June | 2014 | The Bard on the Hill

This the bricklayer; hear the thud
Of his heavy load dumped down on stone.
His lustrous bricks are brighter than blood,
His smoking mortar whiter than bone.

Set each sharp-eyed, fire-bitten brick
Straight by the plumb-line’s shivering length;
Make my marvelous wall so thick
Dead nor living may shake its strength.

Full as a crystal cup with drink
Is my cell with dreams, and quiet, and cool….
Stop, old man! You must leave a chink;
How can I breath? You can’t, you fool!

Read Full Post »

This Has Got Me Down by Dennis Lange

Posted in Humor, My Poems, tagged bard on the hill, Dennis Lange, downstairs, elevators, humor, poems, poetry, This Has Got Me Down on June 27, 2014| Leave a Comment »

………….This Has Got Me Down

I’m thinking so I’m not caught unawares:
…In going from the twelfth floor to the first
…By elevator in a quick, smooth burst,
Can it be said that I have gone downstairs?

————————————————-

Read Full Post »

Ah! Sunflower by William Blake

Posted in A-B (by poet name), Poems of Other Poets, tagged Ah Sunflower, bard on the hill, poems, poetry, weary of time, William Blake, wishes to go on June 27, 2014| Leave a Comment »

……….Ah! Sunflower

Ah! sunflower, weary of time,
Who countest the steps of the sun,
Seeking after that sweet golden clime
Where the traveller’s journey is done;

Where the youth pined away with desire,
And the pale virgin shrouded in snow,
Arise from their graves and aspire;
Where my sunflower wishes to go.

Read Full Post »

Two Lion Haiku by Dennis Lange

Posted in My Haiku, tagged bard on the hill, cubs, Dennis Lange, fewer than 140 characters, Haikus, hide and seek, I thought I saw a puddy cat, lioness, lions, poems, poetry, pride, tweety bird, Twitter on June 25, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Fewer Than 140 Characters

Tweety tweet:
I thought I taw a
Puddy tat!

——————–

Where Are Those Cubs?

Lioness,
In tall grass, looking –
Pride and seek.

——————–

Characters – photo by Iva Villi at http://www.rgbstock.com/photo/ook2s3c/Sleeping+lion

Cubs – photo by Stella Bogdanic at
http://www.rgbstock.com/photo/mmjIHTE/lioness+1

——————–

* The haiku I write are lines of 3-5-3 syllables instead of 5-7-5.

See Haiku article here for explanation, if needed: https://thebardonthehill.wordpress.com/2011/08/08/haiku/

——————–

Read Full Post »

Song by John Donne

Posted in C-D, Poems of Other Poets, tagged bard on the hill, cleft the Devil's foot, go and catch a falling star, John Donne, mandrake root, poems, poetry, song on June 25, 2014| 2 Comments »

……………Song

Go and catch a falling star,
…Get with child a mandrake root,
Tell me where all past years are,
…Or who cleft the Devil’s foot,
Teach me to hear mermaids singing,
Or to keep off envy’s stinging,
……And find
……What wind
Serves to advance an honest mind.

If thou beest born to strange sights,
…Things invisible to see,
Ride ten thousand days and nights,
…Till age snow white hairs on thee,
Thou, when thou return’st, wilt tell me
All strange wonders that befell thee,
……And swear
……Nowhere
Lives a woman true, and fair.

If thou find’st one, let me know,
…Such a pilgrimage were sweet;
Yet do not, I would not go,
…Though at next door we might meet;
Though she were true when you met her,
And last till you write your letter,
……Yet she
……Will be
False, ere I come, to two, or three.

Read Full Post »

The Hopeful Monster by Dennis Lange

Posted in My Poems, tagged bard on the hill, Dennis Lange, drought, flood, monster, poems, poetry, The Hopeful Monster on June 24, 2014| 6 Comments »

.The Hopeful Monster

A shower in the afternoon:
…Some water for the grass,
A little puddle for the birds,
…A streak upon my glass.

And then the little cloud moves on
…With none to take its place.
And out again’s the summer sun –
…A glare upon its face.

For little showers, I give thanks;
…But floods are my desire.
One monster must another meet
…For drought’s reign to expire.

————————————–

Read Full Post »

The Epitaph by Thomas Gray

Posted in E-H, Poems of Other Poets, tagged a friend, bard on the hill, bosom of his Father and God, gained from heaven all he wished, lap of Earth, poems, poetry, The Epitaph, Thomas Gray on June 23, 2014| 1 Comment »

………………The Epitaph

Here rests his head upon the lap of Earth
…A youth to Fortune and to Fame unknown,
Fair Science frowned not on his humble birth,
…And Melancholy marked him for her own.

Large was his bounty, and his soul sincere,
…Heaven did a recompense so largely send:
He gave to Misery all he had, a tear,
…He gained from Heaven (‘twas all he wished) a friend.

No farther seek his merits to disclose,
…Or draw his frailties from their dread abode
(There they alike in trembling hope repose),
…The bosom of his Father and his God.

Read Full Post »