Category: Poetry

Corrie R.I.P.

The painful loss of a beautiful dog.

This is not the time to engage in deep philosophical thoughts about death, dogs and what we can learn from them.  I shall leave that for later.

Just to hold dear in our minds what dogs offer humanity.  Dear friends, Rosemarie and Joe, who lunched with us yesterday gave us the following poem and it seems a very apt way to send out prayers into the universe.

Corrie, just 10 days ago.

With eye upraised his masters look to scan,

The joy, the solace and the aid of man.

The rich man’s guardian and the poor man’s friend,

The only creature faithful to the end. George Crabbe

Corrie died at 01:30 this morning with Jean and me holding her tight in our arms and our prayers.  She was a good dog.  Her loving and faithful soul will return.

Dear Corrie – you are now at peace for evermore.

Dolphin’s inspire!

And bring good people together.

On the 23rd October, I wrote a piece on Learning from Dogs about the innocence of dolphins and how some humans (not the correct term but it will do for now) sully the very soul of mankind by murdering these beautiful aquatic creatures.

Hopefully, the piece touched a folk with goodness in their hearts. Indeed, one such good person posted a lovely poem as a comment.  That person was Sue of the Blogsite Dreamwalker’s Sanctuary.  The poem deserved being made a post on here and so it’s an honour to do just that.

 

A Sanctuary for Inspirational Thoughts of Light, Love and Peace

 

Our Song, by Sue Dreamwalker
We are the giants that swim beneath the waves
Will you help our babies save?
Why do you Hunt us, why do you Kill?
Do you not realise what part we do play.
Singing our songs each and every day.
Vibration is what your world is held in
We balance your ocean along with Dolphin.
Now once again we are chased from the deep
Your awareness of us is what we do seek.
So painful a death as we face the harpoon.
Our calves are left orphaned to swim alone.
Our carcass is butchered, how long can we survive?
Our only escape is dive, dive, dive.
But connected to you we breathe the same air
Please listen to our despair.
For Our Song in lament we plead with you all.
For soon no longer will you hear our call.

Thanks Sue.

And do tune in next Monday (1st November) – another lovely story about dolphins.

By Paul Handover

The True Test

An interesting poem by Peter Kahn

During my sorting out of old belongings stored at my mother’s house in London, I came across this.

The True Test

I’m a teacher, not a preacher

but I will preach a little to teach a little

won’t extol the power of God, but the power of words.

I’ll attempt to amplify and magnify the God-given talent

that I suspect some of you may neglect or under-utilize

because its value has been minimized

in the movement to standardize and over-analyze

how well we perform on tests.

–

I intend to underscore how you’re blessed

academically

beyond those test

scores

that supposedly solely

attest to the level

of your intellect

but in effect

tell you what you can’t do.

–

I’m not a preacher, but I’ll testify that

I suspect these tests

neglect to detect

creativity, “can-do-it-y”

the fluidity of your ingenuity

the things that reflect true potential

hardly inconsequential

that are immeasurable

un-testable

by standard means

You know what this means

It’s about bringing what you’ve got to the table

to enable them

to envision you

as a mover and a shaker

who will take him or her

by the heart and start

a new vision for everyone to see

unimpaired by the SAT and GCSE

You see, we’re about to utilize poetry

to show ’em what you got

is not just what they think they see.

–

Are you with me?

are you ready to unleash your abilities?

are you ready to impress?

like the Rock’s biceps?

like Janet Jackson’s dance steps?

like the poetic lyrics of Mos Def?

and the Haitian syncopations of Wyclef?

–

Are you willing to try your absolute best?

Now that’s the TRUE test.

Hachikō inspires poetry as well

A lovely postscript from Daniela Caride.

I make no apology for this being the third day on the theme of the wonderful, loyal Akita dog, Hachikō.  On the 31st I wrote about the American film that in modern style echoed the beautiful, original Japanese film of over 80 years ago.

Anyway, Daniela Caride, of the blog The Daily Tail, added a lovely comment to that first post and it deserved being published in full.  Here it is:

I sobbed for two hours straight watching “Hachi, a dog’s tale” (I still have a headache) — a movie inspired by the real story of Hachiko, an Akita dog who achieved international fame for his loyalty. The dog waited for his deceased owner for nine years at the train station.

I realized that Hachi became a symbol of loyalty not because he was better than any other dog. Dogs are exceptionally loyal if treated with love and respect. But nobody offered Hachi a loving home during the long years he waited for Professor Ueno. It broke my heart. So I wrote the poem below.

Hachiko the dog

I humbly ask you to send this post to every person you know who may be able to find a home to a pet in need. Together we may be able to ease the pain of homeless animals like Hachi, who ask for so little and give back so much.

Hachi waits

By Daniela Caride

Hachi waits at the train station
The dog waits for nine minutes
It’s after five
It’s time
And the professor doesn’t arrive

Hachi waits for nine hours
Nine days
The professor is late
But the dog doesn’t mind
At the train station he stays

Hachi waits for nine months
Nine years straight
He’s convinced the professor is really late
But the dog doesn’t mind
At the train station he stays

Tired of old age, not tired of his long wait
Hachi finally closes his eyes
And finds his friend
In his deepest dreams inside
At the end

But Hachi still waits
Even after he died

He waits on the streets of every town
At all the neighborhood pounds
Under the skin of every dog around
For someone to rescue him

To give him
A name
Water
Food
And a home
Where love abounds

Daniela and Lola

Well done, Daniela. That is beautiful.

By Paul Handover