Minstrel's Tales

Stories From a Guitar Case

Poem for the Day - Spellbound by Norman Vandal

Posted: 14 2019

Poem for the Day
Read this aloud to get the full effect.

I have a spell in chequer
It came with my pea see.
It plane Leigh Marx four my revue
Miss takes eye ken knot sea.
I've run this poem threw IT
I'm shore your plea zed too no;
Its let a perfect in it's weigh
My check her tolled me sew.

Spellbound
Norman Vandal

Poem for the Day - If People Disapporove of You by Sophie Hannah

Posted: 11 2019

Poem for the Day
And today's golden rule is;

Make being disapproved of your hobby.
Make being disapproved of your aim....
Devise new ways of scoring points
In the Being Disapproved Of Game.

Let them disapprove in their dozens.
Let them disapprove in their hordes.
You’ll find that being disapproved of
Builds character, brings rewards.

Just like any form of striving
Don't be arrogant; don't coast
On your high disapproval rating.
Try to be disapproved of most.

At this point, if it's useful,
Draw a pie chart or a graph.
Show it to someone who disapproves.
When they disapprove, just laugh.

Count the emotions you provoke:
Anger, suspicion, shock.
One point for each of these
And two for each boat you rock.

Feel yourself warming to your task -
You do it bloody well.
A last you've found an area
In which you can excel.

Savour the thrill of risk without
The fear of getting caught.
Whether they sulk or scream or pout,
Enjoy your new-found sport.

Meanwhile all those who disapprove
While you are having fun
Won't even know your game exists
So tell yourself you've won.

If People Disapprove Of You
Sophie Hannah

Poem for the Day - The Guitarist Tunes Up by Frances Darwin Cornford

Posted: 10 2019

Poem for the Day

A lovely little poem which confirms my belief that all my guitars are female. This is for my lovely girls, Eric, Kate and Luna.

With what attentive courtesy he bent
Over his instrument;
Not as a lordly conquerer who could
Command both wire and wood,
But as a man with a loved woman might,
Inquiring with delight
What slight essential things she had to say
Before they started, he and she, to play.

The Guitarist Tunes Up
Frances Darwin Cornford

Poem for the Day - Speech to the Young by Gwendolyn Brooks

Posted: 07 2019

Poem for the Day

Say to them,
say to the down-keepers,
the sun-slappers,...
the self-soilers,
the harmony-hushers,
“Even if you are not ready for day
it cannot always be night.”
You will be right.
For that is the hard home-run.
Live not for battles won.
Live not for the-end-of-the-song.
Live in the along.

Speech to the Young
Gwendolyn Brooks

Poem for the Day - First Fig by Edna St Vincent Millay

Posted: 29 2019

Poem for the Day

My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends—...
It gives a lovely light!

First Fig
Edna St Vincent Millay

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