At tennis, she's graceful and healthy,
and then, in the car park, so stealthy.
I'm having some fun
with Miss Joan Hunter Dunn.
Yes, Surrey's more fun if you're wealthy.

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Something I've been pondering:

When you read a journal's submission guidelines, they almost always say "Read a few issues of our journal first, so you know what sort of thing we want." But time and money constrain the number of journals that anyone can keep up with. Does this really mean that it's only good form to attempt to submit to four or five particular journals?

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When life was newly made, and I was young,
I vow'd to follow where that Poet led
that charm'd the girls with skilful dancing tongue,
and every night saw someone new in bed.
For envy's hand did hold mine aching Pen;
mine Ink was spill'd in vain until the Sun;
yet did I lack those marks of greater men.
I follow'd on, to Marvell what they'd Donne.
How well my work frustration doth present!
H...

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Two replies of mine in a conversation today about the purpose of formality in poems. Comments welcome!

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You say that division into lines is something free verse shares with all other kinds of poetry. This intrigues me: from my point of view, "line" is part of metre, and as such is structural and should be more or less invisible. For example, in the first two lines of this sonnet of Cope's...

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A protest song I wrote recently. It fits to the "Prince of Denmark's March".

Out with a world of contracts to cheat us
Out with the lords who hoard their gold
Out with a world of sanctions to leave us
Starving in the cold

Take hands and march to show
Our strength shall grow
And we shall not fail
Take hands and let them know
Society is not for sale

These are the dreams of safety and...

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FIRE AND ICE-CREAM

Some say this meal will end with pie,
Some say with cake.
From apples that I saw you buy
I hold with those who favour pie.
But such a choice is hard to make,
And when I see the dishes come,
I'll take some pie, and take some cake,
And fill my tum
With stomach ache.

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