# Child eyes



## Olly Buckle (Jan 30, 2016)

A child’s eyes are made for more than tears
loss,   and pain;     and fears.
Made for the future,
Made to nurture
hope.

Remind us,
hope remains us
at the bottom of the box.
Takeit,opendoorsandloosenlocks.
A child’s eyes are made for more than tears.


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## Darkkin (Jan 30, 2016)

I like the play with the form here (Inverted etheree?), in conjunction with the subject matter.  Kids need to be kids, and thankfully, they remind us that they are kids in spite of circumstances.  They are truly what keeps wonder alive, when all others have turned a blind eye or give up.  Deftly wrought.

- D. the T. of P.B.


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## Olly Buckle (Jan 31, 2016)

It has been a terrible week for seeing children suffering through the prejudice of adults, there are all those beautiful Middle Eastern children whose parents are trying to find a better life for them, and then there was a docu/drama about the children's trains from Czechoslovakia just before the war with actual newsreel shots of tiny kids turning up at Charring Cross after  leaving their parents behind and spending days on a 1930's train ... and it is always the eyes that get me.

Don't know what the form  is called, it sort of developed out of the spacing in the second and next to last line, pain seems so slow, hope rushes.

Thanks for the comment.


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## Firemajic (Feb 1, 2016)

Ollie, your first line completely hooked me.. Thank you...


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## 20oz (Feb 1, 2016)

Olly Buckle said:


> A child’s eyes are made for more than tears
> loss,   and pain;     and fears.
> Made for the future,
> Made to nurture
> ...



It's pretty good. I also noted it could look like an hourglass. What do you poets call this? Visual poetry?



> A child’s eyes are made for more than tears
> loss,   and pain;     and fears.
> Made for the future,
> Made to nurture
> ...


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## Olly Buckle (Feb 1, 2016)

Firemajic; yes, it's the best line, I used it again. Felt I had to put something in between, pragmatic rather than inspirational.

20oz, There is a name for it, sorry I can't come up with it, not as literal as 'visual'. That is quite pretty, it could take an extra line 'to'  in the centre.

Thanks for reading.


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## ned (Feb 2, 2016)

hello - enjoyed reading your poem

a great idea, well put across with artful writing.

would only say, that the language of the second verse, although poetically interesting,
didn't really connect for me, with a child's eyes - maybe I'm missing the references.

love the subtle rhyme scheme here - pitched just right.

cheers
Ned


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## jenthepen (Feb 2, 2016)

Good poem, Olly. I liked the line with all the words run together - as you say, hope rushes and it's how children think too.

btw, I think it is called shape poetry.


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## Olly Buckle (Feb 2, 2016)

Hi ned, I'm glad you enjoyed. I felt that when you see the eyes there is hope, which encourages the adults to make education and opportunities available, that's the opening doors and unlocking bit. I guess in a way it goes from looking at the child to reacting to the child; Like Firemajic said that first line is a really good 'hook', I feel I might use it in  completely different context one day.

jen;Thank you, I think of 'shape' poetry as being the shape of the thing it is about, like the mouse's tail.


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## rcallaci (Feb 2, 2016)

Ollie

This type of poetry is indeed called shape poetry. Yours is a hourglass poem-I've done many of these. Now there are many different forms of shape poetry, sometimes called concrete poetry. It's a fun and challenging form....


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## Olly Buckle (Feb 3, 2016)

Thanks, Bob, I think of you as the expert on formal structures since you published a list here when I first joined and got me interested.


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## Reichelina (Mar 21, 2016)

Olly Buckle said:


> A child’s eyes are made for more than tears
> loss,   and pain;     and fears.
> Made for the future,
> Made to nurture
> ...



Hey! I loved the "A child’s eyes are made for more than tears." line.
Full of emotion right there. Everyone can relate because everyone was once a little crying child. I love poems and pieces that burst out emotions like this. Thank you for sharing this.

Is there a name for this format though? 

And this line "Takeit,opendoorsandloosenlocks.", is this like a typo or glitch in formatting or you purposed it? Haha!


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## SilverMoon (Mar 22, 2016)

Hi, Olly. So great to be back reading your work.

Your first line is certainly a sharp hook. It begs the question "Why?" And I was eager for the answers.

Eyes 





> Made to nurture hope.


  I've seen neglect, numbness in too many.  I've seen too many adults look away, beclouding what could be a sunny future. Yes, will these eyes "encourage" compassion then action?  This line reached me deeply. And I reached into that box you now refer to for the cause.... 

A smooth segue referencing Pandora's Box. Hope, what's left for us all to turn to when all else is failing. "Remind us" - our eyes are fading, failing. More of the Powerful.



> Takeit,opendoorsandloosenlocks


 I was fascinated as to your intent. I love Jethepen's interpretation: "Hope rushes like children think." So here, a fantastic onomatopoeia.

Have always loved the "Mouse's Tail" (Tale). rcallaci mentions "Concrete Poetry" - new term to me - so, I went to Wiki. Apparently, the most modern, "hip" term. So much is covered. Here's the link (I've already saved it in my Favorites)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concrete_poetry

Silvermoon  :moon:


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## Mesafalcon (Mar 22, 2016)

WoW! A poem from Olly Buckle!  (I think these are rare, right?)

I enjoyed this. Hope to see more.

_Cheers._


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## Olly Buckle (Mar 23, 2016)

Hi Reichelina, glad you liked that first line, it was my favourite too. If you look back to the earlier replies you will see it is called 'shape' or 'concrete' poetry, this particular shape being an hourglass, and yes I did mean to run the words together like that.

Silver Moon, hello good to see you back here, I noticed your name come  up the other day and meant to say 'hi' but I have been a bit rushed lately, hope you are keeping well, thanks for the comments.

Mesafalcon, not that often that I venture into poetry, but every so often the muse takes me  Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for letting me know.


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## SilverMoon (Mar 23, 2016)

Thanks, Olly. Doing well and very glad to be back. I still have our collaborative poem from maybe five years back? For another? Anytime you're game. It was an honor and a blast working with you on that piece.


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