Author: poetryfest

Submit your Poetry to the Festival. Three Options: 1) To post. 2) To have performed by an actor 3) To be made into a film.

Number 87, The Fountain, by Bill Mumford

The snib string was pushed through grandfather’s door
Well-worn by the tug of neighbours’ hands.
Let out during the day, pulled in at night
Hefted children, weans, keen to explore.
“No going to the Bog Side or Creggan”
“No cheeking old man Walker- he’s not right”

Tribal childcare, fed wherever we were
Never any trouble: “we know your ma”.
And god knew everything we were thinking-
Even before we did. We were wary.
Found places that were under the radar
Feral- until the string was pulled in.

We snook over to see Derry City
“Avert your eyes from the graven imagery!”

The Keening Curlew, by Bill Mumford

Hail, blown by Artic Maritime wind
Stings. Westmorland whitens, all sound freezes.
I take shelter in a silent lime kiln
Stone cold. No fire here, all warmth has been mined.
Pulled my dog close- wary with unease
Numbed. Quiet, waiting as the cold seeps in.

Steam of light cuts through an icy veil
Glimpses of a silhouette, then the lament
As a curlew keens his incantation.
His lovelorn song tells such a sad tale
Memories of moors filled with enchantment-
His thoughts turn- for hope and expectation.

They say: birth chimes bring the sick belief
Moment of joy in a landscape of grief

“We have forgotten how to be good guests, how to walk lightly on the earth as its other creatures do.” — Art of Quotation

“We have forgotten how to be good guests, how to walk lightly on the earth as its other creatures do.” — Barbara Ward, economist, author

via “We have forgotten how to be good guests, how to walk lightly on the earth as its other creatures do.” — Art of Quotation

“It’s a sad reflection on society how many people are shocked by honesty… and how few by dishonesty.” — Art of Quotation

“It’s a sad reflection on society how many people are shocked by honesty… and how few by dishonesty.” ― Noël Coward, playwright, from the play Blithe Spirit

via “It’s a sad reflection on society how many people are shocked by honesty… and how few by dishonesty.” — Art of Quotation

“The key to leadership is recognizing you’re not the smartest guy in the room.” — Art of Quotation

“The key to leadership is recognizing you’re not the smartest guy in the room.” Mitt Romney, Republican Senator

via “The key to leadership is recognizing you’re not the smartest guy in the room.” — Art of Quotation

“It’s ironic that those who till the soil, cultivate and harvest the fruits, vegetables, and other foods that fill your tables with abundance have nothing left for themselves.” — Art of Quotation

It’s ironic that those who till the soil, cultivate and harvest the fruits, vegetables, and other foods that fill your tables with abundance have nothing left for themselves. Cesar Chavez, activist, “An Organizer’s Tale: Speeches”, p.352, Penguin Image: Migrant Worker on Highway, Dorothea Lange

via “It’s ironic that those who till the soil, cultivate and harvest the fruits, vegetables, and other foods that fill your tables with abundance have nothing left for themselves.” — Art of Quotation

“humans… move to an area and multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area…another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is?” — Art of Quotation

I’d like to share a revelation that I’ve had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you’re not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an […]

via “humans… move to an area and multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area…another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is?” — Art of Quotation

The Marshmallow Test? “ America….We have the knowledge, we have the resources, but we don’t have the will.” — Art of Quotation

America in 2020, it seems, is too disunited, with too many people in the grip of ideology and partisanship, to deal effectively with a pandemic. We have the knowledge, we have the resources, but we don’t have the will. Source: Washington Post, Paul Krugman America Fails the Marshmallow Test, We lack the will to beat Covid-19. […]

via The Marshmallow Test? “ America….We have the knowledge, we have the resources, but we don’t have the will.” — Art of Quotation

“I am not blaming those who are resolved to rule, only those who show an even greater readiness to submit.” — Art of Quotation

I am not blaming those who are resolved to rule, only those who show an even greater readiness to submit. Thucydides, “History of the Peloponnesian War”, p.345, Penguin UK, 1974

via “I am not blaming those who are resolved to rule, only those who show an even greater readiness to submit.” — Art of Quotation

“The spaces between stars are where the work of the universe is done.” — Art of Quotation

The spaces between stars are where the work of the universe is done. Ivan Doig, writer, book quote from “The Sea Runners”, p.68, Simon and Schuster

via “The spaces between stars are where the work of the universe is done.” — Art of Quotation