Donations are essential to keep Write Out Loud going    

Recent Comments

Tim Higbee on Peninsula
2 minutes ago

Auracle on In memoriam...
2 hours ago

Auracle on Fred's dilemma
2 hours ago

Auracle on Another Shadow
2 hours ago

Auracle on Soulmates progress
3 hours ago

Auracle on Eradicating an old flame pain
3 hours ago

Auracle on Peninsula
3 hours ago

Auracle on For the knight in shining Armour
4 hours ago

Reggie's Ghost on The Evil Empire
5 hours ago

John Coopey on STAIRLIFT TO HEAVEN
5 hours ago

Bah! humbug.

 

Read and leave comments (2)

...and a new pair of shoes

 How do I love my shoes?

Let me count the ways.

I love their comfort and style and price.
When my foot can slip in

easily,

when kicking out of sight

foolish Insults and remarks.
I love them for their shine

and waterproofing,
Quiet in the walking,

By sun and torch-light.
I love the comfort as men

strive for Comfort.
I love their fashionability,

as they bask In praise...

Read and leave comments (1)

fashionshoes

Thyme ll

We've each got different partners now
and we're having a real nice time
we both agreed to separate
Parsley Sage Rosemary and ...

We both were once so in love
now we just stay in touch
we cherish the time we once had
as we don't see each other much.

I once saw her on the bus
once chatted on the phone
we've sent each other a couple of  texts
at work, on the bus, and at home.
        ...

Read and leave comments (4)

...Thyme

We both have different partners now
we're both having a real nice time
we both agreed to separate
Parsley Sage Rosemary and Thyme

We both were once so in love
now we just stay in touch
we cherish the time that we once had
as we don't see each other so much.

I once saw her on the bus
we sometimes chat on the phone
we sometimes send each other texts
at work, the bus, and home.
.     ...

Read and leave comments (1)

Radstock road

pots and pans

and mirrored images

mash and makeup

how you looked

and how we cooked

hair in a bun

and a cup on the wall

the way things were-

one I put together

the other tore apart

one I could recreate-

the other never.

 

Liverpool 1978

words and foto Tommy Carroll

Read and leave comments (2)

strangers' meeting

stranger to stranger

re-edit

words and foto Tommy Carroll

 

Did you ever walk on side-ways
to see a different point of view?
or sit and rest awhile in bye-ways
and think on things
and think them through?

Yes I have sat and also rested
sat and also thought things through
I have often walked on side-ways
it's my thinking of life's bye-ways
that gives me my side-ways

point o...

Read and leave comments (3)

i kant stand 'em

Watch the tv

gasp

then

dance in anger

point to the clock

and twirl

perhaps all the foreigners

will pack their

own bags- smiling

and leave behind

their rejection.

 

words and foto Tommy Carroll

Read and leave comments (0)

what some soldiers do

In memory of Ariel Sharon Sunday 12th January 2014

Mr Cameron, Conservative

said: "Mr Sharon had taken brave and

controversial ddecision.

 

 

Not my words- not my foto T Carroll

Read and leave comments (0)

Bombs away (but what do I care?)

Bombs away but what the heck?

I can't see kids

no need to check

if it's ISIS or ISIL

they're somewhere down there

so what do I care?

oh oh

what do I care?

and what if families

wait in fear

when the mission's complete

we'll raise a cheer

so what do I care?

oh oh

what do I care?

millions dead

go check the figures

but ten equals one

when it comes ...

Read and leave comments (4)

missing memory

Back where I was once

I am now contrived,

Awaiting the return trip;

Waiting in strained advance-

Abandoned thus obliged.

This situationist event

Becomes an angry retort:

To reply to actions

One must think

of the consequences-

Or file a 'Missing' report.

 

words and foto Tommy Carroll

Read and leave comments (0)

The trouble with Derek

The trouble with Derek

was that he was a socialist

The trouble with Derek

was that he was working class

that he was from Liverpool

 

 

The trouble with Derek

was that he thought quickly

that he spoke quickly

that he had a sense of humour

 

The trouble with Derek

was that he had the support

of those that elected him

that he had a mandate

 

The trou...

Read and leave comments (9)

will there be anything else...?

When you speak

you serve then leave bits of

yourself, the bits that have

hung around the kitchen,

bits that like waiters tending tables,

you offer into our arguments,

the words, like arms reaching

then folded, with grammar

like legs kicking

and you asking

"how can I be of service?

words and foto Tommy Carroll

rewrite

Read and leave comments (0)

"sir?"

When you speak

you serve then leave bits of

yourself, the bits that have

hung around the kitchen,

bits that like waiters tending tables,

you offer into our arguments,

the words, like arms reaching

then folded with legs kicking

and you asking- "how can I be of service?

how ?"

Read and leave comments (0)

Anonymous

"Ok " she replied.

 

The kitchen clock recalled-

she checked her 'phone.

 

She moved the box and

sat on the bed-

gripping the belt

of her gown

she beaded it's material

through chapped and

nail bitten fingers.

 

Down stairs a door closed

and the toilet flushed.

She heard the sounds of the street

the front door shut with force.

 

She held her bre...

Read and leave comments (6)

"Ok ok" she said.

 

Recalling the kitchen clock

she checked her 'phone.

She moved the box and

sat on the bed

she gripped the belt

of her gown

and beaded it's material

between chapped fingers.

 

Down stairs a door shut

and a toilet flushed.

She heard the sounds of the street

another door shut.

She held her breath

and looked at a photo

that she now ...

Read and leave comments (2)

Deeply breathing

 

a recollection of her,

of my looking out

of a sunny window,

my face warmed

by its glass,

I blinked-

and unbeknown to me

she walked past

and through my

line of sight,

she had looked in

and was gone.

 

words and foto Tommy Carroll

(substantial rewrite)

Read and leave comments (2)

Deeply breathing

A memory,

a recollection of her

of my looking out

of a sunny window,

my face warmed by its glass,

I blinked, as she walked past

and through my line of sight,

and unbeknown to me

she had looked in

and was gone.

 

rewrite;

words and foto Tommy Carroll

Read and leave comments (6)

l stood and stared

I stood and stared-

a long time seeking a

welcome gaze

that returned my greeting.

The World stared back

then went its way,

perhaps to lunch, perhaps

to play.

My friend the Mirror-

a listener of sorts,

in silence watched

and kept its thoughts.

 

Words and foto T Carroll

 

Read and leave comments (4)

Winter's cleave

The hanging drabs-

that by summer's leave-

are blown and flurry

from winter's cleave.

 

words and foto by Tommy Carroll

Read and leave comments (0)

now see what you've done?

I stood and stared-

a long time seeking

a welcome gaze

that returned my greeting.

The World stared back

then went its way,

perhaps to lunch,

perhaps to play.

 

My friend the Mirror-

a listener of sorts,

in silence watched

and kept its thoughts.

 

Words and foto T Carroll

Read and leave comments (1)

shadowed looks

I now recall her smile

her voice and words

that when gathered gently

-like the matched corners

of a folded towel-

were placed between 

her letters in my drawer

and like the now hidden

memory of her face

her parted lips in silence

said more than

spoken breath while

her shadowed looks

and gaze now hid

its mark.

 

 

words and foto Tommy Carroll

re...

Read and leave comments (4)

((titter))

Noggin the nog

and muffin the mule

will ...... you .......

... .. ....... ... drool?

 

 

words and foto Tommy Carroll

Read and leave comments (3)

One hour poem

Liverpool drew

Two pints of Stella

Sausage, mash and onion gravy

Late Junction

What now?

Read and leave comments (0)

"Ignore the unfounded

rumours of pus-

in your milk

and other stuff

which are also

quite scary, "

said the white coated chap

with the clipboard and cap

and the man who's in charge

of the dairy.

words and foto Tommy Carroll

Read and leave comments (1)

**** *** *******

Fuck god
Fuck the queen
Fuck the fucking fuckers.

 Yours truly
 the fucked.

Read and leave comments (1)

Smiling at Bronwyn

...and what's is more

who! who decides

who! decided

what is the best or

otherwise the best

of his poems

because Dylan wrote

what he wrote in a

in a pub?

Read and leave comments (0)

untitled and be dammed!

My car is a bus

my house is rented

my job is advertised

my pizza is, I do not eat pizza

my clothes are charitable​

my asthma is genetic

my music is catholic

my drink is seldom

my arguments are valid

my suits are cheap because the people who make them are getting a pittance in the far east.

my talent is wasted

my brilliance is not far behind

my food is from the T...

Read and leave comments (0)

Absinthe (for Stu) ;-)

In an emergency:

Absinthe: 1 measure in a gulp

Swill and spit

Absinthe: handy for the

removal of toe-jam

#Remember to put that foul tasting

concoction back in

the medicine cabinet.

(at the back)

 

Absinthe penance in a bottle.

 

words etc

Read and leave comments (1)

What borders do

prologue

In the mirror I held a face

that held a face's stare,

In that mirror

the face that stared

stared back at me in fear...

 

They came upon slowing traffic.

Inside a war-torn bus

standing passengers were gently rocked.

They were driven along an unfinished road.

Unfinished roads were you

become convinced

that each rock and pothole

were placed carefully...

Read and leave comments (3)

The Astronomer

She offers him a slice of peach-

he looks to the stars instead.

She lifts a burning ember

as a tribute to his face-

which he ignores.

She crosses her eyes

the glowing tip between them-

he looks straight up.

She sighs and counts the stars.

Her voice is as a child’s,

Shirley Temple: the star-counter.

She looks at him and frowns.

Her finger numbers them- again.

...

Read and leave comments (3)

Entitled

And so to do battle with the words

(much easier said than done)

for, upon their sad reflection

they're much easier read than won.

 

words and foto Tommy Carroll

Read and leave comments (1)

untitled

And so to do battle

p>with the words(much easier said

than done)

for, upon their

sad reflection

they're much easier

read than won.

words and foto Tommy Carroll

Read and leave comments (3)

Lactose intolerant

"Ignore the unfounded rumours

of pus- in your milk,

and others

which are also quite scary,"

said the white coated chap

with the clipboard and cap

and the man who's

in charge of the dairy.

 

words and foto T Carroll

Read and leave comments (1)

Sodden

Rattering tattering

slam-dunk battering

precipitous squall

from a louring sky-fall

as if any of this

is mattering.

 

words and foto Tommy Carroll

Read and leave comments (1)

...take those lips

I need minds

sharp minds

with heart

minds and hearts

and

 

(sotto voce)

take your lips

and place them

against my ear

and...

start whispering

...

...

re-edit

words and foto Tommy Carroll

Read and leave comments (6)

Vertices iv

Vertices lll

Jan folded the letter

running a finger along its crease.

She looked up-

somebody was explaining functionality.

She stared:

the new argument was written

on the white board-

she returned to the letter.

Another fold another plane,

pressing and creasing,

opening, rereading,

vertices missed,

words realigned.

Sentences brokered

with each new conf...

Read and leave comments (3)

"Oh you are a mucky kid"

Our Cilla (your Cilla) is dead!

For Gods sake what is

this world coming to?

A dead Cilla is no Cilla at all.

Jesus Christ Almighty. Amen.

words and foto Tommy Carroll

Read and leave comments (1)

tasty flesh

 

 

The hour is slim!

the time to entwine

with her

and with advantage

inhale

the heavy offering

from between the jaws

of her open thighs.

Persephone's tasty flesh

renders her cleft

of wet truth-

she can slake this thirst-

can assuage my ache

when, enthralled against

the serpent earth,

with legs knotted,

we lay tangled

in ancient ruin.

...

Read and leave comments (2)

epileptic fit

I left the party early.

My letrasetted syntax

with its addled lexicon

and garbled scrabble

pattern

left with

its coat and hat still on.

 

words and foto Tommy Carroll

Read and leave comments (0)

Dreaming of the Tour de France (2015)

Annual posting of the Tour

oooh ahhh

oooh ahhh

oooh ahhh...

aching buttocks

aching thighs

unseen crowds

unseen skies

between the shoulders

lakes of fire

stinging eyes

on the spinning tyre

calves and heart

will explode

grip the handles

eat the road

kilo meters

whirring chains

mountain passes

grassy planes

the body's racked

the bod...

Read and leave comments (0)

You at the back of the queue

 

-a rap-

 

We clap some Blacks,

them entertaining Blacks,

on stage, in film and racing tracks

tho' we mow the shacks

and dish out smacks

to those working blacks.

 

We clap them Blacks

and forget them whacks

and the blistered backs

of hands that buy

the music tracks

and then we clap them

Blacks them stand-up Blacks

 

but not them bent over blac...

Read and leave comments (1)

the paint and the puddles

The wind it tackles

the leaves and the litter

the leaves and the litter

the leaves and the past

 

the sun it is drying

the paint and the puddles

the paint and the puddles

the paint and the past

 

I saw the bend coming

the bend was approaching

the bend in the road

that soon would be passed

 

I saw her look sadden

she feared I was leaving

the leaves...

Read and leave comments (7)

anointment

Typing:

Unless otherwise stated...

 

"excuse me!"

 

(her elbows digging into my shoulders)

 

...all photographs are my own work.

Unless otherwise stated all wording...

 

"can't you take a hint?"

she shrugs

 

...are my own work.

 

"The next time you look

over my shoulder and

read my work..."

 

(thinks: "Keep your comments

Inside your pants...

Read and leave comments (0)

... a can or art

week-ends
week-ends
work-a-day
book-ends

Read and leave comments (0)

taxi

I smoke and watch her

pack.

The taxi waits.

Then I have a memory

of an earlier departure-

the scent of her

washed skin-

remembering the

ins and outs of

our arguments.

She's smiling as she

leaves the echo of

our space-

laughing as we fail

to finish yet another row.

The taxi's horn reminds us...

I pick through the remains

of her accusations:

thos...

Read and leave comments (3)

look see here she comes

her arrival sends

sparkles

upward through tangles

of fibre and want

and upon arriving I

await her

unwanted departure

...maybe

she'll stay awhile

and

look to see

if she sees me

 

words and foto Tommy Carroll

Read and leave comments (2)

Calligraphy

Her hand was young

and open,

a generosity

of spirit in its

loops and curves,

and after

'with compliments'

and her name 'Nina'

I envisaged an x

 

re-edit words and foto T Carroll

Read and leave comments (3)

Konnichiwa

''Konnichiwa"

A voice claims my attention

foreign and disembodied

''konnichiwa"!

I walk dripping from the shower

to the bedroom.

On the bed a fresh white towel lay folded

and upon that my 'phone.

It's her.

Two women in my room

one does the bidding

for the other

The ring-tone

female and Japanese.

I place the vibrating 'phone

upon the dresser.

Taking t...

Read and leave comments (1)

Kon nichi wa

A woman's voice calls out.

I walk dripping from the shower

to the bedroom.

Upon my bed a fresh white towel

lay folded

and

upon that- my phone.

It's her.

 

The ring-tone

'Konnichiwa'

 

I place the vibrating 'phone upon

the dresser

take the towel from the bed

and dry myself.

I lay on fresh sheets.

She calls again.

The Japanese voice enquires agai...

Read and leave comments (0)

On stolen sheets

I washed her from my pillow-slips.

 

In a white plastic bucket

I soaked away her body's

breath,

and with bleach removed

the evidence she had left.

 

We snatched the time

to make our marks

with sweat

and firm commitments.

 

The stains on stolen sheets

proved easier to erase

than those she ground

into the fabric of my thinking

 

I watched as tra...

Read and leave comments (10)

Show more entries …

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

Find out more Hide this message