Avon calling
familiar sound from sixties
I ran for the door then
Now I do not answer it
I didn't pull my weight
The boss was really sore
He said "you're second rate
and I won't take it anymore."
He continued raving
On how I was misbehaving
Said my job was not worth saving
And so I longed for Avon
Avon by the sea
I must go back to Avon
Avon by the sea
When my lifeboat needs a haven
When my problems need a maven
This is where I need to be
There's a ten-mile barrier island
It's not that far away:
Where ospreys touch down majestically
and beach forests gently sway.
But also on the Jersey shore
are the roots that once made me,
In the little town of Avon,
and when all the walls are caving
and hunger turns to craving
I retreat to Avon,
Avon by the sea
I took the train last September
Got off at Asbury Park
Strode the miles of boardwalk
Had to stop at coming dark.
I had regrets, I shed a tear
Then I saw a dolphin at setting light
At Ocean Grove I sat on a pier:
And on the shore it seemed alright.
I've paid my dues, I made my plea
They say I was guilty in the first degree
Let me lose the past in Avon,
I'll fly in like an escaping raven
Look! My friends are wildly wavin'
in Avon by the sea.
Ding dong!
Avon calling
it is 1953.
Women rush to host a fragrance party.
The Avon lady is lying in wait, ready to sell.
Ding dong!
You cannot come to toe door in your house dress.
Your lips will be blood red with lipstick.
Eyes are blinking back chunks of mascara from your brush.
You are wearing a chiffon gown and diamond earrings.
I laugh at these ads now.
When I was a child they seemed plausible.
Normal even.
As we saw them so many times, and I was young.
Avon runs swiftly through Shakespeare's town
Stratford-upon-Avon such delightful place
Walk river bank a place renowned
In my mind's eye the Bard I do embrace.
Sitting beneath Weeping Willow tree
Medieval whisper I hear quite clear
Things lost to time, things we did not foresee
Shakespeare's illusory image to me did appear.
His beard neatly trimmed his ruffle white
Whisper quite definitely in my ear
Message clear it was write, write, write
Extraordinary experience with absence of fear.
Quote: A whisper should not be ignored
Fast
river
the Avon
running to Bath
beautiful with snow
when I first met
the unknown
walking
slow
The shade of Shakespeare is ever-present
River Avon in springtime speaks to me
Peaceful place where I secretly lament
Whilst sitting beneath yon green willow tree.
River flows smoothly ere swans sail serene
The momentum of time has stalled this day
Grey ghostly shadow am I in a dream?
Bard himself composing poetic lai.
Medieval magic I do declare
Whispering voice beguiles with love sonnet
Swept completely away by atmosphere
Seminal moment 'twas so euphoric.
Ghostly bard sauntering banks of Avon
Thoughts consumed of romantic liaison.
Avon
brings out the joy
in knowing beauty thrives
within the wild heart who believes
in love
Trademark~~Quintain Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Sara Kendrick
December 6, 2020
The Swan of Avon known as the bard
Born on St Georges day
A wizard of words not one line marred
He wrote many a wonderful play
The legacy he left for us
Still can bring us joy
Star crossed lovers witches and kings
All did his pen employ
Julius Caesar and Macbeth
The Tempest and King John
Pericles and Cymbeline
The list goes on and on
His work was staged at the Globe
more than 400 years ago
Still seems fresh still seems new
And still moves us so
Yes this genius of a man
Whose writing was so fine
Was not of an age
But a man for all of time
The Swan of Avon still lives on
In every play that's seen
If you see one you'll agree
He is the greatest that there's been
Wurtis B was a bardolater.
Shakespeare fan, there was no one greater.
He spouted the Bard.
Photo on his card.
Hamlet magnet on refrigerator.
Mr. Robert Kraft's
gone slightly daft
Ring-a-ling-a-ling
~ Prostitution sting
*The soon-to-be-former owner of America's
most successful sports franchise just got
nailed in a little sting down in Florida. Ouch!
The greatest loves and stories are soon lost
without a brilliant pen to write the plays
and trace romantic tears and evil thoughts
that carry through the years until today.
When first the Bard quilled page and manuscript
on comedies and legends of his time,
and then to tragedies where daggers dripped,
dramatic sonnets filled with metered rhyme.
But most of all he left us with a gift -
a treasure trove of witches kings and knaves;
ideas and dreams through which a mind can sift,
when stagnancy would otherwise pervade.
Now to the Bard I bow on bended knee
with what Victorians called bardolatry.
“Ding dong, Avon calling!”, are these ladies around anymore
Way back when in another era, they came knocking at your door
Guess I'm dating myself
But I'm still in good health
Maybe I'll be around when they banish killings and wars
Ya think?
© Jack Ellison 2015
Tragic the play that tells a lot,
Reaching to touch in myriad ways;
Yes comic say can string strange plot.
Sense words that smudge contrary stray,
Hurl senses far in dance and song,
Address the feel of such extremes;
Keep glimpse on par with weak and strong,
Exult the will and heart to whim;
So words fashion such diverse space,
People that come and go away;
Each fields passion that fools now trace,
Apt such strange sums that men portray;
Ripe tragedy storms what curtails,
Etch comedy that never fails.
Leon Enriquez
03 May 2015
Singapore
It may be audacious even to attempt
a definition of his greatness
But it is not so difficult to describe the gifts
that enable him to create imaginative visions of pathos and mirths
that whether read or witness in the theatre
William Shakespeare
Down by the Avalon at the Christchurch Square
Weeps the living willows, serene, free from care
Nature’s own exotic home, a garden set in greenery
Here the Avon River fountain flows majestically
Victoria Park rest near the Christchurch Town Hall theme
Punting on the Avon is a relaxing pastime dream
This Avon runs along the botanical gardens to view
The Copthorne Central hotel overlooking Victoria park too
You can dine A La Carte while you travel round the city
Punting the Avon without seeing the cathedral would be a pity
Seeing the Bridge of Remembrance over the Avon is awesome
Sort of like Autumn before springtime helping life blossom
Avon River at Victoria Square is Heaven’s garden summery
It runs through Hagley Park, in Christchurch, breathtakingly
Nearest the Train Station Tramway, a few miles from my home
Check out some of the photos here of places where I roam
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