A Pile of Poems

For the poetry module of my creative writing course we had to submit a mini-collection of our own poems for assessment. So, while compiling them, I thought I'd show my avid blogollowers (no, I don't think it will catch on either) a mini-collection of my poetry mini-collection. Hope you like them. Any feedback would of course be greatly appreciated.

The Man in the Mirror

The Mirror hangs on the wall

Above the fireplace

Ornate and oblong with golden frame

And decorative jewels

This attic room is layered in the dust of ages

But not the mirror

I am fascinated by it

Without knowing why

When I turn my head to look away

I get my answer

The Man in the Mirror

He doesn’t move an inch

The Blackbird

The blackbird sits on the gravestone

With eyes alert

Protector of the Dead

Or searching for bread crumbs

The Guard

My place is in the corner of the gallery

I am the first to see the visitors as they arrive

They never give me more than a glance

I see them peering at each artwork

With either intellectual passion or faux interest

I am alone with the pieces during the quiet of the night

I sometimes think the painted, sculpted eyes will move

But I know it is impossible

I have been trying to for years

And damn this nagging itch I can’t reach!

The above are all free-verse poems as we mainly focussed on modern poetry but anyone who likes their poetry to rhyme I hope you enjoy this one:

A Sonnet in Scarlet

Eighteen Ninety Five, London laced with fog

An impossible crime in a locked room

Is made, seen by no one caught in the smog

Lestrade will be lost, no solution looms

And, what’s more, a strange cipher by his side

Is this the work of James Moriarty,

A name which makes policemen run and hide?

I’m at the scene but have a friend with me

Domed head, drawn face, deerstalker and clay pipe

He’s mastered the science of deduction

His calculating mind is always ripe

But drug habits cause his self-destruction

The best and wisest man whom ever lived

Sherlock Holmes, the World’s Greatest Detective

And, finally, for those who like experimental poetry, here's one made from cut-and-pasting (yup, really). I had two newspaper articles and alternately used a phrase from each article to form the lines of this poem:

News of the Day

Officials insist

The collsions created

Were not reckless

Particle physicists are

Creating widespread shortages

In supersymetry

The political storm

Transmits the weak nuclear force

Potentially jeopardizing safety

The like would be a serious headache

Forget the rules

The lack of imminent threat

In two dimensional layers

Would be awkward and perverse

Aaaaand, for those of you who don't like poetry at all you may be consoled with the fact this will probably be the last poetry post on this blog for a while -if ever - as I don't plan on doing the form again in my university course.

Happy times and places; see you in April, folks!