Bag End Poet Of The Year 2007 - Kevin James Rowley.

Leading with an incredible 28.5% of the votes the Bag End Poet Of The Year 2007 is Nivek with his March entry "UNEEDA". CONGRATULATIONS NIVEK!!!! A close runner up with 21.4% of the votes was Berenice's October entry.

Well done to everyone and thank you to all of you for making this year's challenge such a success. Both the challenges set and the entries posted were outstanding. I am very appreciative of all your hard work at Bag End.

Here's to the next challenge in January 2008 - to be jointly set by Nivek and the November winner Brainhaven.

A Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all!!

Berenice

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Winning poem)

*Note: the following ad is based on actual events, tho at times it may not be...

"UNEEDA'

You need a Nivek, that you do-
A Nivek who is tried and true!
A Nivek copy just won't do!
only the original will satisfy you!

You need a poet now and then,
A Nivek can rhyme again and again!
And when you have a heart to mend,
A nivek is a SUPER friend!

Have a wall that needs a nail?
Nivek's hammer NEVER fails!
Need some firewood split in two?
Nivek's axe is there for YOU!

Sometimes parties are a bore..
Nivek brings laughter and more!
And if you have a few too many,
You can ride home in his semi!

have a feild that's full of weeds?
With Nivek spraying it's a breeze!
Computer giving you hard times?
Let nivek at it, you'll be fine!

Nivek"s fully guarranteed,
And if by chance you ever need,
an even better piece of heaven,
just flip your Nivek, you've got a KEVIN!

You need a Nivek, don't you see?
You need a nivek, just like me!
No wallet crunching bills to shrink,
Nivek's cheaper than you think!

© Kevin James Rowley

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I Feel"

The grand master of my life has robbed me
of love,laughter,wisdom and my beauty.
He has given me a pot belly,ulcers,and false teeth.
He has taken away dreams of fame and fortune,
and left the nightmares of ugly reality in trade.

Through the snares and gashes in the dark veil
that envelopes my soul I catch glimpses of
half forgotten memories and the faint smell of yesterdays,
as if left on display just slightly farther away
than my mind can reach to grasp,as if left
there to remind me of what could have been, of
what should have been,of what now will never be.
To remind me of the mistakes I have made.

I tear at the veil,mental fingers stretched out,
grabbing desparatly into the vast nothingness
that holds everything,grasping for a single scrap of hope,
a single brush against new love,a small thread of happiness.
My wishes do not bring them closer,and my mind returns
to it's dark cage with cold,empty hands,calloused from years
of prying up unturned rocks and covering up overexposed feelings,
worn thin and aching after years of beating against
the futility of false hope, shattered dreams,and the harshness of reality.

I curse at my god, for he has forsaken me in my time of need.
He has taken all that is good from my soul,and left me with but one scrap of usefull information:that if I were to escape from
these chains that bind my immagination to this dark hole,if
I could finally rip open the cages, tear off the veils, and step
once again into the light of the way things used to be
and could be again,and finally grasp what has been kept
out of reach,then I might finally come to understand that He is not the hate-filled evil torturer that has all these years been
beating me down at every oportunity, but that He is my savior,
with me when i need him the most and when i need him the least.

He is a part of me as much as I am a part of him.

I am the grand master of my life.

© Kevin James Rowley

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

...Dedicated to all present and past members of the Bagend Poetry Forum...

It's my life revolving softly as I'm standing in one place,
And the years are drifting slowly through my body and my face,
While the memories I remember either drift away or stay,
It's my life revolving softly while I age.

Years before I knew you I was getting to know me,
And the things I was to do would make the person I would be,
And the person I became would show himself in poetry,
It's my life revolving softly while you read.

And you never knew what you would see,
About the person that was me,
As you would read my poetry,
And laugh or cry to rhyme.
And I never knew what I would write,
As I would sit down late at night,
And try and find some words just right,
To say what's on my mind.

Now it seems I've drifted away from you over time,
And it seems I seldom visit and I seldom write a line,
Bills to pay and body pain now occupy my mind,
It's my life revolving softly past my prime.

But life revolving will not take away the time we've shared,
The memories may fade but know they always will be there,
I recall so many folks I've known and who have cared,
As life revolves so softly you are there.

So here I come to write again,
That you are all my special friends,
And for you I pick up my pen,
And offer you this toast.
With all I've done and all I've seen,
And all the places that I've been,
When I think of what it all means,
I think you mean the most...


To Bagend,by Kevin James Rowley,
November 15,2007,
written between 7:30 pm and 8:00 pm..

© Kevin James Rowley