Sunday, July 20, 2014

732 - The Forest

Sunday Whirl (Wordle #170) presents a list of words
that we must incorporate in a writing piece.  

The words this week are: 

magic, forest, swarm, storming, words, without
hangs, while, thrive, passions, creature, jump, hum.

In a week of bad news 
From Gaza and the Ukraine,
The mood is sombre.


The Forest

There are demons in the forest,
Creatures of passion and venom,
Creatures who thrive on conflict,
Creatures who wait, impatient,
To swarm like impatient ants,
Wait to jump at the first opportunity
Without sense or sensibility.
Tribal foot soldiers,
Fed words of hate;
Words intended to engender fear 
For people they have never met,
People accused of witchcraft and magic,
Of eating the new born,
Of worshipping cloven beasts.
Or so they believe.

◊◊◊

We all have such an inner copse,
Where the air hangs heavy with suspicion,
Where fears breed and multiply
Ready to emerge
Like an avenging army 
Storming over the surrounding fields
While knowing little,
And learning nothing,
Of the local villagers.
Innocent bystanders.
Collateral damage.

◊◊◊

There is a murmur in the forest:
The hum of activity,
The hammering of metal,
The stamping of feet,
The throb of anthems.
The birds are leaving
And the sheep in the fields
Graze fitfully.
.
---
© J Cosmo Newbery 2014
---

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23 comments:

  1. We all have an inner copse,
    Where the spring air is light
    The sunshine warm
    The neighbours friendly and caring.

    We get to choose the "copse" we want. Too bad so many people choose to have a violent one.

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    1. True enough in some respects but I think my image when writing was that the copse was the dark place, of varying sizes in different people admittedly, and the fields the open and airy places.

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  2. The cows in the meadow are not to comfortable either.

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  3. Collateral damage is a concept and a euphemism which fills me with rage, and stirs up the darkness in my copse.

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  4. AnonymousJuly 20, 2014

    Brilliant! We all have that dark side - agreed. It's up to us though not to choose to let it triumph.

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  5. This poem is full of foreboding, which we're all feeling after the events in Ukraine. Horrid, but so well written.

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  6. As you say we learn nothing from war. Life should be about love not hate but this but a poet's dreaming,

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  7. Maybe there is a difference between fighting for survival and protecting ourselves from difference..darkness certainly sits and waits inside..even if you are an army of one ready to defend your forest ..not a good week for getting rid of bad things for sure

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  8. "an inner copse" is such a powerful image (although I have to admit that I read it first as "inner corpse")

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  9. Yes, it is amazing what horrible things people do because of fear.

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  10. I love the image and feel of an "inner copse." Thanks for that, and for whirling, J Cosmo. Keep casting light into those dark corners.

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  11. Share your feelings. Hugs.

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  12. AnonymousJuly 21, 2014

    Very potent write.

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  13. AnonymousJuly 21, 2014

    From lost paradise to 'inner copse'. Perhaps that dark place stores hate for self for having lost paradise in the first place?

    Elizabeth

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  14. Such sad sight... The wild overtaken by dull-minded sheep that only eat, eat, eat...

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  15. Words intended to engender fear
    For people they have never met...

    Here you show the down-side of words, and too often the case in current times.

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  16. Words, actions, reactions ~ our world has gone crazy.

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  17. "And learning nothing,
    Of the local villagers.
    Innocent bystanders."
    ive seen this happen as the village turned into condos... it was sad!!

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  18. I wish there were no more dark places; I wish humans would see the forest, the trees, the sky...all the beauty that surrounds. I wish humans would stop destroying each other; and all that surrounds.

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  19. …"the throb of anthems"

    And we never seem to learn, do we? Excellent poem.

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  20. wow, that middle stanza stopped me. thank you.

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  21. AnonymousJune 10, 2015

    Sad, very well done.

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