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Best Poems Written by Graham Devenish

Below are the all-time best Graham Devenish poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

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The Light of Her Face

For Ukraine

Until I see her face again,
A wonder seen by midnight light,
No beauty beheld like this before,
I am entranced by this sight.

Courage against all, this madness now,
Striving and clinging to live again,
Streaks across the darkened sky,
In light she sees destruction then.

Clear it now and then some more,
Work for souls, no one knows,
Save our land our people too,
This fight is true as it shows.

The world has seen this horror yet,
Invaders came by no request,
Not knowing why or duty too,
They fight through fear of the tarantula’s nest.

This misguided spider has leapt upon us,
Not knowing where his exit lays,
Caught only in his own web,
The longer here, his strength decays.

By midnight light we will defeat,
This scourge that surrounds us all,
By daylight too we crush it through,
Our will is strong and still stands tall.

The beauty will come back to us,
That wonder taken from our sight,
By midnight moon or brightest day,
Our strength remains as our might.

Until the time I see her face,
Shinning through the darkest clouds,
Smiling down as in the past,
Within the light, upon the crowds.

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To the Last

Clan Stewart of Appin,
Clan MacGillvray too,
Fell at Culloden,
In the blood and dew.
They fell two by two, and then ten by ten,
Until twelve hundred dead, not sixty minutes in.
...At Culloden


The highland charge failed,
No victory as in the past.
The British stood their ground and slaughtered,
To the last.
And when twelve hours had past and a wounded man gasped,
The Butcher slaughtered again, and again,
To the last
And the last.
...At Culloden

At Culloden they fell,
The fathers and the sons,
The brothers and the cousins,
Of Scotland's bravest ones.
Bonnie na'er should ha'e marched,
His highlanders through the night.
They may ha'e had the chance,
To bring on the proper fight.
...At Culloden

But the swords came down, as men crawled through the heather,
Brits cut the Clans deep,
Ruby blood on their feather.
Through their hearts,
Through their souls,
Their lives given for this toll.
A scar to their creed,
And still Scotland weeps.
...At Culloden

Graham Alexander Devenish

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On These Plains I Lay

On These Plains I Lay

White fire and heat, blinding light, blinding bright.
Shot down on these plains,
My soldiers, My warriors,
Fading from my sight.

Battle lost?  Battle won?
Battered men, moaning in the morning sun.
I believe I am dying,
Not too old, definitely too young.

Fading.  Now floating. 
Moving forward to the light.
A pull on my cloak.
My eyes closed, but open to this sight,

of a man in kilt,
Arm outstretched to mine.
I reach for his hand, battle scarred
for all time.

My eyes closed and still,
but I see his face clear.
I know this man.  I fought this man.
Still he calls me near.

"James" he beckons.
"Its Charles of Culloden, the man you spared."
"In the moor, 
on the field in Scotland". 

Indeed I did, 
this Jacobite I spared,
This wounded Fraser,
laid down in despair.

Cumberland's' order gave no dignity,
Gave no honour,
to this brave Scot.
He was not my fodder.

Why are you here, 
my mind speaks in silence.
This "Fraser" replies,
Men of honour have earned this quietness.

Walk with me, to our God, to our Saviour.
Pay no heed to this battle.
You have fought.  You have died,
with honour and with favour.

Come to heaven and stand with pride.
Your life distinguished, and now time to rest,
beside our saviour.
By His side.

I reach out to grasp,
this Jacobite Fraser.
He holds me, and comforts me,
on our way to heaven,
on our way to our Saviour.

And now I rest.

Graham Alexander Devenish

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Culloden Foretold

CULLODEN FORETOLD

A man he once said ta'e me,
You'll lay on heather, your gut will bleed.
Near Inverness you should na'e be,
Your end is there upon thee.

I paid no heed, jumped to my feet,
Charged through the Highlands, sword in sheath.
Loyalty to the Stuarts was my belief,
and to the end that will be.

The charge has stalled, and is no more.
The Duke has trained his English Score,
to stand and fight, not run as before.
This man who spoke has told me.

On this ground I now will stand,
dirk at side, sword in hand.
Bring on my foe, I now demand,
The day has come, God save me.

The volley came, smoke thick as fog.
We charged into the peat and bog,
They stood as one, and stopped our trod,
and slaughtered all that will be.

And now I lay, my gut has bled.
A man by me, still live, not dead.
A Brit comes near, thrusting as he treads,
kills him and I as foretold to me.

Graham Alexander Devenish

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The Bruce, I Will Stand

I will stand in the heather,
I will stand in the glen,
I'll defend my Bannockburn,
With horse, pike and men.

As Bruce I command,
As Robert I will die,
But not on this day,
For English souls rise to the sky.

Remove them I will,
Send them o'er the hill,
Past Stirling and Falkirk,
Back to England yet still.

As Scots' we are strong,
Edward be damned wrong,
Tae' think he will be victor,
Today he is gone.

Seton gave me the clue,
Schiltron's stood fast and true,
Horsemen and Bowmen,
Fought as they knew,

That Scotland could prove,
It would rule through and through,
Without English invaders,
Marching on my moor.

Many lie dead,
Both English and Brave Scots',
But Edward is gone,
His army bloodied and lost.

Back to their home,
And leave mine tae' me,
At Bannockburn we stood,
And held Victory.

Graham Alexander Devenish

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Magic Bagpipes and the Five Jelly Tykes

A Bagpipe am I,
My drones point to the sky!
I am magic they say, since the wizard ‘spelled’ on me that day.

He gave me the gift of immortal time,
I could travel through centuries,
T’was a gift.
It was mine.

But now here I lay, on this shelf in pawn,
Pick me up I’ll play; I will show you magic till dawn.

My magic is real; it’s in my soul,
Squeeze me once, and I will show,
A special place that we can go,
To a time of a King,
His fight,
And his foe.

A small girl comes near, barely seven, so dear.
Dressed in red, she wanders, towards me, it’s clear.

Pick me now, small girl in red,
I see you look, up over your head.
I’m here for you, my magic waits.
You look again, my heart elates.

This girl in red takes me from the shelf,
Squeezes me once, and feels my wealth,
She yells to Papa, “Buy this pipe”.
And squeezes me, with all her might.

Finally bought from this pawn,
Holding me tight,
Oh’ so strong,
This girl, Isabella, skips home all along.

She shows me to her sisters and to her cousins too.
They shout, “Isabella, play those pipes, make some noise,
Play them through and through”.

So, Isabella plays my pipes.
She plays me through and through.
She plays me till I say to her,
“I’ll show my magic too”!

All ‘Tykes’ were shocked when they heard my words,
That came from my bag of pipes,
But I chimed in, “I have the power
To help a King claim his right”.

“My magic will help us save this Scot,
His wonderful Kingdom too!
But you must come to a time long ago,
Before you were born, it’s true”.

Isabella looks to me and says, “We will help”,
She turns to her sisters and cousins too.
And claims to me, “We are The Jelly Tykes”,
“Of course, we will all help you”.

“Jelly Tykes” I said to her, what is that I wonder?
Before she could speak, Eliana called out!
“It’s our name, our gang”,
Shouting with great thunder.

So, with all the “Jelly Tykes” around me,
They yelled, together all at once,
“We will help you Pipes,
And help you work this out”.

I said “There is no time to waste.
We all must travel now,
Back in time, to see the King,
To help him ‘oh’ somehow”!

So, I gathered my entire muster,
And turned and turned with great fluster,
Spinning round and round we went,
We fell onto the ground,
In times of past, in a cluster.

We’re back in time to 700 hundred years before.
The Jelly Tykes ran, shocked, galloping through the moor.
“Jelly Tykes”! I yelled “Stop now, come back,
It’s safer here, I’m sure”.

The Jelly Tykes of five,
Finally ran back to me, surprised,
Yelling all at once,
Of the armies,
They have seen with their own eyes.

They told me of these army’s woes,
All falling down and wobbly too,
Not ready today, as they have no might,
They are not ready for this fight.

Sister Amelia peered at my drones,
She whimpered, “What is your plan Pipes?
It’s damp here, we want to go home”.

I said to Sister Amelia and to Eliana too.
“Take Gavin and Veronica and Isabella with you.
To see the King before the battle,
To let him know what’s true”.

So, they all marched towards his camp.
The King his name was ‘Bruce’.
No heed was paid to the five of them,
For they hid behind some spruce...

And a goose!

The ‘Tykes of Five” all furrowed round, and round, and round until they found,
The Bruce in his tent, asleep so sound.
They yelled, “Bruce wake up”!

“The Tykes will make you wise,
While running on the moor we discovered a surprise”.

“The surprise is that your foe, lacks the will to fight you know.
They’ve marched for days and now cannot,
March through another moor”.

The ‘Bruce’ perked up,
And looked to me, and ‘Tyke’ Isabella, and said, “We’ll see”.
“If what you say is true,
Then we may win and save the Kingdom too”.

A few of the Tykes all clung together,
Veronica, in pink, jumped over the heather!
She fell on the ground and banged her chin!
Gavin just smiled and said with a grin, “Yup we will definitely win”.

Isabella and the ‘Tykes’ led the Bruce to the moor.
Where the five of them had ran, just the day before.

Their foe was there,
Wishing they were asleep,
Not ready to fight, they looked like dizzy sheep.

The ‘Bruce’ grabbed my drones,
We went charging through the breeze,
Toward his foe he raced,
The ‘Tykes’ waited for victory.

The battle roared around us,
Horses galloping too,
This King ‘Bruce’ saw for his own eyes,
That the ‘Tykes’ had spoken the truth.

The battle ended and victory came to ‘Bruce’ and ‘Tykes’ and ‘Pipes’
Destiny was truly fulfilled, with help from the ‘Jelly Tykes’.

Isabella and Amelia, and Eliana too,
Veronica and Gavin and the ‘Magic Pipes’ knew,
They helped the Kingdom of the ‘Bruce’
And he was grateful too.

He gave us treasure of coins and gold,
And said your help was true

As Pipes I said to all the Tykes “I’m thankful for this journey we took,
To save the Kingdom of the ‘Bruce’”,
But we need to return, to our own time
“Hang on tight! Don’t let loose”!

They held on tight with all their might,
Clutching my drones and tassels too,
Gripping closely their coins and gold,
Whirling around in this cloud so blue.

We landed safely in our time,
My magic worked just like a charm,
All ‘Tykes’ of five looked at me and said,
‘Pipes’, “Let’s help another please”?

And Bagpipe am I,
Replied,

“Perhaps we will see”.

The end

(Check out another Jelly Tyke adventure in the Short Story section. It is a narrative Christmas story and not a rhyme.)

Details | Graham Devenish Poem

The Sum

We are the sum of all say I, that intertwines our souls,
Accepting life, as we do take, the toils, and spoils, and goals.
These toils taught, we all must learn, as futures to provide,
To all our young, for everyone, their lives we help decide.

Decisions made, some with haste, and problems do occur,
Perhaps be wrong, perhaps be right, for all, we must endure.
Endurance is strength, and carries through, all of us with time,
Months will pass, the days are endless, but light will eventually shine.

As with all, this life we lead, we’re blocked as we do travel,
The wall before us, can be passed, through hidden doors unraveled,
Clues abound before our eyes, clearest of thought will unveil,
The time to be told we will not know, until wind grasps our sail.

Pushing forward through this life, with all its toils and spoils,
We gather strength every day, knowing of its foils,
But family sees, family knows, family cares and waits,
Our family is the sum, of all that we are made.

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Ode To Men That Meet the Week

When auld friends meet,
To chaw and waste,
And barmaid brings,
The Lad's the taste.

The more the taste,
The more the waste,
And under breath, the wives will curse when call for grace.
But wives agreed.  They took the vows.
And grace can wait on hearth and stone,
Til' Lads' be done and oot and home.

Lad's cause no harm,
And some say charm.
And barmaids' heard,
Much worse the yarn.

Bring more ale!
The Lad's will call.
But barmaid says "No more to all", 
She knows for where,
And Lad's know too,
That home is where their hearts are true.

And home come Lad's,
Til' next is time,
When taste is calling,
And waste is fine.

For Lad's work hard,
Complete the week,
But only once for they can meet,
Again to taste and chaw and waste.

Graham Alexander Devenish

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Tell Me

Nothing but a miracle will bring you back to me now.
You said that,
I said I'll change, But I don't know how.

My life is at a crossroads,
Trying to stay straight,
Keep my focus now.

Bending round this corner,
Searching for your love,
I longer,
...Forever...

When my heart calls to you,
Do you hear it calling?
...Tell me?

All the things I did, I'm sorry
...forever,  Tell me?  

That you'll take me back,
I've changed my ways,
For now and forever.

Tell me,
Cause I can't stand to lose,
All you had to offer,

And when I find a miracle,
I'll send it to you in an instant now,
The angels will deliver,
I hope your heart can open somehow?

And when I feel the rain is gone,
The crimson light will shine on me for now,
So take me back, I beg, I ask?
Bring me back to life somehow.

So tell me...
That you'll take me back,
I'll love you now and forever,

And tell me...
You'll forgive my past,
And we'll move onward together.

So tell me...
Please come back to me,
I hope these words are yours forever.

Please tell me...?

When finally that magic fell,
A sparkling dust held over us together,
Uniting us as the one,
My dreams came true,
You came back too.

I will never let you down,
Never again, it's my promise now,

I hope I am the miracle,
You're searching for,
I'm searching too.

So tell me...
That we'll always be together,
Grey and old.

And tell me...
If my heart tires,
Or my love gets too cold.

So tell me...
This chance you took was yours,
Forever so bold.

So tell me,
I'll be yours forever,
To claim and to hold,

...nothing but a miracle...

Graham Alexander Devenish

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One Last Dance

Honey I'm missing you
Sitting here feeling blue
Living my life on the road.

Coming back every night
Hoping you're in my sight
But you're not, thats how it goes.

Feeling blue is nothing new
Work is life, I have to do
Grey hair, sore back and it shows.

I only want to be with you
Dancing til we are through
holding each other as we go.

As we go through life
Save me the last dance
Always wait for me to come home.

I'll be there soon
Grab you into my arms
And waltz with you room after room.

As we go through life
Save me the last dance
Love me and I will love you.

I promised you then
And I promise you now
My love is my only truth.

Honey I'm missing you
Sitting here feeling blue
Wishing that I was back home.

Coming home late tonight
Please be up, my first sight
When I walk straight through that door.

We can dance in the hall
And through the kitchen too
To the deck and under the moon.

Save me that dance
And I'll show you my love
My love is my only truth.

Graham Alexander Devenish