World Poetry Day

In celebration of World Poetry Day, several of our authors share examples of short poems.

First up, we have two brilliant poems – 'My Time' and 'For the Love of Abraham' – by honorary Authors Reach author, Terry Stephen Driscoll.

If you see me Picnicking

MY TIME

If you see me

Picnicking

with

Sticklebacks

and

Dragonflies

along by

Willo Brook

please

pass me by

by Terry Stephen Driscoll 

We carry not the loaded guilt

FOR THE LOVE OF ABRAHAM

  by Terry Stephen Driscoll 

We heed not to your borders

To boundaries we are blind

Marked by ancient prophets

or policed by humankind

We carry not the loaded guilt 

of history’s darkest days

When Lords of war and genocide

let blood achieve their ways

Where are all the wailing tears

that each of us should cry 

As our brothers and our sisters

and their helpless children die

How lame are the excuses that

our faiths must take the blame

We all have different voices

Our songs are not the same

Power hinders harmony

when despots rule the lands

The hope for all our prayers is that

our Gods walk hand in hand

From these our mortal pedestals

To those who give a damn

We call upon your conscience

for the love of Abraham

by Terry Stephen Driscoll

Young adult author Teresa Bassett shares two fun limericks, 'A Writer's Limerick' and 'A Sailor with a Will'.

Rejection may fester

A Writer’s Limerick:

In order to thrive as a writer

She’s also a spirited fighter

Rejection may fester

And money woes test her

Yet still her words thrill and excite her.

by Teresa Bassett

There was an old sailor called Keith...

A Sailor With A Will

There was an old sailor called Keith

Who didn’t have much to bequeath

His son got his boat

His daughter his coat

His wife got his set of false teeth

by Teresa Bassett

Young adult fantasy author and occasional poet Francesca Tyer shares a short verse 'Hounds of the Moon' and a war poem.

Hounds of the Moon

These are the hounds of the moon,

Creatures of the night,

Wild hunters of the darkening forests.

Silver coated lords, old grey men,

Thieves in ghostly packs,

Howling under the moonlit skies.

by Francesca Tyer

We fought for life and hope

Heroes to the End

Remember, for we are but dust beneath

the gilded canopy of night,

We, that never closed our eyes

against hope and the calling light.

Hand in hand with empty life and death,

Between turbulent sea and shore,

Dying heroes, living dead,

The dreamers that wake no more.

Amid wretched ashes of despair,

We fought for life and hope,

There, side by side as brothers stood

Upon dark and unknown slopes.

When the golden hours of sunset fall,

We rise from our graves of mud,

For we walk on England’s green again,

In poppy fields which bore our blood.

by Francesca Tyer

Last but not least, Richard Hardie offers 'Three Dogs', an amusing poem that won the International Poet of Merit award in 2003 with the International Society of Poets.

Three dogs we've had

Three Dogs

    Three dogs we've had with furry ears

    In total lasting forty years

    The current one, young cocker chap

    Is often prone to have a crap

    And never where it should take place

    It's often hid without a trace

    Until you walk in corners dark

    He'll stop you with a warning bark

by Richard Hardie

Happy World Poetry Day everyone!