Poetry Competition

Poetry prompts.
Here's a competition for you. http://www.obheal.ie/blog/five-words-poetry-competition/
Make a poem out of the following five words:

triangle
tea
dystopia
alternate
straw

For Better or Worse

Times Past

What did we used to do
when we ran out of petrol
or the car broke down
or we were delayed on the way
to or fro?

Or when we wanted to know where they were
and when they'd be back
and whether they were safe
or sorry
or both?

When we wanted to say hello
but not actually chat?
Make a date, or a booking,
and cancel both?

We probably walked more and talked less
Thought more or less
Had more  time and space on our hands
Did something or nothing with it
It's probably neither better nor worse
Now than it was then
Though it seems to be

Copyright with Cathy Leonard 2018

Mistakes

Inspired by reading Afric McGlinchey's  The Lucky Star of Hidden things

We've all had a few of these.......

He Was

A Rhett Butler
with prehensile tail

A 2/1 favourite
on a bad day

A pomegranate
chemically pumped

A starlit night
in a fog

Potatoes
oxidated

The Alhambra
in the rain

Mimosa
imbibed for root bark

A Bluebeard
in sheep's clothing

He was
A mistake

Tagged

I'm not usually this serious...especially on a Friday...but here goes...

"The choice for mankind lies between freedom and happiness and for the great bulk of mankind,happiness is better." George Orwell

Return to Sender

Boomerangs, Brent Geese, Letters

Library books- used to be stamped-now bar coded,

Salmon, Password protected stuff-in theory,

Passports-to Department of Foreign Affairs- in theory,

Seasons, Bottles-used to be bottle caps,

Stale bread, Past sell- by- date produce,

In general, in theory.

Finds are no longer finds

These items belong to somebody

And can, with effort, be returned.

Cats once wandered, still do

But can’t stray, not really.

Mine has strayed three times

And been returned

Like the recalcitrant prisoner

Who dug the tunnel, only to find

The Microchip on the other side.

Not that he ain’t happy here!

But he just likes to chase a leaf or butterfly

Now and again

Or a bee on his buzz-crawl

Of the local brew

And finds himself beyond

What he knows.

It’s safer to be tagged, I hear you say,

And that’s true.

But what about you?

Never mind the CCTV,

DNA and the Social Identity Card,

Your smart phone, your car reg plate

Your flat screen, your lap top

All monitor your every move-thought.

1984 is here

Big Brother is watching

And  Where's Winston? Never mind Wally!

Doublethink? Double speak? Newspeak?

Sound familiar?

Copyright with Cathy Leonard 2018

Rejuvenation

In the Middle Ages they used wine-

I’d be up for that-

Doused, sated, soaked

Then let the shedding begin.

In Latin it means

To strip off leaves-

It happens naturally to us

Every day, anyway.

But to speed up renewal

Crush almond shells 

and administer to the flesh 

with finger nails.

Then stand in the sun

Where its crepuscular rays

Reflecting skin cells

Scatter light beams.

Like a Monstrance held high

In Exposition or Benediction

Pouring its blessings

Exfoliating you.

Copyright with Cathy Leonard 2018

And If......

If my mother had not gone to the Pictures that night

Or had gone to the Castle, instead of the Astor

If she had arrived five minutes later

My father would have been ahead of her in the queue,

and not behind,

And he would not have seen the fire in her hair

Catch the light of the evening sun

And if he had looked down at that epiphanic

Moment to retrieve a fallen coin

I would have been unconsummated

And if he had not followed her gaze

To the pair of shoes,

Or was it a handbag?

In McKinley’s shop window, and said,

“Would you like me to buy that for you?”

And if he had not startled her with his boldness

that unleashed laughter and not distain

My non- existence would have been ensured.

For it takes such fortuitous events

Such flukes in the passage of time

Such serendipities

To make us who we are.

Copyright with Cathy Leonard 2018

Irish Time

Irish Time

(To nobody of my acquaintance!)

When she says she’ll be here at 10

and it’s already 9.30

You know it’s just an aspiration.

She’ll have to run to the shops,

locate the cat,

let it in,

let it out,

walk the dog,

water the dahlias,

and finally, in the car,

she’ll remember- the immersion!

run back, turn it off,

and let the cat in again.

And you’ll have time to

bake a cake,

hoover the house,

plant seeds,

clean the bathroom,

write a poem,

wash the crockery,

do a handstand,

polish the cutlery,

and maybe even,

hopefully,

airbrush yourself.

And all you can think is-

Thank God she’s Irish!

Copyright with Cathy Leonard 2018

Galahad

Didn't you just love those teenage crushes!

Today on my city park walk

my heels crushed heather,

City heather, but heather all the same,

And I thought of you

In Northern climes

In olden times

On mountain paths

Leading a group of us

Beyond our stride,

Daring to make mountaineers

out of a bunch of Teens,

All with a crush on you-

Your bow- legs arching the sky

Hair- sun burnished

Knight- helmeted

Anorak- armoured

Galahad -clad

Following your Holy Grail.

Copyright with CathyLeonard 2018

Summer

There’s something mischievous

about summer. The way

It goes to our heads.

Upturns our routine.

Upends our days.

Sends us scampering  

to retrieve straw hats

that smell of Spain

and skirts that scatter

coconut in their train.

We stockpile factors

and balms and visors

and shades, as if

this reverse eclipse

will never end.

There’s something comforting

about its tail.

The fallen leaves, the night rain

The scarf to be donned

The head regained.

Copyright with Cathy Leonard 2018

Confessions

Inspired by John Corless' "Are You Ready"


When the row with the partner
has gone on for over a week
Are you ready?
To admit that it was you
who left his nearly- new
trousers in the dry cleaners
six months ago
and forgot to collect them.
That you stowed his passport
in a burglar proof stash
and can't remember where.
That you did open his mail
thinking that it might
involve you,somehow.
That you read his emails
all of them
when he so casually
left the page open.
And that's how you know
about you -know -what.
That you did wash
his favourite white tee-shirt
alongside a pair of red knickers
from Bargain Basement.
That you sold the unstrummed
unsung guitar on Done Deal,
and bought a foot spa
with the proceeds.
That you did vote for the turkey
in the 1997 Presidential election.
That you'd do it again
if he decided to run
next term.

Are you ready?

Copyright with Cathy Leonard 2018

The 99th Liffey Swim

To the Swimmer who nearly won the 99th Liffey Swim

If the tide’s not with you

You can’t win

And even though

You were in fine fettle

And your handicap was good

And the punters tipped you

As Odds-on-Favourite

And A -Sure-Thing

And even though you led

The shoal under Capel St. Bridge

Through The Millenium

To The Ha’penny Bridge

The tide was against you

And the sharks were nibbling

At your fins

And even though the crowd

Loves a front runner

A veteran Fish

That hasn’t missed a Liffey Swim

In over forty years

The young sharks were hungry

And unsentimental

And the tide was with them.

Copyright with Cathy Leonard 2018

http://www.leinsteropensea.ie/liffey-swim/