Poetry and Creative Writing for All

Andrew Blakemore

I was born in the town of Aldridge in the West Midlands on January 1^st 1966 and was educated at Aldridge Comprehensive School. From about the age of 16 I started to write verse. I had taken up playing the guitar in the sixth form and started to write some songs. It was something that I really enjoyed doing and have continued ever since. Music remained my first love and I graduated in Music with the Open University in 1999. It wasn’t until the year 2000 that I started to seriously write poetry. You could call it fate or destiny in the way that it happened. My mother is the editor for the Aldridge Methodist Monthly Newsletter and she had half a page free and didn’t know how to fill it. She asked me if I could write a religious poem to fill the gap. As I remember it was called “A Child is Born” Many people seemed to enjoy reading it and so I was given a regular slot in the Church Newsletter. It only had a circulation of around 250 copies but I still remember the thrill of seeing my name in print for the first time. I have now written over 700 poems and sonnets and still get an enormous amount of pleasure writing them. Last year I published my own little book of poetry called “Kaleidoscopes and Rainbows” with a very short production run of 50 copies. This year I have just published a complete 452 page anthology of my work up until the end of the year 2006 called “The Wonder Is You” which has only just been released. It is a major venture for me and I’m hoping that it sells well. I am so proud that my poem “I wrote her name upon the sand” has been chosen as the winning poem for July. I have never won anything before in my life and I must confess it brought a tear to my eye when I found out. I must say a big thank you to ForwardPress and to all those who have encouraged me to write.

I Wrote her Name upon the Sand

I walked along the shoreline and
The ocean looked so blue,
The seagulls called upon the wind
Above me as they flew,
So far across the waters there
I knew my love did stay
I wrote her name upon the sand
But waves washed it away.
I watched the clouds and dreams go by
With happiness we shared,
As I looked out across the sea,
And wished that she still cared,
I’d lost all hope of loving and
I could but only pray,
I wrote her name upon the sand
But waves washed it away.
Around her name a heart of love
That wasn’t meant to be,
A symbol of the time we shared
Yet didn’t comfort me,
For there it looked so empty and
I shan’t forget that day,
I wrote her name upon the sand
But waves washed it away.

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Fawley sky

And as the sunset falls upon,
The Solent shines a sea of fire,
And glistens on the gentle waves,
Just like the finest gold.
And so the amber deepens now,
Within the smoking Fawley sky,
And shadows sink and grow until,
Such beauty does unfold.

I feel the evening’s fading warmth,
As I now stand by waters edge,
Upon the shingle beach I hear,
The gently lapping tide.
I watch until the sun turns red,
Then slowly disappear from view,
Beyond the dark and distant shore,
That reaches far and wide.

I watch the twilight fade away,
And as the stars begin to shine,
The moonlight cast upon the sea,
While chilly winds do blow.
Still the sound of breaking waves,
Upon the cold and shingle shore,
I gaze across the Fawley sky,
With chimney stacks aglow.

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Forever gold

I wake up in the morning,
With such happiness inside,
Within my thoughts and in my heart,
My love I cannot hide,
For as the clouds are parting,
And the new day does unfold,
The love we share so precious,
And shall be forever gold.

For you are all I care for,
There’s nowhere I’d rather be,
Than with you and my deepest joy,
Shall last eternally,
Each day to me brings wonder,
And each moment I shall hold,
The love we share so precious,
And shall be forever gold.

Sunlight fades in amber skies,
The evening air so sweet,
All hopes and dreams I now have lived,
My happiness complete,
We’ll always be together,
As our future is foretold,
The love we share so precious,
And shall be forever gold.

As the stars begin to shine
And darkness does descend,
I know that you will always be
My everlasting friend,
As you warm my beating heart

For now the night grows cold,
The love we share so precious
And shall be forever gold.

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Evergreen

Always in my heart you dwell,
Wherever I may go,
Always in my thoughts you stay,
My future I now know,
And through all the years I’ve lived,
And all the dreams I’ve seen,
My love for you will last forever,
Like the evergreen.

Always in my eyes I see,
A picture that is you,
Always brings me happiness,
In everything I do,
And through all the years of hurt,
And sadness that has been,
My love for you will last forever,
Like the evergreen.

Always there beside me
Like a rock to which I cling,
Always there supporting me
Such comfort you do bring,
And through all the hardship and
The times so cruel and mean,
My love for you will last forever
Like the evergreen.

Always in my memory now,
I never shall forget,
Always in my wishes,
I’m forever in your debt.
And through all the heartaches when,
My life has lost its sheen,
My love for you will last forever,
Like the evergreen.

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Down Hobs Hole Lane

September sun down Hobs Hole Lane,
The combine reaps the golden grain,
That waves in fields, now harvest yields,
From autumn’s countryside,
I see the old sweet chestnut tree,
And the hedgerows wild and free,
So still the air, the day so fair,
I wander far and wide.

Skies of blue down Hobs Hole Lane,
Beauty there shall never wane,
Berries fine and so divine,
The view across the land,
Through the gateway I do peer,
And see the sight of morning clear,
The trees still green, and so serene,
All painted by God’s hand.

As I walk down Hobs Hole Lane,
Where long forgotten days remain,
It winds and falls, a song thrush calls,
Then gracefully does fly,
I make my way past Nuttall’s Farm,
With a sense of peace and calm,
The horses graze, I stop and gaze,
And then I walk on by.

At the end of Hobs Hole Lane,
Its time to go back once again,
The coppice fine, as light does shine,
Upon the narrow way,
And I begin the journey home,
Through the woodland trees I roam,
As sun does fade, I’m cast in shade,
The ending of the day.

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Mottistone Down

The cattle graze upon the down,
That leads towards the sky,
The view of patchwork fields on which,
The hanging mist does lie.
Beside the peaceful woodland grows,
Upon the slopes that fall,
With leaves so green and branches strong,
On trees that stand so tall.

The sea is hushed the waters calm,
The blue horizon fills,
My senses with its beauty far,
Beyond those distant hills.
The way is long and steeply climbs,
The well worn path I know,
Past the thorn and yellow gorse,
I see the flowers glow.

The air I breathe so pure and clean,
That urges me to stay,
I walk until I reach the peak,
Then look across the bay.
And see the cliffs of white that reach,
Until they disappear,
I feel the breeze that starts to blow,
And skies begin to clear.

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Submission Guidelines: Poems of no more than 30 lines in length each will be considered.