top of page
Writer's pictureMark Mardell

Gaudy Glory

Sentences of gaudy glory

Snatches of old songs

Faded radio crackling in and out

Neither dead nor a foreign country

the past is our unhallowed present to the future

Long branched and deeply rooted,

 an old oak spreading over ancient fairie forts

eyeless guardian of the witches’ sabat

there’s magic aplenty in a flag

there’s plenty tragic in raggedy pride

in bluebirds spitting fire over the white cliffs of Dover

or small boats carrying both storied heroes and sullied zeroes

28 views5 comments

5 Comments


What an evocative poem. I'm not sure of your intention but it makes me think of D day heroes and how we once rescued people from French beaches but now sadly, we allow them to flounder on their own

Like

Oh that's really nice, Mark. I love "Bluebirds spitting fire" and the "eyeless guardian of the witches’ sabat"

Like

Just wonderful use of words and echoes to play in the windmills of the mind...

Like

Nigel Smith
Nigel Smith
Jul 04

Mark, I thank you for this, to read a poem and be captivated so instantly, to feel both imagination and intrigue so easily is poetry for me.

Like

John Wood
John Wood
Jul 02

I love a thought provoking poem. Thank you.

Like
bottom of page