I have a mad desire to catch
the pomegranate that I see
mid-arcing in the winter air
or with a willow bat despatch
it high above the English lea
to drop beyond the bound'ry there
But I am deep inside my trench
and in the time it takes a breath
though that may ape eternity
the pomegranate’s fatal wrench
will bear me past the bourne of death
no Ceres waits for spring and me
A contest entry
- Pomegranate by ea.
1200 points, ended January 29, 2007, 14 entries
Silver trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Comments
1 - 31 of 31
-
I absolutely love it.
This is really great. When I was growing up, most of the old men around had served in WWI including my dad. I love the poems and stories about it.
I've missed seeing your works on line. In my cowboy contest I wanted to put your cowgirl poem in the top three but I had a partner who provided most of the points and had to defer to her on some of them. Thinking about it I haven't put you on my favorites list. I'll do that.
Yet the blood is strong and the heart is highland.
-
-
I am glad you like this, 'Rider.
As for the cowgirl poem, never mind - I ken it's a good one, podium place or not, and I am glad you liked it.
-
-
A fine poem from an insightful poet. The first verse rests on its perfection. The pomegranate analogy is excellent. I rarely see the word "pomegranate" used in poetry. I have only used it once, in "Book of Dreams", and some questioned me as to what a pomegranate was. Now that pomegranate juice has been exposed for its health, the lonely fruit will no longer languish in obscurity.
-
-
-
A war poem to be placed alongside Sassoon and Owen. Riveting and oh, so apt.
-
-
Jings! I don't think I am fit to breath the same air as those two poets! Thank you for the enormous compliment.
-
-
Stunning work here. Wonderful imagery. I love this great piece of writing. Well done.
All the best
Wayne Leon
-
Excellent
Nice little mixture of Greek mythology in this one. As a Celtic Wiccan, I appreciate it very much. Happy Ostara and may the Goddess and God Ever Bless You, Peace, Gar -
-
When I saw the subject of the contest, I recalled that a Mills bomb was about the size and shape of a pomegranate, and that to throw one require an over-arm bowling action... thus the three interlocking themes of the poem (WW1, the sport of Cricket, and the legend of Persphone) came into my head.
Thank you for your visit, and praise.
M
-
-
wowie!
-
-
aj, sometimes one-word comments strike me as being better praise than lengthy comments, so thank you very much.
-
-
NO COMMENT
-
Very sad, but very cleverly put. A lot of feeling in this - a lot of feeling in what is a short time for the speaker. Congrats on the trophy.
-
-
Glad you stopped by, Frodo, and glad you liked the poem.
-
-
Tight!
That's an awful lot of atmosphere to get into twelve lines - impressive - each read is giving me something new...
-
-
A'Shuilebhean! Thank you for this generous comment.
-
-
Mairi, I hear the crack of the bat as that pomegranate
goes sailing by, I do believe it's a Homerun. Not
only have you hit it out of the ballpark you've
put it straight into the atmosphere(sorry I only
know baseball terminology). Only you and
a few very respected dead poets could conceive
pomegranates as bombs and bats as cannons and fruit
as deaths last meal. My Lord, you don't post much
anymore but when you do... it always has that
WOW factor.
lapoe.
-
-
That'll be a Six, Poe, and it has gone over the boundary rope and way over the pavillion - cricket talk, but I think you have the gist . I am working on a children's novel at the moment, and it seems to have taken all my poetic energy. But I have the odd pomegranate still in my fruit-bowl.
-
-
Truly Inspired
This is a very creative way to approach this contest. You've taken the fruit through multiple metaphors with such ease that this sad piece almost seems light-hearted. The rhyme scheme, the imagery and the flow of this piece is something to admire even absent it being a “momentary inspiration.”
-
-
Thank you for the very complimetary comments. Yes I suppose I have - from fruit, to cricket ball, to Mills bomb, and back to fruit.
(Good eyebrow!)
-
-
Congratulations on the silver. This is a very strong poem.
-
-
Thanks Danna - it was a spur-of-the-moment inspiration.
-
-
WONDERFUL
Well Mairi I am absolutely floored by another wonderful poem, true poetry perfectly written and with food for thought, I loved every second of it and cannot fault it in any way.
You write the most incredible poems and are my greatest source of inspiration. If only I couls produce work like that.
-
-
Thanks, Bazza... and you know you don't do so bad!
-
-
Ah, would that I could help this man!
I do so greatly see his plight and wish, oh wish that I just might aid him to gain his fruity meal, and in so doing, love might seal.
You write the most beautiful poems, Mairi, no matter what shape the take! 
-
-
The "fruity meal", dear Melodies, is a stray Mills Bomb, I am afraid
. Thank you for your appreciation.
-
-
YIKES!
Then this poem is more deadly than I imagined!
-
-
-
Wow, I am so thrilled to have read the history behind this for it makes this piece all the more enchanting in my eyes. Your presentation is superb, meter perfect, message timely. The whole presentation wowed me, to say the least!! P.S. This is trophy-bound.
-
-
Hello Belle, I am so glad you like this one, although I don't know about 'trophy-bound'. It was honestly a momentary inspiration, and the rhyme and metre grew out of the words which came to me.
-
-
wow, this makes me cry. I just read that tanks were first used here in the Battle of Somme -- despite its Celtic name which means "tranquility". How innovative of you to see a cricket player in this war memorial, and to have him desiring to catch the fruit of immortality -- to think about it being the thing he could reach for to take him past the barrier of death. The sadness expressed for no hope of renewal in a goddess such as Ceres or even a mortal girl is so palpable. The meter and rhyme are superb. This really is an 11th hour entry. Thank you so much.
-
-
I had the idea first - of a moment in time, almost frozen, as a soldier sees a hand grenade on a trajectory directly towards him - and then went looking for a picture. The memorial actually looks more like a bowler than a batsman, but the cricketing analogy is still there. Also, the memorial is French, and German grenades were not pomegranate shaped... I could go on and on undermining my own poem . Oh maybe it was a mistaken throw by an ally... it doesn't really matter. You got the point of what I was trying to write, and I am glad you liked the poem.
-
Adding your comment:
1 - 31 of 31
