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I'm sure many of you have a favourite poem so I thought it would be nice to make a thread so everyone could post theirs for the rest of us to have a read of. I love to read poetry, especially poems which really make you think.
Patience Strong is definitely my favourite poet. After my Mum died I started to read through her collection of Patience Strong books and fell in love with her words, just like my Mum did. The following poem I think is so beautiful, I read this at my Mum's funeral. It makes me so sad whenever I read it because it reminds me of unhappy times, but it also leaves me feeling so much stronger and courageous. It is called The Rainbow and it is of course by Patience Strong.

The rainbow

The moods of fate are fickle, they change from day to day.
She beams upon you brightly, then frowns and turns away.
Life’s like the April weather, there’s sunshine and there’s rain -
there’s rapture and there’s sorrow, there’s laughter and there’s pain.

But when the days are darkest and faith is growing cold -
when hearts are sad and anxious and hope is hard to hold -
God always sends a rainbow to those who have the eyes -
to see His message written across the stormy skies.

The rainbow of His promise is wide enough to span -
the sorrow and the darkness within the heart of man.
A bridge of glory reaching from earth to heaven above: a covenant eternal of mercy and of love.

R.I.P Mum

I have a lot of favorite poems...hard to name them all though. lol I'm not 'too' much into poems that much, but I like music and music is basically poetry, right? hehe I'm usually a fan of older poems like from the beginning of time to about the 1960's. Here's one of my favorites from William Blake...

And did those feet in ancient time
And did those feet in ancient time,
Walk upon England’s mountains green
And was the holy Lamb of God,
On England’s pleasant pastures seen
And did the Countenance Divine,
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here,
Among these dark Satanic Mills?

Bring me my Bow of burning gold;
Bring me my Arrows of desire:
Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold:
Bring me my Chariot of fire!
I will not cease from Mental Fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand,
Till we have built Jerusalem,
In England’s green and pleasant Land.

Wow I really like that one! Very powerful.
I things related to religion

My favourite poem is Siegfried Sassoon's 'Suicide In The Trenches'.

The lines I like best are 'Sneak home and pray you'll never know, The hell where youth and laughter go'. I think that's still relevant today, even outside of a war context. Those lines sum up life completely

Silly Old Baboon by Spike Milligan

There was a baboon
Who one afternoon
Said I think I will fly to the sun
So with great palms
strapped to his arms
he started he takeoff run

Mile after mile
He galloped in style
But never once left the ground
You’re going too slow said a passing crow
Try reaching the speed ofsound

SO
he put on a spurt
My God how it hurt
both the soles of his feet caught on fire
As he went through a stream
There were great clouds of steam
Buthe never got any higher

On and on through the night
both his knees caught alight
clouds of smoke billowed out of his rear!!!
Quick to his aid
Were the fire brigade
They chased him for over a year

Many moons passed by
Did Baboon ever fly
Did he ever get to the sun
I’ve just heard today,
he’s well on his way
He’ll be passing through Acton at one.

PS - well, what do you expect from a baboon

A childhood favourite.

My favorite is by Edgar Allan Poe

Annabel Lee

It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of ANNABEL LEE;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea;
But we loved with a love that was more than love-
I and my Annabel Lee;
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
Went envying her and me-
Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we-
Of many far wiser than we-
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride,
In the sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.

Best Friends
--------------------

written with a pen sealed with a kiss
if you are my friend please answer me this
are we friends or are we not
you told me once but i forgot
so tell me now and tell me true
can i say im here for you
of all the friends I've ever met
your the one i wont forget
if i die before you do
i'll go to heaven and wait for you
i'll give the angels back their wings
and risk the loss of everything
there isn't a thing i wouldn't do
to have a friend just like you!

Something I saw online and thought it was cute.

nice {love}

aamir wrote:Silly Old Baboon by Spike Milligan

There was a baboon
Who one afternoon
Said I think I will fly to the sun
So with great palms
strapped to his arms
he started he takeoff run

Mile after mile
He galloped in style
But never once left the ground
You’re going too slow said a passing crow
Try reaching the speed ofsound

SO
he put on a spurt
My God how it hurt
both the soles of his feet caught on fire
As he went through a stream
There were great clouds of steam
Buthe never got any higher

On and on through the night
both his knees caught alight
clouds of smoke billowed out of his rear!!!
Quick to his aid
Were the fire brigade
They chased him for over a year

Many moons passed by
Did Baboon ever fly
Did he ever get to the sun
I’ve just heard today,
he’s well on his way
He’ll be passing through Acton at one.

PS - well, what do you expect from a baboon

A childhood favourite.

Spike Milligan was a poetic legend even though half the time he didn't use real words! I also used to like Roald Dahl's revolting rhymes when I was a kid!

I've loved poetry since I was a little girl so I'm going to post a couple as it's hard to choose just one. Hope this is ok {thumb2}

My favourite from my childhood!

Choosing Shoes
by Frida Wolfe

New shoes, new shoes,
Red and pink and blue shoes.
Tell me, what would you choose,
If they'd let us buy?

Buckle shoes, bow shoes,
Pretty pointy-toe shoes,
Strappy, cappy low shoes;
Let's have some to try.

Bright shoes, white shoes,
Dandy-dance-by-night shoes,
Perhaps-a-little-tight shoes,
Like some? So would I.

BUT

Flat shoes, fat shoes,
Stump-along-like-that shoes,
Wipe-them-on-the-mat shoes,
That's the sort they'll buy.



And my recent favourite by Pam Ayres....

I'm the dolly on the dustcart,
I can see you're not impressed,
I'm fixed above the driver's cab,
With wire across me chest,
The dustman see, he noticed me,
Going in the grinder,
And he fixed me on the lorry,
I dunno if that was kinder.

This used to be a lovely dress,
In pink and pretty shades,
But it's torn now, being on the cart,
And black as the ace of spades,
There's dirt all round me face,
And all across me rosy cheeks,
Well, I've had me head thrown back,
But we ain't had no rain for weeks.

I used to be a 'Mama' doll,
Tipped forward, I'd say, 'Mum'
But the rain got in me squeaker,
And now I been struck dumb,
I had two lovely blue eyes,
But out in the wind and weather,
One's sunk back in me head like,
And one's gone altogether.

I'm not a soft, flesh coloured dolly,
Modern children like so much,
I'm one of those hard old dollies,
What are very cold to touch,
Modern dolly's underwear,
Leaves me a bit nonplussed,
I haven't got a bra,
But then I haven't got a bust!

But I was happy in that doll's house,
I was happy as a Queen,
I never knew that Tiny Tears,
Was coming on the scene,
I heard of dolls with hair that grew,
And I was quite enthralled,
Until I realised my head
Was hard and pink... and bald.

So I travel with the rubbish,
Out of fashion, out of style,
Out of me environment,
For mile after mile,
No longer prized... dustbinised!
Unfeminine, Untidy,
I'm the dolly on the dustcart,
And there's no collection Friday.

My Favourite Is " Stop All The Clocks, Cut Off The Telephone " By W.H. Auden.

It Was Used In The Film, " 4 Weddings And A Funeral "

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.
For nothing now can ever come to any good