Sunday 13 June 2010

Catching the Poetry Bus!

Well, here we are at the Bus Stop again - how quickly the week goes.
I have chosen to write a poem about my name. Thanks to Dominic's intervention, you can hear me reading it below!

The Mighty Thistle.

Why have I fallen down from grace
to be maligned
and harried, place to place -
where once I earned respect?

Chopped down and sprayed
and hassled - felt
the viper's tongue -
I still stand upright.
It is wrong
to fell me with a slash
and let me lie.

For I,
who am a National Emblem,
will not die;
but where one spike stood firm
I will put out
another twenty spikes
or thereabout!

Not for nothing
do the Scots
admire my hardiness.
When you're all gone
I'll still be here
in my proud
thistleness.

(Thistlethwaite - my surname - a 'thwaite' is Yorkshire-speak for an enclosure)


The Hardy Thistle by Pat Thistlethwaite

19 comments:

Rachel Fox said...

A proud poem indeed!
x

@ctors Business said...

I personally love the thistle. Maybe that's because part of my adopted heritage is Scottish.

This is may favourite stanza
"For I,
who am a National Emblem,
will not die;
but where one spike stood firm
I will put out
another twenty spikes
or thereabout!"

Unknown said...

Excellent poem, Weaver. There's no messing with (an adopted) Yorkshire/Scottish heritage!

hart said...

Lovely poem. Somewhere in the back of my mind I know a song that had a thistle, something like
'I love my thistle-o
all a-thorn and bristle-o
No lover's hand would dare touch the dress you wear.'
-hart

Dr. Jeanne Iris said...

Weaver, I love the stalwart consciousness of this. Surely, the historical strength is part of your own nature, too. Lovely!

Heather said...

Wonderful Pat - I shall regard thistles with more respect in future!

Totalfeckineejit said...

LOve the poem but doesn't yopur wonderful reading bring it ALIVE!!

Word Verication is 'sympil', ah, they know me well!

Kat Mortensen said...

Terrific poem! Really enjoyed hearing your voice.

So, then what's a "postle" (now that I know what a "thwaite" is)?

Kat

Anonymous said...

For all this fierce and eloquent defence, every thistle on our lawn is going under the strimmer today!

Jinksy said...

The usual 'comment' word highlighter works for me, it seems. But that wiggly sound wave thingy looks scarey...

Jinksy said...

Amazing - it worked! I'm impressed. What did you use to record yourself on? I want one! :)

Tess Kincaid said...

Listening to your proud thistleness was pure delight. Your charming accent makes me smile, Pat.

Anonymous said...

many, many thanks to your genius son! hearing you read your lovely poem made it more lovely still.

Dave King said...

That was a joy to read. If I had to choose my favourite poem of all time it would be Hugh MacDiarmid's A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle. Yours reminded me of it and still came up sounding good. (I'm not saying you sounded drunk, you'll understand!)

Unknown said...

Just popped back to hear your dulcet tones, Weaver! The wonder of modern science. Now you must let us in on the wizardry Dominic used?!

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thanks. The comment prompt reappeared again as if by magic!
Please don't ask how I managed to speak my poem - Dominic set it up for me - and I actually spoke into my lap top. When I asked how he had done it he just said if I needed it doing again he would do it - it was far too complicated to explain!! So thanks Dom.

Karen said...

Very nice, Weaver! I love it, and hearing your voice is a treat. You sound just as I'd expect from your writings.

Titus said...

Really liked this Weaver. It's a poem with a stance, a swagger and attitude - great.

BT said...

Well I just have to agree with all the other 'fans' Weaver. Lovely to hear your voice indeed. Somehow it wasn't what I expected! A super poem, the cheeky thistle grows all over our lawns. I dig them out or up they pop again!