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ALL THE MUSIC AND ARTWORK ON THIS WEBSITE IS DISPLAYED UNDER A
CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
ALL THE MUSIC AND ARTWORK ON THIS WEBSITE IS DISPLAYED UNDER A
CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE
GEOFFREY HOFFMAN
Too Easy
i too could write
in that formless futile fashion
shuddering from punctuation and
syntax
working and jerking
in pointlessly short
lines
lacking continuity of sense
or dragging syllables out like the legs
of a wounded spider
floundering all ways at once
i too could write
as though my private sensibility
were all that mattered to the universe
but what has formlessness to do with
verse?
and personal neurosis? -
where’s the poetry in that?
i too could write
in that formless futile fashion
shuddering from punctuation and
syntax
working and jerking
in pointlessly short
lines
lacking continuity of sense
or dragging syllables out like the legs
of a wounded spider
floundering all ways at once
i too could write
as though my private sensibility
were all that mattered to the universe
but what has formlessness to do with
verse?
and personal neurosis? -
where’s the poetry in that?
Hawes Water
Deep in the greenside that grows
above Hawes Water,
Claire in red Wellingtons glows through
the day.
Lithe as a pony, my pony-tailed
daughter
Dances and prances and stumps her
own way.
Leaving the paths where we plod and
we shamble,
She leaps like a mountain sheep over
wet rocks.
From tuft on to tussock she ambles
and scrambles,
Then flops on a boulder and flaunts
her white socks.
On ways where sheep wander, there
wanders my lady -
Laughter in Wellingtons, tripping the
trail.
At last where the lake lies and
mountains are shady,
She sprawls in their shadow, spread
out like a sail.
Yesterday, driven by drum-beats of
thunder,
Stooping and groping along the long
track,
She left here ungathered a sparkle of
wonder -
A rose quartz whose memory now
draws her back:
Lost in the grass on the path we have
taken,
A marvel once found and no more to
be seen;
A glimmer abandoned, a beauty
forsaken,
A gem that is buried in shimmering
green.
The jewel she seeks for, no search will
discover.
This day that was heaven now seems
years away.
The dreams of us both, the dark
mountains will cover -
As evening shall silence the songs of
the day.
Deep in the greenside that grows
above Hawes Water,
Claire in red Wellingtons glows through
the day.
Lithe as a pony, my pony-tailed
daughter
Dances and prances and stumps her
own way.
Leaving the paths where we plod and
we shamble,
She leaps like a mountain sheep over
wet rocks.
From tuft on to tussock she ambles
and scrambles,
Then flops on a boulder and flaunts
her white socks.
On ways where sheep wander, there
wanders my lady -
Laughter in Wellingtons, tripping the
trail.
At last where the lake lies and
mountains are shady,
She sprawls in their shadow, spread
out like a sail.
Yesterday, driven by drum-beats of
thunder,
Stooping and groping along the long
track,
She left here ungathered a sparkle of
wonder -
A rose quartz whose memory now
draws her back:
Lost in the grass on the path we have
taken,
A marvel once found and no more to
be seen;
A glimmer abandoned, a beauty
forsaken,
A gem that is buried in shimmering
green.
The jewel she seeks for, no search will
discover.
This day that was heaven now seems
years away.
The dreams of us both, the dark
mountains will cover -
As evening shall silence the songs of
the day.
Fall
Poplars raise their arms in prayer
Above the silence of the street.
A carpet of humanity
Forms the earth that bears our feet.
We shall soon be yesterday.
Time’s yellow autumn, like a thief,
Steals life, and shadows it away,
Leaving no testament of grief;
And still, despite finality,
There’s beauty in the falling of a leaf.
Poplars raise their arms in prayer
Above the silence of the street.
A carpet of humanity
Forms the earth that bears our feet.
We shall soon be yesterday.
Time’s yellow autumn, like a thief,
Steals life, and shadows it away,
Leaving no testament of grief;
And still, despite finality,
There’s beauty in the falling of a leaf.
No Frontiers
Television is immediate:
How can we still have unilateral
sympathies,
And see the tears, the bloodied agony
Of only one side in a war?
Nation against nation, faith against
faith,
Arrogance of colour, pride of power,
This hate or that hate locked in
prejudice -
Terror unifies,
Torment equalises humanity.
Waking and sleeping we are haunted
by
The sights that are the nightmare of
this century:
The mother searching among corpses
for her son,
The father carrying the limp body of
his child,
The soldier staring at his amputated
hand,
The little girl among the bloodied
pieces of her parents -
What does it matter if they are of one
side or another?
Dogma cannot grieve.
It is the pain of individuals that sears.
Television is immediate:
How can we still have unilateral
sympathies,
And see the tears, the bloodied agony
Of only one side in a war?
Nation against nation, faith against
faith,
Arrogance of colour, pride of power,
This hate or that hate locked in
prejudice -
Terror unifies,
Torment equalises humanity.
Waking and sleeping we are haunted
by
The sights that are the nightmare of
this century:
The mother searching among corpses
for her son,
The father carrying the limp body of
his child,
The soldier staring at his amputated
hand,
The little girl among the bloodied
pieces of her parents -
What does it matter if they are of one
side or another?
Dogma cannot grieve.
It is the pain of individuals that sears.
Geoffrey Hoffman has poems published in Understanding Literary Magazine, Krax and Isthmus, and won 17 prizes in international
competitions, and has three books of poetry published,
Trial by Verse : A book of comic and satiric verse about the law, its makers
and practitioners.
The Jewish Pilgrimage: An Exploration of Reality, Mainly in Verse:
Steps into Poetry: Nonsense and other Verse for Children: Recently published by PublishAmerica.
Geoffrey Hoffman
POETRY - Trial by Verse, comic re the law; Steps into Poetry, for children; The Jewish Pilgrimage.
On-line from Amazon, & leading booksellers.
competitions, and has three books of poetry published,
Trial by Verse : A book of comic and satiric verse about the law, its makers
and practitioners.
The Jewish Pilgrimage: An Exploration of Reality, Mainly in Verse:
Steps into Poetry: Nonsense and other Verse for Children: Recently published by PublishAmerica.
Geoffrey Hoffman
POETRY - Trial by Verse, comic re the law; Steps into Poetry, for children; The Jewish Pilgrimage.
On-line from Amazon, & leading booksellers.
READ REVIEWS HERE
CONTACT THE AUTHOR HERE
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