At last words
I do not like living here
There are rats in the attic
And a big black crow is squaw-king
At my window, demanding entry,
Crow says it's a hypothetical
supersymmetric counterpart
to a quark, having a spin of zero.
I think not Mr Crow.
That be all ye need to know.
Mr Talking Crow. Talking bird or no.
I am haunted by these words you know.
Tuesday 31st May 2022 11:03 pm
Also by John E Marks:
Black sun on the run | (untitled) | Our kid | Translating the rain | Suicide of a friend | Forget-me-not | Catastrophe: the banality of evil | Hanging by a thread | regret | visit | Horatio Mosley Moule, committed suicide, Cambridge, 1873 | Free speech | Ruin | A WITHERING | Gorffwysfa | The season of the witch | Burst the Bounds | This land is my mother. | Meet me on the Edge | A Sonnet for May | The Furies | (untitled) | Only connect | Putin's nursery rhyme | Blue is green | All gone by | Last things | The glory of the May | A la Recherche du Temps Perdu |DEARLY BELOVED ONE
DEARLY BELOVED ONE
It’s time to ask the morning sun,
sweet treat of day, to be
gentle in its early rise and late demise
in this year’s June illuminations.
May you know the need for
one of us to rest our head so
all of night’s too short dominion
be tightly matched; for sleep will
leave long-time tired eyes to open
slowly, which otherwise might catch
a ride far ...
Tuesday 31st May 2022 6:37 pm
Also by Peter Taylor:
DEARLY BELOVED ONE | WHISPERED |Strange Feeling
Strange feeling, standing next to this felled tree,
A victim of a violent assault.
Not long ago, these leaves were vigorous
In the reflection of a sparkling sun.
Green dominated, but entertainments
Of all shapes and styles delighted this Earth.
Now brown and shrivelled, they slip existence,
As they accompany their own decline.
We know that feeling too. The lynched bodies,
...Tuesday 31st May 2022 5:30 pm
Also by Stephen Gospage:
Letters | Davos | City Tour | Baggage | Glorious Mud | Afterlife | Day 82 | My Enemy | Anger Management | Lenin | Atmosphere | Make-Believe |Wholesome heart
My missing piece returned to me
The little heart that had been taken
Just this evening it came back
Making me whole and complete at last
I feel good having my piece back to me
It anyways didn't belong to him
He had far more expensive ones to keep
The cheapest was returned, it wasn't needed at all
My,heart is completely satisfied
Slowly retaining it's div...
Tuesday 31st May 2022 4:58 pm
Also by Sunshine:
Half of it | Extension | Not a poem; diagnosis | Grace | The journey | Burnt feelings | Sa.yo.na.ra | Victorious | Victim ain't a convict | Waiting | What's meant to be will chase you till you receive | Glad tidings | Blessed!! |no place unlike my own world
its awfully strange.
i scrapbook pieces of my soul, and mind together.
together on the pages of a lined notebook,
the glue i used melts into the paper and the newspapers i borrowed evaporate.
the news dies, or fades, it disappears.
melted together with the newest form of creative escapism ive decided upon.
there are vibrations under my papercut hands, markered with...
Tuesday 31st May 2022 4:46 pm
Also by Nadia Coia:
star shaped stickers | a bang trim | TEENAGE GIRLS | NEVER BEEN KISSED | I AM! I AM! I AM! | wading deep, bloody water |"IF" (a version for today) - Brian Bilston
My attention has been drawn to a wonderfully apt and ascerbic version of Kipling's famous poem - framed to
describe what is going on in our lives at this time. I strongly recommend any WOL reader to seek it out...with
the attributed writer's popularity on Twitter a good start. I have had a copy sent to me and it really is a work of
satirical excellence that Kipling himself would probabl...
Tuesday 31st May 2022 4:22 pm
Also by M.C. Newberry:
I LOVE ME | WHO ARE THE LUCKY PEOPLE? (written in 2001) | CATS AND RATS |My love for you will always stay.
Like a door not closed all the way.
I will love you in my own way.
Even if I must stay away.
Tuesday 31st May 2022 4:16 pm
IMMIGRANT GIRL
IMMIGRANT GIRL
Sofa-surfing at loose-end parties
after tired feet touch tarmac
and poverty is a canvas of hazard.
A cousin in some pot-luck suburb
where cork sags under adverts.
At last a pokey crumbling room:
cabinet doors hang open in defiance,
insect agendas behind furniture
glued tight by the gunge of years.
New curtains and light bulbs
from alien sho...
Tuesday 31st May 2022 3:38 pm
tY
t here comes a t ime
when t he onl Y ligh t Y ou
have is t he one Y ou
li gh t Y
ourself
Tuesday 31st May 2022 3:19 pm
Also by Kealan Coady:
De-Spite |Renewed Hope
Renewed Hope
My heart aches as tears freely fall
What is this conflict for?
Why should such a tragedy befall us?
My soul laments and I am downcast
Misery inhabits my inner being
as the young and innocent are
sacrificed on the altar of irrelevance
Why should this be?
How can we be led into this valley pf perpetual destruction?
Do we not recall the past?
Is hist...
Tuesday 31st May 2022 3:09 pm
Also by keith jeffries:
Deprecated | Never Again & No More | Futility |Deal Or No Deal
Discount codes and online deals
can drive me up the wall
When searching for a saving
no matter how big or small
Some offers are amazing
and are difficult to beat
They can come in so handy
when I want a little treat
Sometimes I find an old one
just passed it’s expiry date
That’s when I curse myself
for being a day too late
I can scroll for hours
to only save a pound or ...
Tuesday 31st May 2022 2:21 pm
Also by julie callaghan:
Busy Garden | Imperial Measures | Right Here, Right Now | Woody Woodpecker | Ghostly Request | Our Stylish Queen | #Partygate | The Corpse Prayer | Our Garden Right Now | Chuffed To Bits | Cup Of Tea | Mud (Ten line challenge) | Seaside Stroll | Sahara Safari Day Two | Sahara Safari Day One | Spaceman Aims For The Stars | Travel Stress | Canadian Woodland | The Memorial (Repost) | On The Subject Of Freedom (Not A Poem) | Daisy Daisy | Whelprigg House | Storybook Sunrise | Freedom (Challenge) | Rhododendron | Eerie Mist | May Time | Mr & Mrs Smith | Magnificent In Stature |Hey I’m Retired!
I work for the bank
I work for the council
I work for all HM government departments
I work for the Doctor
I work for the Utility companies
I work for the Dentist
I work for airlines and public transport
I work for Theatres and Cinemas
The list is never ending
I only used to have one employer
Hey I’m retired (or so I thought)
My day is one long slog on electron...
Tuesday 31st May 2022 11:44 am
Also by Rick Varden:
Colours | When I grow up |Loving Strategies
the male of the species
exaggerates his claims
enlarging his body
by dancing on stage
employing techniques
mimicking other males
engaging in tool making
with limited success
female of the species
remains unimpressed
performing daily rituals
with mystical content
looking on patiently
he struggles in her trap
waiting for him to tire
be...
Tuesday 31st May 2022 2:17 am
Also by Robert C Gaulke:
Familiar | American Miniatures | The last act | On my app | birthdays |A Conversation with my Father
A conversation with my father
He was old when we spoke
Ninety years and more
I asked him what it was like
When he served in the second
World war
You don’t need to know girl
What I know would make your toes curl
I don’t want to remember
Don’t ask difficult questions
My memory is blurred
But I’d really like to know, dad
Was it really, really bad?
It’s...
Monday 30th May 2022 9:06 pm
Also by Clare:
The Rose and The Butterfly. | The End of Trust | Splish, Splash! | Mother | Circumspect | No rules | What is Freedom? | First Date | One Night Stand | French Doubles |Granny hi tech (new ending)
Granny Hi Tech
My mum’s been posting selfies… at the age of ninety two!
She’s becoming all tech savvy, whilst I haven’t got a clue.
They say a dog can get too old to teach itself new tricks,
But she’s on Twitter, Instagram, even downloads from Netflix.
It all started back in her 80s, when the tablets which she took
Were traded in one hi-tech day for a brand new i-mac book.
...Monday 30th May 2022 6:17 pm
Also by mike booth:
Tupperware |blue tears
blue tears
her blue tears
falling on the pink morning
created a lavender sky
Monday 30th May 2022 3:27 pm
Also by Clyde McCulley:
I wonder | The Lonely Old man Sits by the Window |collection
The worst decision of my life
How can I choose
So many options
Options which have only been limits
Only failures
What comes after
Where is the end
A light in the tunnel
A joke in the background
Surrender to nothingness
Dive into empty consciousness
Swim among my dreams
Paddle with all my plans
Everything which has been wasted
Among all my regrets
Al...
Monday 30th May 2022 3:15 pm
Where's Queen?
1977
Queen popping round
Jubly
"It's Jubilee, Son"
Jooobly!
6 years old
Street party
The like I'd never seen
Flags
Bunting
Dried up sandwiches
with curled up edges
Homemade Cake!
Homemade Pies!
Trifle!
Rhubarb with sugar dip
Penny chews & lollies
& pear drops & sherdet
"It's sher -Bet"
Sher-DET!
Where's Queen?
"Missed the bus"
...Monday 30th May 2022 11:31 am
Also by Stephen W Atkinson:
Senseless | A Calling | Winter Song (10 line challenge) | Her Words | All Fall Down... | Amistad | I Wonder If... | Idle | My Lonely Love |hard of luck 🍀
There are shadows all over
Shining darkly in reverse;
Pointy ears of impish horns,
Whose stalks ravaged worn;
Chant rondeaus of curses
On a sea of four-leaf clover.
Sunday 29th May 2022 3:55 pm
Also by Red Brick Keshner:
Atacama symphonic | ginko | captain, my captain | harvest moon | Rotterdam | Ballad of Billy McGee | no poetry by numbers | innit your day? | uplift | reed music |Bloodstains On The Blackboard
A crazed gunman barricaded himseld forcing frightened children into a school classroom
time was running out - - -
The clock ticks
Rifle trigger clicks
Frenzied mind splutters
Traumatic overwhelming panic
Spontaneous children act
Frantic messages sent
Please Help Us
Please Help Us
Please Help Us
Police stand back
Desperate minutes lost
Door forced eventua...
Sunday 29th May 2022 10:56 am
Also by Nigel Astell:
Tiny Terror | Ta Very Much | Sleepless in Stockport | More Than A Game | Glade of Light | Sacrificed to the Gods of War |Quick question..?
If God were to come down Himself,
and wipe away all the pain.
restore every scar to its previous state.
undo every lie ever told.
What would be left of us?
How many of our dreams and passions,
are rooted in someone else’s bullshit?
Do you champion women’s rights,
out of a genuine concern for the plight they
face on a daily basis?
Or do you like to end your t...
Sunday 29th May 2022 2:29 am
Also by Joseph Healy:
Reframing "Adam and Eve" | People aren't drugs dammit | The Yin and the Yang | Cosmos | All is not lost | Hate mail to myself | Expression | What do I do? | Turn it around | Redundancy | He who sees it all | Expectations | Compass | Author(ity) | 3rd Hemisphere | Debating | Locus of Control | Too much to ask? | One without the Other | Den of Demons | Rebellion | Skin Deep | Spirit | I am Me | Hands-on, Hands-off | Talk the Talk | I wanna! I wanna! I wanna! | History | Simple, not Easy | Youth | Please, just listen | Everyday | Thing | Inner monster | Afraid | His truth for Me | My truth | Cyanide of the Soul | and myself? | Unknown | What scripture is for me | Nervous | Who dares stand against? | Ask a Stranger | Sunflower | Circle | House of Cards | Reflecting | Decisions | Look up | Attention spans | Next of Kin | Willing spirit, weak flesh | Bark and Bare | Another one | A psalm of my own |Live free
Live free
Declutter your mind
So also your heart and soul
Drop the negativities
Live free
Of all tensions and worries
Let these be dropped
Never to bring them back
Live free
Of unnecessary burdens
That weighs us down
Making difficult movement ahead
Live free
Of past, that's history
Nothing can be done or undone
Those were s...
Sunday 29th May 2022 12:47 am
Also by Ghazala lari:
Ya Rabb (prayer) | Good morning | Eid ul fitr Mubarak!!! |JUST LOOK AWAY TODAY
I wrote this yesterday, the day of Sunak's special measure and the day after the Sue Gray disclosures but didn't get chance to post it until today.
And when I see the news he points one way
“Don’t look over there to yesterday.
Just look away today
From all that stuff about Party Gate.
It’s cost me billions to brush over all my tracks
With Windfall Tax”.
For several m...
Saturday 28th May 2022 9:50 pm
Also by John Coopey:
IT'S FOR THE GUN WE SPEAK | "THE MAN" | SLAVA UKRAINI HEROYAM SLAVA | LAVATORY WALLS | MICHAEL SEEN FLORA | LIVING DOLL |Place To Be
Place To Be
The best place to be right now
Is not in Europe over Russia's issues
A pissed off nation with 7,500 nukes
Of different types and classes
As set ready to use on Putin's order
Ukraine started it after NATO grew
Right up to Russia's borders
Now they want to turn back the clock
1997 when Russia wasn't threatened
This isn't possible so they all
Sleepwalk to...
Saturday 28th May 2022 9:25 pm
Also by NICK ARMBRISTER:
Wet Body | Age 3 | (untitled) | Selana |PRACTISING FOR PEACE
With their shadowed brows and camouflaged stealth
soldiers are practising on the heath
as I awake, the put put of small arms fire
dotting the distance on the rutted scrubland
with sweeping views over Cove and Aldershot,
controlled aggression telling a staccato story
primeval dreams coming true
scattering the wildlife with their restless presence
likewise uniformed they...
Saturday 28th May 2022 9:11 pm
Also by ray pool:
WHERE THEY LOVE THE BIRMINGHAM ACCENT | WHERE THEY LOVE THE BIRMINGHAM ACCENT |hurt and soul
My heart lies on the roadside
Cast aside by youth
in the search for truth
Left to rot, openly beating
Crying for the body , waiting for the scoop of angels
To place it in the breast of a lover
Gone it is now , in dust and smoke
Barely a stain left where it fell
No resurrection, no connection
No hot blood running through
But eaten by the crows.
Will i...
Saturday 28th May 2022 7:10 pm
Also by Edbreathe:
I- compass | Oblivion | God please save us. | Peering in | Peering in | Fool crumb |Avoiding the rap – no apologies to Nadine Dorries
Inspired by this article on Write Out Loud home page.
Link to video version on Youtube.
This government’s passing some new legislation
to distract from Johnson’s shoddy situation.
As the country’s not fooled by his hollow sorries,
to avoid the rap, they’ve deployed Ms Dorries
to bluff and to bluster with her dodgy rhymes
in the hope we’ll forget her boss’s crimes.
Mean...
Saturday 28th May 2022 3:54 pm
Becoming a Nokia G50
Where my phone ends and my hand begins
Is utterly impossible to discern,
They merge so seamlessly into each other!
I make more screen-time promises every day,
But it seems that I never learn.
“No! Don’t take your eyes from the screen!
Focus! You pathetic knave, you useless slave!
Your total attention is what I crave.”
My mind, or what is left of it,
Wanders o...
Saturday 28th May 2022 2:06 pm
Also by John Botterill:
Shapes | We all live in the past... | Stuck in the Mud | Woodland Sanctuary | The Scan | #freedom |BURNING QUESTION
The tears cannot put out
The burning question of the heart
What a bizarre fire you have
As no one can see your flame
Deep down in your heart
Maybe we should sing a song
To let us not go wrong
Once again with unanswered questions
The lyrics are so stuck in violence
That they are drifting us apart
Deep down in our bleeding heart
The empty space is not big enough
...
Saturday 28th May 2022 1:57 pm
The Traveller
I'm travelling through space, looking for a home.
Some unwelcome Worlds, want to be left alone.
On other Worlds, I see loneliness in every soul.
And I see Worlds were fires rage out of control.
On others, I see vast lands of dusty, arid plains.
Barren, infertile, in need of the quench of rains.
I have travelled light years, in the blink of an eye.
And I've seen a million different colours...
Saturday 28th May 2022 1:14 pm
Also by Mike Bartram:
Fun Times With Alba | 8 Years | So Sorry Mum | 'The Party' | A New Dawn | Steps |God Save Our Queen
In seven decades on the throne She has never once wavered,
Her unshakeable commitment we have enjoyed and savoured.
After the worst pandemic in Her Majesty's reign,
The hideous Russian aggression in Ukraine.
A party gate madness incited by our political bunch
And the consequences of a cost of living crunch.
Under the flags,bunting and cheers we will all have a ball,
A tr...
Saturday 28th May 2022 9:51 am
Also by hugh:
Americans,tighten your gun ownership laws and avoid carnage !!! |Light
If the light of soul and heart,
outshines like the flair of art.
I wish if intentions were heard,
unlike the blabbering meaningless words.
I so wish if there was some mirror,
to reflect the soul more clearer.
I wish and so wish,
how sweet things might be to cherish.
How serene everything could be,
unlike the beautiful heartless concrete.
Saturday 28th May 2022 8:46 am
Twisted
We love our school and learn a lot
after passing through the metal detector.
Most important, we're taught how to conceal ourselves.
No sport for us, but shooter drills instead.
Turn out the lights and lock the classroom door,
squat quivering, eminently visible, under our flimsy desks
as someone could crash in with murderous intent
having already killed the guards on the school...
Saturday 28th May 2022 8:01 am
EGGED ON
All this talk about genders is a bit confusing
All emotions have been torn
But then again, I was a man trapped in a woman's body
Until the day I was born
Friday 27th May 2022 7:44 pm
Also by Joe Marcello:
THE BABY AND BATHWATER |The King of Lockdown
The King of Lockdown raised a glass
A toast to ghosts of empires past
His gaze steadfast upon the cast
Of gathered acolytes, his class
And scenes they would deny
The grape and grain of government
Authors of instruction meant
For others, never their intent
Without consent of votes once lent
Ever to comply
The King of Lockdown, slovenly
Dismissive of discov...
Friday 27th May 2022 3:46 pm
Also by Steve White:
Gender Neutral Toilets |Gemstone Necklace
Gemstone Necklace
I dare to wander far inside this trove of a head
Without chains around my ankles bounding me to my bed
Though, it sure feels like it
I feel a weight inside my lungs and my chest doesn’t like it
In the expansion and decompression
The plasm I bleed
And the skin closes up, it’s all alike
It seems.
In solitude, a bed of thin clouds dissolves benea...
Friday 27th May 2022 4:02 am
Also by Caleb Gorey:
I-95 | Pieris | Sunflowers |good morning
my curtains struggle against the sun
as tomorrow becomes today
a moment of silence
before living
on an unknown day.
sometimes I toss n turn.
sometimes I sleep in.
sometimes I cry in frustration.
rarely do I decide to just,
get up.
Friday 27th May 2022 2:58 am
Also by kamryn:
my first time |Just me and I
Thursday 26th May 2022 11:02 pm
Also by Jason Phillips:
Side-Eyed Grin | The Breeze of Life |The uncool romantic
I arrived early at the Copper Steampot,
the tea rooms with an authentic olde worlde ambience,
which I’d chosen as ideal for meeting women from that new dating site,
Easy Romance For Little Pence.
An old pal had encouraged me to move on, saying,
‘It’s time you got off the fence, you’ll get a sore ass.’
As I waited I reflected on this sage advice, repeatedly glancing at the clock.
You may...
Thursday 26th May 2022 4:43 pm
Also by Kevin Vose:
The Twiddlewick Tykes | I Am But A Fool For You |Lady Generosity
Lady Generosity
suddenly, standing before me
Says my voice sets her at ease
and she’ll do anything I please
The night was a vicious dark
so, I wished for more moon
and with a flick of her hair
we’re climbing the stair to her room
She’s a lonesome soul and she tells me so
Loves the silence of being home alone
To hear her laughing loudly with me
a sound I remember so fondly
Though,...
Thursday 26th May 2022 1:38 pm
RBF
This
is not
a ‘resting bitch face’.
This
is the face
of a woman who has done a full day’s work.
She’s tired, doesn’t need your little smirks
or daft asides so just be quiet.
After work, she fetched food, made tea,
washed up, watched TV, fell asleep.
Her electricity is steep.
She’s back to Sunday baths,
one day a week to keep clean
with a strip ...
Thursday 26th May 2022 11:45 am
Son of the Sun
Phaëthon pleads with Helios,
his father and god of the Sun,
to let him play his part
for just one day:
to be given the reins
of his horses to ride
round the globe, and
though the idea seems
rash to his progenitor,
the boy's persistence
does end up victorious.
But the bloom of youth,
too sure of itself,
fails to entertain
the doom witnessed
...Thursday 26th May 2022 1:24 am
Also by Holden Moncrieff:
Flux | Beatitude | Lullaby | Quixotic | Caustic | Resisted Paths |Nakedly walk
It’s nice to be able
to nakedly walk
To explore ideas
and openly talk
A chance to be honest
a chance to share
Opportunity for this
is so very rare
So often the case
this falls on deaf ears
It tends to provoke
and uncover one’s fears
People are scared
to expose their weakness
I wish for their sake
others would seek this
It is humiliating
It uncovers our flaws
But there’s h...
Thursday 26th May 2022 1:09 am
Also by Odd Chap:
Why? | Not convinced | Just Enough Braincells |Sky
Sky
Vast oceanic presence
You reign above us
Magnificent
An ever-changing canopy of colour
Humbling
Choreographer of clouds
Inspiring
Transmitter of rain
Awesome
Carrier of weather
And wearer of rainbows
You are the queen
Who governs our days
Wednesday 25th May 2022 8:34 pm
Also by Brenda Wells:
Hope |Lotion Love
Sinking deep
Makes skin soft
Once applied
He could not
Get her off
She was his lotion
Wednesday 25th May 2022 7:57 pm
Also by Ruth O'Reilly:
Radio Royalty |Teacher
Today I sit here in my car, trying to hold back tears, trying to stay strong
A teacher....
Teach your students colors,shapes, letters, numbers, teach them about life, and now keep them safe from guns
Today I sit here in my car, trying to hold back tears, trying to stay strong, remember you are a teacher
Teach your students to not be afraid, yet in your heart you know the world is again...
Wednesday 25th May 2022 5:03 pm
deprivation
They say time fills the void that grief brings
That life becomes easier and we are supposed to feel comfort in knowing that the emptiness and the pain weaken their grips around our throats
How happy we should be to allow these to pass
But I would rather the emptiness fill me like a garden hose in an Olympic pool and the pain dull like an open break sealed with bandaids
And when the...
Wednesday 25th May 2022 12:10 am
Thank You Dad
Thank you Dad.
Thank you for your deep deep love.
For always making me feel so special and loved.
For teaching me to pass on that love to my own children.
I could not have felt more loved.
Thank you Dad.
Thank you for sharing with me your love of music and poetry.
For reading to me at bedtime and encouraging my love of books.
For instilling in me the love of words and ...
Tuesday 24th May 2022 12:25 pm
Also by AutisticNess:
A Daughter's 18th Birthday Poem | You Are Everything | The Redwood Tree |A Warm Morning
A warm morning after a night full of sleep full of hope, plans
I feel young
It’s strange how my mood is affected by how my body feels.
A mystery: what is pain a message from a part of me
battling with an unseen enemy Doctors always ask
where does it hurt describe your pain on a scale
of 1 to 10 I seldom think of numbers when I’m
in pain, but ratings in life are popular I give
that song a...
Tuesday 24th May 2022 4:48 am
Also by K. Lynn:
Oh, I’m a cynic this morning | The Republic of Gilead Is Coming |Squeaky Peekers
Redeem the natural
See the reason for peeking into endless realness
Onto the big rusty red wagon with traction wheels
Fix on down the road
A mighty fine truck
Going so fast
Taking it in slow
Process
Apply
Consume
Accentuate
Timely matters falling into spot
Coming to cast
Winding and unwinding sporadically
Monday 23rd May 2022 9:36 pm
Also by JAZ:
Sunrise Sunset | Small Talk |
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