Submissions by ashbymcgowan (Ashby McGowan)
POEMS AND SHORT STORIES
Poet Introduction
I write multi-voice and single voice poetry.
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
15th Aug 2016 12:53pm
15th Aug 2016 12:53pm
I am not a heroine
Written after hearing a speaker (who was visiting Glasgow) from,
Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour
http://sacom.hk
In China we don’t have heroines,
So I know that I am not a heroine
I carry all the shopping on my own,
But so little pay means there’s not much to carry
And yes, I don’t have time to meet new friends
So my workmates are my friends.
The machine is not my friend,
It is my enemy. It wears me out. It cuts me
So many accidents when:
You work so hard
Work so long
Work so fast
And aren’t...
Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour
http://sacom.hk
In China we don’t have heroines,
So I know that I am not a heroine
I carry all the shopping on my own,
But so little pay means there’s not much to carry
And yes, I don’t have time to meet new friends
So my workmates are my friends.
The machine is not my friend,
It is my enemy. It wears me out. It cuts me
So many accidents when:
You work so hard
Work so long
Work so fast
And aren’t...
728 reads
2 Comments
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
14th Jul 2016 12:53pm
14th Jul 2016 12:53pm
My friend the Octopus
I will never write a haiku about you,
For I will never truly know you
I don't know what thoughts pass through your head,
But I know that you are intelligent and love games
That your memory is good
Some people say that you are ugly and strange. But to me, well...
In your own particular way,
Sometimes,
Like when you are
Covered in flashing colours,
All over your body
And I watch entranced the pulses of light
The changes in texture,
You are beautiful
Too beautiful to eat or experiment on
Many find it hard, to...
For I will never truly know you
I don't know what thoughts pass through your head,
But I know that you are intelligent and love games
That your memory is good
Some people say that you are ugly and strange. But to me, well...
In your own particular way,
Sometimes,
Like when you are
Covered in flashing colours,
All over your body
And I watch entranced the pulses of light
The changes in texture,
You are beautiful
Too beautiful to eat or experiment on
Many find it hard, to...
534 reads
0 Comments
SPIRITUAL POEM
Published
14th Jun 2016 1:09pm
14th Jun 2016 1:09pm
A BETTER WORLD
I dreamt of a better World
Where poets read
Words of wonder
Could see into another’s mind
And realise that…
Where poets read
Words of wonder
Could see into another’s mind
And realise that…
620 reads
3 Comments
NON-FICTION PROSE
Published
6th Jun 2016 4:26pm
6th Jun 2016 4:26pm
The old lady from Africa
This is a true story but pals have told me it is better than most of the ones I make up. Thanks pals.
I was on a busy Number 57 Bus to Kennishead in Glasgow, when I heard a young Glaswegian girl start to give a bit of cheek to the old African lady across from her. The girl was about ten and was showing off to her pal, “Where do you come from? Do you even speak my language?”
The old lady smiled at the girl and said, “Yes I speak your language. I enjoy speaking English. But I love the languages from my home country, Rwanda.” She then started talking to the girl in a language I...
I was on a busy Number 57 Bus to Kennishead in Glasgow, when I heard a young Glaswegian girl start to give a bit of cheek to the old African lady across from her. The girl was about ten and was showing off to her pal, “Where do you come from? Do you even speak my language?”
The old lady smiled at the girl and said, “Yes I speak your language. I enjoy speaking English. But I love the languages from my home country, Rwanda.” She then started talking to the girl in a language I...
889 reads
2 Comments
UPBEAT INSPIRATIONAL POEM
Published
24th May 2016 7:57am
24th May 2016 7:57am
Many Voices, Canadian University performance
1021 reads
2 Comments
FICTIONAL PROSE
Published
19th May 2016 12:53pm
19th May 2016 12:53pm
The Greatest Storyteller
(This story was first published in Ethereal Tales. Thanks to Teresa Ford for publishing it.
Their website is at: www.etherealtales.co.uk
And a Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ethereal-Tales/106658326022240 )
My short story website is: https://ashbyshortstories.wordpress.com/
If you’ve ever sailed up the Lycian Peninsula in a two masted schooner, then I am sure you’ll remember the tall golden tower that tops the palace of King Drog. A tower of beauty rising out of the sea mists, and the fumes from the tanning factory. The golden tower, well it’s brass...
Their website is at: www.etherealtales.co.uk
And a Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ethereal-Tales/106658326022240 )
My short story website is: https://ashbyshortstories.wordpress.com/
If you’ve ever sailed up the Lycian Peninsula in a two masted schooner, then I am sure you’ll remember the tall golden tower that tops the palace of King Drog. A tower of beauty rising out of the sea mists, and the fumes from the tanning factory. The golden tower, well it’s brass...
693 reads
0 Comments
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
11th May 2016 12:56pm
11th May 2016 12:56pm
The Bullfight
The Trumpet sounds like a Call to War
And can eyes obscured by Vaseline see anything but hate?
Whatever dignity exists is with the killed not the killer
With those who were beaten and tortured
For just wanting to live free
Not Art, not Poetry,
Not Dance or Theatre
And the killer’s cape is the Flag of Spain
And the crowd’s ecstatic roar drowns out all thought
Not Art, not Poetry,
Not Dance or Theatre
The purity of the protest can heal this shame of Spain’s
Can take the Vaseline from out of the eyes...
And can eyes obscured by Vaseline see anything but hate?
Whatever dignity exists is with the killed not the killer
With those who were beaten and tortured
For just wanting to live free
Not Art, not Poetry,
Not Dance or Theatre
And the killer’s cape is the Flag of Spain
And the crowd’s ecstatic roar drowns out all thought
Not Art, not Poetry,
Not Dance or Theatre
The purity of the protest can heal this shame of Spain’s
Can take the Vaseline from out of the eyes...
613 reads
2 Comments
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
26th Apr 2016 12:53pm
26th Apr 2016 12:53pm
The Beast
I recently read in some magazine, a Hunt follower asking for Hunting with Hounds to continue because: “there are so many wonderful poems about the beauty of the hunt”. His idea of Nature and my idea of Nature are different. As is his idea of Poetry and my idea of Poetry.
Eleu-in, Eleu-in, Eleu-in. Eleu-in, Eleu-in, Eleu-in there. Edawick, Edawick, Edawick. Hike, Hike, Hike. Hike to Govenor. Hike, Hike, Hike. Hike, Hike, Hike to Govenor.
[All commands to hounds in this poem are shouted, coarse, and said with venom. Some single and double notes blown on the horn are...
Eleu-in, Eleu-in, Eleu-in. Eleu-in, Eleu-in, Eleu-in there. Edawick, Edawick, Edawick. Hike, Hike, Hike. Hike to Govenor. Hike, Hike, Hike. Hike, Hike, Hike to Govenor.
[All commands to hounds in this poem are shouted, coarse, and said with venom. Some single and double notes blown on the horn are...
631 reads
4 Comments
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
21st Apr 2016 8:04am
21st Apr 2016 8:04am
THE CORRUGATED ZINC ROOF
When he first came to the village, he was a stranger to us all,
But he soon became my friend, this man so thin and tall.
Often, under clouds full of rain we waited,
Till it battered down upon his roof, which was zinc and corrugated
Firecracker rain fell down from the sky,
But we sat there together, safe and dry
With just a few vegetables, he made soup that was tasty and good
I was just as poor as he, but on certain special days I would
Bring along some foreign beer, that smelt of yeast,
And while we laughed at the radio, we each had a feast
...
But he soon became my friend, this man so thin and tall.
Often, under clouds full of rain we waited,
Till it battered down upon his roof, which was zinc and corrugated
Firecracker rain fell down from the sky,
But we sat there together, safe and dry
With just a few vegetables, he made soup that was tasty and good
I was just as poor as he, but on certain special days I would
Bring along some foreign beer, that smelt of yeast,
And while we laughed at the radio, we each had a feast
...
626 reads
2 Comments
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
21st Apr 2016 8:00am
21st Apr 2016 8:00am
CROW
Crow was published on the web based poetry magazine: Open Mouse http://theopenmouse.wordpress.com in November 2013. Thanks to Colin Will for using it.
Her feathers grasp at the cold air, as she climbs high
In an asymmetrical sky
Against the winter storm, she fights, then glides
Then up again, then down she slides.
She seems, a splash of black paint on a canvas bright
Or a cracked remnant of forgotten night
Neither picture is quite right
She is heart and pain, and feathers and delight
When I am not there to see, she still can fly,...
Her feathers grasp at the cold air, as she climbs high
In an asymmetrical sky
Against the winter storm, she fights, then glides
Then up again, then down she slides.
She seems, a splash of black paint on a canvas bright
Or a cracked remnant of forgotten night
Neither picture is quite right
She is heart and pain, and feathers and delight
When I am not there to see, she still can fly,...
589 reads
2 Comments
STORY POEM
Published
1st Apr 2016 1:06pm
1st Apr 2016 1:06pm
CLEANSED
A prose poem of mine (Cleansed) appeared in the Summer 2011issue of the Web based Journal, Gone Lawn. Thanks to them for using it.
On 26/1/2015: I read Cleansed at January’s Lights Out Listening Group and a high quality recording they made was put on their site. https://lightsoutlisteninggroup.wordpress.com/january-2/
Cleansed
…then Spring brought buds to take up their appropriate positions as terminal ends to the branches on Trees – personally I find buds just as intricate as any Integrated Circuit, though not, of course, as spiritual. Organic life is...
On 26/1/2015: I read Cleansed at January’s Lights Out Listening Group and a high quality recording they made was put on their site. https://lightsoutlisteninggroup.wordpress.com/january-2/
Cleansed
…then Spring brought buds to take up their appropriate positions as terminal ends to the branches on Trees – personally I find buds just as intricate as any Integrated Circuit, though not, of course, as spiritual. Organic life is...
679 reads
0 Comments
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
1st Apr 2016 1:01pm
1st Apr 2016 1:01pm
Seven Words
INTERACTING WORDS. I am working on ways to write Poems using as few words as possible. I know that certain Poetry Groups have done similar things before. However, I want the number of words used to be so restricted (say 4 or 8: any less than four has insufficient interactions and more than eight has too many interactions) that each word in the Poem has to interact with all of, or most of, the other words in the poem-so as to create new nuances of meaning.
These works are meant to be real poems. They are not merely puzzles or experiments. There is no definite sequence in the poem. There...
These works are meant to be real poems. They are not merely puzzles or experiments. There is no definite sequence in the poem. There...
591 reads
0 Comments
DU Poetry : Submissions by ashbymcgowan (Ashby McGowan)
