Category Archives: Poems

I can see clearly now my specs are on

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Was discussing my appalling eyesight with some friends at work the other day when one of them said I reminded her of a song lyric – my brain immediately went into parody mode and this is the result (with apologies and due credit to Jimmy Nash who, according to Wikipedia, wrote the original lyrics it’s based on):

I can see clearly now my specs are on

I can see clearly now my specs are on,
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone is the blurriness of being blind
It’s gonna be alright (right), alright (right) -
I see the way!

I think I can make it now, the headache’s gone
All of the missing things have reappeared
It’s the prescription I’ve been prayin’ for
It’s gonna be alright (right), alright (right) -
I see the way!

Looked all around, was nothin’ but fuzzy lines
Looked straight ahead, nothin’ but fuzzy lines

I can see clearly now my specs are on,
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone is the blurriness of being blind
It’s gonna be alright (right), alright (right) -
I see the way!

© Catherine Smith

My love is like a daffodil

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It’s been a while now since I’ve written any poetry, or anything for that matter (combination of being busy with other things and just generally not having anything leap out at me to write about) so when it was decided to hold a Valentine’s themed poetry competition at work I thought I’d enter and see where it got me. Turns out, it got me first place, and I’m now the proud owner of a Love2Shop voucher as a result – go me! :D

I’ve pasted the poem below – it was one of those when the first line just sort of jumped into my head, which gave me an idea (in this case, that a parody of ‘My love is like a red, red rose’ but with a Welsh slant might be fun) and then the rest very quickly tumbled together, so it only took about ten minutes to write – ten minutes well spent as it happens!

My love is like a daffodil (with apologies to Robert Burns)

My love is like a daffodil
That’s newly sprung in Splott :
My love is like that Calon Lan
That’s sung by choirs a lot.

Aye, tidy you are, my lovely lad,
And much in love am I:
And I’ll adore you still, my boy,
Till Cardiff Bay runs dry.

Till Cardiff Bay runs dry, my boy,
And the barrage rusts with rain:
And I’ll adore you still, my boy,
While it rains, then rains again.

So hwyl fawr, for now, my love,
I must cross the Bridge a while!
But I’ll pay the toll to come on back,
Though it be to Barry Isle.

© Catherine Smith

Love Is…

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A short and sweet poem for this Creative Writing Ink exercise posted last week; I looked at the photo and this was the first thing that popped into my head, so I went with it :)

Love

Love (supplied by Creative Writing Ink)

Love Is…

Wandering the golden sands
beneath the setting sun,
content with life and holding hands,
with eyes for only one.

© Catherine Smith

Comments and feedback more than welcome :)

Up Here

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I’ve managed to fail at doing any Creative Writing Ink exercises for the last couple of weeks, but I really wanted to do this one, not just because of the stunning image, but because it brought back so many memories of a recent skiing holiday. There is nothing quite like being so high up that your view of the world is such that you could almost be looking at another planet, it’s that breathtaking.

Walker

Walker (supplied by Creative Writing Ink)

Up Here

Alone, up here, with the world far below,
I gaze in wonder at the endless sky.
To experience this! So few must know
how it feels to stand here, alone, so high.
To describe this sight, there are just no words…
Beautiful. Unworldly. A magic scene.
To be up so high, to look down on birds
and hear my own heartbeat, it’s that serene.
Stood here now, in awe, on top of the world
with nothing to break the unending view,
it’s as if I’m seeing the Earth unfurled,
a sight so old and yet, to me, so new.
I will never forget what this is like.
One last look, then on for the downward hike.

© Catherine Smith

Comments more than welcome as usual :)

Life’s Moments

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I seem to be on a bit of a roll at the moment, as I recently found out that a poem I entered into a free-to-enter competition run by United Press has been chosen for publication in their forthcoming anthology, ‘Life Begins’. Apparently I can still re-publish it wherever I want, so here it is:

Life’s Moments

Achieving some belts in a martial art.
Entering full time employment.
Finishing a race when it hurt from the start.
Time spent with friends in enjoyment.

Passing my test on the fourth attempt.
Finally learning to swim.
Buying a house, being free from rent.
Entering this comp on a whim!

So many moments have shaped my life,
had a say in who I am,
but the one that stands out is becoming a wife;
for me, this is where life began.

Life pre-husband was undoubtedly great,
perfectly adequate for one -
but life when lived with your true soulmate
is a hundred times more fun!

© Catherine Smith

Marriott Love Poems – Revisited. Again.

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Following on from this post and as promised in this one, I’ve now found out which of the two poems I entered were chosen as one of the winners, which means I can probably post the other one here :)

A young bride once walked down the aisle

A young bride once walked down the aisle,
the epitome of beauty and style.
When he clocked her, the groom
gave thumbs up to the room,
which didn’t half make his wife-to-be smile!

© Catherine Smith

This was actually my favourite of the two, but what do I know? Evidently, not very much! Anyway, thanks Marriott :)

Taxi! Taxi!

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I was wondering why a new Creative Writing Ink prompt hadn’t been put up for this week – turns out, the version of the site I normally go to hadn’t been updated, hence my somewhat late offering! This is the best my brain can manage in 15 minutes after a week at work:

London Taxi

London Taxi (supplied by Creative Writing Ink)

Taxi! Taxi!

Taxi! Taxi!
One hurries past but ignores my plight,
waiting alone in the dead of night.

Taxi! Taxi!
Try hailing again but they’re already taken
so I carry on trying, frustrated, forsaken.

Taxi! Taxi!
Anytime now I’ll be lucky, surely,
and a cabbie will come to take me to Horley.

Taxi! Taxi!
Right, that’s it, I’ve had enough,
as I head for the bus, in a right old huff!

© Catherine Smith

Comments welcome :)

Holiday Colours

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I would have posted this earlier but I was watching the wedding on TV – congrats William and Kate, it was lovely :)

My effort for this week’s Creative Writing Ink exercise is below, along with the pic that prompted it. The connection between the words and the image is quite a subtle one this time – rather than the subject of the image itself, it was the colouring that really grabbed me, along with the overall contintental theme. Quite a short and simple one this week:

Italian Street Sign

Italian Street Sign (supplied by Creative Writing Ink)

Holiday Colours

Red wine sipped at sunset by lovers holding hands.
Yellow sun shining down over wanderers on the sands.
Blue skies meet green hills meet white shores and sapphire seas.
Can we go on holiday now? Can we? Please?

© Catherine Smith

Comments welcome as usual :)

 

Sunset

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Yesterday was Monday, which means a new Creative Writing Ink prompt to tackle. It also means it’s not Monday anymore, which is good as I’m not a fan of Mondays. Unless they’re Bank Holiday Mondays, or coincide with when I’m on holiday – those kind of Mondays are allowed :D

Anyway, here’s this week’s effort, an ABC poem. I used to think that poetry had to be several stanzas long in order to be effective, and I did spend quite a while trying to come up with lines for a few more letters, but playing around with these different formats each week has taught me that less can be more. A lesson, I have no doubt, my old English and History teachers at school wished I had learned some time ago!

Countryside in sunset

Countryside (supplied by Creative Writing Ink)

Sunset

A summer’s day ending,
bidding farewell until dawn.
Cool night air descending;
dusk, to darkness til morn’.

© Catherine Smith

 

Feedback welcome, as usual :)

Raining Again

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Time for another Creative Writing Ink exercise! This week, a tanka, which as far as I can make out is a bit like a haiku in that it’s Japanese and involves lines of 5 and 7 syllables, but is less mean as it gives you two more lines to play with – that’s fourteen whole syllables! I must admit, my first thought when I saw this week’s image was of the Doctor Who episode where the shop mannequins all come alive and start attacking everyone (the blonde one has an evil glint in its eyes if you ask me!) but I’m not sure that was the intended effect so I came up with this instead:

Wet high street

Two for One (supplied by Creative Writing Ink)

Raining Again

Rain’s pitter patter;
high street bereft of chatter
and frantic spending
as it pours down, unending,
and evening gives way to night.

© Catherine Smith

As usual, comments are welcome – I must say, those I’ve received so far for other posts (apart from the spam, anyway) have been brilliant :D