I've never shared any of my poetry outside of my OU course groups and tutors before, so I'm posting some here now in an attempt to motivate myself to write some more. These are the ones I've posted on my two Creative Writing courses that got the best feedback.
I left my umbrella behind (villanelle)
It hits my face and bites my skin,
the rain that lands upon me here
a dose of freezing medicine.
The dark clouds of its origin
are filling up the atmosphere.
It hits my face and bites my skin.
I'm running on adrenaline.
I've woken up, my mind is clear.
A dose of freezing medicine.
I feel it trickle down my chin,
a little river like a tear.
It hits my face and bites my skin.
The rain falls harder, cold as sin.
Now coming faster, more severe,
a dose of freezing medicine.
More slanting sheets of rain roll in.
The path ahead becomes unclear.
It hits my face and bites my skin,
a dose of freezing medicine.
The Cemetery (free verse)
The trees are living, but look dead
As I am, draped in shrouds of red
And gold, the mist a haunted haze
That chills each empty flowerbed.
The holly bushes are ablaze
With berries, burning through the greys
And greens and graves of Arnos Vale
Where I will always spend my days.
A hundred years ago, my tale
Was told, my song was sung; a veil
Was laid across my face, and I
Was laid to rest. But I prevail
And watch the people going by.
I very seldom see them cry.
They wander through, admire the view
Of monuments where people lie.
These tombs have been neglected through
The years, forgotten, and we who
Reside in them from year to year
Are choked by ivy, drowned in dew.
But now there is a woman here.
She passes by my grave. A tear
Runs down her cheek. She places flowers
Upon the grave of Mary Weir.
An empty longing overpowers
My years and months and days and hours.
Somebody grieves for Mary still.
Nobody mourns me. Time devours
All life, and those who knew me will
Be lying now upon the hill
At Arnos Vale, where leaves are red
And blood is dead, and bones are still.
Happy Pills (pantoum)
The happy pills will make you smile,
they told me. Take them and you can
replace the darkness for a while.
Feel like before all this began.
They told me: take them. And you can
see how I feel. I really don't
feel like before all this began,
and honestly, I really won't.
See how I feel. I really don't
stop thinking about every scar,
and honestly, I really won't
find happiness inside a jar.
Stop thinking about every scar.
Replace the darkness for a while.
Find happiness inside a jar.
The happy pills will make you smile.
