Relay Poem
|
|
Float like a butterfly, Sting like a bee Enjoying the Olympic action? Send us your day-by-day London 2012 highlights in a relay of couplets & we'll publish the best daily here. |
.jpg)
11 September 2012
Now it's over and we're sad / Summer Games inspired us,
All involved felt Britain's joy / Set the scenes that fired us.
(Cliff Bevan)
26 August 2012
Gold for Jessica Ennis,Andy Murray finally beat Federer at the tennis
Things were looking up, Britain started to feel great
Let's not forget the 123 of Weir, Bolt and Blake!
(Andrew Ellis)
15 August 2012
Revelling in the glow / Of the olympic dream
Medals they gleam / Let the sun beam
(Words Smith)
14 August2012
Goodbye you fare Olympians / Hello uncrowded trains
I'm bidding for your bed linen / And driving in your lane
(Steven Kevin Wicking)
Oh, what will we do with the days? / The TV screen to obsessively gaze
Who to cheer and shout about / Support which event or win which bout
Jump or slump or just frisker, commiserate medals lost by a whisker
(Geeta Lakshmi)
Tried to run to work today / But gave up and got the tube
I thought, by wearing Farah jeans / I'd jeanetically improve
(James Theobald)
Mo's celebration for one gold, then two
Is stealing their trademark. McDonalds sue
(Anon)
The Olympics was a spectacular sight,
With gold honours so bright.
(JoyAnne ODonnell)
The dressage horses danced with brio
But I'd like to see one do the moonwalk in Rio
(James Theobald)
The 30th Olympiad: / Oh what a time we had.
No mo’ Mo now: / Long wait till Rio.
(Anon)
13 August
It's no go the velodrome, / It's no go the stadium. The Olympics are over now: / Welcome back tedium. (Anon)
It's finally over, / the games are now done. We'll dance in the moonlight / and start having fun. (Catherine Boldeau)
No need to dis Ali / The greatest of an era
Mo reps the best of GB / And the future looks Farah
(Yasmin Waring)
Float like a butterfly / Sting like a bee –
Mohamed Farah. / Who’s Mohammad Ali?
(Anon)
We planned and we plotted with contingency,
Now comes the hard part, the real legacy
(Dave Brooks)
12 August
The right choice, George / Was to sing a Wham song.
You chose a new one instead. / Wrong.
(Anon)
O, my Olympia, my new found land
Must we finish? I've got time on my hands.
(David Seddon)
A summer of rain, / Then a gap in the clouds
And The Queen jumped from the sky / To the cheering crowds.
(Carol Ann Duffy – from ‘Translating the British 2012’)
11 August
Dashing Tom in GB Speedos 10-metre-diving, bronzed torpedo (Anon)
Gold stands proud
Among the adoring crowd
(JoyAnne O’Donnell)
10 August 2012
These Games, it must be said, have been a success
Who's carping now about reckless excess?
(Alexis Dimyan)
Droop like a dragonfly / Croak like a crow
Once the Games are over / We can all Go Slow
(Judyth Knight)
Welsh magic! / Behold!
Jones the Kick / Turns Jade into Gold!
(Anon)
After Jamaica calls the shots 1,2,3
They say Bolt can be what he wants to be
So he grabs a camera, takes up photography.
(David Seddon)
It's 5 Feb and snow on the ground / No sound for miles around
Such a lovely sight sent from God above / It's him sending all his love
(Lesley Hammond)
9 August 2012
Oh, GB's girl in the goggles, so easy on the eye!
Thank Google for obliging my ogling – how I love to watch Payne dry!
(Paul Freeman)
How do I glove thee? Let me count the ways
Nicola Adams, you were poetry today
(Anon)
Whether Pistorius / Could have been glorious
We can never tell. / Mogawane fell
(Anon)
After the psychedelic show-jump course, I needed a head massage;
and it's easy to scoff at a toff on a hoss, till it prances to gold in the dressage.
(Paul Freeman)
Why Brownlees left? - it's not a mystery.
They went to make Olympic history.
(Judi Sutherland)
The South Koreans weep and sigh "oh"
Locked in a brace by Leandro Damaio
(@notespub)
Katie Taylor, best of Irish,
Chases gold with such a flourish.
(Noreen Stoker)
Olympianation / Strikes determination
With gold rejuvenation
(JoyAnne O’Donnell)
Gold in the equidrome: trit trot, trit trot
Gold in the velodrome: Laura Laura Laura Trott
(Anon)
8 August 2012
Aspiring to be the best you can be / Can lead to the glisten of Gold
But the pleasure and joy success can bring / Is a treasure inspiring to behold.
(Sharon L. Henry)
All the nation's passion / Celebrates the win,
Gives vent to scenes of glory / Whenever games begin.
(Cliff. Bevan)
Argentina / Riverbank Arena Stole the hockey final / from the GB dreamers (Dawn Bellamy)
Cry gold and hold your medals high / If tears had heats we'd qualify.
(David Seddon)
(Alexandra Clare)
The triathlon racing tests so much, / Swimming, cycling, running too,
British brothers are the best, / In Hyde Park there's gold for you.
(Cliff. Bevan)
For Vicky's last race tonight, with her bike re-tyred by a mechanic,
Expect tracks of tears across the boards, expect the velodramatic.
(Paul Freeman)
7 August 2012
Phillips Idowu / The Invisible Man
His visible jumps / Didn't follow the plan
(Jean Pestell)
It's raining medals for Team GB
Summer of love, it's destined to be
(Alexis Dimyan)
Salute the power of Tirunesh Dibaba She trained in the streets of Addis Ababa (Oliver Bennett)
When water and wheel and track combine
The brothers from Leeds rule the Serpentine.
6 August 2012
I was a believer in Isinbayeva / But Jenn Suhr, made sure.
Golden vaulter: / Couldn’t fault her.
(Anon)
Beth didn't pedal
Still won a medal
(Christine Holden)
A new hip, a broken back - / Nick should be crock.
He retired early / Then turned back the clock
(David Seddon)
Skelton on the telly? / Are you sure that's right?
He was from the days / When they filmed in black & white.
(Anon)
Jason Kenny / Cheered by many
Cycled bold / And won the gold.
(Dawn Bellamy)
Like a modern spinning Jenny / Liquid lightning Jason Kenny
Spins gold in the velodrome / Cycling is coming home
(Judith Enright)
Isinbayeva, pole-vault diva You are such a high achiever (Anon)
This afternoon I cycled home
Imagining the Velodrome
(Sue Couch)
The man who had the bottle to throw Bolt off his stride
Was rewarded with a punch from the judo champ at his side.
(Paul Freeman)
Upon the track the athletes / Run different lengths of race,
Whether short for muscled sprinters / Or long with measured pace.
(Cliff. Bevan)
Of course she won't fail, Britain's Beth Tweddle,
When even her surname rhymes with medal!
(Anon)
Halfway through the games / Nothing could be fina
Than to segue in hegemony /America? or China?
(Val Chambers)
They win a gold with passion, / They cry as anthems sound,
Their feats will win a knighthood, / The cheers will know no bounds.
(Cliff. Bevan)
Lashing storms drenched the Marathon /
Then a lightning Bolt tore through the Stadium
(Anon)
We win gold sitting down / That’s the joke we like to tell
Jess Mo Greg and Andy prove / We do it standing up as well
(Val Chambers)
While it rained over us / Oscar Pistorius
Was not quite victorious / But his run was still glorious!
(Anon)
Out pose your rival, / Face it bold,
Rapstar run boys / Yellow, green and gold.
(End House Arts)
He served, he deserved, he reversed the regrets,
cheeked the Federer gent, swept the needed three sets.
(Timothy Ades)
5 August 2012
Ainslie batters all at sailing
Four gold regattas leave them trailing
(David Seddon)
The crowd did not dream / When they laid down their bets
That they would see / Murray win in straight sets
(RateMyWords)
At the edge of the pool / The swimmers looked cool
In their clingy and colourful cozzies
It went well for the Yanks / With their abs made from planks
But whatever went wrong for the Aussies?
(Judi Sutherland)
Gold for Farah, Rutherford, Ennis
Can Murray bring us two in the tennis?
(Sarah Hopkins)
Boris Cameron, Beckham, Coe
All lay claim to the politics of gold
(Keep Culture Tidy)
Only thing louder / Than the cheering Chinese
Are whinging Aussies
(Phillip A Ellis - an Aussie!)
Muscles rippled, dazzled by sun
Birds are singing, the gold is won!
(Elizabeth)
The Royal Mail paints its boxes gold
As British athletes make their stamp on the world
(David Seddon)
Gold / Glint
Murray / Mint
(Christine Holden)
(Mamta Agarwal)
Booms down the track / smooth as a cat
Usain Bolt / flies just like that.
(Margaret Danquah)
Andy won, Federer outdone
Today's medal tally has only just begun
(Sonal Pandya)
Time is of the essence
As athletes go the distance
(JoyAnne O'Donnell)
Muscles ripple, dazzled by sun Birds are singing, thholde gold is won! (Elizabeth, Ontario)
The Royal Mail paints its post boxes gold As British athletes make their stamps on the world (David Seddon)
Victoria Pendleton's the Queen of the Track
But she was 'not amused' when the baton was slack
(David Seddon)
4 August 2012
Ohuruogu - o hurry-gu
Athletic hopes depend on you
(Anon)
Olympic fever / it's joie de vivre
(Alexis Dimyan)
Feel sorry for our Cav / who didn’t get a medal
Trying to enthuse / watching others pedal.
(Jean Pestell)
Around the velodrome / Team GB do roam
For Gold's their goal / They feel at home
(Inkpotpoet62)
She starts off quite slow there / Ethiopia's Tirunesh
But the others are nowhere / As she sprints to the finish.
(Frank Dux)
One man went to Mo / He wasn't on a go slow
(Christine Holden)
Why's there nothing but Olympics / To watch on TV?
How many medals / Will be won by GB?
(Denni Turp)
Majestic Mo
Running the show
(Alexis Dimyan)
We expected no less / from heptathlete Jess; Turns out no one could menace / Ms Jessica Ennis (Judi Sutherland)
Go / Mo
I meant / He went
(Anon)
We don't want slow-mo
Just go-go-go Mo
(Anon)
Go / Mo
(Anon)
Go Mo / Go Farah / Go Faster
(Anna)
Ginger Greg / What long legs
Nice fast run / Jumps eight twenty-one
(Anon)
800 metres and then
Ennis reigns supreme again
(J@fuschiasbright)
Jessica Ennis / Doesn't play tennis
She jumps long and high / Now watch her fly!
(Kate Morant)
Running, jumping, standing still
Olympic medals on the bill
(Joe Cushnan)
Yes, yes, yes
God Bless Jess
(Anon)
Yes, I confess
I want Jess
(Holly Colleen)
Sheffield girl / Nerves of steel
Warm support / She should feel
(Christine Holden)
Threw further, jumped longer / Ran faster, grew stronger The steel city's Jess / Turned to golden success! (Rache Stone)
Ginger Greg / What long legs Nice fast run / Jumps eight twenty-one (Anon)
Swiss will miss
Gold in the pot for Scot
(Ms Mint)
Athletics and aesthetics / Both rely on energetics (Sorry if the rhyme is a little bit pathetics) (Steph Power) Desolate Australian oarsmen
Beaten by GB foursome
(Anon)
Row, row, row your boat, faster than the rest That's because our rowers really are the best! (Sue Alexander)
'Ride, ride, ride your bike, swiftly round the track That's because our cyclists really are quite crack' (Sue Alexander)
Federer will bury / The Scot they call Murray
And a medal of silver / The Scot will deliver
(MKTwits)
Beautiful Chad / Bert his Dad
Fans galore / Hope to score
(Christine Holden)
Ennis is a menace / gave it her all
Skimming over hurdles / never once did fall
(Christine Holden)
In defiance of opinions / A man whose legs are winged pinions
Ran a heat: by coming second / A semis place and history beckoned
(Alexandra Clare)
3 August 2012
Sitting indoors, your eyes weave the fabric of success,
Knit thumping ovation at the proceedings.
(Radhamani Sarma)
Federer, Oh Federer
Can Andy get aheada yer?
(PS Staff)
They row upon the river, / they've trained to be the best
With muscles like Steve Redgrave / That bulge beneath their vest. (Cliff Bevan)
The team sprint so exciting / had us on our feet, But to fall on purpose / isn't that to cheat?
(Jean Pestell)
Katarina Johnson-Thompson / Waits her turn as Ennis romps on But she takes the lead in rhyme / Scansion of her name's sublime (Judith Enright)
A swimming bronze medal, / So let's be proud of Becky. Beaten by wonder-teen, / USA's Bedecky (Sarah Doyle)
The velodrome is busy, / A crowd of riders spin From all the cycling nations / Who watch the charge begin. (Cliff Bevan)
Tonight she hunts through waves to prey on gold;
hungered, ready, waiting to carve her name...
(Christopher Wileman)
So many hopefuls - all chasing silver and gold,
But most of the best will have to just wait and hold,
Many may have to try their best again in the next,
As they return home now - disappointed, for a rest!
(Ashit K Sarkar)
Golds in the saddle, with paddle and gun,
Got a grip on for ippon and silver she won.
(Rache Stone)
Cycling velodromical / Depends on skills alchemical.
If your changeover's well-controlled / Your silver turns to gold.
(Frank Dux)
The troops are there / To take the chair
The price too high / For us to buy.
(Christine Holden)
Never mind that (outside pedals) / We’ve never heard of the event...(Alexandra Clare)
In the velodrome the medals flower
Britain's pride has pedal power
(David Seddon)
A fantastic cycling turn / From Hoy, Hindes and Kenny.
Another gold medal / To add to GB's many.
(Sarah Doyle)
How to thank Sir Chris / for the medals and his loyalty?
He can take the place of Harry / Or some other minor Royalty
(Anon)
Dorset shooter / Gold medal man
All other contenders / Get off my land!
(Anon)
Game, set, match / 6-4, 6-1
The semi-finals / Murray's in!
(Anon)
Eddie the Eagle flew like a skip
But Boris the Beagle got caught by a zip
(David Seddon)
Dive right in, let's take a dip / Curl your body around your hip
Twist and spin until you wet your lips... (#synchronizeddiving)
(Travis Naught)
2 August 2012
Count the pentameters / The ball is in your court
Cross the line-breaks if, like me, / You’ve always hated sport
(Judyth Knight)
The Brits got triple Golds - cycling, canoeing, shooting straight
Ain’t it e’er so good to state, that good ol’ Blighty is still great?
(Rohini Sunderam)
Peter Wilson, Baillie and Stott
Came for a gold, and gold's what they got!
(Anon)
I don't know why they say / "Paddle your own canoe"
On the evidence of today / You can go just as fast with two
(Judith Enright)
Anthony Ogogo / And a medal in the Judo
Oh what a day-o / Looks good for Team GB-o
(Anon)
Out on the roads / Brave Wiggo was pedalling
While Boris got zipped - / That should stop him from meddling.
(Judi Sutherland)
You did it, Bradley Wiggins
As Pickering said to Higgins
(James Harris)
If you fail to thwock / A shuttlecock
People will be horrified / And you shall be disqualified
(Alexandra Clare)
Badminton, goodminton / what a racket!
Someone's set / to make a packet.
(Tim Sinclair)
Two teen swimmers make it to the podium.
One gets ovations, the other gets opprobrium.
(Julia Bird)
Oh ye of little faith, / You lost your nerve
Our people won their gongs, / So well deserved.
(Adrian Brett)
Slice through the water / Cut like a knife
One gold medal / Set up for life.
(Christine Holden)
Medal-less Brits no longer stigmatised
Thanks to Olympic bigwig, Wiggo’s ride
(Anon)
1 August 2012
It's the first of August, so exacting ex-track cyclist Wiggins with his auburn
sideburns, turns alchemist, extracting gold from his maillot jaune.
(Paul Freeman)
You climb upon the podium, / The medals given out
It might not be your anthem, / But still the people shout.
(Cliff Bevan)
Float like two butterflies / Faultlessly
Helen & Heather / Gold! GB.
(Timothy Ades)
The gods on Mount Olympus, / Were they fact or fiction?
More gold medals for Team GB, / That is my prediction.
(Allen Ashley)
They forecast rainy weather / To fall upon the track,
I sit beneath a brolly / 'till runners all come back.
(Cliff Bevan)
Spinning pedals and oars calm nerves of no firsts
When a Brit sits at sport we get just desserts.
(Rache Stone)
Now that all the waiting's over / Gold from Wiggins, Stanning, Glover People watch but don't go shopping / Why London's tourist business' dropping
(Shakira Dyer)
...
Two golds in a row,
What a jolly good show
(Noreen Stoker)
Spectators usually cheer rather than jeer.
Not at this badminton match between China and South Korea
(Sublime Rhyme)
Bradley, pedal hard, through narrow streets & wide turns
Loved for the TourDeFrance & for your splendid sideburns
(Sarah Doyle)
Be all you can be / Be all you will
And you'll come first / If you take this wee pill
(Giovanni Cicogno)
Pay out good money / Much sport to choose,
Unless it’s badminton / Where they try to lose.
(Jean Pestell)
My name is Bert / In a checked shirt
You see my boy? / My pride and joy.
(Chris Holden)
Don't make us sadly, Bradley
Hurry through Surrey
(Anon)
Down here in Australia / The broadcaster's failure:
Mixing being one-eyed / With national pride
(Tim Sinclair)
Arise Michael Phelps, the greatest Olympian
Some say you display signs of an amphibian
(Alexis Dimyan)
31 July 2012
You've smashed the record, won over the crowds / Rendered a sceptical nation proud
You used to be no-one, now you're the star / Now stand for the anthem and pee in this jar
(Niall O'Sullivan)
Cry like a crocodile / Snooze like a snail
While others pant and strive to win / Be unafraid to fail
(Judyth Knight)
Phelps' dominance went to his head He surrendered his crown to Lochte instead
(Bob Horton)
In the park rode Zara / Where the time is set
Someone came a cropper / Got so very wet.
(Cliff Bevan)
Olympics: weather on the run
Yesterday’s hailstones beat the sun.
(Caroline Gill)
The highlight of the Games so far / It almost had me conned
Just had to be those magic words / "Good evening Mr Bond!"
(Hilary Jane Jones)
Not to be missed / It was fantastic
A lifetime chance / To rhyme with gymnastic.
(Val Chambers)
The boys have won a Silver! / For Britain! In Gymnastics!
What's that you say? A Bronze? / Oh well. That's still fantastic!
(Anon)
US men gymnastics, they wanted gold 2 go with
Instead they only could settle, 4 fifth.
(The Poetry Product)
30 July 2012
Lithe and tanned in skimpy trunks / Tom and Pete, our GB hunks
Diving from that 10 meter board / Too much splash, means no award
(Tina Stewart)
A bronze for the boys on the high bar and pommel horse But the pair on the high board get pommelled to fourth (Karen Murphy)
What's this I hear, empty seats at events?
Give them out, or better, to malcontents
(Alexis Dimyan)
The womens bicycle road race, / Russia, Nederlands, GBR set the pace,
British weather sets the tone, / Skids and pile-ups slow them down
(John Saunders)
Molten hot favourite / Leaves the pack behind
She makes sporting history / She's one of a kind
(Timothy M Jones)
From an ex-coal town most choose to forget
Came a fabulous bronze swim from 'Our Becks'
(Rache Stone)
Becky Adlington's bronze accolade
In previous life, she must have been mermaid.
(Brian Moses)
Is that a bird, man or plane / speeding the Olympic lane
Finding traffic very busy / grab a ride with our Lizzie
(GA Brown)
Athletes circle, tall and proud / acknowledge the adoring crowd
But secretly they wait to see / if sniffer dogs will smell their wee
(Tim Sinclair)
29 July 2012
Float like a butterfly / Sting like a bee
She pedalled, she medalled, / The middle of three.
(Timothy Ades)
He crashed into the railings / Playing chess on wheels
Should have been observant / And kept his eyes peeled
(Timothy M Jones)
28 July 2012
Bronze, gold or silver? / Nowhere in sight!
(Val Chambers)
27 July 2012
Opening ceremony, Best time to pop
Out to get the groceries, Just us in the shops
(Michele Brenton)
Brunel reading Shakespeare, What happens now?
Chaucer reading Edward Lear? A trampolining cow?
(Nairn Kennedy)
The time has arrived to run to the gun
So let's await for the tales to be spun
(Alexis Dimyan)
To exceed all limits and and redefine success,
To unleash dormant power and exhault human prowess!
(Christopher Maelzer)
Since the event and Olympics are boring
I'm off on my bike bird watching and caravan touring
(Sandra Banawich)
Pre-opening ceremony
(Contributions from Poetry Society Young Poets Network)
Running on the roadside, passing on the flame,
Crowds of children, cheering all the same:
“There goes the torch, spreading down the street,
Carrying Britain’s hopes – what a great feat!”
As the torch rushes by I watch it’s burning flame,
The athletes are getting ready, eager for fame.
A rising, a roaring, blue screams from the stands,
Raise up the flag till it covers your eyes,
We all live our lives in Olympic paradise.
As the summer sun fades away,
The Olympic Games come into play;
You run and jump, Swim and dive,
While I sit at home and watch it all live,
Every nation taking part,
The crowd goes quiet, the race can start.
That fire is running with red, white, blue;
England’s athletes know what to do:
Enter with spirit and pride, return with honour,
Be proud to wear your country’s colour.
Soar like a javelin in the blue sky,
Dreams come true if you really try.
Fly like an aeroplane, soar like a bird,
As you land in sand many cheers are heard.
Jump off the diving board, from fifty metres high,
See all those happy smiles as you flash by.
Tom Daley dives and takes a big fat leap,
Now all the water is in a big heap.
Splash like a dolphin, splosh like a whale,
Swimmer participants wave your tails!
She explodes from the water, sleek muscle display,
Our Missy Franklin, Team USA!
Go on horse, don`t give me a frown,
Win that race I’m counting on you now;
“Go on Pakistan, go go go,
Don’t be a loser, no no no!”
We’ll surely lose the tennis,
All our hopes are on Jessica Ennis
Tightly strung is the archer’s bow,
The arrow’s duel with its lifelong foe.
Do you think it will start to hail?
Do you think the boats will sail?
Running on the hard track, getting sore feet,
Hearing all the people scream and your heart beat!
Run like a leopard, smooth like a glider,
Run to the finish line, “faster, stronger, higher.”
“No name, no face, just the power of my will,
You don’t know me yet…but you will."
Cycle past everyone, push on the pedals,
You might win about three gold medals.
All this sport becoming a drag?
Stay at home, have a fag.
Get on an aeroplane, fly overseas,
Miss the Olympics? – Oh yes please!
Queue ’til you fall asleep, spend all your pay,
Just to watch stupid sports for a day.
He’s sitting at the starting line holding for the gun,
The Paralympics sportsmen ready and begun.
And here I am, laid in bed
Thinking about the Olympics in my head:
Cricket is a sport that’s fun,
You whack the ball then run;
London means life, 2012 means energy,
The Olympics is a giant in sport history.
In London 2012, no matter your gender, religion or race,
Athletes will unite, then fight for that honourable first place.
The Olympics come every four years,
And now England will cheer with beer.
It’s our time now to put on a show that the world will never forget,
I still sit and think of those great races, between Seb Coe and Steve Ovett.
The opening ceremony is so cool,
If you miss it you’re a fool,
We’ll be mapping out Britain in a frame of gold,
Not one ticket left unsold.
“I am proud, I am steady,
I am also ready”
So reach for the stars, aim high! Aim high!
Today is the day you will fly!
The mad professor broke through security, grabbed the microphone, and announced that he had just invented the quintuple jump. *Gasp*
Disclaimer | Credits
And lands in the stadium / Beside Mr Grump
(Timothy M Jones)