25th June 2026 • The HERALD • Page 81 v INDEPENDENT, LOCAL AND PROUD v Poets Corner Poetry in Purlieu What is the power in poetry? Why does it sometimes move us deeply or recall places and emotions as powerfully as a childhood fragrance? Poetry in Purlieu is a small group that has been meeting monthly for nearly a year. ey have entirely di erent backgrounds and experiences but have been drawn together by the act of sharing life experiences using “the best words in the best order”. e American poet Robert Frost wrote: “Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.” at’s what the group try to do, learning from one another, challenging themselves to try new styles or topics. e writer, Edgar Allan Poe, claimed: “Poetry is the rhythmical creation of beauty in words.” If you’re interested in the challenge of creating “beauty in words” in a friendly and supportive environment, they’d be delighted to see you on the third Wednesday of the month, 3pm - 4.30pm at the Committee Room in the WI Hall on Lunedale Road in Dibden Purlieu. Cost £4 to include refreshments. You don’t need to know a lot about poetry. You don’t even need to write it. Enjoying it and wanting to learn is good enough. Some samples of the groups poetry: A LETTER TO MY FRIEND by Mac Maclaren© I was gutted when I gathered you’d gone, When PJ picked up the phone, Dialled and told me you’d died. Then I thought of the times when you would arrive, Smiling, And almost always late. Will ranting and raging assuage the anger I feel? No, so I’ll be calm. Then in my memory you can return. Then I’ll think of the times when you would arrive, Smiling, And almost always late. It’s funny: for the first time since we met, You were early on that day you left And couldn’t find the time to say goodbye. BLUE BLUE BOY by Linda Dorsett© How I miss you Happy in the sea Elegant in the waves Or sleekly manoeuvring a water sports machine My black heart Sees you smile from far away years Temping me to join you, speeding, playing, Being one with the sea. MOON by Georgina Snow© She made friends with the moon that year, when sleep eluded and life colluded to take so much. She watched it wax and wane when brain fog and pain descended like a silent mist. She loved the moon’s beauty, its glory even though her story had turned the world dark. But the moon quietly shone, and life carried on, In an ever changing circle of hope and despair, joy and fear ... her beams touching every emotion of the night. For the sad and the broken, who perhaps hadn’t spoken, of the agony they held, the moon always saw, and offered more than a pathway through the dark. Showing up every night, a glimmer of light, in an uncertain world needing love A constant, a calm, her silvery balm, the gentlest hug from above. BRACKEN by Alistair McNaught© Bracken yellowing in the purple heather, Too crisp for want of rain. Crickets whirring like well-oiled machines and Blackberry scent on the air. Time stolen to lie in the forest of fern fronds, Beneath the underbelly of the breeze. To ask nothing Nor to need a reply, Only to hold tight and close To life’s beauty and mystery And be strangely moved. Veterans Breakfast Club Hythe Armed Forces & Veterans Breakfast Club takes place on the second Saturday of every month at Hythe & District Social Club, Pylewell Road, Hythe. Go along on Saturday 11th July to enjoy the social interaction and banter with fellow veterans which will help improve your mental health and is good for PTSD. For more details text Graham on 07526 507053 or nd them on Facebook (Hythe Armed Forces & Veterans Breakfast Club). PAINTING LANDSCAPES e New Forest Art Society’s next monthly meeting is on Wednesday 15th July for a talk by Alison Board “Painting Landscapes” Mixed Media. From Saturday 1st August - Saturday 9th August they will be holding their Summer Exhibition at Lyndhurst Community Centre. New members are always welcome and visitors are invited to go along for a small entry fee (£6). Meetings are held in the Pine Room at Lyndhurst Community Centre, 7.30pm-9.30pm March to October and 2.15pm-4.15pm from November to February. Details of the programme can be found on the Society’s website: www. newforestartsociety.weebly.com ONCE IN A LIFETME by Jim Dolbear© It’s once in a life time but not forever. It comes and it goes like stormy weather. You hate them then you love them into the night. The next day you say this love is not right. Then you daydream until the next time you meet. That certain smile and your hearts missed a beat. For you are not falling this love is not true. When they are not there you are sad and blue. The phone does not ring they never answer your call. You feel like crying but tears will not fall. Your fingers were burnt you didn’t love them at all. But you still sit around hoping they call. Love can be unkind from happy to sorrow. Put on a smile there is always tomorrow. When you are falling there is no reason or rhyme. Nothing can hurt you until the next time. It comes and it goes like stormy weather. One day it will stay and last forever. Moonlight on the water Diamonds on the sand As ocean waves break gently To wash upon the land Moonlight casts deep shadows Reaching out across the bay As angels pour their silvery light From their deep vault far away In the solitude of moonlight We suppress our deepest fears We gravitate towards the dawn As sunlight re-appears Our confidence might ebb away In the moonlight on the bay That silvery light enhancing themes With dreams still far away There’s such beauty in an ocean wave As it washes on the shore And that magic light on summer’s nights Always leaves us wanting more More moonlight on the water And diamonds on the sand While angels pour their silvery light With the heavenliest of hands. Diamonds On The Sand by David K Wilson© Where The Hunter Goes Lyrics by Lowe/Kean© In the folklore of the forest the tale has long been told, Of a Saxon hunter cloaked in black from mists of time so old, Two hell hounds at his side eyes of re to stalk his prey, ey care not for the souls they take or the lives they steal away. In verdant glades in places dark they roam without regret, To fall upon to wreak revenge on those whom they beset, To avenge those killed by kings and men retribution their bequeath, e Saxon hunter is the spirit soul of all the forests beasts. With devil dogs with rey eyes he came out of the night, e Saxon hunter with his hounds cloak ying in full stride, In Hawkhill shadows moved then stilled midnight old tales foretold, From old frame wood pursuit then death where the hunter goes. Chorus Hear them call hear them call, As the shadows dark enfold, Hear them call hear them call, Where the hunter goes. e hunter’s hounds strong held the scent of quarry quite unseen, To chase down shadows was their quest as always it had been, ough only two in number their sight and sound turned warm blood cold, And mortal men would shake with fear a-fearful for their souls. Hawkhill, silent dark and still echoed their dreadful sound, As these hunters of Olde England ran hard their prey to ground, en faded back into the night the chase, the Godless gone, Devil dogs and master to a world where they belong. And as the darkness leaves the land and morning brings dayglow, You know what you saw and heard though no one believes it so, But a poacher’s life’s no more for me now I’ll walk an honest man, Never to work these forest nights where they roam forever damned. Chorus With devil dogs with rey eyes he came out of the night, A hunter’s moon lit up his path on his time forgotten ight, In Hawkhill shadows moved then closed around us like a shroud, And Bill and me ran for our lives which to this day we will avow. Chorus The copyright of all poems that are published in The Herald belong to the author and must NOT be reproduced without their permission Send your poems to us at: 2 High Street, Hythe, Southampton SO45 6AH or email: editor@herald-publishing.co.uk
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTIyNzI=