State of The Nations
  Craig D Smith - June 2003

   Part One - The Boy Who Cried Wolf

A boy lived near the mountain rocky
Full of attitude, he was cocky
Wants to win both rugby and hockey

Shouted that the wolf ate all the sheep
Made the whole world to read and to weep
And changed to a jump from a slow creep

To catch the wolf they cleared the whole field
Human rights laws were even repealed
Poor little lamb whose mother was killed

The field that burned had both sheep and nut
Even the goats were in a deep rut
Opened the wolf found naught in his gut

We kept on hearing of smoking gun
No champagne and cigars, that's a pun
The only smoke is from George's one

Oh! Look! how we've saved Red Riding Hood
Didn't I tell you, we would do good.
But alas, her plate has got no food.

   Part Two - The Broken Tin Soldier

Down in the place where the sun shines bright
And drums can be heard all through the night
Lives another boy who likes to fight

Little boy from the place in the sun
Doesn't know how to have any fun
Always plays the part of the main one

Rather have tears than share in the joys
Will not play with all the other boys
Instead he breaks everybody's toys

Has to walk barefoot, cannot wear boots
Feet too big, like the guns which he shoots
At the working people whom he loots.

Beauty and the Beast
  Craig D Smith, 22 February 2003
   Sonnet form in the style of 10 Syllables per line; 3 stanzas of 4 lines each; the closing stanza with 2 lines.

Water everywhere, not a drop to drink
Plastic, tin cans, floating; what do we think
Shortcut for sewerage and industrial waste
Open tap, water horrible to taste.

All along the sea-shore, beautiful shells
In all kinds of shapes from Tubas to Bells
Like you're looking for needles in haystacks
Among the wine bottles and cigarette packs.

I watch the foaming waves roll to the shore
I wish I could sit here for evermore
But feel like I'm standing in a pig's pen
Lying on the ground is a highlighting pen.

Large signs all around read conservation
No evidence in implementation.

Choice
   Craig D Smith (Dec 2002)
   8 syllables per line, ABAB rhyming, last AABB

The road you walk is long and straight
You walk and sometimes, start to run
You wonder if you will be late
When you get there will you have fun

The load begins to show its weight
You want to rest, but must get done
The sun will set, you can�t be late
A shorter path, there must be one

The road turns slightly, then you see
A crossroad with so many signs
You hurry so excitedly
"A shorter route, the choice is mine"

The first sign reads "five minutes, West,
Beware of highway robbery"
The second reads "Much place to rest,
Will take two minutes or twenty"

The third reads that the road is steep
But if you�re strong, "six minutes max."
You don�t know if the laugh or weep
The three routes each carry a tax

And so my friend, if you are sad
And sometimes feel your lot is bad
The choice you make has consequence
You must weigh up you options hence

Conflict of Interest
 A Sonnet of Lamentation
 - CD Smith, 08 April 2003

A soldier wipes his brow to clean the sweat
Within a minute it is soaking wet
He wished that he had not exposed his face
The sandstorm rose and did not show him grace.

The children playing with wild abandon
It's so hot that the boys don't have shirts on
The thunder rolled and then the rain poured down
Red muddy water had covered the ground.

A baby cries and rests on mother's breast
The time has come to close her eyes and rest
Silence broken the bomb has left the skies
Awoke the baby, shrapnel blinded eyes.

The paradox that war must bring us peace
Means production of weapons must all cease.

These are other poems written recently:

Gulliver Invaded
- CD Smith, April 2003

A moving black carpet, is stuff from dreams
And this one is magic, or so it seems
Not perfectly shaped, no Persian rug
I wonder if I had taken a drug.

No footsteps, no war shouts, no gun in hand
Appear from nowhere, take over the land
When I'd realised what was going on
I was surrounded, had waited too long.

Oh magic carpet, I wish you were here
To carry me safely over my fear
They have conquered my legs, both right and left
I rush for the little stream in the cleft.

I jump in the water, never so clean
The ants have all drowned, my mind now serene

Monkey Invasion
- CD Smith, 10 April 2003

The children laughed as they watched him jump
Over the fence the acrobat went
He climbed the tree with agility
Take no rest, his energy not spent.

He danced the jig for his audience
Used his curved feet to enhance his grip
Jumped down to the ground and swung around
With perfect balance, did not slip.

Only green bananas on the tree
All the same one in each hand he took
Swung around the tree he disappeared
The children did not know where to look.

Suddenly they screamed and tried to run
He'd let go the branch, soared through the air
His long tail curved above his body
Crouched on the patio without a care.

 
A Woman Overcomes Abuse
Craig D Smith (2002)  (AB AB Rhyming Scheme, 8/7 8/7 Syllables)

The sun shone brightly on the field
The earth was soft and fertile
Predictions of a gen'rous yield
Sow, then wait, a little while

'Twas dark inside the lonely room
Alone, no child, so forlorn
Visions of a night filled with doom
A dawn of jeers and harsh scorn

Please tell me why they so deride
Will I ever bare a child
Tears, there were none, but still she cried
On naked knees, humble, mild

He took a sickle to the field
Hired men to help him reap
She stood behind the window sealed
Nobody could hear her weep

He praised the earth and his own skill
Had the men build bigger barns
More men helped him the barns to fill
Women spun the cotton yarns
 
She wished he'd asked her to assist
Wished she'd had a cotton dress
When she tried to speak he'd resist
And left her to clean his mess

Everyone came to celebrate
She was forced back in her room
The villagers thought he was great
They didn't care of her gloom

She sang a song of darkest night
A sound superb and profound
Her voice was greater than the light
And the heavy drumming sound

The festival abruptly stopped
Her song piercing ear and heart
Champagne bottles suddenly popped
A new life for her did start

She sang for every great event
And she travelled far and wide
Her husband had a letter sent
Smudged with tears to show he cried

Once worthless to a worthless man
Now precious to the nation
Sing because she knows she can
At every celebration

A Slow Creep
I marvelled as I sat and watched
The little garden snail.
From where I sat I could barely see
Him move, I thought, He�d fail! 

But when I got up, closer drew
So clearly I could see;
He persevered albeit slow
I noticed him move t�ward me. 

Many things happen everyday
Results are what we do and say.
It is the very subtle change
Our values rearrange.

            (A Slow Creep � C.D.Smith, 2003)