Babies wake alone, start screaming
Children play, wake neighbours, shouting
Their mother snatches sleep, dreaming
Why is no-one helping, listening?
Their Dad was reading about football
Admiring heroes who were brave
He ran down to the sandy beach
Then hid in his dark, silent cave
His daughter ran down after him
Called, 'Don't hide, Dad, you won't win
Don't stay here working on your own
With her! Your kids say, please come home!'
Parents did their duty voting
But the council didn't listen
Voters complained, puzzled, in doubt
Thought things could change, voted, all out
Poets sighed, unread introverts
Wrote unpaid, yet no-one listened
Songwriters' success? Add music, rhyme
Please, composers, help me this time!
Keen teens copy stars and royals
Cheaters think lovers are loyal
We all hope someone else will save
The world, while we hide in our cave.
And yet, each room within our home
Each street, park, garden, where we roam
Is filled with plants and fulfilled schemes
We can build new worlds from our dreams.
-ends-
Reading time 2 minutes.
Version one tells poets to use rhymes, or write songs.
Version 2 seeks a composer.
Version 1 has the mother screaming - for help from her husband and the neighbours her children are annoying. Version 2 has her dreaming of help.
Usually I update a poem and show only the second or last version, with a footnote at the end about previous versions and how I improved the rhyme, rhythm, or removed repetition and added variety.
However, this time the poems have different messages to the audience, so I have included both as separate poems.
Please share links to your favourite poems.
