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The Top 5 Poems of
the Month
March
2006
Respect
Remembrance Day is here again
We sit in church with servicemen
We think of those who left before
We think of those who were adored
As I look round this holy place
I see young people smiles on face
I start to wonder if they know
Why to these churches we still
go
I look and see a laughing lad
A smiling lassie it’s nice I’m glad
I picture now inside my head
the mates I lost, those gone, the dead
I smile softly to each in turn
My boys, my lads, my eyes do burn
I see them clear they’re smiling back
They look so peaceful dressed in black
If I could talk with them today
I just don’t know quite what I’d say
But what I wish is to join them soon
I’m tired down here I’m out of tune
But as I left the church today
A young lad took my hand to say
For what you did and those you lost
I thank you Sir for such a cost
My day was made by what he said
His eyes they told me, he mourned our dead
And as I looked back one more time
He raised his arm to salute so fine
My eyes they watered a tear escaped
I could not speak my throat it ached
He stood so proudly arm still raised
I saluted back - God be praised
Mac
Macdonald
Top
Here
are the other four winning poems for
this month.
Shot at Dawn
My name is Tommy Atkins
they've got me in a cell
they've charged me as a coward
and they're sending me to hell.
The courtyard of the prison
is a tall and tortured scar
it's walls are worn away with lead
and wishing on a bar.
I couldn't take the barrage
or the whizz-bangs and the flak
I froze just like a Cenotaph
when ordered to attack.
I couldn't take the trenches
or the stench of death and lice
I couldn't stand the sightless eyes
or pay their silent price.
The sound of shells grew louder
in a hailing rain of hate
I hailed the one who reigns above
abandoned to my fate.
Headquarters signed the orders
and they'll come upon the morn
line up all my comrades
and they'll have me shot at dawn.
I stroke my sweetheart's photo
and I think of her disgrace
I think of all the shame I'll bring
she'll never show her face.
Maybe they will pardon me
in many, many years
maybe they'll accept the fact
that children suffer fears.
Maybe they'll stop lying
send their own to face the 'fun'
maybe they'll be mourning
when they're mowed down by the Hun.
My name shall live for evermore
though memories must fade
I'm Tommy Atkins from the ranks
I've met my last parade.
Sean
Kinsella
Top
Terminal
Procrastination
I’ve been diagnosed with Laziness,
Or a Lack of Motivation.
And if it gets worse, I could end up
With Terminal Procrastination.
The Doctor’s advice was exercise,
Or it’ll only end in sorrow.
I’d better get started right away:
Then again; there’s always tomorrow…
Claire
Louise
Stendall
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Unforgettable
for Mishka
I will never forget the look upon your kitten face
As you gazed up with eyes telling me
I was taking you home
Tucked in a cardboard box.
I will never forget the look upon your sweet face
As I nervously bundled you into your carrier,
And, with a frission of fear, leaving you
Without looking back.
I will never forget the look upon your puzzled face
As I sat with you, scared and shaking,
Front legs neatly shaved, the drip secure
Tight stitches stretching your tummy.
I will never forget the look upon your face
As you walked slowly from your carrier,
Gazing round the room, as if for the first time.
Making sure all was secure, you sat
And purred and purred and purred.
Glad to be home, grateful to be healed -
Of all the expressions on your much loved face,
Now, in your fourteenth year,
This is the one most indelibly printed
Deep within my heart..
Anita
Richards
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My Two Little Stars
Do you know I love you? I hope you know I care
And I would give the world, if it meant I could be there.
I miss you every minute and that I hope you know
I'm sorry that we are apart and that you had to go.
My two little bright stars, Oh how I love you two
I wish that things were different, I wish I could see you,
I pray that you are happy, content and full of smiles
Living in no sadness, it's been such a long hard time.
Your brown eyes were the biggest, windows of the soul
Not seeing them only reminds, that I am now unwhole,
Can you one day forgive me? I hope somehow you can
One day when you are older, please try to understand.
I feel I am so helpless, just like I did back then
I wish I could've helped, something I could've said,
The day I had to say Goodbye, I tried to be so strong
But I couldn't stem the tears, for it was so very wrong.
Jack, you gripped me tightly, Sam, you looked so confused
I yearned to run away with you, so I had to leave the room,
You asked why I was crying, I did not know what to say
You both were too young to understand why you couldn't stay.
So I said look after each other and remember I love you both
Since then I've prayed I'll see you, my only, only hope,
I'll always be you your Sister, that, nobody can ever deny
And forever will I miss you, eternally in my mind.
I still find it hard to understand, I was only guilty of Love
But I guess loving you both, just wasn't enough.
So as you lay your head, look up at the nights sky
We're sleeping under the same stars, I love you boys, Goodnight
Jennie Hope-Kirk
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To submit a poem to the
Online Poetry
Competition,
email inbox@forwardpress.co.uk
(Enter Top 5 Poems of the Month in the subject line, including your name and
postal address)
Or
post your poems to
Top 5 Poems
of the Month, Forward Press Ltd,
Remus House, Coltsfoot Drive, Peterborough PE2 9JX (Write your name and
address on each piece of work you send)
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