Poets for September: Andy Jenkins, Ian Colville, Ian Stewart Black, Karen Hancock, Ilona Martonfi
I TOOK THE BUS TO SOUTHPORT
By
I took the bus to Southport yesterday,
and hoped that I would see you on the way.
I didn’t, so I walked along the sands,
and made pretend that we were holding hands,
and listening to the sighing of the sea.
But in the end I could not disagree,
this unrequited love was not for me,
and took the bus back home in time for tea.
Alas my heart had not yet understood
that once a heart is stung, it’s stung for good,
and nothing one could ever do or say,
could ever wash the way I felt away.
In the end there can be no denying,
it wasn’t just the sea I once heard sighing.
WORM
By
Not seen, nor heard, nor even felt,
deep within us all it lies;
nought at first but given time,
with every evil done, or seen
or told, it burrows deep
within the flesh of each
immortal soul until,
if left unchecked,
it has devoured all,
and leaves behind
a dry and empty plain,
blind to love and
deaf to mercy’s plea;
an emptiness where once
there ebbed and flowed
the tide of pure humanity.
I just wanted to say - wow! - the poetry selection this month is quite outstanding, and really took my breath away. Congratulations to all. I've enjoyed every single one of the works for very different reasons, but all have left me feeling enriched in some way.
Thank you, Anne, very much. I'm sure I speak for all of the poets this month; your comments are a great reward. It's an honour to have my work appear alongside that of such outstanding poets in this excellent online production. The high standard of poetry set by the likes of yourself (last month) have been continued and I've no doubt that will be maintained in future issues. I'll be sure to find out.