Favourite Poem by Barrie

[cameron]

Barrie's family are keen to put together a collection of his poems (see previous message) - so if you'd like to make your suggestions here - please do.

Thanks
Cam

[cameron]

In the days when I used to pick all of the featured poems I was very impressed by both

Dead Dogs and Damselflies

Fresh Paint

(which I think Kris has already mentioned too).

[David]

This is going to mean rereading them all, isn't it. By no means an unattractive proposition, but I just don't fancy it just yet.

I will do it. But not yet.

Having said that, I can agree with Elph (elsewhere) - Moontarn is beautiful.

[Elphin]

Moontarn and Appletree spring to mind as being very much barrie poems.

Moontarn
Appletree

elph

[David]

Here are three nominated by Dave the Wab:

Passing By
Madman's Wisp
Earthturn

Passing By
Madman's Wisp
Earthturn

[Oskar]

Lunar should make the list. It is a poem that Barrie said he was fond of.

Lunar

[Raisin]

I've always loved Barrie's version of "From the sea".

From the Sea

[pseud]

He was the main poster in the Haiku Train, and there were some really good ones. I think it's up to the family though, and it would be good to see what others here think. Here were some of my favorites, though he easily had hundreds in there:


From the gravel's crunch,
the breaking of a snail's shell
makes hardly a sound.



the tax inspectors
charged the milestone inspectors
fifty pence per mile



stay way from cake
and stay away from traffic
both can cause weight gain



jewelled diadem
bejewelled triademus
whatever that means.



ripples on the Sea
who amongst us all can tell
the difference made



no stone age fondue,
common sense age overdue,
waiting forever.



the start of chopsticks
is a very old question.
Thick end or thinner?



So the experts say;
we know lots about little
little about lots.



Our internal mind
has bad claustrophobia -
time to let it out.

[pseud]

Moontarn, Fresh Paint, and Dead Dogs and Damselflies are classics, no question.

Red Lion Inn, Dunchurch, 5 November 1605

Gone

and though I only found this long after it was written surely there is a way to include this?

A Dog's Tale

[BenJohnson]

Surely the recently bumped Just Make Sure has to be in there as well.

[Lake]

As Elphin said "In recent months he has built quite a portfolio of musings on death", a section on this subject should be included. Here's a one:

A Very Pulmonary Poem

http://www.poetsgraves.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=8406&p=60087#p60087

And his last one on the forum:

A Meeting with the Almighty

http://www.poetsgraves.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=8576

and some others...

Thanks pseud for your good suggestions re the inclusion of his haiku.

[Lia]

I'd like to suggest these..

Pheasant Moon - viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3981

Tuning Worms - viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5336

Humphrey Head - viewtopic.php?f=3&t=4567

Burning Oak Tops - viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3933

[twoleftfeet]

I like Lia's selection a lot.

Don't forget this little gem either

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=7038

Geoff

[Ryder]

I was always fond of this poem, one of Barrie's earliest posts on the forum. Originally titled 'Gerald's Cross'. I never did find out who Gerald was. It also contains some of his beloved 'Unwinese'. A very animated poem.


Broken Crosses


i must go down to the graves again
where they put them when they die
all i ask is a hare lip and a shiny red glass eye
i hear the groofs they grittle down
the bedlam and the lamb
the red red fox the grey grey wolf and mrs barnetts pram
oh woe the cliffs they rocky steep
i climb the kerb so high
a star a star i bang my head
so hard that i must die
the graves my love i go to graves
my kingdom for a horse
my funeral costing six new pence
with a thrown in german course
false teeth bubble slow in china cup
my eye is glassy green
i look the whole world underneath
not a microbe to be seen
is this the end i yell out loud
my teeth fast in my foot
my foot replies its not the end
the sky so red and hot
oh bobby man oh bobby man
him ride him little trike
a fish a cat a letter box
for little spastic mike
he kill the cat with daddys axe
he axes daddy too
he axes mummy in the head
and does himself in too
oh mighty gerald on the cross
the world is upside down
i call a mouse an elephant
and a small black thorn
a crown

also: viewtopic.php?f=39&t=8852

[emuse]

A thousand threadlines shine
as spiderlings fasten the winds,
riding to random

What mysterious chords resound
when new spun strings
are strummed by sunlight
and the drifting autumn breeze.


______

There are more to suggest but this one I plucked out for the moment.

e

[juliadebeauvoir]

My favorite is Dead Dogs and Damselflies. But this one is an oldie and a goodie:

Now and Again.

Why do you grasp life
so tightly,
when its slightest swiftness
will sear your skin?
Let it play, like a silk rope,
cooling your palms
with damp autumns,
unfolding its patterns
as it is pulled home
by your birthstring,
completing the circle.

Do you intend
to go around again?