Poetry and Creative Writing for All

Muriel Nicola Waldt

I am very new to poetry, just a few months, but am now completely hooked and seem to have a huge jumble of words buzzing around in my head.

I live with my husband in a cottage in the country, pretty much as described in my poem ‘My View’ and apart from this fantastic setting, I am lucky to have reached a stage in my life when all is settled at last.

I am an avid reader and what I want from books and poetry is to feel, ‘Ah, that was nice’, at the end. What I don’t want is to have to sit back, scratch my head and think, what on earth was that all about? I know that I am probably in the minority but I like my poetry to rhyme and make sense. I really love, The Lady Of Shallot, despite its sad ending. I don’t intend any of my poems to have sad endings, life’s too short.

My View

My house is small and white and neat, my garden lush and green,
The view I see each day that dawns, the finest ever seen.

The sloping hills, the dark green trees, the fields and meadows sweet,
Stretch on for miles until the sky and treetops gently meet.

The yellow of the rape in spring, its perfume fills the air,
It brings the butterflies and bees to sample of its wares.

The flaxen corn sways in the breeze, a gentle rustling makes,
The mice and voles and tiny birds, its golden ears to take.

The ploughed-up fields of rich brown turf, the seagulls hover near,
The tractor as it wends its way marks the turning of the year.

The winter crisp and dark and cold brings snow to all around,
It covers up my wondrous view, a blistering white abounds.

I love it here; I’ll never leave, my heavenly plot, it seems,
Was made for me, was put right here, the answer to my dreams.

My Dad

I’ve been without my dear old dad for many, many years,
And yet I feel he’s always there to banish all my fears.

I’ve always felt it trite to say the spirit lingers on,
But part of him still stayed around long after life had gone.

My childhood was a happy one; he made me feel secure,
He cloaked us all in so much love, so simple, kind and pure.

Of all of us, I was the one I know he loved the best,
Yet still he always had enough to give to all the rest.

I know that he passed on to me the things he loved to do,
And now I relish his bequest of books and music too.

So after all these many years, I do not feel too sad,
I have so much to thank him for, my dear and lovely dad.

Happiness

For years I felt all tense and cross, my life a dreadful mess,
I battled on through troubles dire, what next I couldn’t guess.
It seemed to me this life of mine was doomed to go downhill,
Of stress and strain and agonies, I felt I’d had my fill.
So when it came so slow and calm at first I did not see,
This happiness, this quiet joy, come creeping up on me.
I found that I was drinking in the music of the night,
The silence deep, the cool soft dawn, the day’s emerging light
Did bring to me a picture rich in glorious colours bright,
I felt I was awake at last, alert and real and right.
This happiness is all around for everyone to share,
Just look at skies and fields and trees, at fragrant flowers rare.
So life goes on and in its wake leaves troubles, cares and woes.
And I will now embrace it all, its peaks, its troughs, its lows.

Summer Scents

The air is full of summer scents; the sky is clear and blue,
The silence of this summer’s morn is cloaked in mists of dew.

The trees and fences all adorned with cobwebs’ lacy fronds,
The quiet stream runs down into the far and distant ponds.

And here at last the world awakes, the birds and bees abound,
They drink their fill; they sing their songs, a bright and cheerful sound.

A rustling in the undergrowth brings rabbits, deer and fox,
To eat and drink and wash and play and sunbathe on the rocks.

They go about their daily toils; they flourish in the sun,
Then just as soon as it began, the day is nearly done.

A peace descends and all at once a quiet fills the air,
The night has come, a bliss it seems, that nothing can compare.

The Escape

It’s not hot enough in here for me but here I have to stay
Darting, flitting, searching, throughout the weary day.
I sit on rocks, I hide in trees, I cower beneath the branches
I leap towards the murky pond and squat upon my haunches.

The myriad forms that pass my cage cannot think to understand
The restless urge that drives me on to find my promised land.
I’ll never find it here, I know, entrapped within this cage
And as this notion hits me hard I feel a helpless rage.

It’s dark in here which means it’s night, this does not stop my quest
I jump into an unknown place that vainly offers rest.
A figure passes by outside and lingers for a while
My frantic racing back and forth just serves to make it smile.

I cannot sleep, I cannot rest, intent upon my task
A clear blue sky, a sweltering sun, it’s not a lot to ask.
When morning comes, a brief respite, a welcome sight awaits,
A patch of sky, a hint of sun comes wending through the gate.

The gates of Hell, the gates of home, it’s all the same to me
I long, I yearn, I crave, I ache for them to set me free.
The distant voice that calls me back to baking arid plains,
Never ceases in its tireless plan to set me free again.

I hover by the locked-up door, a frantic thought in mind,
If I can only race away and leave this place behind.
I hope I’ll find that welcome place that ever hovers near,
I stifle down the anguished doubts and overcome my fear.

My fear of what? My fear of life that lies behind my home,
For I cannot begin to know what waits me when I roam.
And so I sit and so I wait, the time has come to act,
The keeper comes, the door’s ajar, it is a welcome fact.

I sidle through, he does not see this small dark form depart,
It seems to me I have become invisible at last.
I run along, I jump and hide in long tall grass and bushes.
I make my way in hearty glee to lakes and ponds and rushes.

A million other creatures live within this fertile land
And I can only try to join their joyful beauteous band.
I’m free at last, my life-long wish and though I’ll never find
My sweltering sun and clear blue sky, I really do not mind.

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