Submissions by ashbymcgowan (Ashby McGowan)
POEMS AND SHORT STORIES
Poet Introduction
I write multi-voice and single voice poetry.
UPBEAT INSPIRATIONAL POEM
Published
1st Oct 2019 1:36pm
1st Oct 2019 1:36pm
Suicide
(I use Buddhist meditation to help me survive. I also recommend reading diligently, “Overcoming anxiety without fighting”, by Dr Tim Cantopher)
Life is not fair.
Honestly,
The hardest thing,
Or things, is
Forgiving myself for making mistakes
And moving on
Not feeling hurt
Living life is so hard
So I work at it
Learning how to move on
And try to just live life
I have my good points
In this world
Suicide is so judgemental
And final
The sight of the waves is freedom
The sound...
Life is not fair.
Honestly,
The hardest thing,
Or things, is
Forgiving myself for making mistakes
And moving on
Not feeling hurt
Living life is so hard
So I work at it
Learning how to move on
And try to just live life
I have my good points
In this world
Suicide is so judgemental
And final
The sight of the waves is freedom
The sound...
#sadness
#depression
#identity
680 reads
2 Comments
UPBEAT INSPIRATIONAL POEM
Published
17th Sep 2019 8:17am
17th Sep 2019 8:17am
Five Buddhist poems
FIVE SHORT POEMS
A FEAR OF FLOWERS
Beneath another bright blue sky
So high
Hedges and hills, I turned away from
For all my life, I had feared wild flowers
Plastic is so safe
Yet one day I could not escape
A nearby cherry tree exploded
The speeding petal did not pierce my skin
It was soft
OPEN
Close your eyes
Open your eyes
Open…
IMAGINING
When I was a swift, I made love in the blue sky
When I was a grey seal, I made love in the sea
When I was a...
A FEAR OF FLOWERS
Beneath another bright blue sky
So high
Hedges and hills, I turned away from
For all my life, I had feared wild flowers
Plastic is so safe
Yet one day I could not escape
A nearby cherry tree exploded
The speeding petal did not pierce my skin
It was soft
OPEN
Close your eyes
Open your eyes
Open…
IMAGINING
When I was a swift, I made love in the blue sky
When I was a grey seal, I made love in the sea
When I was a...
#Buddhist
#haiku
413 reads
2 Comments
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
23rd Aug 2018 1:22pm
23rd Aug 2018 1:22pm
AND OHH, WHAT IS THAT PECULIAR TASTE?
Your eyes can almost see past the white wine on your table
Almost see the fish gasping for life in the huge net
But not quite
Your nose can almost detect that very particular smell of sheep, as they travel up the slaughter line
The shit and the piss. The pain and the fear.
But your senses re-direct
Perhaps your mind has once see a cow feeding in a field
It was perfect in its innocence
Does your mind turn away from those memories?
Amidst the taste of vegetables and spices and flesh it is there
Can your discerning tongue not...
Almost see the fish gasping for life in the huge net
But not quite
Your nose can almost detect that very particular smell of sheep, as they travel up the slaughter line
The shit and the piss. The pain and the fear.
But your senses re-direct
Perhaps your mind has once see a cow feeding in a field
It was perfect in its innocence
Does your mind turn away from those memories?
Amidst the taste of vegetables and spices and flesh it is there
Can your discerning tongue not...
#animals
#nature
403 reads
0 Comments
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
4th Jul 2018 12:30pm
4th Jul 2018 12:30pm
SPYCOP
I have two loves and each of them is true
Each creature I care for,
And I care for you too
Your smile sets me free,
And that special way you look at me, only me.
You love me true,
All that I know, about you
True was your love and sharp was your mind
I never dreamed you would leave me behind
My taxes paid for you to search my brain
How can I ever love again?
I was just a SPYCOP infiltration
Not your final destination
When that day of final parting came,
It meant, my everlasting shame
My pleas could not...
Each creature I care for,
And I care for you too
Your smile sets me free,
And that special way you look at me, only me.
You love me true,
All that I know, about you
True was your love and sharp was your mind
I never dreamed you would leave me behind
My taxes paid for you to search my brain
How can I ever love again?
I was just a SPYCOP infiltration
Not your final destination
When that day of final parting came,
It meant, my everlasting shame
My pleas could not...
#animals
#nature
624 reads
2 Comments
NON-FICTION PROSE
Published
9th Jan 2018 1:18pm
9th Jan 2018 1:18pm
Some Useful Ideas for Those Writing Poetry
Some Useful Ideas for Those Writing Poetry (part 3) [from an unpublished book]
Chapter 6.
Performance Poetry
A lot of people write poetry about important events in their life. Often this may be useful to them as it allows them to deal with e.g. bad memories. But often this type of poem is not, for others, especially interesting to listen to. Unless it has a new twist to it.
Take your time when you perform. You must read confident that the audience want to hear the Poem (anything less is an insult to the Audience, to the Poem, and to the Performer)....
Chapter 6.
Performance Poetry
A lot of people write poetry about important events in their life. Often this may be useful to them as it allows them to deal with e.g. bad memories. But often this type of poem is not, for others, especially interesting to listen to. Unless it has a new twist to it.
Take your time when you perform. You must read confident that the audience want to hear the Poem (anything less is an insult to the Audience, to the Poem, and to the Performer)....
576 reads
0 Comments
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
11th Dec 2017 8:14am
11th Dec 2017 8:14am
Saying "Hello" to a sheep
Saying “Hello” to a sheep
(My first time at a Save Movement event)
http://thesavemovement.org/
Your fate is not described in films and books
No tale of, The knife. No painting of, The hooks
You and your friends that you hold so dear
Jump over each other in total fear
So what do I say to you, stranger,
When I know that you are in danger?
Your eyes stare in terror at me
And I know you just want to be free
I say “Hello” and touch your head
But nothing more from me can be said
The feelings...
(My first time at a Save Movement event)
http://thesavemovement.org/
Your fate is not described in films and books
No tale of, The knife. No painting of, The hooks
You and your friends that you hold so dear
Jump over each other in total fear
So what do I say to you, stranger,
When I know that you are in danger?
Your eyes stare in terror at me
And I know you just want to be free
I say “Hello” and touch your head
But nothing more from me can be said
The feelings...
489 reads
0 Comments
SPIRITUAL POEM
Published
26th Sep 2017 1:25pm
26th Sep 2017 1:25pm
Two haiku style poems
Two Haiku style poems
A POEM BY RYOKAN IS MERELY IRIDESCENT SPLASHES OF COMPASSION
For long hours I struggled to learn his language
Yet, the calligraphy of the haiku
Meant nothing to me
LAGG
(Lagg, in Arran, is a pretty village near to the sea. A chambered cairn has been there for thousands of years.)
As it tumbles over the shoreline at Lagg
No longer confident of its power
A wave senses the humans
As they too rise and fall
A POEM BY RYOKAN IS MERELY IRIDESCENT SPLASHES OF COMPASSION
For long hours I struggled to learn his language
Yet, the calligraphy of the haiku
Meant nothing to me
LAGG
(Lagg, in Arran, is a pretty village near to the sea. A chambered cairn has been there for thousands of years.)
As it tumbles over the shoreline at Lagg
No longer confident of its power
A wave senses the humans
As they too rise and fall
581 reads
1 Comment
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
14th Aug 2017 7:51am
14th Aug 2017 7:51am
REWILDING
Sheep on the hill, silent, as the
Day, dark falling
Filling the pools is the swift rain – cruel and nourishing - high hill
Saturating
Into the night
With the morn,
Hordes of clegs and midges gorge themselves on the sheep
And the humans, they too shall bleed them
No sheep on the hill. No sharp hooves to break up the soil,
Make to flood. Turn to mud.
No hungry teeth eating fresh saplings. So Ash and Lime, Birch and Cherry
And birds, singing on the branches, so merry.
Tree roots embracing the soil, help to stop flooding on...
Day, dark falling
Filling the pools is the swift rain – cruel and nourishing - high hill
Saturating
Into the night
With the morn,
Hordes of clegs and midges gorge themselves on the sheep
And the humans, they too shall bleed them
No sheep on the hill. No sharp hooves to break up the soil,
Make to flood. Turn to mud.
No hungry teeth eating fresh saplings. So Ash and Lime, Birch and Cherry
And birds, singing on the branches, so merry.
Tree roots embracing the soil, help to stop flooding on...
610 reads
0 Comments
UPBEAT INSPIRATIONAL POEM
Published
16th Jul 2017 3:32pm
16th Jul 2017 3:32pm
Rain Over Lochranza, an interactive multi-voice poem about nature. You take part.
1029 reads
0 Comments
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
26th Jun 2017 12:28pm
26th Jun 2017 12:28pm
THE ATOMIC LANTERN
Dreams of warriors
and cowards and peace
campaigners
twelve poets
the old, the ill
women
and children
and a dog
Are revealed as indistinct shadows on the wall
Dry grasses merely burn
Birds in flight are dust in the wind
And the words in this poem burn on the page
No creature moves
A strange kind of peace
This poem alludes to a famous haiku by M. Basho (first line of which is: The summer grasses). Who in his poem alluded to an even earlier poem by Du Fu [also know in the west...
and cowards and peace
campaigners
twelve poets
the old, the ill
women
and children
and a dog
Are revealed as indistinct shadows on the wall
Dry grasses merely burn
Birds in flight are dust in the wind
And the words in this poem burn on the page
No creature moves
A strange kind of peace
This poem alludes to a famous haiku by M. Basho (first line of which is: The summer grasses). Who in his poem alluded to an even earlier poem by Du Fu [also know in the west...
744 reads
0 Comments
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
27th Feb 2017 8:12am
27th Feb 2017 8:12am
My Mate Paul, an interactive multi-voice poem and play
912 reads
0 Comments
FICTIONAL PROSE
Published
21st Feb 2017 12:53pm
21st Feb 2017 12:53pm
RESCUE
In the Bar I had gulped down far too many drinks. I was feeling sorry for myself. Life can be hard. After an argument with the Barman I left and went down to the sands.
It was hot but the sea was nearly empty. The huge waves kept everyone from swimming. Apart from one brave person who stood bracing himself against the waves. Every so often a big one would nearly throw him over. Crashing over his shoulders and moving towards me.
I began to worry about him. His face seemed familiar. I motioned for him to come to shore. He didn’t seem to see me. I shouted, “Come in. The waves are too...
It was hot but the sea was nearly empty. The huge waves kept everyone from swimming. Apart from one brave person who stood bracing himself against the waves. Every so often a big one would nearly throw him over. Crashing over his shoulders and moving towards me.
I began to worry about him. His face seemed familiar. I motioned for him to come to shore. He didn’t seem to see me. I shouted, “Come in. The waves are too...
1199 reads
0 Comments
DU Poetry : Submissions by ashbymcgowan (Ashby McGowan)
