Tag Archives: poetry

Encountering echos of a theme or thought, feels like reinforcement.  Layers being put in place, creating a pattern and a sense of order.  It seems significant when a visible thread links chance encounters.  Once I came across 3 different references to Socrates and his bowl of hemlock in about as many days, if I were superstitious I would probably have …

This morning we are going to Clifford’s friend Bronwen’s funeral, she was tragically killed in a car accident.  Just weeks ago while we were staying in the Natal Midlands, Clifford took Fjord to Pietermaritzburg Museum where Bronwen worked as a curator.  She took him on a personal tour of the museum and he came home awed with all that he …

Unchained Savour The unspoken word That which defies noun and verb Thoughts may elude alphabet chains Where voice fails the eye explains

Obviously looking at old photographs, is not good for my psyche.  I wrote this last night after looking for photos for Fjord’s school project. Still the message is, you only have one life, each moment is invaluable.  I must always, at all times, live in the now and appreciate all.  Let the sun never set on a wasted day.  Cliche …

Today I must have heard a bit of a pop song on the radio, I have no idea what the words were but I walked around singing something to a similar rhythm and made up my own words.  So here is a love poem to my husband written to the tune of something that I’m darned sure he would never …

The fires raging in the Western Cape, reminded me of a day in August 1999 witnessing a forest fire.  In my days as a single mother, living in Natal, I often drove inland to the Valley of 1000 hills.  On one of these trips I stopped the car to take in the awe full destruction of a forest fire.  The …

The  problem with the poetry of Sylvia Plath is that she can take a perfectly good day and throw a big black blanket over your sun.  Her ability to change mood bears testimony to her genius, but because she is so adept, I go long, long gaps without reading her work.   Tonight I stumbled upon a web page audio of …

ANNOUNCEMENT 1 March 2015, the winner of this competition is Mabasa Zimunya, congratulations!  Our judge had a tough time choosing a winner.  Look out for our next competition.  Thank you to all those who submitted work. Here is Mabasa’s winning poem Cupid, the sniper   (11 Feb 2015) Cupid must be the world’s finest sniper. Blindfolded, radarless With an unguided rudimentary …

A while ago I wrote about the formation of Durban’s Live Poets Society (LiPS) and my time with the group. I asked Brett Beiles to write about the years when he took the reigns. This is his story. LiPSomania Brett Beiles Convenor: January 2002-August 2007 Poetry helps to concentrate the mind, crystallise emotion and distil the spirit. These processes make …