Photo by Peter Dixon
Life Through An Elastic Band
Elastic bands young and strong, thick and thin, short or long,
Woven tightly band by band, strand by strand,
Around unknown objects of random sizes,
Carefully laid out on wooden tables for all the world to see;
Precisely placed before changing seasons raging wrath
Compels each stretching band to wane then snap,
Yielding to the striking of an invisible clock,
Until one by one they reveal the hidden fabric at their heart.
Was I hated or mistrusted?,
Was I loved and did I love?,
Was I honourable or unjust?,
Was I faithful or did I lust?,
If I lived, did I let live?,
Did I believe or hide behind doubt?,
Is it all meaningless at the setting of the Sun?,
Will my Soul rise again?,
What is left when I have gone?
Universal wonder taken to an early grave,
Leaving a half written epitaph that does not tell it well for you.
Only the erosion of restraining bands
can write those final truths that bound each elastic band
to life’s remorseless clock,
Silently ticking as an owl in flight, compelling remaining bands to wane then snap,
Bringing back, the long dead artist’s dream, Part Two,
To fulfilment and eternal life.
Robert Lonsdale
My Best Friend
Without much fuss,
and took away my Mother.
I who remains am told to be strong,
move on, shed no tears,
celebrate instead her good life.
Machismo advice, sensible but temporal,
helps cope with her passing,
fond memories too soon become sweet
and everlasting,
held together via handshakes and hugs
Until earth becomes earth and ashes
become ashes.
Cheerless rhymes accompany her into the
icy cold ground
on beloved Christmas Eve
While her adult son plummets headlong
into meltdown.
Night night and God bless,
I still miss that goodnight kiss.
I will never get used to this
wretched void
where once my best friend stood.
Robert Lonsdale
Saving The Shannon
The innocent river Shannon ripples
along,
minding its own business, blissfully
unaware
of the impending threat it has to face
from the unscrupulous corporate fist
that intends to drain so much
of what it’s got.
A sucking siphon, inserted into the
river's mass,
ensures a tidy profit when the level
drops;
all done in the name of progress.
Another murderous blade stabs into
ecology’s heart,
bringing the doomsday prophecy another
toxic step closer.
The Shannon cannot defend itself alone
against this planned onslaught,
it needs some friends now, more than
ever before.
And the old men along its busy banks
say:
“If Che were here today, he would
save the Shannon
in the good old revolutionary way.”
But Che has had his day
and the time is now!
Limerick people have to act fast
if the beloved Shannon is to remain
intact.
A dreadful fate lies in wait,
No more time to waste,
hesitate or procrastinate:
unite, rise to this fight,
prevent another environmental disaster
from taking place I
in this land of emerald green hope.
Robert Lonsdale
(from Anthology for a River, Limerick
2012)
ROBERT LONSDALE:
Robert has had much of his poetry published and also broadcast on local B.B.C. Radio where he was involved with one of their weekly evening programmes for many years featuring local poets.
He set up and organised "The Write Room" on Teesside which provided an opportunity for poets/writers to read, share and perform their work to an audience.
He has also compiled and edited a book of his own poems and performed at many venues across the North East of England.
He has written, produced and directed two short films called, "For Those Who Sit And Wait" and "Ya Joking Aren't Ya?", both of which have been featured in many film festivals including Teesside University’s "Concept" film night.
He recently wrote a stage play which highlighted the closure of the Corus Steel Mill. This was successfully performed by an acting company both at the Arc Arts Centre in Stockton and on stage in Middlesbrough. His latest writing project is an hour long television drama which has been submitted to the B.B.C.
He has performed at the "On the Nail" poetry venue in Limerick, Ireland and a poem of his is featured in the recent River Shannon anthology the launch of which he attended in Limerick.
