|
The Top 5 Poems of
the Month
August
2005
Our winning poet for August is Sam
Kelly.
Read Sam's biography and more of his poems 
Poisoned Justice
I thought I had real friends
I thought that there was care
But now I see a difference
As if I wasn’t there
They read the paper’s headline
They accepted it as fact
They believed a perfect stranger
They believed I did the act
An expert had the last word
He said it had to be
There was no other way
Statistics formed his plea
I went through years of torment
On the edge of life’s last deed
Believing ever onward
One day I might be freed
My family stayed around me
But even in their eyes
I saw their doubts and questions
As they read again the lies
Then suddenly without notice
Another view was seen
Perhaps the first decision
Was not all it could have been
The expert once almighty
Was now a beaten man
His views and dissertations
Were false and down the pan
So now I have my freedom
To live, to breathe, have fun
But no amount of money
Will dull the harm they’ve done
Top
Here
are the other four poems chosen by
our imprint editors as winning poems
for August. All other poems submitted
for the Top 5 Poems of the Month for
August are being considered for
various anthologies.
The Mist
Rolled In
The mist
rolled in from the Warwickshire
hills
And Mollington was suspended in
rain washed sepia still
No one ventured out that day
Not to work and not to play
The day was left under nature’s
management
Visibility intermittently came and
went
Not a time to be camping in a tent
Cobwebs formed and were adorned
With minute water crystals on the
lawn
The thatch on cottage roofs was
soaked
And the fires inside were
repeatedly stoked
The spiralling rising smoke was
suppressed
By the heavy dampened atmosphere
A dank charcoal smell filled the
air
But no one ventured out to care
The slate roofs became glistening
and black
Except where the moss had dared
attack
Clinging for life wherever it
could
Patches of green attached as if
hooked
The rain water meandered down the
hill
And collected in pockets and
puddles it filled
And still the mist kept rolling in
Extra logs were roaring on the
fire at the local inn
Hot toddies were preferred to gin
Warm and inviting the locals stay
Inside their houses on this day
Only a few brave souls ventured to
the inn
And still the mist kept rolling in
Clive
Atkins
Top
Daisy
Chain
Just a small patch
On the edge of the lawn
Stirred up a memory
Of a day that's long gone.
"Oh Cora come here"
My father did say
As he sat in the grass
On that bright summer's day.
He was sat tailor-fashion
When he motioned to me
So I shyly walked over
To sit down on his knee.
He said "How would you like
To be Queen for a day?
If the answer is 'yes'
Then I will show you the way!"
"First we pick lots of daisies
With a nice big long stem,
Then gently, so gently
Slice a small slot in them.
Next thread through that first one
Then do the same thing again -
Before you will know it
You'll have a nice daisy chain!"
My Daddy made me a necklace,
Then he made me a crown,
I held out my arms
To wind another chain round!
I felt so important in my crown
Of yellow and white -
As for being 'Queen for a day'
Well! I was that alright!
Each time I see daisies
Spring forth from my lawn
My heart skips a beat
As I long for my Daddy - and
A time that's long gone!
Cora
Barras
Top
Bin Liner
What is this in my garden Tree?
Black plastic bag laughing at me.
Waving with joy, it dances around,
For not long ago, it lay on the ground.
Rubbish in the streets, feeding the rats,
Increasing numbers of feral cats.
Mice are rampant, feeding off waste,
Pigeons everywhere, breeding with haste.
Out of the landfills, out of the bins,
Pouring and pouring, man's thrown away things.
Into the gardens, into the hedgerows,
Just chuck it away, anything goes.
Black Bag just hangs there, mocking us all,
Him and his buddies are having a ball.
Across the land they spread like disease,
Blown by the wind, they can fly over trees.
Litter, litter, it is all around,
Fluttering down without a sound.
It falls like snow across the land,
To aid it's spread, the wind lends a hand.
Go to the seaside and it is on the beach,
Man's flotsam, and jetsam within easy reach.
Jettisoned from boats, just thrown overboard,
Only to become, a coastlines unhappy hoard.
Floating in rivers, and filling the streams,
Giving me nightmares and polluting my dreams.
Is this the end, can we not stem the tide?
There is no escaping Bin Liner, wherever you ride.
Nick
Wright
Top
Requieme 3
I heard a crash of thunder, that blew my mind asunder
A voice called out my number on the last day of my life.
Lightning pierced my vision, images in collision
That danced in wild derision on the shadows of my life.
I smelled the stench of hatred, as bomb blast clouds abated
That turned my lungs to paper, one July day in my life.
Glass splintered all around me, girders crushed and ground me
Timbers warped and bound me and bled me of my life.
Warm blood oozed and soaked me, dust clouds cloaked and choked me
Screams of terror haunted me in the nightmare that was my life.
I didn't kiss my lover, I didn't hug my brother
I didn't thank my parents for their precious gift of life.
I pray for peace in this land, I pray for peace in their land
I place myself in God's hand,as we journey through the night.
And when it dawns tomorrow, there'll be no grief or sorrow
But empty skies, rusting shells, requieme and
bach.
Hayes Turner
Top
To
submit a poem to the online
competition email
inbox@forwardpress.co.uk
Please include Top 5 Poems in
the subject line of your email.
|
