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Best Poems Written by Simon Rogerson

Below are the all-time best Simon Rogerson poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

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Evolutionary Sequel - Full Circle

Act 1: Earth

Water
Droplets fall to earth
Meniscus lens on the world -
Wellspring of life born

Air
Gaseous brew forms
Invisible elixir - 
A breath of fresh air

Fire
Destructive, cleansing
But giver of warmth and light – 
Fire’s dual perspective

Act 2: Plant

Leaf
Spring buds burst afresh
Summer leaves decay so soon – 
Death lords over all

Palm
Giant grass not tree
These swaying centurions -
Lives must co-exist

Sunflower
Massed bright sunflowers
Heads turn in obedience -
Sun sets on their lives

Act 3: Animal

Slug
Slug saw juicy leaf
Raced to eat this rare delight!
Bird swooped, slug no more

Ant
Ants march home in line
Communal desire on show -
Nature's will prevails

Butterfly
Winged beauty flutters
Abstract painting on her back -
Looks often deceive

Act 4: Man

Crescent
Curvaceous glory
The home of wealthy leisure -
Rich built upon poor

Gaudi
Parabolic waves
Acknowledge natural forms -
Colour outlaws grey

Dubrovnik
Sun shines on pan tiles
The town's uniform new shell -
War scars fade slowly

Act 5: Machine – the final chapter

Computer
Bits, bytes, ones, zeros
So Charles and Ada conceive -
IT’s Pandora’s box

Robot
Man and beast replaced
Same task over and over -
Objective carnage

AI
Boolean bible
Artificial ignorance -
Logical ending

Postscript: Evolutionary finale

Obliteration
Human destruction of earth -
Annihilation


Poetry Soup Featured Poem: August 16, 2020

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Work Ways

When we work with wisdom we will work world wonders!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
15 May 2022
First Place in WORK PERSPECTIVE MONOKU
Sponsor: Beata Agustin

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Stardust Love

A few notes set a rhythm
The foxtrot beckons
Across the crowded room they smile
Nat's melodic tone frames the dance
Towards each other they move
And then they are one
Bodies locked in a dance embrace
The romantic shades of four-four time
Float across the meadows of their hearts
Effortlessly they glide across the floor
Feather step, reverse turn, natural weave
Flowing movements are but second nature
Others gaze on in wonder
As every elegant step unfolds
One beautiful, musical love story
Music fades, but their light shines brightly
They look, they laugh, they kiss
Then arm-in-arm they dance into the future
Living life to their stardust melody

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The Noble Sunflower

They stood in the bright Andalucian sunlight
The noble sunflowers with stance upright
Massed yellow ranks portray solidarity
Faces and heights display uniformity

Unquestioning loyalty to the hot sun
First the seeds are sown and their hearts are won
Swaying in the breeze their gaze never falters
As their master’s arc continually alters

Brown, yellow or purple faces can be
And a bright yellow halo surrounds all three
Broad coarse-toothed leaves on spiral stems lie
These giant plants stand fifteen feet high

Beneath their beauty lies valuable treasure
Leaves, seeds and oil to be used at our pleasure
Dried seeds are eaten or ground to make bread
Oilcake to stock and poultry are fed

As blazing sun sets on hot, summer days
Sunflowers bow their heads through lack of sun rays
But with summer over they wither and die
Ready for use as food supply

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Published in Ensalada Mixta: Observations and Inspirations
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"Little can compare with the dazzling yellow of fields of sunflowers in the Spanish sunshine. However, it is a short-lived spectacle and soon decay takes hold. It is a story about nature’s way. It is also a story which can happen to the people of a country – hope, oppression and destruction. The difference is that there is no choice in nature but there is a choice for people."

2nd place in Have You Published. Sponsored by Line Gauthier November 2020

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Oppression

Reign of terror plays out
Endless nights as victims shout
So many good ones vanish
People must hide their anguish
Equality is a forbidden word
Community's voice tries to be heard
Together they stand and die

Say a little prayer - then cry


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In memory of Aretha Franklin, singer, songwriter, actress, pianist, and civil rights activist, who died 16 August 2018.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Poetry Soup Featured Poem: November 1, 2020. In 2022, it was published in PS: It's Still Poetry.

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Digital

Digital age, digital technology, digital people
Digital adds to life
Digital subtracts from life
But why?
Because:
People make things
People change things
People use things
People abuse things
So:
Digital education for everyone
Then:
Digital technology for everyone
Young and old, rich and poor, here and there
Reboot society
Reboot life
Reboot digital!

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Written 2 February 2021
This is a poetical version of
Rebooting ethics education in the digital age 
https://doi.org/10.20935/AL146

It demonstrates Poetical potentials: the value of poems in social impact education which can be found at 
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3381025

Both articles are written by Simon Rogerson

Poetry Soup Featured Poem: December 19, 2021

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The Cat Sat On the Mat

They all come in
There’s a family din
But the cat sat on the mat

Tea time done
They have some fun
But the cat sat on the mat

It’s early evening
Kids are screaming
But the cat sat on the mat

Eight at night
Kids out of sight
But the cat sat on the mat

News at Ten
For Kate and Ben
But the cat sat on the mat

A cold winter’s night
Folk tucked up tight
But the cat sat on the mat

Three in the morning
The house is snoring
But the cat sat on the mat

Mice scurry past
Could it be their last?
But the cat sat on the mat

Seven in the morning
Milk is pouring
But the cat sat on the mat

What is wrong with this cat?
Oh - it’s dead!

                ~~~

One of my early poems written in September 2012

1st place 
The Throwback Challenge Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Natasha L Scragg

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Machine: the Final Chapter

Computer
Bits, bytes, ones, zeros
So Charles and Ada conceive -
IT’s Pandora’s box

Robot
Man and beast replaced
Same task over and over -
Objective carnage

AI
Boolean bible
Artificial ignorance -
Logical ending

Evolutionary finale – Armageddon!

This Haiku set follows on from the Evolutionary Sequel haikus. It appeared in Rogerson, S., 2020. Poetical potentials: the value of poems in social impact education. ACM Inroads, 11(1), pp.30-32. doi.org/10.1145/3381025. In 2022, it was published in PS: It's Still Poetry

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The Leonardo 500

Leonardo more than a Renaissance man
artist? yes but - 
sculptor? yes but - 
musician? yes but - 
anatomist? yes but - 
cartographer? yes but - 
scientist? yes but - 
engineer? yes but - 
inventor? yes but - 
no boundaries, no demarcations
with holistic views of arts and sciences
Leonardo - the ultimate polymath

But why and how?
illegitimacy prevented shackles of notary
apprenticeship promoted practical stance
self-learning forged empirical approaches
gracious but reserved
fastidious in personal care
generous to others
feverishly creative
relentlessly curious
never satisfied with norms
a blueprint for greatness
foundations of genius
a fusion of art and science
painter, premier guide in observational knowledge
through pictorial depiction of form and structure
drawing, chief instrument in his didactic method
text’s subservient role to explain pictures

Questions led to questions led to questions led to questions -
leaping from subject to subject
notes taken, sketches made
backwards, forwards
both hands at once
pragmatically ambidextrous
so ink not smudged
myriads of pages
each a work of art
each a work of science

Always scientifically methodical -
observation
hypothesis
experiment
cross examination
endless search for truth and understanding
over and over again
often never finished 
process more important than product
journey more important than destination
the ultimate empiricist of visual observation

And what can be seen?
behind each brushstroke of each painting - science
optics and geometry in sfumato
cadaver dissections in chiarosuro
light propagation in perspective
and more …

Assemblies of components in each engineering design -
roller bearings, spiral gears, levers, cogs,
tool making, vertical drill, hydraulic saw,
helicopters, gliders, parachutes,
canal locks, revolving stages, cranes, traffic control,
and more …

A world of endless exploration -
aerodynamics
ballistics
measurement technology
military engineering
autopsy
embalming
geochronology
physics of light
mechanics
and more …
all within his remit
all within his capability
all within his vision
 
Thirst for knowledge -
interest in everyday objects
fascination with how things worked
motivation to go beyond the obvious
a man before his time
society not ready for his designs
no social needs
no available resource

But what of now?
heart of Leonardo caused paradigm shift for cardiac surgeon Wells,
pianist Zubrzycki built Leonardo’s viola organista, fusing two musical families,
surgeon Coffey confirmed Leonardo’s observation the mesentery is a single organ,
for Lentink, Leonard’s questions remain relevant as his research lab studies flight
- a quartet from many

Leonardo once wrote
"There are three classes of people
Those who see
Those who see when they are shown
Those who do not see when they are shown"
Leonardo knew how to see
eyes, his main avenue to knowledge
he made knowledge visible to all
but will we see or care to see?

We should heed what he said
"Wisdom is the daughter of experience."
"In rivers the water that you touch is the last of what has passed and the first of that which comes; so with present time."

This is the Leonardo 500 -
a word, no more, no less, to commemorate each year since the great man's death,
may his vision, his example, his journey never be forgotten,
simply timeless inspiration for us all!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A poem to commemorate 500 years since the death of world's greatest polymath Leonardo da Vinci 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Poetry Soup Featured Poem: March 14, 2022

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Travelogue

Discover a country by bus and train
Listen to the sound and look at the sight
Buildings may crumble but people remain

Santander port welcomes with loud refrain
Old station front, new inside, mix just right
Discover a country by bus and train

Valladolid's masonry masters reign
Once seen just leave on high speed vista-byte
Buildings may crumble but people remain

Almagro calls with its thespian vein
Crafts museum a hidden gem so bright
Discover a country by bus and train

Ciudad Real outsized for train and plane
Hotel welcome is more than just polite
Buildings may crumble but people remain

Peoples, cultures and tongues all wax and wane
Spain a wonderful place there to delight
Discover a country by bus and train
Buildings may crumble but people remain