We’re shooting Gazans, that’s our goal
It’s target practice, not a game
Take aim and fire and…Whack-a-Mole!
There, over by the water hole
Hey some we kill and some we maim
We’re shooting Gazans, that’s our goal
Like skinny fishes in a shoal
All move as one and look the same
Take aim and fire and…Whack-a-Mole!
A few grains in an empty bowl
Is that for what these mothers came?
We’re shooting Gazans, that’s our goal
She’s running, that won’t save her soul
In vain, and shouting Allah’s name
Take aim and fire and…Whack-a-Mole!
We’re IDF, that’s how we roll
For Israel, and Bibi’s fame
We’re shooting Gazans, that’s our goal
Take aim and fire and…Whack-a-Mole!
© Gail Foster 27th June 2025
Villanelle
On The Occasion of Benjamin Netanyahu Quoting Dylan Thomas
Don’t tell me that you fight a righteous fight
How many children have you killed today
I’ll give you rage. I’ll give you rage alright
Your anger and your ego burning bright
Are razing all that’s standing in your way
Don’t tell me that you fight a righteous fight
How many have you sent into the light
Before they even had the time to pray
I’ll give you rage. I’ll give you rage alright
How many have you saved or sent in spite
Up to the sky in ashen clouds of grey
Don’t tell me that you fight a righteous fight
In clouds as those who in the fog and night
Were put in trains and disappeared away
I’ll give you rage. I’ll give you rage alright
You speak as if your soul was white as white
Yet deep inside you darkness holds its sway
Don’t tell me that you fight a righteous fight
I’ll give you rage. I’ll give you rage alright
© Gail Foster 27th September 2024
Within Our Echo Chambers Hear Our Cry
Our words may be too many or too few
May simply complicate, or simplify
I’d choose them carefully if I were you
One wonders what we want our words to do
Remove the speck from someone else’s eye?
Our words may be too many or too few
They vanish, most of them, into the blue
But ghosts remain to haunt us when we die
I’d choose them carefully if I were you
We speak for speaking’s sake, our egos spew
A constant stream of consciousness, and lie
Our words may be too many or too few
We patronise our children, to our crew
We speak in ciphers. Words are birds that fly
I’d choose them carefully if I were you
We fill the empty air with nothing new
Within our echo chambers hear our cry
Our words may be too many or too few
I’d choose them carefully if I were you
© Gail Foster 17th May 2023
The Song of the Wren
*
The wren is singing, high up in the tree
Come, lay your crown beside me on the ground
Come lie with me, my love, come lie with me
…
For every bloom on earth there is a bee
For every queen a green king to be crowned
The wren is singing high up in the tree
…
I wore a gown of bright embroidery
I wear my hair with heather flowers wound
Come lie with me, my love, come lie with me
…
I’m wanton, wild, alive with energy
I want you brought to me in oak leaves bound
The wren is singing high up in the tree
…
Oh aye, what then, why then I set you free
Oh my, and we get dirty and profound
Come lie with me, my love, come lie with me
…
You are my king. I shut my eyes and see
Your silhouette, with sunlight all around
I hear the wren sing, high up in the tree
Come lie with me, my love, come lie with me
*
© Gail Foster 21st June 2018
The Green Beneath The Snow
A Villanelle, for the Spring Equinox
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the hills are growing green beneath the snow
white horses, shake the winter from your manes
the spring has come, the wild wind told me so
…
cold ice be gone, and warm sweet water flow
come, crocuses, and flower on the plains
the hills are growing green beneath the snow
…
grey gulls fly high, and clouds of blossom blow
come, laughing crows, and dance within the rains
the spring has come, the wild wind told me so
…
soon summer, and so many seeds to sow
come, sun, spill down the furrows of the lanes
the hills are growing green beneath the snow
…
bright gorse ablaze, and alder tops aglow
come blood, and flood the burrows of the veins
the spring has come, the wild wind told me so
…
dark night be gone, long days of light to go
come love, with all your mysteries and pains
the hills are growing green beneath the snow
and spring has come, the wild wind told me so
*
© Gail Foster 17th March 2018
Orion and The Moon
A Villanelle
*
Come catch me then, Orion, if you can
We’ve played this game before. I play to win
I am the moon and you are just a man
…
The same old same old game since time began
We’ve started, so we’ll finish. Let’s begin
Come catch me then, Orion, if you can
…
Some lesser constellations also ran
I left them all stood standing in a spin
I am the moon and you are just a man
…
A man of stars, a huntsman, fiercer than
The lot of them, with finer light within
Come catch me then, Orion, if you can
…
Come chase me cross the spaces in the span
Before the night grows old and darkness thin
I am the moon and you are just a man
…
All stars must fall according to the plan
Before the morning I will have you sin
Come catch me then, Orion, if you can
I am the moon and you are just a man
*
© Gail Foster 30th January 2018
If Truth Be Told
A Villanelle
*
The men that catch my eye these days are few
The ones that do are married men, or mad
And truth be told I only fancy you
…
I doubt that in the pub or porch or pew
I’ll meet a man like you who makes me glad
The men that catch my eye these days are few
…
I could be looking but I seldom do
There’s only you for me, you ‘lucky’ lad
If truth be told I only fancy you
…
Until the day fate sends me someone new
I’m all for you, I know, it’s odd, and sad
But men that catch my eye these days are few
…
You make me happy, boy, you make me blue
I hold a torch for you, and I grow mad
For truth be told I only fancy you
…
I’ve told you something you already knew
I’m sorry, but I’ve really got it bad
The men that catch my eye these days are few
If truth be told I only fancy you
*
© Gail Foster 21st July 2017
‘Smoke and Roses’ and ‘Takin’ the Pith’
This week I published two books, which are available on Amazon and through Devizes Books
*
The first, ‘Smoke and Roses’ is saucy, serious, and sweet, and the second, ‘Takin’ the Pith’, does exactly what it says on the tin.
I guess that ‘Smoke and Roses’ is my mythology.
Both contain poems and prose in different forms, and the language is edgy in both.
There will be some content that you have not read.
I hope you like them.
Thank you so much for your interest.
*
Gail
Smoke And Roses Blow
A Villanelle
*
Beyond the veil where daylight fears to go
Behind a swathe of heavy silken mist
The heady scents of smoke and roses blow
…
Along the paths that secret lovers know
Are wood and blossom tangled in a tryst
Beyond the veil where daylight fears to go
…
Within the subtle stream’s beribboned flow
Whirl pools of love and darkness in a twist
The heady scents of smoke and roses blow
…
The sun sinks in to shadow smooth and slow
Through willing earth too wanton to resist
Beyond the veil where daylight fears to go
…
On perfumed air a drum beat, soft and low
In perfect time without a rhythm missed
The heady scents of smoke and roses blow
…
The wild in love the sacred orchards know
Who go to be by passion’s madness kissed
Beyond the veil where daylight fears to go
The heady scents of smoke and roses blow
*
© Gail Foster 2016
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