Poetry
Welcome to the home of the poetry of Jamie Godsafe.
If you're really interested you can view a few select cuts from my poetic ramblings:
- An Example To Passing Seamen (21 March 2002)
- Black Is The Crow (3 May 1991)
- Bob (1991)
- Form (1991)
- Hallowe'en (31 October 1991)
- Oh, Rare And Beautiful Norfolk! (18 March 2002)
- The Eagle Of Misty Mountain (19 March 2002)
- The Hoggledy Higgledy Song (12 April 1991)
- The Maiden That Never Was (12 August 1996)
An Example To Passing Seamen
21 March 2002
Prologue:
From a dusty museum
I had a fitful dream
Of a wise old man
Sad and bored
Sat on his death-bed
Spilling his word-hoard
In Life:
A proud and true
Young man
A ruler from afar
Atop his
Splendrous gift-stool
Seax a-hand
Saxon in blood
Valiantly turning
The invading flood.
From young to old
Just as true
And loved
By his fur-clad men.
In winter age
All a-pale
Watching
His young blood fail.
Never again
Such an English king
Would lead the Witan
And laugh
With the wind.
In Death:
High atop a hill
Men came
From North
South
East and West
A flotilla
Glory-fed
Bearing with them
A holy ship
A-prow their king
As death he slip't.
For centuries there it stood
On land
Longing to the open sea.
Seen by all
That pass't
With golden trade
So the memory
Would longer fade.
Epilogue:
The wolf-king
Was raised
Once again
As a darker
Wolf
Led his brethren
With Valhallic cries
And foolish men.
What's It All About ?
This poem is one of several produced as a 'contest' between myself and one of my colleagues, Andy Barham. We challenged each other to produce a poem (within our spare time of that particular working day) based on a title plucked at random from a book. The winner was judged by our wives doing a "blind-reading".
See Andy's rival poem.
My poem was about one of my favourite subjects - the Sutton Hoo ship burial. The epilogue reflected on the rise of Adolf Hitler which coincided with the archaeological excavation of Sutton Hoo.