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merwoman

merwoman
Location
Corbett, Oregon, US
Birthday
June 15
Title
Hippie Chick
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OS #2421
Bio
I'm a 40-something therapist living in one of the most beautiful places on earth. I'm also the chief critter-wrangler in a household that currently includes Abby the Border Collie, Collin the Aussie, Chance the Persian, Lizzie the Tortie, Mouse the Manx mix, and Jeffrey the husband. >^..^< I've been described as a bleeding heart liberal hippie do-gooder. Probably a pretty accurate description. :)

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MARCH 3, 2009 3:25AM

Open Call - Poetry

Rate: 8 Flag

 

Well, I tried, but I just couldn't do it, I had to post more than one.

 The first poem, I discovered in a poetry class my freshman year of college. It was a lot closer to the time, then, and it hit pretty hard. From Wiki:

The Ballad of Birmingham is a poem written by African-American poet Dudley Randall (1914-2000). The poem was inspired by the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama that resulted in the death of four young girls.

The Ballad of Birmingham by Dudley Randall

"Mother dear, may I go downtown
Instead of out to play,
And march the streets of Birmingham
In a Freedom March today?"

"No, baby, no, you may not go,
For the dogs are fierce and wild,
And clubs and hoses, guns and jails
Aren't good for a little child."

"But, mother, I won't be alone.
Other children will go with me,
And march the streets of Birmingham
To make our country free."

"No, baby, no, you may not go,
For I fear those guns will fire.
But you may go to church instead
And sing in the children's choir."

She has combed and brushed her night-dark hair,
And bathed rose petal sweet,
And drawn white gloves on her small brown hands,
And white shoes on her feet.

The mother smiled to know that her child
Was in the sacred place,
But that smile was the last smile
To come upon her face.

For when she heard the explosion,
Her eyes grew wet and wild.
She raced through the streets of Birmingham
Calling for her child.

She clawed through bits of glass and brick,
Then lifted out a shoe.
"O, here's the shoe my baby wore,
But, baby, where are you?"


 The second is a war poem. From Wiki:

"Dulce et Decorum Est" is a poem written by English soldier and poet Wilfred Owen in 1917, during the First World War, and published posthumously in 1920. Owen's poem is known for its horrifying imagery and its condemnation of war. It was drafted at Craiglockhart in the first half of October 1917 and later revised, probably at Scarborough but possibly Ripon, between January and March 1918. The earliest surviving manuscript is dated 8 Oct 1917 and addressed to his mother Susan Owen with the message "Here is a gas poem done yesterday, (which is not private, but not final)".

 At the end of the poem, I've added a picture of the Dulce Et Decorum Est plaque at the Indiana War Memorial in Indianapolis. Reading it there, in that place, was heartbreaking. 

 Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs,
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots,
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame, all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of gas-shells dropping softly behind.

Gas! GAS! Quick, boys! - An ecstasy of fumbling
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time,
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime. -
Dim through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams before my helpless sight
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin,
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs
Bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, -
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori
.

(The title and the Latin ending are taken from Horace (Odes iii 2.13) and translate to "How sweet and fitting it is to die for one's country.")

 

Dulce Et Decorum Est - Complete Plaque

 


The third poem is also a bit grim...and also about war...wow. Apparently I am tapping into my dark goth side tonight! Wiki again:

The Charge of the Light Brigade was a disastrous charge of British cavalry led by Lord Cardigan against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava on 25 October 1854 in the Crimean War. It is best remembered as the subject of a famous poem entitled The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, whose lines have made the charge a symbol of warfare at both its most courageous and its most tragic.

 The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
"Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns!" he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

"Forward, the Light Brigade!"
Was there a man dismayed?
Not though the soldier knew
Some one had blundered:
Their's not to make reply,
Their's not to reason why,
Their's but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.

Flashed all their sabres bare,
Flashed as they turned in air
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army, while
All the world wondered:
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right through the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reeled from the sabre-stroke
Shattered and sundered.
Then they rode back, but not,
Not the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed at with shot and shell,
While horse and hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came through the jaws of Death
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.

When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wondered.
Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred!


And last (and only because I am being very strict with myself--I could keep this up all night, and god forbid I pull out the poetry collections!), a Frost poem that may not be celebratory, but is at least not GRIM. :)

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost

 

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

 

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A great selection, merwoman, I hadn't seen either of the first two before, the Owen in particular is stunning
i love all of these. the robert frost and tennyson's "charge" in particular are two poems i've loved since i was a kid. rated, and may i add, there's never anything wrong with embracing your inner goth.
Bio:`You a good hippie therapist with a beehive hair-dew. huh?
Poems are therapy. Before the blog read days, I'd browse poems.
There are some great bedtime fare. Robert Louis Steven's? Love?
`Child's Garden of Verses. And, sometimes sad, Dietrich Bonhoffer?
Lately, his poem:`Who am? It has been buzzing in my cranial cavity!
`
I think of Eugene Field's, Wynkin, Blynken and Nod. Maybe blame the Moon?
Wynken, Blyken, and Nod one night
Sailed off in a wooden shoe -
Sailed on a river of crystal light,
Into a sea of dew.
`Where are you going, and what do you wish?
The old moon asked the three,
`We have come to fish for the herring fish
That live in this beautiful sea;
Nets of silver and gold have we!'
Said Wynken,
Blyken,
And Nod. (google the rest?)
`
It's always good to hear the poet. Who needs a fax, cell phone, and other dead-letter exchanges? Poets share a message. O, a moon is beautiful? It sometimes cast a radiating glow on the patch of white snow.
Earlier tonight it was crescent, and went down beyond a mountain.
Do you ever wish Ya could go out at night and sing:`Come out little babies won't you come out tonight and we'll all dance to the light of the moon?
This morning is real dark. Not even a shadow. These are dark days

O, indeed, Moon. My Mommy said, huh.
O, come outs little Moon babe, won't Ya? huh.
O, sweethearts, and we might change something?
O, maybe change each others sweet under panty?
O, just teasing. Winking, Blinking, and Noddings?
The Owen poem is one of my all-time favorites. Whenever I'm at one of those "open mic" nights where people are reading favorite poems, that's the one I read.
Do you know the work of Mary Oliver? Here's one by her that I love:

Poppies
Mary Oliver

The poppies send up their
orange flares; swaying
in the wind, their congregations
are a levitation

of bright dust, of thin
and lacy leaves.
There isn't a place
in this world that doesn't

sooner or later drown
in the indigos of darkness,
but now, for a while,
the roughage

shines like a miracle
as it floats above everything
with its yellow hair.
Of course nothing stops the cold,

black, curved blade
from hooking forward—
of course
loss is the great lesson.

But I also say this: that light
is an invitation
to happiness,
and that happiness,

when it's done right,
is a kind of holiness,
palpable and redemptive.
Inside the bright fields,

touched by their rough and spongy gold,
I am washed and washed
in the river
of earthly delight—

and what are you going to do—
what can you do
about it—
deep, blue night?
I love your selections. The first brought tears to my eyes. The other two were stunning. Robert Frost- He is one favorites. Love the one of his' you selected.
Thank you
I've only ever read like 4 poems in my life and you posted 3 of them. Rated for a great display of your telepathic superpowers.
What a great collection of poems. The first gave me shivers. And the war poems--so brilliantly intense (without going too far overboard; how do they do it? And rhyming. And metered!). And Frost, always amazing. Your post inspired me to respond to the prompt on my blog too... ;-)
I agree with RJ, the Owen is so powerful. And this quote from Tennyson - sadly, never outmoded..."Someone had blundered: Their's not to make reply, Their's not to reason why, Their's but to do and die." Still moving, still reminding us we never seem to learn.

Thanks for these riches upon riches!
Roy, thank you for stopping by. The Owen piece is really powerful. The Indiana War Memorial in Indianapolis has a plaque of Dulce Et (I added a picture above), which was particularly powerful.

Nana, thank you for telling me it's OK to get my goth on. ;)

Arthur, thank you so much for visiting! I haven't heard /read Wynkin, Blynken, and Nod in years, and I enjoyed the reminder.

FLW, I had not seen that poem before. The imagery is delicious. Thank you. :)

Sao Kay and fireeyes, thank you for stopping by. I'm glad you enjoyed the selections.

One Bark, I promise I will try to use my telepathic superpowers for good instead of evil. ;)

Ginny, I'm glad you like. I'll be trying to get over to read yours today. It's been such a busy week so far, I haven't made it most of the blogs I've got bookmarked!

Feathered Thing, I'm so glad you did this Open Call. It's been delightful. :)
Very good choices. You found my old history teachers' fav, with Mr. Frost :)
I really liked the first one, but enjoyed the other two, and just love Robert Frost. You've inspired me to post some poetry later.
Victor, I was surprised that your history teacher's favorite poem wouldn't be about something...well...historical! He has good taste, though. :)

latethink, thank you for stopping by, and I'm glad you enjoyed the selection. :)