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Best Poems Written by Tony Hargreaves

Below are the all-time best Tony Hargreaves poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

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School, 1950s

A curious cocktail of odours greets us 
as we move in from playground
to corridor, to cloakroom, to classroom.

Beeswax fragrance: freshly buffed parquet.
Brasso smell: base metal turned to gold.
Jeyes Fluid: vapour killing vile germs.
Such alchemy starts our day with clean slate. 

Playground cacophony left behind.
Now each sound has discipline, has purpose. 
First bell: registration shall begin.
Next bell: proceed to assembly hall. 

Lasses stand on round marks; lads on square marks. 
Regular rows, parallel precision.
Stand to attention. Uniform inspection. 

At ease. Handshakes and smiles. Peace be with you.
Silence pervades as we ponder our sins. 

With ramrod fingers Miss thumps on the keys.
Staccato. Left. Right. 
'Ride on Ride on in Majesty'.

A short sermon on compassion is served.

Then, school notices: soccer successes
and the listing of scallywags destined
for public thrashing at high noon next day.

Third bell: learning shall begin.
RI lesson.  St Paul's Journey yet again. 
In silence we colour in his route map. 
With crayons on auto-pilot we day dream.

Our apostle arrives in Rome by morning break.

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Mind Created

in matrix of brain cells
where nature and nurture             
both played a vital part
to store information                         
from all of five senses
to construct thought process           
and build a basic mind
where bits of awareness                 
fuse to make consciousness

later came the sixth-sense              
linking my simple mind
to all sentient creatures
within the cosmic web
where higher minds exist     
to help all conscious beings                      
build minds of compassion
so we create the love                       
that binds us all as one

Details | Tony Hargreaves Poem

Sea Levels Rise, Then What

It gets worse day by day,   
because of our neglect.
But we look other way
and vital facts reject.

For years we’ve seen warning 
but always close our eyes.
As glaciers start melting,
we watch sea-levels rise.

Antarctic ice now thaws. 
More water this sets free.
Into ocean it pours,
so further rise we see.

Our carbon footprint grows.
We must accept this fact. 
But our reluctance shows
in that we’re slow to act.

We dare not think it true,
so seek easy option.
We don’t know what to do
so we take no action.
  
Our air pollution grow,
but we put off the day
when we must change our show,
for then we’ll have to pay.

Details | Tony Hargreaves Poem

Dainty Damselfly

Such beauty and so full of life,
she's flitting to and fro,
from plant to plant to find best perch
and put herself on show.

Sprawling in the midday sun
she is a splendid sight.
Her slender abdomen dressed in
metallic blue so bright.

Her wings are thin fragile fabric,
fine lace she must protect.
Her huge domed eyes focussed and keen
search around to locate

the fittest males upon the scene.
There's one with flying skill.
He plays the game of hide and seek.
Now, she joins in the thrill.

They fly off to the undergrowth.
In heartwheel there they play.
Now all her eggs become fertile.
A batch of them she lay

and after some minutes of rest
she starts another game,
but this time with different male.
This lady has no shame.

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Worm

It sees your mind as tempting fruit
So little worm goes in pursuit.
It's been let loose to burrow deep,
While you’re awake or in your sleep.
Your subconscious, it work upon
So you ne’er know it’s been and gone.
With clever seed sown in your mind
Your thought patterns are re-defined.
Subliminal, is this worm’s name.
Manipulation is the game.

Details | Tony Hargreaves Poem

MORE WILDLIFE MADE HOMELESS

We see but grey where once was green
As bulldozers now scrape,
Turning a joyful rural scene
Into joyless landscape. 

The area was green-belt land
With forest and pasture 
But as our numbers still expand
We will invade nature.  

And so that farmland must give way
To high profit housing. 
Farming that land has had its day.
Let the plunder begin. 

First rip up each ancient hedgerow,
Take living loam away. 
Make space for luxury homes to go.  
The wildlife then must stray. 

Nests and burrows can play no part 
As man now owns this space. 
The construction work now can start 
And big profits then chase.  

Soon building projects in full swing. 
The stream that filled the pond 
Diverted to concrete piping 
In culvert underground.   

Aquatic habitats destroyed. 
Frogs, toads and newts homeless. 
Many wildlife species now void. 
But man could not care less.

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Ballad of Unsprung Spring

The winter time has had its day,
Was what we all believed,
As signs of spring were everywhere.
But seems we've been deceived.
Evil April brings Arctic blast
Now more snow has arrived.

It seems winter must dominate,
And tell springtime it has to wait.

The snowdrops and the crocuses 
Put on a splendid show.
Now we should have the daffodils 
But they struggle to grow.
And the tulips expected soon
Are still asleep below.

It seems winter must dominate,
And tell springtime it has to wait.

Why are these seasons so confused?
There surely is a catch.
Last week the moorhen laid her eggs
Now incubates the batch.
But with the snow covering her
What chance have they to hatch?

It seems winter must dominate,
And tell springtime it has to wait.

Details | Tony Hargreaves Poem

Horizon Blaze On Haze

Horizon blaze burns morning haze
as black beyond brings birth of day.
Now yellow glow lights all below,
a glorious sight of glistening gold.
Warm air of morn whisks grey away.
Adrift, some soft white misty strands.
On thermal rise rides more vapour
to cling as cumulus cluster.
Aloft white satin shift is seen
fraying to form a fleecy flock.
Then eye of day in yonder sky
descending deep to dark demise.
Soon black beyond be back again.

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I Can But Pray

I shut my eyes, I can but pray
for this planet that we have damned.
I worry for Earth's future day.

In game of greed we choose to play,
we fell forests to grab the land.
I shut my eyes, I can but pray.

On see-o-two we still delay,
fudge footprint figures and pretend.
I worry for Earth's future day.

Our plastic waste goes far astray,
a problem that is out of hand.
I shut my eyes, I can but pray.

The world's wildlife we now betray
by driving species to their end.
I worry for Earth's future day.

Our greedy ways, on my mind weigh.
It's time our thinking we amend.
I shut my eyes, I can but pray.
I worry for Earth's future day.

Details | Tony Hargreaves Poem

BUSHMILLS IN BUS STATION

Her hair's so black, the blue is breaking through.  
Centre-parted with furrow crown to fore, 
Perfectly placed and kept in position 
As pretty red ribbons bind the bunches.

Her face is crazed and tanned to leather.  
Too many benders on Benidorm beach. 
Her mouth is creased, possibly from decades 
Of dragging long and hard on king-size tipped. 
But her lips: Aah! A work of art in crimson. 

Today she wears a short-sleeve summer frock. 
Floral pattern with red to match her lippy. 
Her batwings flap-flop like Labrador ears. 
Her small white socks sit snug in hiking boots.

She is the little girl in the old lady. 
Time corrupts. Her comfort, her addiction. 
After her tour of town she sidles off 
To swig Bushmills on a bus-station bench.

Guess who must help to carry her back home.