Poems

floods

Poem

Flooding in Clive c1897. in those dark days of dispair one can only wonder at the courage of those early setters and the problems they faced..this is just few words to remind us of those times, settlers took shelter on the roofs of their cottages, ten men drowned trying to rescue stranded settlers, let us not forget them. Jim Crook.

The 1897 Flooding of Clive

Lord what we have done to deserve such sorrow
Our land washed away and our animals too
We pray for your love and sunshine tomorrow
Alone in dispair there is naught we can do.

Mother England Mother England why did we forsake you
To come this place, such a desolete plain
Where the rain never stops and the river floods quickly
Our lives are at stake..we have nothing to gain.

Delusions we carried of making our fortune
The new country it seems is not want of us
Dreams out of control by a wandering river
And so it remains Lord, you have made it thus.

But I must continue to gather the pieces
My children are safe and I must abide
My lord give us strength to carry our duty
I know we can bear, with you at our side.

Looking back on the dark life the early days rendered
Times now abundant and precious once more
How we suffered by flooding and other disaster
Wretched memories now faded are part of Clive’s lore.

TO THE FALLEN ANZACS 2009

In Respectful Remembrance to Walter Hodgkinson.

THERE ARE NO THOUGHTS IN THE MIND OF THE DEAD
THERE IS NO SORROW IN THOSE FAR OFF FIELDS
AND WE WHO MOURN THOSE FALLEN SOULS
TAKE HEED, OUR FREEDOM WAS THEIR COST

TAKE HEED OF THE THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR ALL
WHO LISTENED TO THEIR NATIONS CALL
WHO LIE BENEATH THE GROUND SO COLD
FOREVER YOUNG, AS WE GROW OLD

THE SILENT VOICES, THE UNCRIED TEARS
MEMORIES FADED, CHANGED BY THE YEARS
YET SOMEHOW, SOMEWHERE, WILL GLORY CALL?
WE WILL NOT KNOW, WE GAVE OUR ALL

DO KEEP THE PEACE WHILE WE’RE AT REST
KEEP CHILD SAFE AT MOTHER’S BREAST
WE PAID THE PRICE SO FREEDOM FLOWS
WE KNEW THE RISKS, THATS HOW IT GOES

ONE DAY A YEAR IS ALL WE ASK
TO KEEP OUR MEMORIES IS YOUR TASK
MAKE SAFE A WORLD WE DID NOT KNOW
MAKE LOVE AND LIFE, WATCH CHILDREN GROW

WE DID OUR BEST, PUT TO THE TEST
THE GUNS ARE QUIET, WE ARE AT REST
GUARD FREEDOM, FROM THE GRAVE WE SPEAK
THE YEARS FOREVER YOURS IN PEACE.

Jim Crook
MARCH 2009
Read at the 2009 Anzac Service at Clive Memorial Service Hawke’s Bay.

A Loving Wife’s Concern for her Soldier Husband 1914-18.

The Excitement

WHERE ARE YOU GOING MY DARLING
I’M GOING TO JOIN THE WAR
I’VE JUST COME BACK FROM THE ARMY DRILL HALL
WHERE ALL OF MY MATES I SAW

The readiness

WHERE ARE YOU GOING MY DARLING
I’M OFF TO FIGHT THE WAR
I’M READY, WILLING AND ABLE
I’M PROUD OF MY ARMY CORP

The Thrill

WHAT ARE YOU DOING MY DARLING
WE ARE OFF TO FRANCE TO FIGHT
THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF US ADVANCING
IT’S A THRILL AND A WONDERFUL SIGHT

The Reality

WHAT ARE YOU DOING MY DARLING
I’M STANDING IN A TRENCH
IN MUD AND BLOOD AND BODY PARTS
AMID THE HORRIBLE STENCH

The Dream

I WISH I WAS BACK IN NEW ZEALAND
IN THE LAND OF CLEAR AIR AND SKY
WHERE MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY ARE WAITING
I’M SCARED THAT I’M GOING TO DIE

The Tragedy

WHAT ARE YOU DOING MY DARLING
AND WHAT HAS BECOME OF THEE
I’M DEAD AND BURIED IN FLANDERS FIELDS
WILL YOU REMEMBER ME, WILL YOU REMEMBER ME

I make no apology for telling it like it was for my Grandfather Walter Hodgkinson who Died in the trenches in World War One and is buried in France,

Original, 2009. Jim Crook., Clive. HB.

RAF

In Memory of Allied Pilots in World War 2.

Aloft…let courage be your minder
Below the fields are green and free
For king and country do not wonder
Why you need to fight for me.

For I am… the voice of freedom
And this great nation will survive
Many have tried to tame our spirit
You,.. are keeping that spirit alive.

The Rat-tat-tat upon your canopy
Gives you a fright,…you turn your head
Be Quick to take evasive action
Or you will Join,…”Our Glorious Dead”.

Young we were and young we died
Giving all for freedoms sake
God alone knows how we tried
God alone knows who to take.

Never be feared the coming of death
For you have fought both brave and true
Your Valour,.. will go down in history
The Empire is so Proud of you.

Years will come and years will go
Your deeds will last forever
Man will talk of the dreaded foe
Our freedom taken… Never !

Go fly your plane on golden wing
Go Fly in Safer Sky
Lets celebrate… our voices sing
Your Praise O Hear our Cry.

Jim Crook
Clive.
2010.

cornwall

MAN OF CORNWALL

Oh Cornwall my Cornwall your earths in my blood
Your spume from the sea, my life’s in your mud
So carry me back to that time long ago
To the land where my heart lies|
I need you to know

Oh for the ranges, the crags and the mist
Oh for the mountains the raindrops have kissed
To travel the roads and hills that were mine
And to think of my life now forsaken by time

Twisting Swirling wingtips curling
Seagulls circling beyond the din
Men below already waiting
Tis their time to mine the tin

The depth of mine, the water high
The break of the beam then widows cry
The courage of man faced with gruesome toll
May they now rest in peace, may God keep their soul

Those born of this place and died – rest at last
Who passed, were forgotten yet somehow did cast
A great longing of hope for the future one day
That Cornwall my Cornwall will not fade away

Jim Crook
Clive Dec 2011.

Synopsis,
This poem is written from an ex Cornwallian perspective who is thinking of the land of his Birth and of his youth spent there, the dangers faced by his family of tin miners who relied on the big Beam pumps to lower the water level in the mine and keep them safe, if they fail then they drown, he is thinking of the hills of home and perhaps wishing of his return to Cornwall before he dies.