Give Voice to Verse

My collection of poetry is now available on Amazon.  No pressure to buy, your good wishes will suffice.  If anyone would like a copy and have difficulty ordering from Amazon, I am bringing some copies back with me when I return at the end of May, beginning of June

Many thanks for your encouragement and enthusiasm.

Margaret Rowland

The Election is coming

I decided that I would try and write on each day running up to the election on 7th May. I failed on Day 34 - it didn't scan. However I wrote this one on Day 35.

THIRTY FIVE DAYS TO GO

They stood at their stations
those prospective incumbents;
interspersed with hopefuls,
the maybe balance makers.

Trial by TV, watched by the
party faithful, hoping for an 'edge'
or a slight upswing in the polls to
raise expectations beyond reality.

Is this charade going to make
any difference, except that we
could remember their faces?
Even the one who is not

contesting a Westminster seat
was there traveling to a country
she wants to sever from her own.
"Not in my generation" it was said

and now 'they' want to be in the
'English of Parliaments' to let
Black Rod witness the falling of the
Claymore on the mother of them all.

What can we believe? To cut, cut or
spend, spend more? It has a cost and
and so has debt. Maybe buy only a half
when a full pint is beyond small change.

John Edwards (C) 3rd April 2015.

In at Last

Thanks to Maureen Moss for pointing me to the right www. site.  I will be posting more regularly.  In the meantime  I will send you one third of a poem.  Don't ask!  The rest will follow in due course.  Looking forward to our new beginning and for our future success.  Much thanks to past Chairs and good luck to our new Chair.

Turn Back Time

 

If I could turn back time I would have laughed more,

worn my hair down radiant with colour.

I would not have listened, but stolen wisdom.

I would have lied more to make you like me

so that I could dance longer in your arms.

 

Margaret Rowland

new password

To anyone wanting to post on our blog: we have a new password!
Please email me to get it
maureenmoss@fastmail.fm
Cheers
M

Password Change

The password to access this blog and post messages has had to be changed - TWC members can contact Maureen Moss or Margaret Rowland who have the new password information.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2014

Dedicated to women Everywhere.

It isn’t my gender that makes me write
It’s that I want to be a defender of women’s rights
Of humanity too: particularly the oppressed.
We are not few who pursue this quest.

Me and the Deity

Me and the Deity, we’re OK
I talk to my God every day.
God knows my downfalls, the secrets I keep
Thoughts, problems confessions locked in so deep
They weigh so heavily like sunken stone
Shame me and pain me if left alone

I can shrug of misdemeanour and those stray bad thoughts,
The ‘f’ word I used that silence I brought
When I accused God of bringing disease, diversity and some good.
God forgave me. As only she could.

Margaret Rowland

Malala Yousefsai deserves to be recognised for her bravery. So do many, but she has my wholehearted admiration. This is dedicated to her. Spoken through a parent's eyes.

Malala Yousefsai
I named her
My daughter
After poetess and warrior.
She grew
In our home
with her family
no barrier
absorber of knowledge
Spokeswoman for education
at eleven
Challenged
the deranged idea
that women should remain
chained
by those who feared change
at home
with a womb
and children.
Malala is proud
To be Muslim
A Sunni
Eager to learn
be useful
Attend school.
her destiny was
to catch a bullet.
How she lived is a mystery
The rest will be history.

Margaret Rowland

Poetry - Self Published - In Praise of Rail - by David Leslie Urion

I wanted to share this with the TWC as it has a long story behind it.  A fellow poet of the Stanza Mar Menor Group brought his poems every month to our group for comment and scrutiny.  David worked for two years to assemble a collection of poems about the railways in England, Scotland and Wales.  He is an enthusiast, and I think he has been successful in compiling a book of poems that have, social importance, factual information, humour and exhibits a poetic style all of his own.   Here is his own blurb!

Margaret Rowland


It´s Chuffing Magic!...

Written by award-winning poet and creative writing tutor David Leslie Urion, this WordPlay published book is now available to buy via Amazon.com and Createspace.com in traditional print and Kindle formats. www.createspace.com/4665713

If your readers/members/subscribers or friends quote code 3XDM69GF when purchasing the book via Createspace.com between the 1st and 31st of March they will be entitled to a 10% discount off the retail price.
Industry discounts are available to museums, bookshops and other retail outlets.

In Praise Of Rails is a nostalgic collection of fifty railway-related poetic gems that will inspire you to find out more about the memorable locomotives, events, people and places that have shaped our island race´s unique obsession with all things trains, that began with the starch-shirted days of Stephenson´s Rocket and still survives today with the sleek and sexy Eurostar. Love `em or hate `em you can´t get away from trains in the UK. Everywhere you go, from the biggest city to the most solitary spot, you´re sure to find new generation rolling stock or ancient relics to remind you of Britain´s great railway heritage not too far away if you look hard enough. This is not just an excellent insightful poetry collection, it delves into and celebrates the social fabric and factual history of Britain too.
Famous locomotives have been written about; Sir Nigel Gresley, Mallard, Tornado, Flying Scotsman, Northern Belle, the Jacobite that runs along Scotland´s west coast (undisputed greatest railway journey in the world), plus coal shunters, miniature railways, lost lines, stations, tunnels, secret sidings, boat trains, the importance of the navvies, Woodham´s scrapyard in Barry, a restored signal box, National Railway Museum and STEAM museum to name but a few.