Poems by Pangur-Ban

The bakerbard

Brides day.

The ground is as hard as iron still
The wind, howls at the gate
Bitterly blowing over the window sill
But in the forge hot fire burns in the grate.
And In the light of this fire
Bride works taking life and
Moulds its breathing form
Into this dreary time of night.
When all nature is cold
And dreams of warmth.
And as the great smith works sparks
Take to the air from Her hammer.
And where they settle the Fox barks,
Snowdrops bloom and Lambs
Bleat all of a clamour.
And in the wake of Her smithing
More wondrous things take shape
For Bride takes up Her white wand
Then Winter awakes and remembers
The laughter of spring.

Pangur-ban 2012

Innocence lost

Poppies;
Red splashes on a
field of spun gold.
waving to and fro
in the gentle wind.

But oh those fields of gold
set in Flanders poppy red county side
have become killing fields
washed now with the blood of the brave dead.
The fields of gold now churned mud.
And the gentle wind has become
the wind of war.

But time marches on and the battle scars
are buried again beneath golden fields.
But oh these once innocent red flowers
are now the reminder of mans lost innocence.

pangur-ban 2007

Albion a Sonnet

Albion , fair land of my hearts desire
Your green rolling hills and deep dark dells
Bring to mind the Goddesses form in repose.
The hills her breasts the dells her womb.
A land of fecund fields that bear her offspring
Each fruitful harvest time, now lie fallow
In winters time of rest and slumber.net
Forests to are found on Albion’s land
Deep and dark where the old God is found
Where to venture of a night is full of peril.
Open and light where the Green Man capers
Bringing hearts ease to my souls distress.
So my fair land of many moods my heart,
My soul is forever within your grasp.

Pangur-ban 4/11/09

Wilderness Samhain.

Raven shadows cast black
on a silvery moon,
While from the mist clad lake
Echoes the eerie cry
Of the lonesome loon.
Can you hear in those cries
The ancestors calling you?
Remember us,
Remember us,
They seem to say.
As in the distance the
Wolf pack sings
This Samhain eve.

Pangur-ban Samhain 2009

* While I have never been to North America the cry of the Wolf and the Loon speak to my spirit_________________

The Old Ways

The old ways, the secret ways,
The old paths, the hidden paths
Lead to a threshold of a world unknown
Where spirits of old hold court.
Fear not, you who travel
On this Samhain night
Fear not the spectres shadow,
Whose black form stands at the door
Pointing a skeletal hand your way.
Fear not this shade from another world
Rather, befriend this messenger
Come to you this one night
When the old ways, the secret ways
The old paths, the hidden paths, are open to all.
Pangur-ban Samhain 2009

Child of the universe

I am a child of the Universe,
stardust swirls around
and through me,
the remains
of the cosmic orgasm
that started all life.
This energy that flows through
my veins
connects me to all
and is all,
flowing out into creation.
I lift my arms and watch
as this cosmic stream leaves
my fingers and travels out into the air
and joins with the trees.
Journeying through their bodies
out into the earth
and up once more to enter
all that stand on her.
The Foxes,
Badgers,
Stoats
and Weasels.
On and on
in an endless cycle of life
which leads back to me
a child of the Universe.

Pangur-ban Whitecat

Autumn

Autumn dawns
Soft and gentle
Hard and fierce.
Wind and rain
Sun and showers.
Silver Birches
Prepare for sleep
Their Summers
Growth complete.
Guiding Hares
At night
Moonward bound
The Lady to meet.
All this magic
And so much more
Lifts my spirit
And lets it soar.

Pangur-ban Autumn 2009

Ode to Autumn

Summer is losing the battle
against winter and day
against night, soon the
autumnal season
will be upon us.
But before
winters icy
grip can
claim us
the life blood
of the trees
will return
to their roots,
and leaves will prepare
for their yearly firework display.
Early morning mists will robe the
countryside bedecking spiders webs
making them glisten like
diamonds.The hedgerows
will become abundant,
laden with fruits
and berries,
a mouses
den
of delight..
And the green man
who has reigned all summer
long yawns a tired yawn turns in on
himself and prepares to sleep
another winter away.

pangur ban 2007

Downland Odyssey

I long to walk the paths
my youthful feet trod,
over the chalky back bone
of the downland of my home.
Walk again over land formed
by the bones of millenia old
creatures of the deep.
Walk again through orchid
strewn grassland.
Where in the wake
of my passing
clouds of blue butterflies
take to the wing
on a hot summers day.
My body longs to lay with you again
as we once did
under the gaze of long dead stars,
our limbs entwined,
basking in passions warm fire
But you to are long gone
your bones now part of the land.
All that is left are memories.

Pangur-ban 6/5/08

The Death of a Seagull.

Your broken body lies in the gutter
wings wrapped around you as if
their feathers could protect your tiny form.
No more will you ride the winds
gracing the sky with winged perfection
your all to short life cut even shorter.
I weep silent tears at your passing
and in my mourning I am joined by another
the mother of all adds her tears to mine.
"It is right" she says to grieve over this small life
but remember that all things die even you,
but remember this,
that in the midst of death is life.

Pangur-ban White cat 23/10/2007

The Shining Shore

Waves roll effortlessly
onto the pebble shore
whispering sighing
secrets of the deep.
Listen closely,
can you hear?
Weeping Mermaids
with broken hearts
sighing over lost love.
Hear them beckon,
join us,
come join us
their lonely plea.
But to answer that call
Contained within
an ocean of tears
lies the way of madness.
But my feet heed their call
And my heart is lost.

Pangur-ban 17/6/09

The Land is Stirring

The land is stirring
Moving and shifting
Can you feel it?
Once more becoming alive
Beneath your feet
Sacred space for Sacred people.
People who have become
Shepherds to the trees,
Carers of the rocks and plants.
And in this resurgence
The Goddesses wakes and becomes
One with the land.
Her body the hills
Her hair the waving grass
Her arms and fingers majestic trees
Her feet buried deep in dark soil.
Alive and seen once more.

pangur-ban 17/08/2008

I Saw You Today

I saw you today,
but you were unaware of me.
Gazing into space your face
an open book.
Wearing the years as if time
was your friend not your enemy.
Age has not ravaged you.
Then I see the little signs
like the lines at the corners
of your eyes and mouth.
And I wonder when time will win.
Suddenly you smile, amused
by some errant thought
that crosses your mind,
and time flees defeated for a while.
The years roll away,
and I remember why
I first loved you, and
wished, you loved me still

Pangur-ban

Memories

Memories of the carefree
Days of youth
Come unbidden,
But welcome to mind.
Memories of you and
Your long blonde hair
Flying in the wind
As we rode our bikes
Down hazy country lanes,
Our future uncertain
An undiscovered country
Ripe for exploring.
Tired, we stop to rest for awhile.
In a field full of poppies
Blood red on yellow corn.
Matching the red and yellow
Of your lips and hair.
I remember your breasts,
Full of the promise of life,
Like some exotic fruit
I longed to taste.
I remember the sun shining
Through your dress.
Revealing your long legs
That led my eyes
To the paradise
That existed there
ripe for the taking.
And there among
Those blood red poppies
The carefree days of youth
Gave way as we joined there
In the days of Summers past.

Pangur-ban 20/05/2008

To the Dawn

Early morning mists
cover the earth,
shrouding Her with grave cloths,
deadening all sound.
Life is on hold,
a pregnant pause
in the symphony of growth.
Then the dawn breaks,
and the world
regains its voice.
Rooks,
Crows
Jackdaws,
call their greetings to each other
and to you.
And on my roof
a Black bird
sings
as if his heart would burst
his peon of praise
to the dawn.

Pangur-ban 2007

Lazy days

This was written after one of those hot heady Summer days.

Lazy hazy sunlit day,
Bees hover over
Earth toned wallflowers
And purple lavender
Drunk with the scent
Of Summers colour.
While my cat slumbers
In the midday heat
Dreaming of birds that whirl
In the blue soaked sky.
At days dusky end I sit
Listening to the drone
Of the bees returning to
the hive sounding
like squadrons of planes
returning to their base.
Then the cat, charged with
Sun stored energy
Wakes, stretches,
And goes on the prowl.
While I sleepy
From the days heat
Sit and ponder.

Pangur-ban

I Clothe Myself in Green.

The trees are waking at last from
their long winter slumber
wearing their summer coat of green,
like the blush on a maidens cheek.
They dare us to notice.
(Look at me, look at me)
they chant in my mind)
as they clamour to be heard.
My spirit stretches with them
and on this fine day
(only one the creator could give)
I cloth myself in green.

Pangur-ban 20/4/2010

My heart is young again.

My heart is young again and playfully
Pixilated by natures scent of greenness.

My heart is young again and gambols
with the new born lambs in the fields.

My Heart is young again and relishes
The Fox barking serenading his beloved.

My heart is young again and yearns
with love for my consort the Maiden.

My heart is young again and swells
within me in tune with all new growth.

I am the Green Man and my heart is young.

Pangur-ban Imbolc 2010

John Barleycorn

The wheel turns and Lammas invites
With sultry days and soft scented nights.
But who is yon figure so sad and forlorn
Who goes by the name of John Barleycorn.
So sad he wanders with heart so heavy
Among His children, a price soon to levy.
Death beckons him come, come to his court
The scythe swings and cuts him short.
To lie in the field all bloody and torn
And so ends the life of John Barleycorn.
Then the miracle, amazed you will be
Alive John dances for you and for me.
So we celebrate His life so freely given
In nut brown ale from his body riven.
But don’t ignore the wind that shakes
And moves the fields of golden barley.
It might just be John riding the range,
Sitting astride his Electra glide Harley.

Pangur-ban Lammas 2110

Every thought is a whispered prayer.