The Dance of the Dead October 30, 2010

 

Once a year they come to search

for those they lost, they grimly lurch

through graveyard, chapel, tomb and church.

Here come the missing people!

Hear them call, they’ve come to find

the loved ones they had left behind.

Their deathly, rasping, voices wind

round tower, yew and steeple.

Soldiers killed in distant wars

and sailors drowned on foreign shores,

long lost children crave once more

the comfort of their mothers.

Look, within their graves they wake!

Watch the tombstones shift and break!

Dead folk rise and strive to take

the hands of parted lovers.

Then, to some unearthly tune,

they dance beneath an eerie moon.

Bones embracing ‘til, too soon,

the birds announce the dawn.

Silently they weep and turn

to earthy graves or ocean’s urn,

once more to sleep alone and yearn

for hallowe’en, to mourn.

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Paul Hughes 2010

Prince seeks Princess for Love and Marriage October 28, 2010

 

Will she be wearing glass slippers?

Perhaps we shall meet at a ball.

Will her gown shimmer and glitter,

my princess, the fairest of all?

Will she need kisses to wake her

from spells which have sent her to sleep?

Maybe a dragon will take her.

I’ll come for you, Princess. Don’t weep!

Will she be like Cinderella,

arriving by pumpkin express,

waiting for some handsome fella

to rescue her from her distress?

Maybe she’ll live in a tower,

her hair flowing down to the ground.

I’d do everything in my power

to bring her back home, safe and sound.

And, oh, what a life we shall share

a lifetime of smiles and laughter,

with never a tear or a care

together, forever thereafter.

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Paul Hughes 2010

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Illustration: http://citizen19.blogspot.com/2009/01/fairy-talemore-like-fairies-fail.html

A Fairytale Romance October 28, 2010

 

Little Bo Peep had lost her sheep

and so couldn’t meet me for dinner.

I dated Snow White, but try as I might,

nothing I did worked to win her.

Gretel, sweet petal, she munched on my house,

it made her so terribly sick.

I think she’d have made quite a wonderful spouse.

She choked on a fragment of brick!

Then Cinderella ran off with some fella,

I haven’t heard word of her since.

The ugliest sister said if I would kiss her,

she’d give me the name of the Prince.

I tried to hook up with Rapunzel

It’s obvious she didn’t care.

It’s simply no use, she just made the excuse,

every night, she was washing her hair.

I thought I was doomed to be lonely,

condemned to be always alone;

my love life a tale of “if onlys”

it chilled me right down to the bone.

But Goldilocks came to my rescue.

I’ll ask her to wed me, tonight.

She’ll not break my heart like the rest do.

She’s beautiful, perfect, “just right!”

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Paul Hughes 2010

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Illustration: http://www.crystalinks.com/fairytales.jpg

 

 

Extinction’s Waiting Room October 27, 2010

 

Do you think they grumble, groaning,

stony bodies, moaning, lonely,

dreaming of jurassic times?

Do they hear the steps of creatures

living free beneath the sun,

far above their rocky tomb?

Do they wonder at the nature of the

world that saw them die, as they

sleep, or sadly weep for fading

pictures of the past?

Fossil lizards, dinosaurs,

rest gently in your graves!

Save your tears, you’ll see it all.

You’ll meet them all, I swear.

We sent the dodo, so you know

a little of our world.

Soon we’ll send the tigers,

pandas, elephants and whales.

The animals are gathering,

you’ll not be short of friends.

Half the planet’s queuing in

extinction’s crowded waiting room…

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Paul Hughes 2010

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photo: http://www.softsailor.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/ida-47-million-year-old-fossil-01.jpg

The Ugly Planet October 26, 2010

 

Zarg slithered slowly on slime, like a slug,

and seemed quite disgusted to meet me.

He looked like a maggot and buzzed like a bug,

his tentacles waving to greet me.

“I’ve travelled the earth for a year and a day”

said Zarg, wiping drool from his face.

“I’ve made up my mind that I simply can’t stay.

I think it’s a terrible place!

Butterflies dance with their pastel-paint wings.

Rainbows curve gems through the sky.

I thought I’d enjoy how the nightingale sings,

the busy way hummingbirds fly.”

A tear fell from each of his twenty four ears.

“This planet is starting to bug me.

You might think it’s great, but to me it appears

so perfectly, horribly ugly.”

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Paul Hughes 2010

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illustration: http://fotolog.miarroba.es/inesperados/alien-simpsons-codos-125/

 

 

 

 

 

 

Space Cat October 24, 2010

 

As I was falling fast asleep, one night upon the farm

a bright pink cat jumped on my bed and said “I mean no harm.

My name is Space Cat, there’s my ship, we’re going for a ride.

Your animals can come along. Please hurry, step inside.”

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He started up the engines and turned his headlights on.

The animals all climbed aboard and WHOOSH the ship was gone.

The pigs soon moaned, “we’re hungry! We need to eat and soon.”

And so we stopped for breakfast, a picnic on the moon.

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The Moon Mice served as waiters; “Be seated, if you please!

Enjoy your food. Eat all you like! It’s bread and lunar cheese.”

And then we blasted off again, to see the milky way.

We danced on Mars and Jupiter, it was a lovely day.

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Space Cat flew me back to earth, with all my farmyard crew.

He promised that he’d keep in touch, as good friends always do.

And every single night time, I snuggle into bed,

and wonder if a bright pink cat is flying overhead.

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Paul Hughes 2010

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Illustration: http://starbrightillustrations.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/space_cat.png

Why the Rabbit Runs and Hides October 22, 2010



 

“Tortoise,” bragged Rabbit,

“You know I’ve a habit

of running much faster than you?!

Perhaps it’s because

of the shell you inhabit.

I think it’s too heavy, I do!”

 

The tortoise replied

“Yes, it can’t be denied

that my shell is a burden, it’s true.

And yet you will find

that you’ll choke on your pride.

I’ll make it home long before you.”

 

“You think you can race me?

You’ll never out-pace me,”

said Rabbit, “no way will you win!

But try if you’d like to,

if you dare to face me.

I’m ready, so let us begin!”

 

He started to run

but he’d barely begun

when tortoise called out “Rabbit loses!

I live in my shell

so you see, I have won.

I’m slow but my brain has its uses!”

 

Rabbit spat feathers

and didn’t know whether

to cry or to run from his shame.

And still, to this day,

he will hide in the heather

if somebody calls out his name.

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Paul Hughes 2010

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/simpleartsplanet/4150077332/

 

 

With friends like these… October 18, 2010

 

I tried to play with bumble bees,

they formed a swarm to sting me.

Rhinoceri just made me cry

because they’d never ring me.

I hugged and kissed a porcupine

but found him far too spiky.

The manta-ray just swam away

and said he didn’t like me.

I used to feel so very small,

but now I’ve found a friend.

His name is Colin Cannibal

and aaaarrrrrgggghhhhhhh!!!

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The End.

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Paul Hughes 2010

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Picture: http://www.merrilyfanciful.com/comics/2008-04-18-porcupine.png

The Mermaid October 17, 2010

 

The sea whispered softly and sweetly

and kissed, oh so gently, the beach.

A mermaid sat waiting to meet me

on a rock in the waves, out of reach.

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She said “come on into the water!”

I asked “won’t you play on the sand?”

My mermaid, King Neptune’s sweet daughter,

refused to step onto the land.

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One day I will prove my devotion

and swim out to be with my friend.

We’ll see all the sights of the ocean,

together, forever,

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The End.

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Paul Hughes 2010

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A KS1 version…?

Together in Tears October 12, 2010

The sea whispered softly and sweetly

and kissed, oh so gently, the sand.

My sweetheart sat waiting to meet me

where ocean encounters the land.

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She asked me to go to the water,

I begged her to give up the sea.

My mermaid, the ocean’s sweet daughter,

wept hotly and parted from me.

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I often look out at the ocean

and feel that she’s watching me too;

our hearts both ablaze with emotion

as our tears join as one in the blue.

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Paul Hughes 2010

The Hanging and the Saint October 3, 2010

William Cragh, William Cragh

swung from the gallows but then came back.

William, foe of the Norman lord,

hanged but had his life restored.

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The crowd turned out in Swansea for the rebel’s execution.

November’s sun shone wanly through the clouds.

William looked to heaven as he prayed for absolution;

his face betrayed no fear, he stood unbowed.

From the castle tower watched de Briouze, Lord of Gower,

keen to see Cragh draw his final breath.

For Welshmen must be mastered, forced to bow to English power,

accept their fate or else be put to death.

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William Cragh, William Cragh

swung from the gallows but then came back.

William, foe of the Norman lord,

hanged but had his life restored.

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“He hanged,” said John Of Baggenham, a servant to the lord,

“from cock-crow ‘til the sun sat fat and high.

I watched him step his airy dance until he danced no more.

I’m certain of it, William Cragh did die!

At noon the strangest thing occurred, the gallows crashed and fell.

My lord commanded ‘hang him up again!’

A shoddy piece of carpentry, or God’s will, who could tell?

In any case, the gesture was in vain.”

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William Cragh, William Cragh

swung from the gallows but then came back.

William, foe of the Norman lord,

hanged but had his life restored.

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“I saw him too,” claimed William, the baron’s youngest son.

“His face was black and bloody, dead as stone.

His soul had left him, there’s no doubt, the hangman’s work was done.

“I left my mother with him and went home.”

“The dead man’s kin had come to me to beg my intercession,”

said Lady Mary, wife of de Briouze.

I asked my husband ‘spare his life, pray grant me this concession.’

My pleas fell on deaf ears, they were refused.”

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William Cragh, William Cragh

swung from the gallows but then came back.

William, foe of the Norman lord,

hanged but had his life restored.

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“I took him to a merchant’s house and laid him on a bed.

I bent a silver penny as a gift,

then prayed to Thomas Cantilupe to raise him from the dead

and waited for the cloak of death to lift.

For Bishop Thomas Cantilupe, though dead for many moons,

could resurrect a body after death.

I didn’t have too long to wait, the rebel stirred quite soon.

I watched him tremble, choke then take a breath.”

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William Cragh, William Cragh

swung from the gallows but then came back.

William, foe of the Norman lord,

hanged but had his life restored.

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The three Papal Commissioners considered what they’d heard.

Was Cantilupe a saint or just a man?

They rose to leave but then a voice rang out “hear me a word!

I’d like to tell my story, if I can.

My name is William Cragh and I’m the subject of this tale.

They hanged me by my neck until I died.

I’ve come to pay my debt to Cantilupe, and I’ll not fail

to see this godly man beatified.”

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William Cragh, William Cragh

swung from the gallows but then came back.

William, foe of the Norman lord,

hanged but had his life restored.

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“I cannot call to mind much of my time upon the rope.

I only know that as my world turned black

a vision of a bishop dressed in white gave me the hope

that I was not yet done, that I’d be back.

And here I stand. You see the scar the rope burned on my neck?

It shows I hanged, you see that I still breathe.

I’m living proof of Cantilupe’s miraculous effect.

View his work, cast off your doubt, believe!”

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William Cragh, William Cragh

swung from the gallows but then came back.

William, foe of the Norman lord,

hanged but had his life restored.

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Paul Hughes 2010

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Cantilupe was beatified (made a saint) in 1320.