poetry blog | Jemverse

Stone Henge

15 Sep 2019 1 Comment

by Jem Croucher in photo, poem, Poet, Poetry, poetry blog, Travel, wordsmith Tags: bucket-list, Jemverse, poem, poet, Poetry, poetry blog, rhyme, Stone Henge, travelogue, verse, Wiltshire, wordsmith, writing poetry

No. 12 of 12 in “The Bucket List” series from Jemverse

The oldest on our bucket list
by some margin I’d suggest
So it’s fitting that to Wiltshire
we should some time invest
A place I must be honest
many times when just a boy
I came to with my parents
to explore and to enjoy

But then as we grew older
and its history we consumed
it was added to our bucket list
and the visiting resumed
By then of course the monument
was more protected than the past
and though the stones were out of bounds
we all still had a blast

An early bucket list tick ticked
and regaled to you in rhyme
concluding here the series
with a little snip in time
But our bucket list continues
as more travels are in store
For the world has many places
we would still like to explore

But for now this little series
ends here I’m sad to say
until another bucket list
of places comes your way
Jemverse of course continues
with each day a little rhyme
to capture life in moments
as a snapshot caught in time

©Jemverse

Photo – Stone Henge, Wiltshire, UK, April 2001 – Jempics

“The Bucket List’ series features the following:
[1] Pompeii (190904)
[2] Paris (190905)
[3] The Parthenon (Athens) (190906)
[4] Rhodes (190907)
[5] Santorini (190908)
[6] Minack Theatre, Cornwall, UK (190909)
[7] Jublains (France) (190910)
[8] Venice (190911)
[9] Lands End, Cornwall, UK (190912)
[10] Korcula (Croatia) (190913)
[11] Parc Guell (Barcelona) (190914), and
[12] Stone Henge, Wiltshire, UK (190915)

Korcula (aka ‘Korcula revisited’)

13 Sep 2019 6 Comments

by Jem Croucher in photo, poem, Poet, Poetry, poetry blog, Travel, wordsmith Tags: bucket-list, Croatia, Jemverse, Korcula, poem, poet, Poetry, poetry blog, rhyme, travelogue, verse, wordsmith, writing poetry

10 of 12 in “The Bucket List” series from Jemverse

To Korcula by tender
Inside the city wall
I climbed the tower of St Marks
some thirty metres tall

The view across the rooftops
full of terracotta red
took my breath away, although
the drop filled me with dread

But I made it back down safely
to walk streets of ancient stone
on this island in Croatia
Marco Polo once called home

©Jemverse

Photo – Korcula island – Dalmation coast – Croatia – August 2018 – Jempics

[Jemverse originally posted “Korcula” on 6 September 2018 as a part of the ‘Venetian Vistas’ series]

Lands End

12 Sep 2019 7 Comments

by Jem Croucher in photo, poem, Poet, Poetry, poetry blog, Travel, wordsmith Tags: bucket-list, Cornwall, Jemverse, Lands End, poem, poet, Poetry, poetry blog, rhyme, travelogue, verse, wordsmith, writing poetry

9 of 12 in “The Bucket List” series from Jemverse

A cold day in February
two thousand and seven
when we finally got to Lands End
on the southernmost tip
of the fine Cornish coast
awaiting us just like a friend

John O’Groats signposted
a long way to the north
we’ve yet to get there but here
Its southernmost relation
was waiting to bring
each of us plenty of cheer

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics [Lands End had long been a top UK ‘bucket list’ item]

Venice (aka ‘Gondolier revisited’)

11 Sep 2019 9 Comments

by Jem Croucher in photo, poem, Poet, Poetry, poetry blog, Travel, wordsmith Tags: bucket-list, Italy, Jemverse, poem, poet, Poetry, poetry blog, rhyme, travelogue, Venice, verse, wordsmith, writing poetry

8 of 12 in “The Bucket List” series from Jemverse

Our gondolier sang songs
as he took us into shade
Cool waters in our gondola
combined with serenade

The ancient walls around us
and narrow waterways
Venetian history spoke to us
on this happiest of days

It was beautiful, exquisite
and we had a moment there
Tears of joy from what we saw
in Venice everywhere

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

[‘Gondolier‘ was first posted on Jemverse on 11 September 2018 as a part of the ‘Venetian Vistas’ series. Venice had always been high up on our bucket list until we finally visited last year. And we liked it so much that we’re going back for another visit in October this year]

Jublains

10 Sep 2019 11 Comments

by Jem Croucher in history, photo, poem, Poet, Poetry, poetry blog, Travel, wordsmith Tags: bucket-list, France, Jemverse, Jublains, poem, poet, Poetry, poetry blog, rhyme, Romans, travelogue, verse, wordsmith, writing poetry

7 of 12 in “The Bucket List” series from Jemverse

Although the sun was shining
it was minus fifteen there
and absolutely freezing
in Jublains in open air
Northern France, December
Two thousand ten all wrapped up warm
we visited the fortress
on the hilltop all forlorn
But we really didn’t linger
but walked swiftly round the walls
of this fortress that the Romans
used when conquering the Gauls

©Jemverse

Jublains, in the Mayenne region of North-Western France, is also the site of the Roman capital fortress of Noeodunum. Photo – Jempics

The Minack

09 Sep 2019 13 Comments

by Jem Croucher in photo, poem, Poet, Poetry, poetry blog, Travel, wordsmith Tags: bucket-list, Cornwall, Jemverse, Minack Theatre, poem, poet, Poetry, poetry blog, rhyme, Shakespeare, travelogue, verse, wordsmith, writing poetry

6 of 12 in “The Bucket List” series from Jemverse

Shakespeare wasn’t present
on the bleak Atlantic coast
when we visited The Minack
(though we gave him there a toast)

We quoted from ‘King Lear’
and ‘Macbeth’ as there it seemed
the thing to do in this fine place
as its creators dreamed

And yes our bucket list to England’s
shores and places reaches far
as there’s plenty here to see
which is quite spectacular

©Jemverse

The Minack theatre was the brainchild of Rowena Cade, who moved to Cornwall after the First World War and built a house for herself and her mother on land at Minack Point for £100. In 1929, a local village group of players had staged Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ in a nearby meadow at Crean, repeating the production the next year. They decided that their next production would be ‘The Tempest’ and Miss Cade offered the garden of her house as a suitable location, as it was beside the sea. She and her gardener, Billy Rawlings, made a terrace and rough seating, hauling materials down from the house or up via the winding path from the beach below. In 1932, ‘The Tempest’ was performed with the sea as a dramatic backdrop, to great success. Miss Cade subsequently resolved to improve the theatre, working over the course of the winter months each year throughout her life (with the help of Billy Rawlings and Charles Angove) so that others might perform each summer. Photo – Jempics.

Santorini (aka ‘Six hundred steps and an ice-cold beer again’)

08 Sep 2019 15 Comments

by Jem Croucher in photo, poem, Poet, Poetry, poetry blog, Travel, wordsmith Tags: bucket-list, Geece, Jemverse, poem, poet, Poetry, poetry blog, rhyme, Santorini, travelogue, verse, wordsmith, writing poetry

5 of 12 in “The Bucket List” series from Jemverse

Sitting on the harbour wall
with an ice-cold beer
Watching cool blue waters
in Santorini here
I’ve climbed six hundred steps
to Thira at the top
avoiding several donkeys
who looked fed up and hot

And then I walked back down again
taking pictures on the way
Getting warmer by the minute
at the hottest time of day
So an ice-cold beer is just the thing
sheltered from the sun
Before heading to the tender
as the day was far from done

©Jemverse

This was originally posted as ‘Six hundred steps and an ice-cold beer‘ on Jemverse as a part of the ‘Aegean Shores’ series in August 2017. There are over 600 steps up a winding path from the harbour wall in Santorini to Thira at the top. Most visitors either take the cable car or risk a donkey ride; but I walked up. Santorini was at No.7 on our bucket list but, like Rhodes, we’ve since had the good fortune of visiting twice. Photo – Jempics.