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
Sunday 13 June 2010
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19 comments:
A proud poem indeed!
x
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!"
Excellent poem, Weaver. There's no messing with (an adopted) Yorkshire/Scottish heritage!
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
Weaver, I love the stalwart consciousness of this. Surely, the historical strength is part of your own nature, too. Lovely!
Wonderful Pat - I shall regard thistles with more respect in future!
LOve the poem but doesn't yopur wonderful reading bring it ALIVE!!
Word Verication is 'sympil', ah, they know me well!
Terrific poem! Really enjoyed hearing your voice.
So, then what's a "postle" (now that I know what a "thwaite" is)?
Kat
For all this fierce and eloquent defence, every thistle on our lawn is going under the strimmer today!
The usual 'comment' word highlighter works for me, it seems. But that wiggly sound wave thingy looks scarey...
Amazing - it worked! I'm impressed. What did you use to record yourself on? I want one! :)
Listening to your proud thistleness was pure delight. Your charming accent makes me smile, Pat.
many, many thanks to your genius son! hearing you read your lovely poem made it more lovely still.
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!)
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?!
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.
Very nice, Weaver! I love it, and hearing your voice is a treat. You sound just as I'd expect from your writings.
Really liked this Weaver. It's a poem with a stance, a swagger and attitude - great.
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!
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