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Simon Rogerson Poem
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
Copyright © Simon Rogerson | Year Posted 2019
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Simon Rogerson Poem
When we work with wisdom we will work world wonders!
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15 May 2022
First Place in WORK PERSPECTIVE MONOKU
Sponsor: Beata Agustin
Copyright © Simon Rogerson | Year Posted 2022
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Simon Rogerson Poem
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
Copyright © Simon Rogerson | Year Posted 2020
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Simon Rogerson Poem
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
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In memory of Aretha Franklin, singer, songwriter, actress, pianist, and civil rights activist, who died 16 August 2018.
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Poetry Soup Featured Poem: November 1, 2020. In 2022, it was published in PS: It's Still Poetry.
Copyright © Simon Rogerson | Year Posted 2020
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Simon Rogerson Poem
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!
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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
Copyright © Simon Rogerson | Year Posted 2021
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Simon Rogerson Poem
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
Copyright © Simon Rogerson | Year Posted 2019
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Simon Rogerson Poem
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
Copyright © Simon Rogerson | Year Posted 2020
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Simon Rogerson Poem
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!
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A poem to commemorate 500 years since the death of world's greatest polymath Leonardo da Vinci
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Poetry Soup Featured Poem: March 14, 2022
Copyright © Simon Rogerson | Year Posted 2021
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Simon Rogerson Poem
Let me tell you a story …
Many pilgrims had passed this way before him
but had rarely stopped before trudging up the muddy path to the top of the hill
and then disappearing out of sight forever.
But he lingered at this shady spot at the bottom of the dip in the track.
The old stone tablet in the wall was overgrown with moss and ivy.
Rain droplets hung at the tip of every ivy leaf.
Catching the daylight, they twinkled like some distant constellation.
He pulled back the ivy, scraped off the moss to reveal the ancient writing.
By chance or maybe by some hidden force,
this place still belonged to the pilgrim’s way.
But the pseudo-pilgrims had no time to waste as celebrity beckoned.
Eyes fixed on the hill’s summit
they were oblivious of both this place and its significance.
The inscription read
If you look too hard you will not see
If you talk too much you will not hear
If you think too much you will not learn
If you walk too fast you will not arrive
If you are true to yourself you will be content
You will unlock the secret door
He reflected on what he had read but not too deeply and then smiled.
He had another 150 miles to walk which he could do in six long, arduous days
but now it would take him ten days of contemplation.
The climb up the hill was different from what had gone before.
It was exhilarating for the wonders of nature were all around to experience and enjoy.
Every step was stimulating.
The inscription filled his mind.
Slowly but surely the door opened.
The days passed and he realised the pilgrimage was of the mind not of the body.
Walking gave him space and time.
Ten days later he was uplifted and at peace
having stepped through the door of enlightenment
once secret and now so obvious.
He smiled at the pseudo-pilgrims there with him at the end.
He felt sadness for theirs was a superficial achievement
judged against each other with a materialistic prize.
They had been on a walk but not a pilgrimage.
He gave them one last glance,
turned and strolled into life.
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25 April 2022
First Place Contest Name: Form N - Narrative - New Poems
Sponsor: Constance La France
Chosen Theme: #1 Journey
Copyright © Simon Rogerson | Year Posted 2022
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Simon Rogerson Poem
Deep in the ocean something stirs
Plates shift, energy builds then death freed
Rising from the depths tsunami begins
Travels faster and faster
Deadly potential mounts
Land ahoy, tsunami slows
Unaware people just play
Wall of water grows and grows
Hits the land and kills its prey
Life’s catastrophe
Grief, despair beyond belief
Waves of destruction
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A combination of crystalline (8,9 syllables), kimo (10,7,6 syllables), quatrain (7,7,7,7 syllables) and haiku (5,7,5 syllables)
8 April 2022
Copyright © Simon Rogerson | Year Posted 2022
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