The two following poems containing appropriations were intended for April National Poetry Month. Computer problems and CCLV library closures due to COVID-19 prevented me from reaching out last month. <\/p>\n
The poems are a conscious homage to two very short poems by Richard Barnfield (1574-1627) and Austin Clarke (1896-1974). Both poems left me wanting to read more and know more about what was suggested. <\/p>\n
I subsequently wrote more using them to make new poems. I start each line with the original line of the original poem then put a slash to indicate where my words continue the poem. You wind up reading three separate poems: the original, my poem line by line and the two together, which form a completely different poem. Lines 9 through 14 in Counting Sheep – A Shepherds Lament are my own. They make the poem a complete 14 line sonnet.<\/p>\n
So there are six poems here. Count your blessings instead of sheep before sleep.\u00a0 Joey ‘Pepe Batbon’ Connolly (Special to the Saipan Tribune)<\/strong> The two following poems containing appropriations were intended for April National Poetry Month. Computer problems…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":322001,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[26,23672,23673,13843],"class_list":["post-322960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-cnmi","tag-lvnv","tag-nola","tag-pepe-batbon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322960\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/322001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u00a0
\nMy Flocks Feed Not<\/strong>, 8 lines by Richard Barnfield (1574-1627)
\nCounting Sheep A Shepherd\u2019s Lament, by Joey Connolly
\n\u00a0
\nMy flocks feed not\/A new ram in the field
\nMy ewes breed not\/The ram runs ewes ragged
\nMy rams speed not\/They have their old favorites
\nAll is amiss\/Chaos by the creek
\nLove is dying\/No sheep dogs for a week
\nFaith\u2019s defying\/Her sister\u2019s eyes met mine
\nHeart\u2019s denying\/More doe like than lamb
\nCause of this\/ An innocent kiss.
\n\u00a0
\nYes I fell asleep counting my blessings
\nAm falling in love with you I\u2019m confessing
\nI give your kisses and hugs a thumbs up
\nOut here in these pastures of plenty
\nYou just turned eighteen and I twenty
\nI wake up and drink from your loving cup.
\n\u00a0
\nThe Jest<\/strong>, 6 lines by Austin Clarke (1896-1974)
\nNo Rest<\/strong>, by Joey Connolly
\n\u00a0
\nHalf Spirit, the older\/Me not spritely
\nI am, the bolder\/Sleeping lightly
\nYet add for jest\/Needing more rest
\nThat you may think\/Into Morpheus sink
\nNot beat your breast\/Initiate a fest
\nInvisible ink\/Since my poems stink.<\/p>\n
\nJoey aka Pepe Batbon is a retired educator who taught in the CNMI, NOLA, and LVNV. He is a sonnet practitioner who enjoys stargazing.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"