"swale" poems
Iamb, iamb, iamb, I plod along
in verse predicting I could write a song.
To call upon the muse of higher power
pour some wine, kick off your shoes and glower.
While putting best foot forward, don't forget:
cliches are lines that surely **** your wit.
Reality, you say, bears greener grass?
Abstraction always steps across as crass.
It's true you could walk on like this for days.
Your meter's tight, it rarely ever strays.
But what of clever feet and sounds succinct?
If images are dull, your verse will stink,
As blossoms dance upon the redbud tree
and oceans fill your squid with ink of glee,
remember what your mama always said:
mixed metaphors fill readership with dread!
Say: sonics surely sock a swelling swale,
Entwined, the twisted tongues tell not your tale.
Less is always more, the teachers say.
If tricks you train, then please just walk away!
I never knew how hard it really was
to write a poem that might parade a buzz.
I thank you moderators and big brass
for sticking yours so fully up my ***
Apr 7, 2015
Apr 7, 2015 at 9:04 PM UTC
From within the convoluted mass,
under the thatched dome
and behind the aqueous lights;
across untraceable connections,
through routes bridged
and those bridged out;
madly scavenging backyards—
secret lattice stairs leading to
three stage subterranean cellars;
retracing swale worn steps
through made-up rooms, and
higher still,
to the cobweb dormer attic,
grabbing. Thumping. Tossing.
Disgorging the till and tailings
until the exasperation mounts
like the minds bulk, to locate
a single word— not the perfect word,
but the only word,
which, tongue bowed and harped,
will cavort delightedly with its neighbors.
Jan 7, 2011
Jan 7, 2011 at 5:55 PM UTC
OF ALL THE KISSES IN ALL THE WORLD, SHE HAS TO WALK INTO MINE!
I kissed you in
Islip & Liss.
Then once again in
Syathling, Shipton & Pershore.
Where ever I kissed you
I only ever wanted to
kiss you
more.
I kissed you in
Amberly & Arundel.
Once, I kissed you in
Swale & Sway.
I kissed you all over
in many various places
that I cannot remember
today.
I only remember
the kisses
scattered all over England
refusing to fade away.
***
***
These are all the beautiful names of little towns and villages in southern England. To my English Jan they were just names but to an Irishman unacquainted with them...they were magical sounds that opened the portals to worlds and love unknown. As we toured the area I did indeed kiss her in all these various places...indeed I cannot conceive of a time or a place in which we were not engaged in the art and craft of kissing. The magic of the kisses and the magic of the names cross pollinated and bloomed into the world of this poem. I still love saying this poem as it allows my lips to kiss once again those beautiful sounds and to kiss the lips that I loved to kiss. They refuse to...fade away. My heart held in Swale and Sway...as if it were today.
Dec 25, 2015
Dec 25, 2015 at 5:32 PM UTC
Bill loaded the truck with hard red winter wheat
One night so as to beat the scales at morning light.
Before sun up, he kissed Margie on the cheek
And roared out of the yard,
Overload springs sagging,
Engine fierce, but groaning,
Toward the town.
Two miles out,
The scale light said "Open,"
Giving Bill a momentary chill.
Shifting down, he exited
Before arriving Scale Hill.
A gravel detour waited
To take him on the long way 'round
And bring him back the other side of town.
Most situations similar
Go from bad to worse.
The truck eased down into a swale.
Beneath the surface gravel,
A bed of soggy clay
****** down the wheels
And stopped the farmer's way.
The creaking truck began to settle,
Testing Bill and
Leaving him chagrined
As the Transportation Deputy
Drove up to see the mess.
"Looks like you need a pull!"
What could Bill say?
And so he took the offer,
Then followed flashing lights
Back to the scale, and paid
A hefty fee to compensate
For being cheap too early
And learning much too late.
Jan 28, 2012
Jan 28, 2012 at 3:25 PM UTC
Wake up, wake up, from deep slumber,
waits the land, for warming up,
beneath, hold its hidden treasures,
push forth, proud heads erupt.
All dance and kiss spring morning,
colours wave in gentle swale,
purse their lips, all delightful,
nectar scent ore hill and vale.
Flora fauna finds its rhythm,
young arrive on nature’s breast,
a touch so fine, enchanting wisdom,
behold majestic, times request.
Hearts are rising, cobwebs lifting,
hopes course through a brighter day,
eyes are opened, more observant,
her dressings for this growing phase.
This emblem flies for minds impression,
paints a picture for all to see,
kissing spring in all its glory,
igniting energy, pure simplicity.
Apr 3, 2013
Apr 3, 2013 at 11:49 AM UTC
.
It would not stop, the drop dripping
Faulty well and I was cornered in
Your eyes, when your love came down.
The gentle rain was a deceiving
Flood. The softness in your voice
Was dim light bent, on my banishment.
I began to notice the kind indifference,
The doldrum swale, when your love
Came down, was like you were employed
Only— half trying to get along
With me. My own dulcet music
Crashed in two, she wails a shamed—
Diaphany and darkness from the corner
Room began to grow, when your love
Came down. The light that moved so dear,
Became a precious ration, it was
A black starvation and I began
To die from tasteless food, sad music,
Fading sun, no expectations—
And laughter meant for others. I bled
For years on open wounds and I—
Could hear the wind that rails at ones tomb,
When your love came down.
Mar 28, 2017
Mar 28, 2017 at 4:19 PM UTC
It would not stop, the drop dripping
Faulty well and I was cornered in
Your eyes, when your love came down.
The gentle rain was a deceiving
Flood. The softness in your voice
Was dim light bent, on my banishment.
I began to notice the kind indifference,
The doldrum swale, when your love
Came down, was like you were employed
Only— half trying to get along
With me. My own dulcet music
Crashed in two, she wails a shamed—
Diaphany and darkness from the corner
Room began to grow, when your love
Came down. The light that moved so dear,
Became a precious ration, it was
A black starvation and I began
To die from tasteless food, sad music,
Fading sun, no expectations—
And laughter meant for others. I bled
For years on open wounds and I—
Could hear the wind that rails at ones tomb,
When your love came down.
Mar 16, 2014
Mar 16, 2014 at 1:33 PM UTC
Love Drain
love made in violent vain
I Love You like rain to surface
Fall with purpose to soak in your surplus
The center of My Force My Revolution shall swell
Eyes high rise toward your eminence and grassy swale
Riding the current of your emotion to cool the hot springs
I dilate in your atmosphere and precipitate in the fruitful crescent
I and You and doves so blue souls cry 2, eye pour through effervescent
eMotions are omens & they are super fictitious holograms of Our notions
Mere bubbles between bed sheets fun loving like stubble against peach cheeks
As I meringue on your meridians and salsa on equinox rusty chains and locks
Oxidize wonder why the tied boat rocks el nino blood rush through; paradox
Windy lox mingle and meddle, moving Our bits around where they settle
So forlorn when we change our minds these sandy sheets return in time
More than a marriage some say mysterious formations most lascivious
You carry a womb-full, ***** whales snail hermits and sea serpents
The swollen members of loves winter and a bed to lay Our head
As you satallite through solar wind to excite my Skye
In thought mine cloud cover your spots, fly
In estuaries lakes Love drain over Thee
The seven sides of You and I
We ride mystic gravity
Nonexpeditiously
Pitter patter
Violet Rain
Droplets
Because
Love is.
To me
Purple
Sake
dribblesdripripples umakemecom plete ly magnetic 2 ur molten hotpocket
May 23, 2016
May 23, 2016 at 6:19 PM UTC
Along the swale
turned upside
down behind the windy-windy
capturing a moment
as keepsake
before – just before the foredune
crests in green belted
spinifexes and tail-back blooms
the salty sea shakes away
and forefront washings tide the shiny sand flat
as we marvel gambol frolic free;
liminal at the margins
MChallis © 2015
May 16, 2015
May 16, 2015 at 12:59 AM UTC
It would not stop, the drop dripping
Faulty well and I was cornered in
Your eyes, when your love came down.
The gentle rain was a deceiving
Flood. The softness in your voice
Was dim light bent, on my banishment.
I began to notice the kind indifference,
The doldrum swale, when your love
Came down, was like you were employed
Only— half trying to get along
With me. My own dulcet music
Crashed in two, she wails a shamed—
Diaphany and darkness from the corner
Room began to grow, when your love
Came down. The light that moved so dear,
Became a precious ration, it was
A black starvation and I began
To die from tasteless food, sad music,
Fading sun, no expectations—
And laughter meant for others. I bled
For years on open wounds and I—
Could hear the wind that rails at ones tomb,
When your love came down.
Jul 16, 2012
Jul 16, 2012 at 2:04 PM UTC
It stood among no giants, no towers, no mountains.
Heedless to the wind, scattered without waving stalks and rusted leaves,
it chose to fall where it could not.
Jaded, perhaps, but not without sterling hands crafted to bellow.
A smattering of elbows chastised the woodpeckers pecking.
Ephemeral? Beautiful? Sober? Lassitude?
It fell among no gorges, no ravines, no swale.
Heedless to the rain, swamped in a dell without sliver streams,
it swelled up above the ratty woven sails.
Coarse, perhaps, but feather flew, vying for sky.
A copse of whitebark pine pillaged no battalions.
Mauve? Tender? Empyrean? Redolent?
It pattered among no small sorts, no ant hills, no chambers.
Heedless to the duke, sabotaged without sword, spear, stone,
it swallowed a hive of rabbits in no fields.
Desultory, perhaps, but not with quintessential ripples bent in space.
A harrowing panacea flourished in spindles of florid bristles.
Sempiternal? Susurrous? Honeyed? Irascible?
It churned among no whirlpools, no pots, no frosting.
Heedless to the maelstrom, sluicing in a myriad of slanted lanterns,
it chose to lure where it could not beguile.
Laconic, perhaps, but not without furtive gallows smoldering.
A candelabra of viridian mire spies spied genteel dragonflies.
Enormity? Enmity? Vestigial? Switchback?
It stood among nothing.
It stood enervated.
It stood.
It.
May 11, 2019
May 11, 2019 at 8:37 PM UTC
This year’s WoolOn Creative Fashion event will feature some "exciting" new elements, but they are under wraps for now, organisers say.
The event, which used to be held annually in October in conjunction with the Alexandra Blossom Festival, last year was separated from the festival to become a separate entity.
No WoolOn was held last year and this year’s event had a new date, May 26-27, WoolOn chairwoman Clair Higginson said.
A final call for entries was being made this week, and the closing date for entry forms had been extended by a week, until March 24, Ms Higginson said. Designers then had another month to complete the garments, which had to be handed in by April 27.
Ms Higginson said this year’s WoolOn would be held in a new "industrial-style" venue in Alexandra, but organisers could not yet say where as consents were not in place.
Other "exciting" new elements were being added to the event, but they were also being kept under wraps.
"We’re trying to make better connections between the wool on the farm and the wool on the fashion catwalk. But just how we will do that is going to be a surprise."
Rural Women New Zealand was the new naming sponsor of the event and WoolOn organisers were excited about the partnership, believing it would bring extra focus to the raw product
the WoolOn garments were created from.All garments must be at least 75% wool and there are eight categories in the event, as well as an Under 23 Emerging Designer Award.
The event will still feature a Friday night "First Look" event with a "fashion show feel", and a Saturday gala evening, when winners will be announced.
This year’s judges are Deirdre Mackenzie, of Tauranga, who was one of the people to establish WoolOn in its present format; Simon Swale, a design lecturer at the Otago Polytechnic, in Dunedin; and designer Jaimee Smith, of Dunedin, who has her own fashion label, "Florence".Read more at:http://www.marieaustralia.com/bridesmaid-dresses | www.marieaustralia.com/red-carpet-celebrity-dresses
Mar 19, 2017
Mar 19, 2017 at 9:54 PM UTC
It would not stop, the drop dripping
Faulty well and I was cornered in
Your eyes, when your love came down.
The gentle rain was a deceiving
Flood. The softness in your voice
Was dim light bent, on my banishment.
I began to notice the kind indifference,
The doldrum swale, when your love
Came down, was like you were employed
Only— half trying to get along
With me. My own dulcet music
Crashed in two, she wails a shamed—
Diaphany and darkness from the corner
Room began to grow, when your love
Came down. The light that moved so dear,
Became a precious ration, it was
A black starvation and I began
To die from tasteless food, sad music,
Fading sun, no expectations—
And laughter meant for others. I bled
For years on open wounds and I—
Could hear the wind that rails at ones tomb,
When your love came down.
Oct 11, 2013
Oct 11, 2013 at 8:53 PM UTC
It would not stop, the drop dripping
Faulty well and I was cornered in
Your eyes, when your love came down.
The gentle rain was a deceiving
Flood. The softness in your voice
Was dim light bent, on my banishment.
I began to notice the kind indifference,
The doldrum swale, when your love
Came down, was like you were employed
Only— half trying to get along
With me. My own dulcet music
Crashed in two, she wails a shamed—
Diaphany and darkness from the corner
Room began to grow, when your love
Came down. The light that moved so dear,
Became a precious ration, it was
A black starvation and I began
To die from tasteless food, sad music,
Fading sun, no expectations—
And laughter meant for others. I bled
For years on open wounds and I—
Could hear the wind that rails at ones tomb,
When your love came down.
Sep 16, 2012
Sep 16, 2012 at 11:26 PM UTC
Looking for a plan
to homestead with honey
You find the land
and I’ll bring the money.
Start with 8 hens and
then get a rooster.
Sunlight and dirt are
the best immune booster.
community grown
no, you won’t be alone
walkie talkies instead of upgraded iPhone.
remain lean and fit
use up every bit
for excellent compost mix in chickensh!t.
swale in the roots
of a filtering lily
irrigation to grow
what I’ll use in the chilli
weeds in the cracks
seeds in the snacks
a little help from the axe
and the *** makes us stacks.
And I’ll spin what I comb
from the fellows who roam
on the sod in the loam...
All we will need is
some land and some money,
a pocket of seed,
and true love for honey.
Jun 17, 2020
Jun 17, 2020 at 5:19 PM UTC
It would not stop, the drop dripping
Faulty well and I was cornered in
Your eyes, when your love came down.
The gentle rain was a deceiving
Flood. The softness in your voice
Was dim light bent, on my banishment.
I began to notice the kind indifference,
The doldrum swale, when your love
Came down, was like you were employed
Only— half trying to get along
With me. My own dulcet music
Crashed in two, she wails a shamed—
Diaphany and darkness from the corner
Room began to grow, when your love
Came down. The light that moved so dear,
Became a precious ration, it was
A black starvation and I began
To die from tasteless food, sad music,
Fading sun, no expectations—
And laughter meant for others. I bled
For years on open wounds and I—
Could hear the wind that rails at ones tomb,
When your love came down.
Mar 16, 2013
Mar 16, 2013 at 2:35 PM UTC
It would not stop, the drop dripping
Faulty well and I was cornered in
Your eyes, when your love came down.
The gentle rain was a deceiving
Flood. The softness in your voice
Was dim light bent, on my banishment.
I began to notice the kind indifference,
The doldrum swale, when your love
Came down, was like you were employed
Only— half trying to get along
With me. My own dulcet music
Crashed in two, she wails a shamed—
Diaphany and darkness from the corner
Room began to grow, when your love
Came down. The light that moved so dear,
Became a precious ration, it was
A black starvation and I began
To die from tasteless food, sad music,
Fading sun, no expectations—
And laughter meant for others. I bled
For years on open wounds and I—
Could hear the wind that rails at ones tomb,
When your love came down.
Oct 27, 2012
Oct 27, 2012 at 2:12 PM UTC
.
It would not stop, the drop dripping
Faulty well and I was cornered in
Your eyes, when your love came down.
The gentle rain was a deceiving
Flood. The softness in your voice
Was dim light bent, on my banishment.
I began to notice the kind indifference,
The doldrum swale, when your love
Came down, was like you were employed
Only— half trying to get along
With me. My own dulcet music
Crashed in two, she wails a shamed—
Diaphany and darkness from the corner
Room began to grow, when your love
Came down. The light that moved so dear,
Became a precious ration, it was
A black starvation and I began
To die from tasteless food, sad music,
Fading sun, no expectations—
And laughter meant for others. I bled
For years on open wounds and I—
Could hear the wind that rails at ones tomb,
When your love came down.
Sep 9, 2016
Sep 9, 2016 at 4:02 PM UTC
It would not stop, the drop dripping
Faulty well and I was cornered in
Your eyes, when your love came down.
The gentle rain was a deceiving
Flood. The softness in your voice
Was dim light bent, on my banishment.
I began to notice the kind indifference,
The doldrum swale, when your love
Came down, was like you were employed
Only— half trying to get along
With me. My own dulcet music
Crashed in two, she wails a shamed—
Diaphany and darkness from the corner
Room began to grow, when your love
Came down. The light that moved so dear,
Became a precious ration, it was
A black starvation and I began
To die from tasteless food, sad music,
Fading sun, no expectations—
And laughter meant for others. I bled
For years on open wounds and I—
Could hear the wind that rails at ones tomb,
When your love came down.
Jun 13, 2014
Jun 13, 2014 at 2:11 PM UTC
.
It would not stop, the drop dripping
Faulty well and I was cornered in
Your eyes, when your love came down.
The gentle rain was a deceiving
Flood. The softness in your voice
Was dim light bent, on my banishment.
I began to notice the kind indifference,
The doldrum swale, when your love
Came down, was like you were employed
Only— half trying to get along
With me. My own dulcet music
Crashed in two, she wails a shamed—
Diaphany and darkness from the corner
Room began to grow, when your love
Came down. The light that moved so dear,
Became a precious ration, it was
A black starvation and I began
To die from tasteless food, sad music,
Fading sun, no expectations—
And laughter meant for others. I bled
For years on open wounds and I—
Could hear the wind that rails at ones tomb,
When your love came down.
Nov 14, 2016
Nov 14, 2016 at 4:08 PM UTC