This one is by William McGonagall (sp). 

The Tay Bridge Disaster

Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silv'ry Tay!
Alas! I am very sorry to say
That ninety lives have been taken away
On the last Sabbath day of 1879,
Which will be remember'd for a very long time.

'Twas about seven o'clock at night,
And the wind it blew with all its might,
And the rain came pouring down,
And the dark clouds seem'd to frown,
And the Demon of the air seem'd to say-
"I'll blow down the Bridge of Tay."

When the train left Edinburgh
The passengers' hearts were light and felt no sorrow,
But Boreas blew a terrific gale,
Which made their hearts for to quail,
And many of the passengers with fear did say-
"I hope God will send us safe across the Bridge of Tay."

But when the train came near to Wormit Bay,
Boreas he did loud and angry bray,
And shook the central girders of the Bridge of Tay
On the last Sabbath day of 1879,
Which will be remember'd for a very long time.

So the train sped on with all its might,
And Bonnie Dundee soon hove in sight,
And the passengers' hearts felt light,
Thinking they would enjoy themselves on the New Year,
With their friends at home they lov'd most dear,
And wish them all a happy New Year.

So the train mov'd slowly along the Bridge of Tay,
Until it was about midway,
Then the central girders with a crash gave way,
And down went the train and passengers into the Tay!
The Storm Fiend did loudly bray,
Because ninety lives had been taken away,
On the last Sabbath day of 1879,
Which will be remember'd for a very long time.

As soon as the catastrophe came to be known
The alarm from mouth to mouth was blown,
And the cry rang out all o'er the town,
Good Heavens! the Tay Bridge is blown down,
And a passenger train from Edinburgh,
Which fill'd all the peoples hearts with sorrow,
And made them for to turn pale,
Because none of the passengers were sav'd to tell the tale
How the disaster happen'd on the last Sabbath day of 1879,
Which will be remember'd for a very long time.

It must have been an awful sight,
To witness in the dusky moonlight,
While the Storm Fiend did laugh, and angry did bray,
Along the Railway Bridge of the Silv'ry Tay,
Oh! ill-fated Bridge of the Silv'ry Tay,
I must now conclude my lay
By telling the world fearlessly without the least dismay,
That your central girders would not have given way,
At least many sensible men do say,
Had they been supported on each side with buttresses,
At least many sensible men confesses,
For the stronger we our houses do build,
The less chance we have of being killed.

Crikey Avalon ... I read that like there was loud music in the background - faster and faster

Quite a read

I know it's about a disaster, Rexi, but that poem always makes me smile.  Mcgonagall was knows as the world's worst poet.  The following 'verse' is written on his tombstone:

William McGonagall

 Poet and Tragedian

 

"I am your gracious Majesty

ever faithful to Thee,

William McGonagall, the Poor Poet,

That lives in Dundee."

Shouldn't it have said 'lived'?

One from my childhood


Stop says the red light
Go says the green
Wait says the amber one
winking in between
we all must obey them
even the Queen

What a great thread, I've really enjoyed reading the posts. I'll dig out a few of my favourite poems tomorrow and post them.

Just come across this one by Maya Angelou who is one of my favourite poets. It's called 'A Kind of Love Some Say'

Came in to check out Paul Durcan,will call back .I love this poem

Refugee Blues

Say this city has ten million souls, Some are living in mansions, some are living in holes: Yet there's no place for us, my dear, yet there's no place for us. Once we had a country and we thought it fair, Look in the atlas and you'll find it there: We cannot go there now, my dear, we cannot go there now. In the village churchyard there grows an old yew, Every spring it blossoms anew: Old passports can't do that, my dear, old passports can't do that. The consul banged the table and said, "If you've got no passport you're officially dead": But we are still alive, my dear, but we are still alive. Went to a committee; they offered me a chair; Asked me politely to return next year: But where shall we go to-day, my dear, but where shall we go to-day? Came to a public meeting; the speaker got up and said; "If we let them in, they will steal our daily bread": He was talking of you and me, my dear, he was talking of you and me. Thought I heard the thunder rumbling in the sky; It was Hitler over Europe, saying, "They must die": O we were in his mind, my dear, O we were in his mind. Saw a poodle in a jacket fastened with a pin, Saw a door opened and a cat let in: But they weren't German Jews, my dear, but they weren't German Jews. Went down the harbour and stood upon the quay, Saw the fish swimming as if they were free: Only ten feet away, my dear, only ten feet away. Walked through a wood, saw the birds in the trees; They had no politicians and sang at their ease: They weren't the human race, my dear, they weren't the human race. Dreamed I saw a building with a thousand floors, A thousand windows and a thousand doors: Not one of them was ours, my dear, not one of them was ours. Stood on a great plain in the falling snow; Ten thousand soldiers marched to and fro: Looking for you and me, my dear, looking for you and me. WH Auden

That refugee one is really moving

Taught to me by my Grandmother when I was 5 years old.

PASSPORT TO HEAVEN.

My pathway through life may be rocky,
Quite often I'll stumble and fall,
O Jesus, my love, look down from above,
And harken to me when I call.

Help me to rise, Dearest Jesus,
Give me courage, be my strength, be my friend.
Pluck out all the weeds, which my sins act as seeds,
And replace them with fair plants so rare.

Let me earn my passport to Heaven,
St. Peter requires one up above.
Let each teardrop of mine, O Saviour Divine,
Pay my fare to that City of Love.

Just seems relevant to me at the moment - been listening to it a lot, probably not healthy actually but....


NIN - nin something I can never have....


I still recall
The taste of your tears
Echoing your voice
Just like the ringing in my ears
My favorite dreams of you
Still wash ashore
Scraping through my head
'Till I don't want to sleep anymore

Come on tell me


You make this all go away
You make this all go away
I'm down to just one thing
And I'm starting to scare myself
You make this all go away
You make it all go away

I just want something
I just want something
I can never have


You always were the one
To show me how
Back then
I couldn't do the things
That I can do now
This thing
Is slowly taking me apart
Grey would be the color
If I had a heart

I just want something
I can never have
In this place
It seems like such a shame
Though it all looks different now,
I know it's still the same
Everywhere I look
You're all I see
Just a fading f*cking reminder
Of who I used to be.


I just want something
I just want something
I can never have
I just want something
I can never have.


Think I know what you meant
That night on my bed
Still picking at this scab

If I'm honest, I don't like poetry. The McGough one ^^ I mentioned had a special place in my heart. I've enjoyed reading E. J. Thribb over the years and he reinforced the theory that anyone can do modern stuff.

Worthy of a bump

RIP Suzi Q xxx

I enjoyed reading this thread again

The words tell us something that I, for one, didn't fully appreciate at the time about two lovely fms 

The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

It doesn’t interest me
what you do for a living.
I want to know
what you ache for
and if you dare to dream
of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me
how old you are.
I want to know 
if you will risk 
looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me
what planets are 
squaring your moon...
I want to know
if you have touched
the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened
by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know
if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know
if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you 
to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations
of being human.

It doesn’t interest me
if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear
the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know
if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”

It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live
or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me
who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me
where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know 
what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know
if you can be alone 
with yourself
and if you truly like
the company you keep
in the empty moments.

Wow Roxan that blew me away............

 

has been so nice to read this thread knowing what i know now..........

I know what you mean Jen, as soon as I saw this thread after learning the sad news this poem came to mind so I had to post it.

Stunning poem Rox  

 

The road not taken!!! A level memories <3 Rip suzi

Lovely to see this thread bumped, some beautiful words here May you be watching over us and smiling suzi

Roxan, I've never seen that before, LOVE IT

 

Gil Scott-Heron, a poet, author and musician died in 2011. This poem is very well known, despite it being written in the 70's still resonates today.

 

 

 

 

Not a poem - a song, a wonderful song that made me sit up when i first heard it. All about living your life to the full.

 

"Drink that baby down, are you in or are you out,

Leave your things behind cos its all going off without you,

Excuse me, too busy - you're writing you're tradgedy?

These mishaps, you bubble wrap when you've no idea what you're like.

 

So let go, jump in - well what you waiting for?

Let go, get in - its so amazing here

 

Hand me that remote - can't you see that all that stuffs a side show,

Such boundless pleasure, we've no time for later,

You can't await your own arrival,

You've twenty seconds to comply . . . "