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Poems come from all kinds of places. This one is the result of a visit to our good friend Sarah Flynn. Her late husband, Dave Ellis, made the painting that is on the front page of my blog. Sarah had just acquired a new dog from The Dog’s Trust and we were witnessing her settling in. The following day, we texted to check how the night went. The text that Sarah sent by way of reply simply demanded a treatment. So here it is. Read, share, enjoy and let me know what you think.
Newly Arrived (A found poem for Sarah and Mindi)
Woke at seven thirty
breakfast for two followed
by forty-minute walk
slowed by investigation
all territory re-marked
in the usual manner.
House restructured
to accommodate
needs of new friend, water
plants, a social
event that includes
repeated marking.
First rest of the day
needed to recover
from morning outburst
then immediately
short trial separation
first test of commitment.
Fifteen minutes later
anxious expectant eyes
greet from the other
side of the front door
a great relief all round
reunion a happy one.
Noises provoke a few
barks, new security
in place, the contract sealed.
Peter Clarke
8th July 2018
Comments
Marguerite
08.07.2018 22:08
Are you sure Mindi didn't write this, someone was seeing a new world. Dan brea, a Pheadair
Clíodhna
08.07.2018 21:13
Lovely!
Debra
08.07.2018 17:56
Very cute - bonding of hound and human!
Latest comments
25.11 | 22:15
Grief is experience through the mundane. Simple but powerful. The accompanying image really compliments the poem.
07.11 | 11:14
Hi Peter,
A great observation! Social media can be a scary place... I also need to reduce my time there
Hugs,
John.x
06.11 | 16:24
A great one, Peter, in the context you describe. I don't read social media myself, I doubt my equilibrium could stand it. 'The balance of his mind disturbed' yes, I think it would be.
06.11 | 15:59
Yes, gossip is a weapon of mass destruction.
In my business as well as personal life I have zero tolerance.
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And What About . . .
I have neglected this for far too long, and now it is time again. But what to write about, what poem to share? The world is packed with catastrophic possibilities. Such choices: dementia/genocide colluder or extreme narcissism in the White House; a hung parliament in the UK; the reunification of the USSR with a tyrannical megalomaniac at its head; the eradication of a race by a genocidal government in Gaza; the African continent reduced to bankruptcy and regression to male tribalism; in Ireland, even with an appalling electoral turnout the routing of the far right and Sinn Féin may offer some comfort except we face another FF/FG fiasco. Mother Nature rumbles on its rampage, raging against the human species’ abject destruction of the planet’s habitat. What the . . .
Being facetious right now is my only defence against absolute despair. So read, comment, pass it on, and send feedback.
City Walking and Cycling take 680,000
cars per day off the road
Irish Time Heading
More and more folk, cycling and walking, may
keep gases from greenhouses further at bay
This newspaper heading illustrates vividly
thousands of cyclists and walkers assiduously
stopping some cars on their journey
pushing them aside - making drivers quite surly
Mountains of metal - like scrapyards of sculpture
keep bicycle lanes quite safe - at this juncture
The new revolution is well underway
don’t get behind wheels - hear what they say:
Cars and their fumes play a very big part
the smell is quite phew don’t mention cow farts
Wear out your shoe leather walking
greet travellers with smiles while you’re talking
Force councils to make better spaces
to go out and about roaming those places
where vitamin D, and oxygen from trees
fill our lungs and our brains so we see
how to save us and this magical planet
except for some vicious old tyrants goddammit
Peter Clarke, 18th March 2024
