♥
From
"I Find My Way" 1976
all
poems on this page © winnie caw 2002
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Autumn 1970
Snowflakes
A gust of wind, and all is whirling confusion.
A blinding torrent of frosted rainand glistening nothingness.
A feeling that one is being shown something beautiful.
Yet only for a moment.
Snowflakes.
A silent army of aliens invading the earth,hitting the wet pavement,
and melting into indifferent
Uniformity.
A blanket of serenity and silence
on a winter's afternoon,
covering the dead earthIn a blissful cloak of peace.
Virgin snow.
Product of the Gods,perhaps anxious to hide
Their creation in a sudden fit of shame?
***
November 1972
Echoes
Bells, pealing outside my window,
pull me back
to a time of
Sunday walks through country lanes;
Blackberry-stained fingerscomplimenting
Guilt-stained mouths.
Leafy mudded paths leading to
Lazy brooksrevealing
Flashes of stickleback and red-throat.
caught in a jam-jar?
Never the same.
Never again.***
Autumn 1970
Racing down the Hill
Polyanna - playing in the long grass.
Sweet smell of poppies and ripe golden corn...can you see me?
Gunshot.
The world turns, andthere is silence, hanging on
heavy air of late summer.
Pigeons flee.
We seea scarecrow
foolishly extending dead arms to the empty sky.
Peace
Full of life and busy sounds
stealthily conquering the green fields.
Wars
Conducted in sunny silence
as spider eats fly
and cat
mouse.Now nature lives.
***
Summer 1971
Envy
Fireflies
Dancing in the evening sunglow.
Weaving an intricate pattern.
Hovering, diving, soaring.
Avoiding a crash with a neighbourin the nick of time.
Free to move where they will
without interference from their betters.
Would I were a firefly now!
***
Autumn 1972
The Road
The Road is long
and flocked with travellers going one way.
Starting with empty pockets and minds,
following the path, simply because
There is no other.....
....at first.
Gathering wayside flowers and weeds.
Pricked and stungwith wounds that sometimes never heal.
A side turning appears.
Some turn off to restand never return.
Others glance in
and are not interested.
Soon
snowdrops and crocuses
daffodils and gardenias
are to be seen no more
The scent of roses
lingers everywhere.
Passions die a little
but the pace is just as fast.
Only when the travellers
are stuffed with autumn's fruit
and weary
Does the wind of relaxation and tolerance
blow across the road in strong gusts;
Sweeping some off their feet;
Forcing others into sheltered side-lanesfrom which they never return.
The Road is long
and no-one knows
the tavern at the end
used as a rumour
To encourage the slow stragglers
and foot-weary.
Yes, the Road is long...
***
23 July 1973
Sound of a Music Box (song)
In the well, the voices are calling,
they're calling for more wine.
While, up above, it's easy to see
that the people have no sign.
Round and round, a wide whirling circle
which leads us to God-knows-where.
If you reach up and try to touch it
your mind will turn and stare.
Come with me, your body will shatter
and scatter, upside-down.
Oh - never mind - the water is coming
so let's all go and drown.
***
University of Surrey, 18th November 1973
Shadows
The trees sleep tonight;
hiding their weary limbs
in the mist of darkness
cloaking everything.
Darkness; lending poor protection
to Lazy Night.
No match for the Sun Warrior;
stealer of darkness, weariness and sleep.
***
Easter 1971
Soul mate
You are gazing
into a world where I have no place.
What are you thinking?
Who are you?
We are strangers.
To you, I do not exist.
Although I am willing you to look towards me...you do not know.
And I know that this is the closest
we will ever be.
How sad it is that such promise of bliss
can never even begin to exist.
And yet, we are bound together;
We both do not belongto that loud world
of flashing colour and music.
You do not dance.
You neither drink nor smoke this eveningas we meet and do not meet.
There is a barrier between us.
A barrier of time and of not-knowing.
A bond of boredom and of not-belonging.And I am left with a feeling that it could have worked.
Who knows?
***
University of Surrey, 6th February 1975
The tree
It stands alone out there;
Arms offered to the sky.
It doesn't know its raison d'êtreas all else passes by.
The countryfolk all know the tree
and rest beneath its shade.
Mute promise scratched in shady bark
remembers boy and maid.
The wheels of Time have cycled past,
with War and Peace astride.
Summer, Winter, Spring and Fall;
to leave no scars inside.
I've wandered through the fields of Fate
and been all I could be;
But should, perhaps, have been the Tree
and let all come to me.
***
University of Surrey - Autumn Term 1974
Conclusion
The sun has gone
and fizzled out
in a dozy, cosy, red-brown sky.
From blinding orb
to sunken glow
in one slow swoop.
Taking regretful leave of absence
but, showing in its ruddy wake,
Promise of a bright tomorrow.
***
22nd January 1973
Loneliness is:
Eating and eating - and swearing to diet tomorrow.
Always being ready to go somewhere - with nowhere to go alone.
A feeling of nothingness - in the pit of your stomach.
Being unreasonably hurt - when someone forgets your name.
Getting all dressed up - to go to the library.
The more people you meet - the lonelier you feel.
Not wanting to do anything in particular - but feeling lost when there's nothing to do.
Having nothing to say - to your boyfriend.
Looking forward to sleeping - but not to tomorrow.Feeling so fed up.
***
University of Surrey - Autumn 1974
Cocksure
He struts the stage.
An ape made-to-measure;reciting the split infinitive,
the ludicrous soliloquy(oh, 'qui' is he silly for?)
calls on the Gods
and all the Powers that Be;
His variegated lurex garb
a mockery to the occasion.
He cannot call forth the fire in me
as I leave by the fire-exit.
***
Winter 1972
Boredom
Snail on a hill-top;
Mountainous range;
Acres of diamonds;
Wise old sage.People are wondering;
Looking up high;
Searching for something;
Hidden in the sky.No-one who goes there
Thinks he'll come back;
No-one who bows there
Thinks of the lack;but
Snails on a hill top;
Scraping the soil;
Know all to be found thereIs ...all.
p.s. Dear Reader...
Please remember that the ravings of a lunatic reflect the ignorance of man.***
University of Surrey - Spring Term 1975
Lines written whilst the girls are chattering
Sitting on the present,
and feeling to be following the past;
Though I'm away from tomorrow,
on a cloud I'm holding back;
Nodding acquiescence to a mood of boredom.
Anywhere but here and now would be delightful -
and more so - if it wasn't me;
Trapped in easy deception and depressed disillusion.
Being other than what they think;and not trying what I know I am.
Carbohydraholic catastrophe, sitting in your chair;
Just make the effort and you too will be there!***
14th March 1973
I am
I, am
A piece of the future;
A many-sided, leftover product of the past;
But, most of all,I am, now.
***
University of Surrey - May 1977
Satisfaction
Point at the sky.
What do you see?
Clouds hanging heavy, so ominously;
A patchwork of oranges, sky-blues and grey.
Let's go home for tea.
That's enough for today.***
Summer 1971
Complacency
You look ...... but you do not see.
You try ....... but you'll never be.
I am .......... what I am is me.10th March 2004It is ......... it will never change.
Life is ....... an eternal thing.
The End ....... means to start again.***
Beside the Pilgrims Way
There is a hill above a market town.
On that hill, a place of learning.
In that place are many courts.
In those courts are many people.
Of those people, many snaps.
Many snaps, many people.
Many people find those snaps.
Snaps of people,
on a hill,
above a town,
beside the Pilgrims Way.
www.uossnaps.co.ukALL POEMS COPYRIGHT winnie caw 2004
Selection of Vol. II @ Going Down the White Hill - Poems 1989 - 1996
Selection of Vol. III @ Bus Stops - Poems 1996 - 2002
