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Mike Essig Sep 2015
Anonymous English Folk Song.*

A holiday, a holiday
And the first one of the year
Lord Donald's wife came into the church
The Gospel for to hear

And when the meeting it was done
She cast her eyes about
And there she saw little Matty Groves
Walking in the crowd

"Come home with me, little Matty Groves
Come home with me tonight
Come home with me, little Matty Groves
And sleep with me 'til light"

"Oh, I can't come home, I won't come home
And sleep with you tonight
By the rings on your fingers
I can tell you are Lord Donald's wife"

"But if I am Lord Donald's wife
Lord Donald's not at home
He is out in the far cornfields
Bringing the yearlings home"

And a servant who was standing by
And hearing what was said
He swore Lord Donald he would know
Before the sun would set

And in his hurry to carry the news
He bent his breast and ran
And when he came to the broad mill stream
He took off his shoes and swam

Little Matty Groves, he lay down
And took a little sleep
When he awoke, Lord Donald
Was standing at his feet

Saying, "How do you like my feather bed
And how do you like my sheets
How do you like my lady
Who lies in your arms asleep?"

"Oh, well I like your feather bed
And well I like your sheets
But better I like your lady gay
Who lies in my arms asleep"

"Well, get up, get up", Lord Donald cried
"Get up as quick as you can
It'll never be said in fair England
I slew a naked man"

"Oh, I can't get up, I won't get up
I can't get up for my life
For you have two long beaten swords
And I got a pocket knife"

"Well, it's true I have two beaten swords
And they cost me deep in the purse
But you will have the better of them
And I will have the worse"

"And you will strike the very first blow
And strike it like a man
I will strike the very next blow
And I'll **** you if I can"

So Matty struck the very first blow
And he hurt Lord Donald sore
Lord Donald struck the very next blow
And Matty struck no more

And then Lord Donald he took his wife
And he sat her on his knee
Saying, "Who do you like the best of us
Matty Groves or me?"

And then up spoke his own dear wife
Never heard to speak so free
"I'd rather a kiss from dead Matty's lips
Than you or your finery"

Lord Donald, he jumped up
And loudly he did bawl
He struck his wife right through the heart
And pinned her against the wall

"A grave, a grave, " Lord Donald cried
"To put these lovers in
But bury my lady at the top
For she was of noble kin"
As is always the case with traditional songs, there are many versions of this. These are the lyrics chosen by Fairport Convention in 1969. Doc Watson did a very different but compelling version of his own.
Miceal Kearney Sep 2010
i

It took three of us to pull her out
onto steel-float-finished concrete —
where her mother; BNNZ-0031U
fell from GXA339605 —
a little black Limousin heifer
later to be Christened
IE18576-0426.
Shortened to Patch.

Like my nephew Jamie
he’ll never know dial-up.
Imagine … I lived 27 years B.FB.
(Before Facebook.)


ii

If a cow calves down successfully —
that’s no guarantee you’ll end up with a cheque —
they’re moved to the postnatal paddock.
Almost the furthest field back,
gives junior a peak at the future fields
they’ll someday graze.
Provided they live long enough.

One year, the tour had entered the 3rd Hill Field
which has 8 gates, the cow knew which one.
I was only here to open and close the gates.
So she checked her mirrors
then indicated left. Migratory.
Junior, on-the-other-hand
didn’t quite know what to do
so floored it; head-on
into un-suspecting gate.

It was like in the cartoons,
something would fall on someone’s head,
they’d walk away like an accordion.

I nearly died laughing
5000 times funnier than castrating lambs
I swear to God.


iii

They came into my world and leave
from the shed

I like to think that there word for the shed,
when translated would mean pain —
between being de-horned; castrated;
belted with sticks; stobbed with needles
and yucky medicine rammed down their throats.  
Then weaned: no more mommy from now on.

Let back out, having weathered their 1st winter.
Yearlings; grazing different field.
Their 2nd summer at grass — according to the book —
is where they’ll experience Compensatory Growth.
When the gate up to the Rock is closed,
that’s the end of the road for them.
We finish the cattle here.
Well used to gates by then.

That’s all it is really; a series of galvanised gates
opening and closing in conjunction
with a selected grazing rotation.
One cycle around 62.4 hectares.


iv

There’s only one reason
cows are moved in with the cattle —
well, yea there’s the other reason too,
but primarily —
to keep Romeo away from Juliet.

At this age, there elders are generally knackered,
probably mastitis in more than one ***.

In the Beef Book in college,
cull cows are referred to as ‘canners’
as that’s where most of them end up —
in tins of dog food.


v

It was 17 years ago, Patch ran into that gate.
I’ve seen her go from bullied springer to bully.
She’s taking a trip with the cattle today.

I wonder did she know
that IE18576-0851 was hers
from last year. I like to think so.
And everyone of her offspring,
all lived to be killed.
Only space for that in my notebook.

Mart starts at 10, it’s 8.30am
waiting for Lynsky.
All my years loading cattle,
it’s never once been raining.

And calves in fields over
contently ****.
Looking for comments and feedback please.
Springer: a cows first calf.
Juhlhaus May 2021
This dry Spring
the parched earth drinks quickly,
every cool droplet precious
as the tears of the bereaved.

The rain furrows the dusty creek banks
like sunken, careworn cheeks.
the timid water hurries
past sandbars and gravel spits,
around balding rocks crowned
with rotting riverweed.
and in the green places that remain
to be sought and found between
the highway noise and the factories,
there the shy ones grieve with us
for all those lost to disease and violence,
miscarriage and mischance.

We round the bend;
the yearlings start and bolt
through the tangled underbrush—
an exercise in their own fragility.
The mother does not run.
she moves warily
a few paces away
and meets our gaze: measured, assessing.
She takes us in, then bows
her graceful neck to the tender shoots
that break the hardened clay,
the gesture her benediction of peace.
David Barr Dec 2013
Raise your glass to the emptiness of social prestige, where the long and desolate corridor of ridicule is shrouded by the fantasies of those who covet recognition.
However, we must realise that the hall of fame is utterly incontinent.
Feel the acoustic waves as they collide with vibrations of intra-galactic virginity.
Stolen innocence modestly presents herself with Gaelic solidarity.
So, mother your yearlings while you can.
Surfing the urge of protest is not dissimilar to common teenage captivations.
Give credence to the natives of the land.
Anthony Williams Aug 2014
Soon the northern sun has a corona
nations bound to its regal attitude tide
high sea son's tossed
a half crown head turning golden summer
seas on ends
to land shiny tails down south
as if every sea's on wings
away to seek or sink an immortal sun
I stand on
the divide
feeling the hesitation

two day's
the moon's
seas wax fuller
bridges
spangling love waves
from a salt shaker
on a pearl within
your aphrodisiac
world is my oyster

hinge wriggled open
to be held at bays
sliding into the mouth
of nature's hunger
for where a tan fades
into season spicy
summer's parting harvest
of farewells

surface mining to be done
by stripping vegetation
down to bare branched amber
ore deposit shafts
of light marking
the sun dial's changed number
with your toppled hourglass figure
a vase
pressed with dahlia
and salvia flower
upset without the friction
of pepper heat
milled into smooth skinny
latte malt
drunk on moisture
laden skies

layered over swaying
thought bubble dreams
of cloudy evenings
freckled rain
and streaming grain
fleeing the field seemingly overnight
as fleeting as goals
scored between our legs
running off home
hands full with harvest in
cartwheeling arcs
stored with the last gasp
solar flared nostrils
wild as meadow ripened
yearlings

in the joy of escape
we join their bare backed
flight circuiting dizzy
shamanic heights only to fall
back to earth like Pegasus
shaking off Bellerophon
striking a mount Helicon
with hooves whose marks
cause springs to channel
fountains of inspiration
after defeating a Chimera
with great spirited whinnying
breathing out tipi fire vents
gone sweat lodge native
skins lashed outside
keep the glow snug inside

rustling about the bite
incoming winds of change
fright the landscape
flocking to shower
in fresh cooler air
lifting us like birds to shadow
the moves to renewed
lighter climes leaving
soaked sticks
dripping acorn colour
scattering an autumnal quilt
around tired bed fellows
an interlocked cycle pattern
for coming riders on the storm
to be in memory trunks
splashed with mist
pooled effort

released to dry and recover
side-by-side
once the wardrobe fills wooly
headed
for warming coats of evening
russet
we settle tone down on a chill out
wish
list ridden dotty by a love chauffeur
cycle
ticked off sun set to be sent
to bed early
just when ours clock on two
four
season
happy hour
by Anthony Williams
Nat Lipstadt Oct 2017
The Daily Prayer                               The Daily Prayer
AUG 2010                                            OCT  2017

Be forever young 'n humble;   seven yearlings of plenty famine;
Feel ancient and royal;              youthful graybeard commoner now,
Ride tall in the saddle;              old hoary, crooked headed ancien
Do something nifty;                   content to just, just walk crookedly

Take someone's hand                if they permit, for hands gnarled,
Unexpectedly:                             roughened and time toughened,
Drive home in the slow lane;   only the city bus, now bows, kneels,
Do the de minims;                      how has the minimalist become
Do the de maximis;                     the max, the best old-dog-in-show?
Leave a book on a park bench;  forgetfulness, unintended bonuses,
Use pen n paper, write a letter; the fingers shaky press cell button,
Take a chance, make people laugh; your appearance quite the joke,
Barrel into contention;                 a barrel casket, half your wardrobe
Show mercy to the confused, no arrogance, have mercy upon poets,
Show anger to the abusers. for they fear voices calling out, account!
Bless a child with both hands; now take their blessings returned
Grasp your soul; throw it down, others sidle, it's our time, now,
Then raise a child to the sky.       to raise you up father of fathers
Straight up,                                    straighten your time bents, curves,
Build a continuum,                       honor thy work ever continuing
You and they,                                 we, and you, we are all your steps,
              on a ladder of each poem, to guide us heavenward


*each poem a prayer, each prayer a poem, passing back, coming forth in the crests upon the beach and bay you so loved, the moon and sun both shine simultaneously while it rains straight,
                                    all come, each to recite,
even the One with whom you vociferous argued, unrepentantly,
all here, together placing that weighty last period at the end of
                                        your daily prayer.
https://hellopoetry.com/search/poems/?q=a+daily+prayer

a suggestion- read each side as a separate poem, then across as one

8:37am 10 years later, 10 years lateral, 10 years lovely. 10 years in the writing
Minty sat on the steep incline breathless
he had all but stopped his bleating
thinking of his legs and mint sauce

His fleece was all tattered and matted
married with the blood of yearlings
thinking how lucky he was, to still have his legs

Suddenly he stood on his thankful four legs
and there he spied such hideous carnage
lambs everywhere with hind legs amiss

Oh the pleasant field that he had frolicked
had been turned into a land of legless *******
did bleat hard, Minty the lamb

By Christos Andreas Kourtis aka NeonSolaris
Devin Ortiz Jul 2018
52
Alliteral allure.
Boundaries bottomless.
Controlled cantor.
Deities demonize,
Ethereal epiphanies.
Future forfeits,
Gravity's grandiose.
Humility heckles,
Indignant ideologies.
Jealousy's jungle,
Karated killers.
Lunacy's lovers,
Maddened martyrs.
Noise, never,
Only omens.
Purgatory persuasion,
Quintessential qualms.
Revenge, revenge.
Sultans suffer.
Tyrants terror.
Unilateral understanding.
Violent venom,
Worn wonderfully.
Xenogogue's xenial,
Youthful yearlings.
Zombie zealots.
Claire Elizabeth Dec 2014
The woods succumb to the deep freeze of mid-winter
Statuesque trees encased in ice
Deer fur quavering on the fence tops
Skimmed from the underbellies of jumping bucks and leaping yearlings
The scuttle of autumn leaves a transparent sort of sound
Nonexistent
Water bodies stilled in a perpetual ripple outward from a droplet
A disturbance for the entire season
Constant movement is ceased with the icy breath of frost
Silence ensues
Sam Temple Feb 2017
~


I didn’t see her at first
the frolicy bounding yearlings
                       had my attention~

When I looked back to the south
         I was stricken
               her hunched straining body
                   ears frantically twitching
                        one large black eye
                              fixed  ~

she must have just begun
             her morning ritual
                      as she kept
                                going ~

I have never claimed to be the most
                          mature man
so this spectacle
                 made me laugh
my noise added to her
                         rigidity
which inspired more
                       uproarious laughter ~

duty complete
              she flipped a large
                          white tail
and cast a disgusted glace
back at me
     not once or
               even twice
but three separate looks ~

the third was more than
      I could bare
so I shouted out
across an empty field
to one indignant doe
a heartfelt apology ~
I sit here in the paddock
chewing on hay
and I look at my horses
they are frolocking with much mischief
and I wonder to myself
do we have more fun then horses

The sun beats down kindly on my sweet beasts
for summer is just around the corner at least
and to hear my yearlings naing  
is something of bliss to devauge in
I look around at the stable hands
wondering if my equine beasts do take command

Oh here come the ladies of the manor
that big place up on the hill
I hope my fancible friends
do all to fit the bill
and as they fit their rides, I wonder
do we have more fun then horses


By Christos Andreas Kourtis aka NeonSolaris
lionheartlion Jan 2015
Why can't you just love me.
Your very own creation.
I need you, whether you think so or not.
Just love me.
That's all I want.
Be kind, with your words with it all.
Please come up for air because you're dragging me so far down with you.
I want to make you happy but I don't know what you want from me.
Please come back mom.
I'm right here waiting for you.
Get better.
Just love me.
Do I even have a mom anymore.
My eyes are stained for you.
My chest suffocates for you.
My heart needing you.
Dear God please heal her.
Mentally, Physically.
Take her out of her labyrinth of hopelessness.
I'm begging you Lord.
Yearnings into prayers.
I Love you.
I love you so much.
I'm so far away because I can't bear the pain I brought upon you four yearlings ago.
It's not my fault.
But I need to fix you.
I feel like I need to save you.
Jesus please save her once and for all.
You weren't bonded forever.
Lord please unbound her.
I can't be happy until she is free.
Free from her mind.
God I can't watch it anymore.
She's so hurt.
Dying from the inside out.
Outside in.
I hate that her happiness has any correlation with mine.
I yearn for her love so bad.
The love of a mother.
I don't have it anymore.
These tear stained pages show that.
There is no bond like a mother and daughters.
I love you mommy.
To the Moon and back.
Jay M Feb 2020
Baby, you said you wanna be
Royalty
We can be anything we wanna be
So long as it's you and me
I'm happy to be
The queen to your king
The medic to your soldier
But you had better let me fight too

I smile when I look and see the ring
On your finger
Oh I linger
On the happy moments we have
And will keep making

Let me put my head on your shoulder
When I'm getting tired
You put your head on mine
That's fine
It's always good
To dream beside you
And to hear you say you love me too

One day I want to put the real ring
On your finger
But for now linger
On the one that's there
Let me brush your hair
Behind your ear
And tell you silly jokes
Take you to see my folks
Oh love, I love you
And I'm so glad that you love me too

Took me to your house
Saw your cat catch a mouse
Introduced me to your mama
I'm glad there is no drama
Introduced me to your siblings
Quite the young little yearlings
Introduced me to your family
They're quite mannerly

Baby, I've still got so much I want to show you
But right now, what can I do?
Ah, I know
I'll show
Every part of who I am
And I gotta say; ****
I've shown you a lot
You've shown me what you've got
But I still have a bit more
I hope I'm not a bore

Love, you said you wanna be
Royalty
We can be anything we wanna be
So long as it's you and me
I'm happy to be
The queen to your king
The medic to your soldier
But you had better let me fight too
Because I'll never stop fighting for you.

- Jay M
February 21st, 2020
He called me last night and sang "Royalty" by Connor Maynard, and when he finished singing he asked me, "So will you be my queen?" I said yes, and could not stop smiling for quite a while. That was the best surprise ever, and he's just so darling. Turns out he wasn't talking to me because his mother had taken his phone, and was going through it. I really was worried over nothing, and feel silly for allowing my anxiety to get the better of me. Everything is alright again, and I'm glad for that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Only a king bows down to his queen, but in the game of chess the queen protects her king."

No idea what that quote is from, but I love that quote.

— The End —