31st March 2018
Hi All
It was fun catching up with some of you at the recent Open Mic event at Gayton library. Hope to meet more of you at the next Open Mic which has a theme of mental health which will be held at Kenton library on Thursday 10th May.
The subject for next month is Moving Home and as promised, I am posting my poem which I wrote for a friend when she and her husband downsized from the family home after their daughter grew up and married.
A NEW BROOM by Judy Karbritz
I’ve packed it all except the broom
To sweep one last time this old room
The floor our daughter used to crawl
Then toddle, laughing when she’d fall
The birthday parties we would hold
But years flash by, our home’s now sold
The day our daughter started school
Marks on the wall as she grew tall
Her best friends sleeping overnight
Soft giggling till the morning light
The tears until the cat was found
And then the boys came calling round
We stayed up when she came home late
And proudly watched her graduate
Her wedding day, a lovely bride
You hugged me as sweet tears we cried
She now has children of her own
We’re moving to a smaller home
A little flat – we don’t need more
As one last time I sweep the floor
This month, with the topic Winter Blues, as is so often the case, was a close call as to the winning entries for both the Harrow and Barnet Borough Times. If you weren’t one of our winners, please keep on trying.
The Harrow Times winning poem is by Esther Royer:
BLUES AND GREYS by Esther Royer
Oh how I do wish the sun would come out to play today
even if it's just for a little while
Grey miserable sky you make me want to just lay here curled up in my not so cosy bed.
Spring season is here but still I see no flowers bloom.
grass covered in ice
heavy
Oh, I do get tired of these over-loaded bomber jackets weighing me down
when I want to be free like the bees picking pollen from the flowers
Leaves freshly grown green on tree kissed by the welcoming warming breeze of spring
Why oh why
do winter days have to drag on so long
singing the winter blues song
wailing jazzy blues and greys tunes
Oh how I do wish the sun would come out to play today
even if it's just for a little while.
The Barnet Borough Times winner poet is Marie-Géraldine Lauzier with her poem Colour me inside:
COLOUR ME INSIDE by Marie-Géraldine Lauzier
Outside's a dull grey
Inside is of a multitude of colours
It all depends on
Tiny details, massive events
When I catch a glimpse of
Fiery red autumn
I have a leaf fight with
Myself, I colour my pages
I ignore shorter days, lower temperatures,
When I catch the winter blues
I wrap up warm, close my eyes
Hibernate for a moment
When flowers are, on my mind
They blossom in all shades,
Tones of bliss,
I'm a spring child
When summer let's me
Roam around lightly, I feel
A shade brighter, a tone braver
Some of our runners up were:
WINTER BLUES by Howard Lambe
The Winter Blues are here to stay
Until the snow has melted away
Icy cold mornings freezing hands and face
Makes us hurry to work with all due haste
The garden is cold empty and bare
Nothing to see at this time of the year
The plants and trees their leaves will lose
They too suffer the Winter Blues
Little children in their scarves and mittens
To protect them from becoming frost bitten
Their little feet in sturdy shoes
They wont get the Winter Blues
Mum at home keeps it warm and bright
For her family when they return at night
Looking forward to a meal of hot food
Keeping at bay those Winter Blues
At last the weather takes an upward turn
Making life easier to live and learn
Spring is coming the ice will thaw
And the Winter Blues will be no more
WINTER by Kusum Hars
Icy winds, heavy snow and endless rain
Wind chill comes knocking once again
Grey clouds with days dull and dreary
Enough to change our moods clearly
Bare trees and bushes stand cold and still
Covered with a white sheet of snowy chill
Nature sleeps, even animals follow the norm
Curling and resting in their burrows to keep warm
A few daffodils and crocuses defy the order
Pop up adding colour to the grassy borders.
To us it brings coughs, cold and the winter blues
Long cold nights I could sleep and sleep
Curling in my warm bed not wanting to leave
Stiff limbs hard to move, my heart resists
Nature calls but the mind reasons and insists
To make the effort to drive the blues away
I try yoga and other things to keep busy
But lack of light and colour around makes my mind go dizzy.
I wonder if others feel the same or worse every year
There could be summer blues somewhere like the winter blues here.
WINTER BLUES - JEFF EDMUNDS
When the winter comes in, under a cold, white sun
I look for my woman to keep me warm
I get in my car, I scrape the ice
Need fire in my belly. Someone to treat me nice
I got the winter blues. I’m holding onto the things
I don’t wanna lose. In my heart I pray
I’m gonna get by through the cold, cold day
I see the snowdrop in the ground so cold
It speaks of survival into my soul
The snow and the frost are freezing my mind
I can’t get warm, the wind is so unkind
I got the winter blues. I’m holding onto the things
I don’t wanna lose. In my heart I pray
I’m gonna get by through the cold, cold day
The sunshine on my TV, so far, far away
A little bit of summer would brighten my day
Wish I had my woman but she’s down in LA
I’m stuck here in the winter in a cold, cold way
I got the winter blues. I’m holding onto the things
I don’t wanna lose. In my heart I pray
I’m gonna get by through the cold, cold day
BABS LEE - Winter Blues
You took us by surprise
From Siberia in disguise
Cascading sheets of white
Flurrying through the night
But with it came a sky of grey
A cold biting wind feeling its way
My feet frozen on the ground
The ice making a crunching sound
The temperature has dropped
Dare I walk to the shop
I'm frightened I'll fall
Who will hear my call?
I see it all on the news
With my cold winter blues
With shivering hands
I can't make plans.
My mood turns like the season itself
Soon winter will lie on a dark empty shelf
The sun will shine through the crisp morning dew
And bright yellow daffodils will bring in a season that's new.
WINTER BLUES by J R Simms
I was stuck in a moment of sun-lit slumbers,
With the whisper of waves crawling over some beach.
Sub-conscious senses weaved throughout my mind,
As the shivers of day-break beckoned chilled winter blues.
Coffee is percolating, while the Robin is watching,
Perched on a twig with icicles frozen in time.
Snow is weeping from the grey sky's above,
Yet the winter blue clouds cannot hide by-gone loves.
Star-gazing wonders ascend to another world,
Where I reach for the truth to an unknown answer.
The questions persist in the season of spring-time,
My own forces facing the doubt through cold air.
Eclipsed by voices in the distance coming closer,
Reminded that 'here & now' is the relative value.
I ruminate, remind, reflect and roll out the smiles,
As the beer disappears to while away winter blues.
WINTER BLUES by Ian Herne
In Bath, the snow piled as cosy pillows on the roadside,
The Met winter warnings like augurs of old,
But no beacon on the hills in modern times.
The past cannot come back; it's sold.
Old Man Brent, tired looking, aged and worn
Drains slowly into concrete walls,
While guileless boys pierce car windscreens
With dissent, called snowballs.
All gruesome winter is really in Caledonia.
You can't see the railway tracks.
Don't skate on ponds or rivers, pouts the sage;
This wisdom from a certain age.
Snow seems crystal to a young heart,
White and true.
The Beast from the East is the name of this killer
With its polar chill, brand new.
WRITING TO DISPEL WINTER BLUES by Patricia J Tausz
Frost sparkling on roof tiles
Sun peering through a brightening sky
Steam rising from ventilation shafts and vents
Today I feel my face broadening with smiles
As I hear the birds and them from the treetops fly
Precious jewels of dew in grass lie
Indoors the washing ready in white and coloured piles
I listen to the radio - refugees living in tents
The depressing news makes me sob and sigh
As more sad news will be placed in files.
Sunshine urges me to write once again
I'm observing the outside whilst remaining inside
The two are truly worlds apart
I feel relieved to be engaging with my brain
As from one situation to the next I glide
Briefly I can write my emotions I cannot hide
For the traumatised by war, I can feel their pain
I'm writing this out for a start
And now I feel satisfied
Hopefully the Winter Blues for me are over and I'll be able to write cheerfully once again.
There were many other entries and I’m sorry that I can’t print them all. However, try again next month and who knows, you could be a winner or at least feature in the blog.
As mentioned at the beginning of this blog, April’s subject is Moving Home. Make what you will of it and I look forward to receiving your entries by Thursday 26th April.
Take care
Judy
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel