Bernard

[Paul]

Ok! Ok! You got a place for writers too. Well I can't resist putting in some of my work so here is one called "Bernard". He was an English Literature student with me last semester. I wrote it for him to help him understand and appreciate poetry for class.

Bernard

Oh Bernard, who straightly calls; seeker of words to unravel
Your mighty courage in times of trial goes to resolve the poet’s puzzle
You may ponder at the woven word, all but lost in the prose of writers
But deep inside is a story to tell, of their soul which hangs in the balance

Such a man is Robert Burns, and his tale of the mouse’s ruin
Perhaps his louse in a church did loom; Burns did ink with pen on paper
There’s also Tam’ who Kate did warn, you may have deeply wondered
Could be twas, Robert’s bleeding heart, to warn us of tomorrow

Then there’s William, both Blake and Wordsworth, poets rich with lore
The crazy words which needs our help, many meanings to be explored
For one did say about the eye- that it cannot but see
But it takes more than two of them to even out their tales with ease

Chimney Sweeps and wild Tygers, in Experience Innocence is lost
And of course ther’s Tintern Abbey, a place but long forgotten
But not to them in history’s fold, will ever these places die
In both the Williams hearts does flow, the battle of humanity’s side

Let us not forget Mary Wollstonecraft, whose message has victory
For in her heart do women share, a peace found in freedom’s ring
And the silent cries in London, which Blake he did speak out
And wrote the sonnet which now today, a many have taken notice

In the poem and the poet, a people do abide
In those words of mighty strength, drives a softer gentler side
In their hearts and their minds, a spirit does lead them so
To which a message brings a hope; we too will understand and hold

So Bernard, set to your work, with ink and quill at side
And grace the parchment resting before you, and let not a word slip by
For as you study to learn the poets, the lives behind the lines
You will find you’re standing in the ranks of poets and writers alike

We all are called to spread a word, through a song, a poem, or prose
To tell the others who are out there, who reads our hearts and minds with words
You have your mission and your call, just take it and go! By and by
And put in those words your heart and soul, and save someone from life

By Paul Gilmore
Feb/2008