ABPA - Australian Bush Poets Association

Please Hold My Hand © Bill Williams

Please daddy, would you hold my hand my little daughter asked me.
As we sat on a park bench, she asked, daddy what does that hand mean to me?
And I thought about this question and this is the answer I gave

When you are small, it’s the safety that you feel
The strength of its touch the security of being there to protect you.
In time that hand means the love for you, should you waver along the way?
The feeling of strength in your decisions, be it right or wrong
To your mother, the assurance of my love, and tenderness towards her.
The acceptance, that I am along side her with my loving heart.
That hand tells all about those feelings that are important to you both.
That hand though it never utters a word, is there in sickness and in health.
So please hold my hand daughter, for I too need assurance.

Some lovely thoughts here Bill - very touching and true

G'day Bill,
This piece makes me ask - is there a difference between a poem and a piece of poetic writing.

Okay Zondrae yes there is but I find it hard to ex-plane so let me ask you this question, which woulds you prefer poetry as written by some writers and No not by our own group
but by other that we read almost daily

or what I have written that has a feeling that has not lost the feeling that people seemed to have lost. or have you lost the feeling that I believe it portrays

BILL WILLIAMS

If the issue is about metre, then the answer is complex and long and won't be worked out here. We have tried it many times and it always ends in unprofitable bickering.

The short answer to your question Zondrae is, No.
With respect Bill, I think preference or feeling is not what Zondrae is asking about.

The only way to properly answer Zondrae's question is a discussion plus something that people can hear. I think that written opinions will not sort out the question, because as I understand it, the question is about how the the sound of poetry is derived from the writing.
We really need an audio visual where a knowledgeable person can explain and demonstrate, but it would probably be too long for our little forum.

One suggestion is this. Look up Manfred's written version of the poem that he has posted in the audio section. ( Saving The Earth, I think it is here somewhere on the forum ). Print it up and then listen to Manfred's audio while you are reading the printed version.
Manfred's delivery makes a subtle balance between the rhythm of speech and the rhythm of metre. They are not exactly the same thing

When you hear the audio, think about Robert Frost's advice that if poetry is only the sound of metre, it is lifeless and mechanical. If it is only the "sound of sense" then it has departed from the poetic form. To do it properly one has to find the balance, which is not some rule, but a very artful application of the rhythm of language as well as an understanding of metric form.

There's words. And there's words strung together that can be labelled poetry.

I like the way you have put your words together here Bill.

Cheers, Marty

Thank you very much Marty for you remarks and hope all goes well for your coming disruption

bill williams