Eulogy to a Moth

We found it dead in our daughter's bed

It was light as a feather

And we wondered whether there were any words

To say, with which to pay our respects

To this creature, on that would barely feature

In our day to day lives

One which only ever arrives

With the sun down, light switched on

A true fly by night on paper wings

This airborne goth

Sleep well, little moth

Suburbia on Sea

Raining

Pelted windows

Gurgling down the drainpipes

Fast flowing rivers in gutters

Flooded gardens

Water pooling in the rosebeds

Settling on the bin lids

Suburbia

On sea.

We've had a few hard downpours lately...

NaPoWriMo Day 29 - "Lonely Planet"

Today's prompt:

And now, for our prompt (optional, as always). This one is called “in the window.” Imagine a window looking into a place or onto a particular scene. It could be your childhood neighbor’s workshop, or a window looking into an alien spaceship. Maybe a window looking into a witch’s gingerbread cottage, or Lord Nelson’s cabin aboard the H.M.S. Victory. What do you see? What’s going on?

Having read about Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins death last night, this was the first thing that popped into my head when I read this prompt, and it made me think of the view of the Earth from the window of the spaceship. I also recently watched the film Stowaway which also has scenes of Earth seen from space, providing a bit more inspiration:

I see it floating
Part submerged and bobbing
On the surface
Of a star-spangled sea

I see it suspended
Hung by invisible wires
Swung by invisible hands
Around the glowing sun

I see it flying
A bird of paradise
Dressed in fine plumage
Of blues and grey-greens

I see Earth; our home
Alone in a vast expanse
A vessel teeming with life
Searching for safe harbour

NaPoWriMo Day 24 - "Squirrel"

The prompt:

Today’s (optional) prompt is a fun one. Find a factual article about an animal. A Wikipedia article or something from National Geographic would do nicely – just make sure it repeats the name of the animal a lot. Now, go back through the text and replace the name of the animal with something else – it could be something very abstract, like “sadness” or “my heart,” or something more concrete, like “the streetlight outside my window that won’t stop blinking.” You should wind up with some very funny and even touching combinations, which you can then rearrange and edit into a poem.

To be honest I struggled following the meaning of today's prompt, so I've gone a little off prompt, although I have taken on the animal theme. Since last Autumn we've been seeing squirrels go back and forth through our garden, especially after the girls left some acorns out for them, plus it seems that one of our neighbours has been leaving out peanuts too. All three kids love to see the squirrels and watch them as they dart about. So my poem has been inspired by them:

We watch as they hurry-pause
Hurry-pause along the fence
Paws full of acorn or nut
Taking a nibble
As tail flits and shakes
Signalling
Flutter-flutter
Wiggle
Squirrel semaphore
A dart now
Arrowing down to the water table
Drinking quick
And up again with a nod
A twitch
Then off
Up and over the shed roof

NaPoWriMo Day 23 - "Last Chance"

Today's prompt:

And now for today’s prompt (optional, as always). One thing that makes me want to write poetry is reading poetry. Sometimes, reading another poet’s work gives me an idea or image. And sometimes I read a poem that I want to formally respond to – whether because I agree with it, or disagree with it, or just because it starts a conversation in my head that I want to continue on the page.

Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem that responds, in some way, to another. This could be as simple as using a line or image from another poem as a jumping-off point, or it could be a more formal poetic response to the argument or ideas raised in another poem. You might use a favorite (or least favorite poem) as the source for your response. And if you’re having trouble finding a poem to respond to, here are a few that might help you generate ideas: “This World is Not Conclusion,” by Peter Gizzi, “In That Other Fantasy Where We Live Forever,” by Wanda Coleman, “La Chalupa, the Boat,” by Jean Valentine, or “Aubade: Some Peaches, After Storm,” by Carl Phillips.

This prompt troubled me to begin with. There are so many good poems and I don't think I really have a favourite or one that really speaks to me, at least I have to be in the right mood for the right poem. So I decided to take a different tack, and came here for the Poetry Foundation poem of the day to see if it could give me inspiration. And it did. It was a poem called Earth Day by Jane Yolen. Here is my response poem:

And we
Upon this Earth must see
That we cannot live
Or breathe
Without the buzzing insects
The fish that seethe
Within the oceans
Without those very waters
Which we drink
There are many who think
That they are above
Nature’s ways
But if the present dallies
It will be the future that pays
 
Climate denial
Is wrong, is vile
It pretends to ignore
The fear and famine
The death and upheaval
Of bitter war
If our planet Earth
Decides to cleanse itself
To wash away
The human ants in a rising tide
To say
You had your chance
But now you are a boil
I have to lance

NaPoWriMo Day 17 - "Moon"

Today's prompt:

And now, our (optional) prompt. I’ve seen some fairly funny twitter conversations lately among poets who are coming to terms with the fact that they keep writing poems about the moon. For better or worse, the moon seems to exert a powerful hold on poets, as this large collection of moon-themed poems suggests. Today, I’d like to challenge you to stop fighting the moon. Lean in. Accept the moon. The moon just wants what’s best for you and your poems. So yes – write a poem that is about, or that involves, the moon.

This prompt had inspiration firing instantly, with all sorts of ideas popping around in my brain. I'm quite pleased with my poem, and I hope you enjoy it too:

Moon
Diana; huntress
Shedding light in dark places
Finder of lost secrets

Moon
Ever changing shape
From introvert - face hidden
To extrovert joy

Moon
Tidal enforcer
Biting away the coastline
Stirring up the oceans

Moon
A barren landscape
Finish line of the space race
Trophy of the cold war

Christmas Dreams and Fears

Do you dream of bright wrapped boxes
Full of expensive gifts?
Or do you fear your kids going without
If you don't get those extra shifts?

Do you dream of that after dinner feeling
Contented and well fed?
Or do you fear for another Christmas
Without a roof over your head?

Do you dream of seeing the family
How your nephews have all grown?
Or do you fear that your help won't come
Elderly and all alone?

Do you dream of falling snow
A blanket cold and white?
Or do you fear for rising seas
A world ready to ignite?

Do you dream of getting Brexit done
A nation strong and free?
Or do you fear for the vulnerable
Cast aside like human debris?

Day at the Museum

I recently took my eldest to the Natural History Museum (for the second time). She had an interest in dinosaurs a year ago, but it has grown stronger over the last year. However, the funny thing is that her fascination has rekindled the love of dinosaurs that I had when I was a child. I can't help but wondering if this is something that other parents have noticed when their kids start taking interest in something that they loved as children?

They have a great bit in the museum where you can look at and handle real fossils, bones, animal skins and shells, and the people help out by asking questions. They also don't provide the answers, so they just let the kids think about it, using their natural inquisitiveness to bring out good ways of thinking. Here, my daughter showed off her dinosaur knowledge of Stegosaurus (her favourite) and Spinosaurus.

We also saw a great show about oceans, the creatures that live in them, and how we have to look after our environment to ensure that animals survive. We also saw Sophie the Stegosaurus and had a good look around the dinosaur gallery, where again my daughter showed she had more knowledge about dinosaurs than some of the other kids there.

She was also thrilled to see Andy's clock from Andy's Dinosaur Adventures and Andy's Prehistoric Adventures (both Cbeebies programmes).

Anyway, all this dinosaur stuff has inspired a dinosaur poem:

In the morning I trapped a Velociraptor

While on my way to work

It caught its claws

In the closing doors

And the train driver went beserk

Later my tour bus was a Brachiosaurus

And I sat astride its neck

Standing tall

At the palace wall

We made the Queen a nervous wreck

I practiced judo kicks with Archeopteryx

In the local park

With feathers flapping

And sharp beak snapping

All the dogs began to bark

Then I foiled a con with Iguanadon

We came to an old man’s aid

The thief he paled

At the thumb spike wailed

And fell to the floor and prayed

I planted crops with Triceratops

When the farmer was unwell

He used his horns

To dig out the thorns

But his dung made an awful smell

I taught some phonics with a Baryonyx

At one of the local schools

But parents complained

That it hadn’t been trained

And must be against the rules

I rowed the Isis with some Coelophysis

Though they struggled with the oars

But as a team

They picked up steam

And we won the coxless fours

T-Rex

Standing
Before
T-rex
In awe
Of the dinosaur
The movement
The roar!
Scary
Those teeth
In that jaw
Those eyes
Look for more
To eat
Short arms
Sharp claw
At least no smell
Of spore!

Midnight

Couldn't sleep, took an evening walk
To set my thoughts aright
My mind full of the Doomsday Clock
Two minutes to midnight.

But then I thought I was dreaming
I couldn't believe my sight
Standing on the pavement there
Shown up in the pale moonlight.

Was it an elf? Was it a pixie?
Or yes, perhaps, a sprite?
A shadow crept across my brain
Two minutes to midnight.

At sight of me, the creature jumped
Intent on taking flight
Was it they, or was it me
Who'd had the greatest fright?

I started an apology
Trying to sound contrite
Did I hear the sound of bells?
Two minutes to midnight.

But it was her voice so hushed
Accusing from her height
Whispered words that struck the heart
Making my throat tight.

"You're killing us and Mother Earth
Can you not see her plight?"
Swallowing nervously I thought
Two minutes to midnight.

What could I say to this poor creature?
So willowy and slight
The words that tried to form themselves
Shallow; Weak; Trite.

"You all shall die!" She exclaimed
Her eyes were burning bright
Drawing her finger across her throat
Two minutes to midnight.

Spike

When your beautiful car is getting covered in poo
Simply because a bird needs the loo
What springs to mind - to give it a clean?
No, not that, you're far too mean

Instead you look up and see that tree
And rather than how beautiful nature can be
You think, how horrible. Crikey! Yikes!
I must get it covered in sharp metal spikes!

This is the world of the powerful rich
Who do what they want when they have the itch
They disregard nature and disrespect it as well
Don't you just wish they would all go to hell?

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/dec/19/bird-spikes-in-bristol-trees-to-protect-cars-cause-dismay

Stones

Were the stones built up
By giants in memory
Of their own image
Forever standing to face
The summer dawn
And the dark winters night
Reminders of when Gods were Gods
And mankind was in awe
Of nature
Listening to its heartbeat
Sacrificing blood
For all our futures
Worshipping death and rebirth
The cycles of all our lives
Full circle

Into the Woods

It's not often that you get the combination of a nice day and trains running at the weekend, so I took to advantage of taking my oldest daughter out to Abbey Woods.

We started out by looking around the ruins of Lesnes Abbey, and what would have been the monk's gardens:

Then we got into the woods, where we came across a dinosaur (in actual fact an extinct mammal called a Coryphodon):

There were also plenty of gorgeous bluebells around, and in one field was a carved tree:

New Phone

It took a long time, but a little over two weeks ago I finally succumbed to getting a smartphone. Not that I was discontent with my ordinary phone, after all, it did what I needed; Sent texts, gave me the time, had an alarm, and allowed me to make and receive the odd phone call.

But it became increasingly obvious that the ability to see what the trains were doing (since information is scarce across the Southeastern network) and to see when buses would be coming along (to save a toddler getting too bored), was becoming necessary.

The upshot is all the other clever things of course, such as being able to see where and how far you've walked, to search for a book in the library using the barcode of a book found in a shop, and of course having a camera handy whenever you want it.

So, here's a (somewhat fiddled with) photo I took this morning of a tree at my home station.

Happy weekend!

Spring Poem

The first day of spring

And I hear the birds sing their hearts out

They all know their parts; Calling to a mate

Marking their territory

And all are merry with their refrains.

It’s the start of a new season

A reason for us all to be joyful

The light lasts longer; The night is shorter.

We can dream of walks among a field

Of daffodils and bluebells

My soul is singing with the sun

A dream of summer as Spring is begun

Birds and flowers and life

Sprouting up from the everlasting cup

Of nature’s cycles.

Turning

The year is turning
Switching once more
As one window closes
We open the door

New opportunities
To solve all our ills
If we offer some effort
And focus our wills

We've seen refugees
And more bombing raids
Political posturing
And diplomatic charades

The rich have got richer
All their nests to feather
The poor make do with less
Are we still in it together?

While the climate continues
To throw all it can
To prove that it's changing
And yet still we plan

To burn fossil fuels
To exploit and to frack
The only nature we have
And we won't get it back

But with new beginnings
We always have hope
There's no point in weeping
To hide away and mope

We must use our voices
Stand up and say
Think for the future
And choose another way

We must save this planet
As we must save ourselves
From the hurt we have wrought
And we can't invoke elves

Or Gods to save us
In whatever faiths we hold
There is only us
We must learn to be bold

Why not share an idea
Of peace in our time
Sing it or write it
In prose or in rhyme

And fight for the good
Which we all hold within
Express it, describe it
In a New Year
A new world to begin

Tree

When the seasonal greenery
Struggles to last
It's surely a sign
That Christmas has passed
And if it makes it through
The whole twelve days
It still sits with an air
Of general malaise

You see it browning
You see it wilting
Long arms drooping
And tall head tilting
Losing it's needles
Scatter by scatter
While too heavy baubles
Fall with a clatter

And it almost seems
To be unfair
To put it through
Such arboreal despair
Despite colour in the corner
That it's occupying
Day by day
It's slowly dying

Contempt

Is it the fault of a token treaty
Or is it just their contempt
That national parks are to be fracked
No longer to be exempt

Giving up our landscapes
And our fresh water supplies
On the lobbying of business
Under a pressure jet of lies

Energy won't be cheaper
And with invading drills deployed
Pollution will kill the wildlife
And beauty will be destroyed

But it's not us who'll reap disaster
We'll not be the ones who'll pay
It will be our children's children
With a wasteland in which to play

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/dec/16/fracking-under-national-parks-approved-by-mps-amid-acrimony

Failures

When a planet saving treaty
Can be diluted
Made insignificant
By claims of a translation error
Then diplomatic failures
Are extant

And worst of all
They dress it up
As some kind of victory
Like Chamberlain's
"Peace in our time"
We know how that turned out to be

If we cannot come together
The same species
In our only world
It's unlikely we'll survive
The climatic changes
To be unfurled

The fear and the violence
As we fight
For scraps of land
We'll surely destroy humanity
More than any
terrorist band

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2015/dec/16/how-a-typo-nearly-derailed-the-paris-climate-deal

Response

A major leap

Or a stumble backwards

Only binding each other

To fate

Money still talks

And the fossil fuels rule

Politicians spin it all

To inflate

But danger remains

For the small island states

Whose weathered beaches

Wither away

And flood risks

For the low lying lands

Will spell annihilation

Some day

Crops will not grow

And the poor will go hungry

But the richest will never

Go without

Water for drinking

Will grow scarcer and scarcer

As raised temperatures put us

In drought

So, honestly

What have they achieved

Than promises, to promise

To have a look

And all they’ve done

Is to fasten the lid

Of the stew pot in which

We’ll all cook

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/dec/13/world-leaders-hail-paris-climate-deal