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BY THE CANAL

Here where the light shows itself off

a canal turns its back on the buildings

sniffs and moves on,

draws itself into dead ends

doubles back to check bridges

its reflection, its meanderings,

spreads out to tease banks

garlanded, with tresses that tumble,

is pleased with its imperceptible flow

lays on its back in pools of sun

blends into night as dark dreams begin.

◄ PIPE DREAMS

WHEN THE ALIENS COME ►

Comments

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raypool

Mon 30th Sep 2019 12:01

Thanks for getting this one Jon, appreciated.

Ray

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Jon Stainsby

Mon 30th Sep 2019 08:17

I love the feeling of this, Ray.

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raypool

Sun 29th Sep 2019 21:20

Nice to see you liking this Jennifer. I wanted to personalize the canal hence the lines that kick it off. I tend as you know to write short poems as I run out of options quite quickly, and end up with vignettes.

Ray

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jennifer Malden

Sun 29th Sep 2019 15:08

Fascinating! It's always a surprise to find a canal in the depths of a town, as Graham says, it's difficult to imagine how busy they would have been when built. Especially liked the first three lines. A lot of people go cancycling along an unused, but well kept canal where I live.
Jennifer

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raypool

Thu 26th Sep 2019 15:07

Hi Tom a comment just to you thanks for liking my canalside view!

Ray

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raypool

Mon 23rd Sep 2019 12:30

Thanks Graham for that considered view. Of course, the relishing of quiet waters and the benefits that canalside greenery offer is a wonderful lesson in pace, and an antedote to the motorway rush. There is still life as you say, but it's not the grind of industry. To find a facsimile of that, a visit to Blist Hill and suchlike is a learning curve. I miss Fred Dibnah who seemed to embody much of the past.

Ray

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Graham Sherwood

Sun 22nd Sep 2019 22:06

Missed this Ray.

For me there is a significant juxt between the canals of yesteryear and those of today. We live very close to the Grand Union. When walking there I cannot but help compare the seemingly happy-go-lucky tourism use that we witness today with the gritty hard-edged reality of those that built them and those who plied their trade upon them.

Of course if it were not for the leisure industry, most would have disappeared long ago. Strange!

Your piece fulfils the slow but steady movement of craft then and now, the only real correlation.

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raypool

Sun 22nd Sep 2019 20:44

This poem was inspired by David Moore and I dedicate it to him in honour of his sensitivity and appreciation of the world of water and its freedoms.

Thank you Keith - I like the idea of everything animal vegetable and mineral having a soul of sorts, so I take that as a compliment!

Glad you like it so much Don. Thank you.

That was spot on Jason - works well for me that assessment, thanks.

What a great way to exercise your options Hugh. A new word added to the canon. Cheers!

Frances, Adam, Kevin, Julia and Kate many thanks for your liking the poem.

Ray

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Hugh

Sat 21st Sep 2019 01:04

Great poem.I love the canal and spend a lot of time on it with my dog cycling,I call my activity "canycling."

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Jason Bayliss

Sat 21st Sep 2019 00:26

Really love this Ray, to me it paints the picture of a big, inquisitive, slow moving serpent, gently and quietly snaking it's way across the landscape.

J. x

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Don Matthews

Fri 20th Sep 2019 23:53

So good Ray.....

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keith jeffries

Fri 20th Sep 2019 21:53

Exquisite! This poem captures so much of those man made features which criss cross our industrial landscape as if they possess a soul of their own.
Thanks
Keith

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