Thursday Poetry 64 - For Football Fans

 A chunk of history that continues to develop today but not necessarily in the direction that one would expect or want. 

Roker Park 

For Football Fans

 

'Possess yer soul in patience lad',

me mam was getting fed up,

I’ d been worked up for two years,

‘Get ready’, music to the youthful ears.

 

Like a religion for me dad,

part of life’s simple rich routine,

havin worked hard all week,

nee great reward for ordinary men to seek.

 

At last judged a big enough lad,

today the day when I could gan wi’im,

a pilgrimage across toon ter Roker Park,

to the magical stage where The Lads lark.

 

Even the bus ride - great wi’ me dad,

the 103 thundered into Park Lane,

and then would begin the rapid lang walk,

passed Saturday shoppers with their excited talk.

 

‘Can yer slow down a bit Dad,’

a mantra repeated a hundred times,

as he strode on towards our ultimate goal,

driven by the need to escape king coal.

 

‘Are they all gannin ter the match Dad?’

of men in flat caps waakin’ the same way,

we have to gan early to get yer a spot,

so yer can see iv'ry brilliant pass and shot.

 

A’ve nivver seen so many people dad,

thousands comin’ t’gether to watch the play,

and only a couple a bob to get in the ground,

‘just wait till yer hear the cheering sound.’

 

It’s called the Roker Roar lad,

yer’ll understand why very soon son,

the red and white clad warriors take the stage,

the uncorked sound burst like a demented rage.

 

Haway its time to gan yem lad,

but there’s still ten minutes to gan,

we can catch the Economic ter Park Lane son,

that saved me legs from another lang run.

 

Sit down and eat yer tea bonny lad,

pie and peas ter replenish energy debt,

but nowt can detract from match day,

even intervening years that’ve gone away.

  

Nowadays it’d be hard to fathom dad,

all the money, celebrity and drama,

nee longer a community relievin’ recreation,

but sadly a rapaciously fiscal operation.

©David L Atkinson October 2024 

God Bless 

Writing - Where are you at?

 One of the earliest pieces of writing advice I stumbled across was the oft repeated 'write from where you're at'. Writing is such a personal activity, so it is hard not to write from a personal perspective. Dickens' privations due to his father's financial difficulties generated many of his works. 

I believe that if as a writer you have a message then that is why you have the desire to write. Denying that urge may detract from the finished product. Of course, when Dickens was writing he had fewer publishers/agents to impress. Nowadays, you have to find an agent who then has to sell your work to a publisher but if either of those don't agree that your work is marketable then your chances of success are zero. 

When I began writing I thought my idea of Steele was okay, but my writing was raw and as hard as I tried I collected many rejection slips. That led me to self-publish with limited success but in all fairness, I didn't have the desire to continue and eventually settled to writing poetry. 

One of my moments of demotivation was when I read a famous footballer's autobiography. As he is famous, he'd have no difficulty getting published. His name got him his opportunity as his fans were an existing market that the publishers couldn't resist. However, the book is, in my opinion, poor at best. Of course, that generated scotoma in my mind and it seemed that every news programme had a piece on some celebrity that had written a book! Trading on the fan base of existing celebrities is fiscally sound but artistically it's a dampener for the rest of us. 

So, writing poetry was always a love of mine as I like sending messages. It is a more immediate method of exercising that writing muscle. You have to write the things you feel, in the best way you can. 

God Bless 

Poetry Thursday 63 - Bonny lad

'Bonny lad' in the mackem area of the northeast used to be quite enigmatic. On the one hand, it was a friendly term of address, but with a glare and change of tone, there is no disguising the threat level. In this case it is the former. The poem represents many of the evenings spent at home in the late fifties early sixties. 

Mam (01/07/1922 - 24/10/2012)

Bonny Lad

 

Lock the door bonny lad,  

we’re gannin neewhere else t’neet,

the wind’s blowin’ a gale outside,

like banshees out for the divil’s ride.

 

Safe and warm inside bonny lad,

Nowt ter drag us into the street,

bank the fire up with good steam coal,

me man’s late evenin’ final role.

 

Not a neet for the club bonny lad,

save that for a weekend treat,

anyway there’s a good programme on the telly,

patience man there’s summat warm for yer belly.

 

Put the kettle on bonny lad,

we’ll have a cuppa and summat sweet,

haway son, bed, its school tomorrer,

yer can read the libry books yer borrow.

 

Night night God bless, bonny lad,

love you with every heartbeat,

 sweet dreams and peaceful rest always,

with you until the end of wer days.

©David L Atkinson October 2024 

God Bless 

Writing - Painting with Words

 As a teenager, I read a number of Alistair MacLean novels. He wrote 'Guns of Navarone' among many others but the first to stick in my mind was a WWII epic called HMS Ulysses. The story is good but the word pictures of the sea conditions stayed with me and encouraged me to read more of his stories. So the power of description must never be underrated. 

Blurb: The story of men who rose to heroism, and then to something greater, HMS Ulysses takes its place alongside The Caine Mutiny and The Cruel Sea as one of the classic novels of the navy at war.

It is the compelling story of Convoy FR77 to Murmansk – a voyage that pushes men to the limits of human endurance, crippled by enemy attack and the bitter cold of the Arctic. 

In fact, the blessed interweb has a plethora of suggestions on how to paint with words. I picked out the following, not because I thought it was the best, but rather it gave the advice to consider writing as an art form. 

1. Treat writing as an art form.

2. If you don't feel that you have the right word keep looking. 

3. Emphasise action words. 

4. Strike a balance between description and prompting readers' own imaginations. 

5. Seek opportunities to improve your writing skills. 

Not a definitive list but generally good advice. In the last point, I suggest writing poetry because in doing so you are using description and emotion to express yourself. Both are excellent ways of engaging with any reading audience. 

The act of translating our experiences into words helps release pent-up feelings, giving us valuable insights into ourselves and opening the flow of creativity. 

God Bless 

Poetry Thursday 62 - The Poet

 Sometimes it is necessary to experiment with self-reflection and voices. What emerges is different. I came across the following definition of a poet:- 

Poet: A writer or author (The title is usually reserved for writers of good poetry.)

I continued chasing what was meant by 'good poetry' and the bottom line is that it is subjective. In other words in the hands of the receivers so keep writing folks.

The Poet

 

I have rarely met the poet myself,

as he hides from that place on the shelf,

quite familiar with techniques and forms,

not lacking experience in what performs.

 

From the Land of the Prince Bishops’,

unfashionably beautiful countryside backup,

plethora of inspiration to generate words,

as plentiful as a murmuration of birds.

 

A darker view spawns negative feelings,

associated with human dealings,

generating a hackier mood,

the poet may tend to brood.

 

A walk on the sand or plodgin’ in the sea,

massages the senses to set the poet free,

from any darkening influences,

and bugger the consequences.

 

But it’s the people that really count,

we need to deal in some amount,

to engage our range of emotions,

and translate the interactions.

 

The poet finds the equations can be prickly,

leaving the psyche rather sickly,

researching types of avoidance behaviour,

providing alternatives as a saviour.

 

The natural world provides sanctuary,

in its wealth of colour and variety,

with the uncluttered nature of species,

and their obvious biological abilities.

 

Looking for dolphins from the pier,

smartly dressed with their superior sneer,

as if aware of human failings,

yet prepared to indulge in occasional savings.

 

Eating winkles with a pin from a hut on the front,

dodging noisy herring gulls on the hunt,

for scraps falling from our table,

fish ‘n chips the inappropriate staple.

 

Loving the ebb and flow of sound,

marvelling at power as waves pound,

sighing of relief from sand and pebbles,

as sea recedes gathering for the next battles.

©David L Atkinson October 2024 

God Bless 

Writing - 14th October

 The history of the date is quite significant from several occurrences going back as far as 1066. The Norman conquest began way back then on this date. 

In 1322 Robert the Bruce defeated Edward II at the Battle of Old Byland forcing Edward to accept Scotland's independence. 

For writers everywhere, Winnie the Pooh appeared in 1924 in a collection of stories by A. A. Milne. The character was created when a teddy bear was bought in Harrods, London alongside visits to bears in London Zoo. The first story was commissioned by the London Evening News to be published on Christmas Eve 1925. 

A. A. Milne

Alan Alexander Milne was an English writer best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh, as well as for children's poetry. Milne was primarily a playwright before the huge success of Winnie-the-Pooh overshadowed all his previous work. 

A. A. Milne wrote stories about Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends for his son, Christopher Robin, after he heard Christopher use voices for his toys while playing with them. A. A. Milne named the boy in the book Christopher Robin too! 

Stories can be generated from anywhere and for a plethora of reasons. There isn't a formula for success because sources of stories are infinite. We tend to hear about the quirky beginnings but my opinion is that there is no one formula to guarantee success. You just have to keep trying. 

“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.”

A. A. Milne 

God Bless 

Poetry Thursday 61 - Consequences

 Our current age could be described in Yorkshire, England as 'slack set up'. We no longer seem to allow disappointment at sub-optimal performance. As individuals, it is also okay to have some pride in the successful completion of even the most basic tasks. 

Consequences

 

A man failed to complete a task,

a job within his skillset,

his group have to do more than asked,

without a display of upset.

 

Another man failed to complete a task,

a job within his skillset,

his group have to do even more than asked,

without a display of upset.

 

At last a man completed the activity,

within his skillset but suffering injury,

the job is completed rather sketchily,

one of the group suffering accidentally,

because others failed to perform adequately.

©David L Atkinson October 2024 

God Bless