A decade on from creating the hit Galaxy dress that became a defining look of the noughties, Roland Mouret has celebrated the 20th anniversary of his label by bringing his catwalk show home from Paris to London for fashion week.

And that dress was back, too – in spirit, at least. “When I think about the Galaxy dress now, I see that it was all about the women who wanted to wear it,” Mouret said backstage after the show at the National Theatre on Sunday, referring to the curvy, back-zipped dresses that made him a star.

“It wasn’t the dress that said anything, it was the women who wore that dress who had something to say. It was a dress for a woman who knows her body. A woman who is in a relationship with a man but who also goes out into the world and has a life outside of that relationship, too. That inner woman is the icon, not the dress.”

The anniversary show – his first in London after 10 years of showing his collections in Paris – was a celebratory affair, with the foyer of the National Theatre turned into a catwalk. It provided a suitably theatrical atmosphere for the wearing of high-voltage dresses on a grey Sunday morning, and an appropriate setting for a designer who rivals Stella McCartney as one of Britain’s foremost names in red-carpet fashion. At last week’s Bafta awards, the author JK Rowling and the Star Wars actor Daisy Ridley both wore Roland Mouret.

The Galaxy elements on this catwalk were updated for 2017. The cleavage that was an essential part of the dress when it was worn a decade ago by everyone from Cameron Diaz to Carol Vorderman is now out of fashion, so the distinctive origami folds of the neckline were raised several inches higher and instead of framing a balcony-hoisted decollete, they accentuated bare shoulders.

The full-length back zip was present and correct, made even more steamy by being emphasised with a small keyhole of cut-out fabric in the small of the back. The fabric has also moved with the times, from stretch crepe to wool knit and velvet, which give the shape of the body a less stark frame.

Mouret was born in Lourdes, south-west France, where his father was a butcher, but now lives between London and Suffolk. His UK-based company employs 75 people, and has been a champion of British manufacturing.

Sunday’s show, which was attended by about 100 of Mouret’s best customers, as well as editors and retailers, was set to a ***** soundtrack that began with Burt Bacharach’s The Look of Love and ended with Leonard Cohen’s I’m Your Man. It was followed by a champagne trunk show at which orders were being taken for delivery in a few months’ time.

The only archive design Mouret resurrected faithfully was a dress from his pre-Galaxy days, of which no pattern existed because “in those days, I just draped and sewed the dresses on to the girls”.Read more at:http://www.marieaustralia.com/evening-dresses | www.marieaustralia.com/formal-dresses-2017
Lee Janes Dec 2012
Again, hello my smooth tender Suffolk maid,
What do you have there in your woven basket?
Would you like to listen to a dainty rhyme I made?
If with a lovin' pinch of salt I ask it?

I know you know, of course you know,
That I would walk with you where ever,
Plough through wind and rain even deep slushy snow,
My heart with warmth gives in any quite such weather.

To hold your gaze with sweet subtle words,
For you to answer with your so kind voice,
To walk your figure passed heifer own'd herds,
Talking together brings into being sunbeam rejoice.

To grasp your arm mild, to clench your hips tight,
Begging gentle kiss of mine to dazzle your cheeks rosy glow,
Never could scholars ink descript such a devout sight,
As to my song express'd could never, your beauty, show.
Nigel Morgan Dec 2012
IV

Pizzicato pianissimo
its sound gestured into resonance
a slight plosive of winds sustained
Arco – a lament in falling thirds
whispering towards an upward leap and a hold
crescendo  decrescendo
Imagine his imagining in nature’s realm
(that patient catalyst for the solitary maker’s mind)
now guarding here its assembly in a sounding out
Adagio – in a three-fold telling
A measured preliminary to the music’s soon-to-dance theme
before rising scales and emphatic chords – Allegro Vivace

V

Words on the rise
bricks on the going
then in the hall on the wall
A poem you simply have to read so
crouch close to the Suffolk brick
don’t mind those  descending shoes
The verse is laced with words of sound
breaker march cry rumble clap
cueing memory into remembrance
And why why here
where formal musicking lives and rules
are we noised down steps by a boiling kettle?

VI

As the water holds its breath
so a dense cloudscape
forms and floats
Inverted
mirrored
wholly still
it replaces the water
with horizonless sky
and extended reflections of grass
But as water exhales
clouds coalesce
a right perspective restores
2013 marks the centenary of the birth of the composer Benjamin Britten. In 2011 I made a pilgrimage to the part of the Suffolk coast where he made his home and established the Aldeburgh Festival.
Oskar Erikson Sep 2022
i mourned
us
on the train back.
North East to London,
Norfolk into Suffolk into Home.

England,
a green, scarred patchwork,
blistering apart while i sit.
A woman opposite tries to coax the
context
out of me; the entertainment,
before we're pulled into Liverpool St Station.

to credit my memory -
it frames itself nicely, my mugged up
glasses.
a sunbeaten, reddened, ruddy face -
holding back.  swallowing the
outburst -

"i let myself believe for once."

we sit.
the quiet unbroken.
save for the sounds of me
steadily
getting further from you.  

the sounds of me steadily getting further from you.

i mourned us once again.
ten months in and now
six months out
filled with immeasurable moments later.
there was no woman this time.
and only without her
or us -
i found the truth to say


"i let myself believe, for once."
Tony Luxton Sep 2015
The number one of many mounds
in Suffolk's shrouded Sutton Hoo
is savage Raedwald's resting ground,
shipboard treasures the only crew.

His iron helmet and his sword,
his shield and spears and silver bowls,
rich remnants of his royal horde
declare dominion over souls.

Who would bury me with treasure?
No weapons, just my worldly goods,
my Sunday suit, not made to measure,
my poems, written just for pleasure.
Jeffrey Stelling Nov 2015
First breath, undressed
first dismantled-resold for parts
Critique will carry you off in a cart if you're not careful.
Because in this mean - getting meaner - world we're living in
At least thirty percent "believe" in "original sin"
An inexcusable chip of guilt predetermined.
That's twenty-five to eternity and back again.

I heard her back crack again as she rolled over.
Getting older
Imagining bolder than cross-country renegades
Left us digging ditches without a *****.
Less bounty than all of Suffolk County could prescribe
Matter of fact, may as well chew cyanide
Than choosing you want to leave this Messy Life alive.

Because you can't. No one does,
Not even those filled with holiest Love
Personally hand-delivered by idyllic "god" above.
When you learn below, you'll feel the flight of the morning dove.

The Path doesn't split with the cresting tide like the sunbeams.
or how water and sky divide
Have you ever seen a cloud go hide to die?
We ask and beg, demand the lights in the sky
To explain. Were we crafted from stitched animal parts?
Or grown from Angel Dust?
This one is going to come out in 5 installments, thanks for reading, bear with me.
Muzaffer Feb 2020
hergün yazıyorsun
diyordu
*** bir iş bul kendine
seni kimse okumaz
bu dandik hikayen de
karnımızı doyurmaz

ütü işinde becerikliydi
koca götlü daphne
sürekli geriye atardı saçımı
zekamla birlikte
üzüm misali karardım
3-5 yıl

sonra kırmızı bir araba geldi
günün birinde long island’dan
kocaman gözlükleri vardı
beyaz önlüklü gergedanların

karga tulumba severmiş gibi
bileklerim bağlı
sedye
tarlasında buldum kendimi

güney
cepheden yağmur yağıyordu
ve
saat 3 yönüne dönüyorduk
her köşe başından

hep aynı resim
ve
aynı dişti ağızdan fırlayan

macun reklamı olduğunu
ayıkamamıştım
ama sonra hatırladım tabi

süt şişesi kalınlığında hemşire
kepinden tanımıştım
kaba etime
zerk ettiğinde iğne olduğunu

sonra bana abuk sabuk
şekiller gösterdiler
gri bir odada
sürekli
soruyordu dolma burun
bu ne
bu ne
peki bu ne
ya bu ne
hep aynı
cevabı veriyordum
çaydanlık
çaydanlık!

yemekler oldukça kötüydü
beyazlar da öyle
ama dostlar
onlar prima
mc.allison vardı b blokta
acayip severdim

güvercin beslermiş o zaman
büyükçe bir parti vermiş bi'gün
ve kuşları zehirlemiş

suffolk county
sheriff'i bile gelmiş düşünsene
hayli keyifli geçmiş gece

sabaha karşı herkes hastanede
40 ölü var diyordu gülerek
20 güvercinle 40 domuz vurdum

deli herhalde diyordum içimden
sahi ben neden buradayım
altıma kaçırıyordum mütemadiyen
hergün temiz çarşaf
hergün ters yüz yatak

1yıl sonra
hz. kurul toplandı
her yerde çaydanlık resmi vardı
tuhafıma gitmiş
sormuştum bunlar ne diye

hepsi ayrı ayrı dizayn edilmiş
ve hepsi farklı keyif
köşede olana takıldı gözüm
soruları sularken

ama sürekli
o çaydanlığa bakıyordum
sonra anladım
görüyordum
çaydanlıktan
akıyordu beynime daphne

ve maalesef
yanık tütüyordu çenesi
*** iş bul
iş bul der gibi
kuzineden sarkan dili
This poem is Turkish.
Jill Tait Oct 2020
Twas just another ordinary day down on the farm when Clarence cockerel “****-a-doodle-dood” his daybreak alarm..as Pingo pigeon picked from tiny little crumbs of corn amidst the shed loft and his partner Sonia sat in the hay stack that was warm and soft..

Yes it was an Autumnal morning just like any other as Farmer Ted Brown worked in the dairy along with Molly his Mother, milking the Friesian cattle all in a row as the udders filled the pipes with such a creamy milk flow..And  Daisy the cow being the oldest of the lot would “Moo” and “Moo” as Harry horse did trot..”Quack” “Quack” “Quack” went Daddy Donald duck as he splashed and swam in the farmyard pond quite covered in muck.. with his partner Michelle a very fine Muscovy Mother as her ten tiny ducklings, nine sisters and a brother.. splishing and sploshing muddy water with their wings, squibbling and squabbling the noisy little things..

Of course this Monday morning at the crack of dawn didn’t rouse the Farmer’s son Sid as he stretched with a yawn coz he hadn’t went to bed until well after late courtin’ and a’kissin’ his latest date..just a couple of school kids lying canoodling on the hayshed floor as mice and voles ran in and out of that door..But Penelope pony pranced around the paddock as she  strutted and head butted in her frenzied fit so sporadic..The Suffolk sheep “Baa’d” and bleated munching in the meadows all that day in the Farmer’s field not too far away..

So it was indeed just another average ordinary morning on that hillside farm and the sun had risen as the day was dawning.. Everything was normal with nothing untoward as Great Granny Glenda Brown stood pressing her pinafore on the ironing board.. she had the bacon and eggs frying in the pan, ready to enjoy her breakfast with Great Grandad Stan..And how they all adored their countryside affair with the sounds and the smells in that cow dung fresh air..Ted, Winifred his wife and his Mother Molly and Sid her Grandson, lived in the big farmhouse with lots of fun..And Great Granny Glenda and Great Grandad Stan Brown had just moved to a lovely country cottage nextdoor from a flat up the road in the neighbouring town..
Maddy Apr 2022
East bound
West bound
Brooklyn College was graduate school twice
All the promises you made and kept started there
Driving to JFK dreaming about the places we would travel to
Walking the World’s Fair grounds and gazing at the Unisphere
A memory from childhood
Before Disneyworld came to be

Hopefully more goals and promises to share and keep
More stamps on our passports
The Belt Parkway, the beginning of us
It is not the end
We just have to keep traveling on other highways
Somehow when we are on the Belt Parkway Nassau or Suffolk bound
It reminds me of how we began
September 14, 1979 introduced me to the best person that came into my life
1980 seems like yesterday but is part of us today and tomorrow

C@rainbowchaser2022

— The End —