Times Past

    The Wordle 

SUNDAY WHIRL

We are asked to use all the words in the Wordle.


TIMES PAST

There among the willows where the breeze blew through the trees

I sat down on the soft grass, writing, at my ease.

The rustle of the summer leaves was all that broke the calm,

And every aspect of the scene was infused with peace and charm.

Should I write a poem full of heartfelt grateful thanks

As I sat beside the river, on its gently sloping banks?

*

Then, suddenly, a knowledge! A scene from long ago,

A certain realisation that life was not always so!

A vision of a battle, fought in this very spot!

A time in ancient history when blood was running hot!

The swords are taken from the sheaths, and piercing screams are heard,

An unbearable fever grips the men, as deep wounds are incurred!

Ancient passions  now explode! Brittle bones are breaking!

Wounds crust over, throats are cut, men are left bruised and shaking.

*

Then, just as the vision had arrived, its tale of battle sending,

It faded, and I knew my soul could recover and be mending.

But my Muse had slipped away from me, appalled by grief and pain.

I will never choose that river bank  to write poetry again.

*

*
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HEAD IN THE CLOUDS

Mary Jane

Was rather vain

And also rather dreamy;

Although, 'tis true

Her eyes were blue

And her skin was peach-and-creamy.

The crinoline

That she was in

Was white and frilled and flouncy,

And she'd waltz and sway

Right through the day,

With steps elegant and bouncy.

Her Mother said

'Your silly head

Is in the clouds for sure!

One day you'll fly

Up in the sky

And we'll see you no more!'

And look! It's true!

Up in the blue,

Still crinolined and dreamy,

Is Mary Jane

Singing this refrain....

'Now everyone can see me!'

*

Love-Hate

POETRY JAM
http://poetryjaam.blogspot.com.au/
asks us to consider something we both love and hate.

LOVE-HATE

This one's easy! I love and hate modern technology!

I love the fact that we're all together in one society.

I love the fact that the world has shrunk into a little village,

Even though there are still remains of tribalism and pillage.

I love my old-fashioned computer and the way my typing mistakes

Are very quickly obliterated, in just a couple of shakes!

I love keeping in-touch with relations who, otherwise, would disappear

Except for the standard Christmas letter sent dutifully each year.

I love to delve into Google whenever I need advice
And I love looking for hotel rooms and instantly knowing the price!
But most of all I love the fact that all my little rhymes
Now have an instant readership, not, as in long-past times,
When they languished on scraps of paper read by only me
And were utterly ignored by all, even my family!
*
But I hate that foreign voice I hear and I hate pressing Button One
When I phone for personal treatment and find that there is none.
And I hate the fact that tricksters are lurking in cyberspace
Ready to steal my details, with motives that are base.
And I hate the fact that riots can be organised on the phone;
Facebook advertises sprees, though it doesn't throw a stone.
And I hate the fact that I'm ignorant when it comes to understanding
The ins and outs of computing; the whole thing's too demanding.
I'm left feeling washed-up on life's shore because my generation
Was born too early for it all and it's all a complication.
I hate the fact that children, now, enjoy a virtual game
Instead of climbing real-life trees; I think that's a shame.
It's Ying and Yang, it's yes and no, I'm ambivalent to the core
And, if I live much longer, I'll feel love/hate even more!
*
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                           Beach

MOTHER, MAY I....?

'Mother, may I....?' antique words,

One could say they're for the birds.

Nowadays a little child

Is rarely quite so meek and mild.

'I'm gonna!' are the words we hear,

Loudly shouted in a parent's ear!

But days of old were not so fine,

When children had to toe the line.

Fatherly love was rather frigid;

Rules were set in stone and rigid.

The happy medium is the best,

But how many parents pass the test?

*