Blue 2.0

As promised in the previous post, here is a poem from the second sequence of poems about Blue. This time it was a sequence of sonnets which were developed using fragments taken from magazines, books and newspapers. I called it ‘foundlings’. The fragments used generated storyline and diverse ideas to push the writing forwards into new areas. I liked the way that the use of fragments created an open process whereas the use of the sonnet poem form did the opposite. The tension that came from this led to some interesting work, in my humble opinion 🙂

It certainly took my writing into places that it wouldn’t have otherwise gone.

I don’t usually submit much of my poetry for publication. But back when I was writing these sequences, they were well received. A lot of the early poems were published by a magazine in Liverpool called T.O.P.S. which stood for The Old Police Station. This is a community centre on Lark Lane in Liverpool and was the base from which the editor, Anthony Cooney, published the magazine.

All three sequences were then published by Gerald England as part of an experimental magazine under his New Hope International magazine. I think they were produced on floppy disc!

I owe a big thanks to both editors for their support at that time.

And the poem I have chosen from the sequence is:

Foundlings Eight: A great awakening

(Source: ‘The Te of Piglet’, by Benjamin Hoff)

A small shoot appeared, grew into a tree.
Blue watered it well, waited, but was loth
To leave things as they were, just let them be,
Without problems there’s no personal growth.

It is quite easy to be impatient.
It all depends on how one looks at things.
Don’t waste time worrying about what’s meant,
Some day there’ll come a great awakening.

And Blue has a birth-right which captures what
A good many people fail to notice.
He knows he’s not happy with his lot,
Takes intuition as well as logic.

He’ll turn negative into positive,
Then learn what to take and know what to give.

Also published on Medium.