National Poetry Day 2011 - Patchwork Poem published

The contributions are in, the poem is assembled - and here it is! Thanks to all who contributed...a colourful pdf version can be downloaded here

Pelmanism

A patchwork poem for National Poetry Day 2011

I had such high hopes for you.

We were so strong on paper,

both on fire. The last time

we'd played was in the old house,

six stolen weeks, secure in your den,

me listening to your stories,

then climbing the ladder

to play a different game.

What games shall we play today,

foul play and slapstick?

Kiss chase, spin the bottle,

not fun like they used to be.

You leap and stretch in High Definition

like a striker taunting home fans.

If you look at the ball closely

you'll see it has bloodstains.

Now we are too tired

to remember the rules.

I am small again, a little girl,

alone and chartless,

separated by legal distance

stretching into infinity,

bewildered on the brink of tears,

fishing for wishes in the long loch-dream.

We get to the heart of the thing -

war games, the unbearable logic

of how it's taking part that really counts,

plenty of time to rest up later.

The game becomes lacklustre,

scrappy, no great shakes

when the moment comes,

same old same old.

We are playing for pride. 

This poem was created by taking a line from contributions by the following writers :-

Peter Alexander

Deborah Alma

Anne Berkeley

Di Chorley

Giles Conisbee

Rafael de Swarte

Ian Duhig

Maurice Gartshore

Gwen Grant

Niels Hav

Ailsa Holland

Isaac Hughes-Dennis

Janet Jenkins

Wendy Jane Muzlanova

Stella Pierides

Alison Raybould

Heather Reid

Nicola Robson

Ian Searcey

Elizabeth Taylor

Judith Taylor

Sheila Templeton

Angela Topping
Alice Walsh

Deborah Williams-Kurz

Rodney Wood

Erik Zoha

Poem collated by

Andy Jackson