Poetry Archive 2017

Friday 20th October 2017:

There were 12 members present and the topic for this month was “Falling”.  The poems we read reflected many interpretations of “Falling”, some funny and some very sad.

  • This Life                                                        Grace Paley
  • The Falling Leaves                                      Margaret Cole
  • Valentine                                                      John Fuller
  • Falling Asleep                                              B J Lee
  • The Rainy Day                                             H Longfellow
  • Down, Down                                                Anon
  • Autumn Fires                                               R L Stevenson
  • The Falling Star                                           Sarah Teesdale
  • Autumn Leaves (Les Feuilles Mortes)   Johnny Mercer (Jacques Prevert)
  • Falling Leaves                                              Lester Simpson
  • The Falling Man – 9/11                              Judith Evans
  • Falling Up                                                     James Grengs
  • Conkers                                                         John Stafford
  • No 20 – A Coney Island Stall                    Lawrence Ferling Hetti
  • I’ve Just Seen a Face                                   Lennon and McCartney
  • The Falling of the Leaves                           W B Yeats
  • Can’t Help Myself (Ron’s Ode to Kath!)  Anon
  • Falling Asleep in Class                                Ken Nesbitt
  • The Old Man of Blackheath                       from Read Me and Laugh
  • The Leaves Are Green                                Anon
  • The Red Sun                                                 Anon
  • Roads                                                            Jesse Stanton
  • Elegy in a Country Churchyard               G K Chesterton
  • On the Bannisters                                       Margaret Gibbs
  • The Death of a Hired Man                        Robert Frost

Friday 15th September 2017:

There were 13 members at this month’s meeting.  Our chosen topic was “Questions and Answers” and these are the poems we read.

· The Spider and the Fly                                                     Mary Hallett

The Deadly   Sandwich Board                                          Shirley McIntyre

· The Elephant’s Child (Six Honest Serving Men)        Rudyard Kipling

· I Wonder                                                                             Jeanie Kirby

· What can ail thee, Knight-at-arms?                              John Keats

· Do I Love Thee?                                                                 John Godfrey Saxe

· In a Bath Teashop                                                              John Betjeman

· The Green Fields of France                                              Dropkick Murphys

· Questions of a Studious man                                           Bertott Brecht

· I Wish I had the Answers                                                  Ray Hansell

· Questions Answering Questions                                      RoseAnn V. Shawiak

· What if this Road                                                                 Sheenagh Pugh

· How many Roads Must a Man Walk Down                   Bob Dillon

· Did I Turn Off my Tongs?                                                  Pam Ayres

· Taking a Taxi to a Wedding                                               Connie Bensley

· Question Not                                                                         Adam Lindsay Gordon

· The Wind                                                                               Dorothy Wordsworth

· Armageddon                                                                         Jenny Ball

· Shall I Compare Thee                                                          William Shakespeare

· On Love                                                                                   Kahlil Gibran

· Big Steamers                                                                           Rudyard Kipling

· More Questions than Answers                                            Johnny Nash

· Reverse the Question                                                             Silence Screams

· Tell Me Why                                                                Atasha Ashaki Renee Williams

· Mud On His Shoes                                                                 Christina Robson

Friday 21st July 2017

There were 16 members at our meeting today including two new members Derek and Margaret who we welcomed to the group. Our topic this month was “Animals” and, unsurprisingly, quite a lot of the poems were about dogs. There were also a number of familiar poems which are still enjoyed no matter how many times you hear them.  These are the poems we read:-

  • Show Time                                                                                     Mary Oliver
  • Puppy Problems                                                                            Pam Ayres
  • The Animal Shelter in Gardener’s Lane                                  Pam Ayres
  • The Crocodile                                                                                Lewis Carroll
  • The Owl and the Pussycat                                                           Edward Lear
  • The Lion and Albert                                                                     Marriott Edgar
  • The Dog                                                                                           Anon
  • Little Worm                                                                                    Spike Milligan
  • On a Cat Aging                                                                               Alexander Gray
  • Deer                                                                                                  John Drinkwater
  • Sheep                                                                                                Eileen Bauer
  • Ballad of Bobo’s Bits                                                                      Shirley McIntyre
  • The Tyger                                                                                         William Blake
  • A parody of “The Tyger                                                                 Micheala Morgan
  • The Woodman’s Dog                                                                     William Cowper
  • Lone Dog                                                                                          Irene McLeod
  • The Heaven at Animals                                                                 James Dickey
  • Muuuum                                                                                           Peter Dickson
  • A Dog at Home                                                                                Pam Ayres
  • Macavity’s Cat                                                                                 T S Elliott
  • Anaconda                                                                                          Richard Edwards
  • Will You Walk a Little Faster                                                       Lewis Carroll
  • Before the Days of Noah                                                               Peter Dickson
  • Dog in the Playground                                                                  Allan Ahlberg
  • I am an Elephant                                                                            Denis Martindale
  • Noah’s Ark                                                                                        Denise Rogers
  • I Think I Could Turn and Live with Animals                            Walt Witham
  • The Caterpillar                                                                                 Christina Rosetti

Friday 16th June 2017  -‘ Relations and Relationships’

Our topic this month was “Relations and Relationships”. There were 14 members present and we enjoyed a wide choice of poems, some sad, some about situations we could all recognise and some very funny. These are the poems we read.

 

  1. Bitch                                                                        Carolyn Kizer
  2. Turn                                                                         Spike Milligan
  3. This Be The Verse                                                 Philip Larkin
  4. The Family Tree                                                    Olive Walters
  5. Which Shall It Be?                                                Ethel Lynn Beers
  6. Changing Places                                                    Alora M Knight
  7. Seduction                                                                Shirley McIntyre (a member of our group)
  8. Lord of the Rings                                                  J R R Tolkien
  9. Letting Go                                                               Anon
  10. I’m Going To Kill My Husband                          Pam Ayres
  11. Family Tree                                                            Lindsay Macrae
  12. Mum Expects                                                         Lindsay Macrae
  13. The Worlds’ Most Popular Mother                   Lindsay Macrae
  14. Celia, Celia                                                             Adrian Mitchell
  15. Friendship Lost                                                     Brenda T Metz
  16. A Friend                                                                  Trevor Millum
  17. How Life Too Is Sentimental                              Gavin Ewart
  18. My Little Grandson                                               Pam Ayres
  19. John Anderson, My Jo                                         Robert (Robbie) Burns
  20. When Polly Buys A Hat                                       E. Hill
  21. Family Likeness                                                    Janice Windle
  22. The Dishes Are Done                                           Ronald Doe
  23. Life Of A Cupcake                                                 Shelby Greer
  24. Grandmother                                                         Carolyn Devonshire
  25. Poor Dad                                                                 Pam Ayres
  26. Will You Be My Family                                        Lindsay Macrae
  27. You’re Mine                                                            Nettoli Rosales
  28. Breaking the Rules                                                Coral Rumble

Friday 19th May 2017      –           SPRING AND OTHER THINGS

We had chosen “Spring and other things” as the theme for our May meeting.  Quite a few of our members were away on the U3A trip to Whitby, but, even so, we read an interesting selection of poems, which are listed below.
            Grenadine                                                                 Susan Griffin
            Family Album                                                          Charles Causley
            Spring, the Sweet Spring                                       Thomas Nash
            Moyra Murray                                                          Richard Edwards
            My Wife the Gardener                                            Anon.
            The First Spring Morning                                     Robert Bridges
            Home Thoughts From Abroad                             Robert Browning
            Grounded                                                                   Eric Finney
            I So Liked Spring                                                     Charlotte Mew
            The Witches are All on Strike                               Richard Edwards
            Shropshire Lad                                                         A E Housman
            The Thrush’s Nest                                                   John Clare
            Words, Wide Night                                                 Carol Ann Duffy
            Spring Assembly                                                      Gerard Benson

Christmas Social: At the December monthly meeting members of the poetry group read a selection of festive poems, some well-known and others written by themselves. Their rendition of ‘Twas the night before Christmas’ by Clement Clarke Moore was widely appreciated by the audience, who were also entertained by the Ukulele and Creative Writing group. The members and committee gave thanks to the group for their valued contribution.

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