Letter to a granddaughter

Comment is about Look Both Ways (blog)

Original item by Graham Sherwood

😎👍

Comment is about Mob Rule Mentality (blog)

Original item by JD Russell

Thank you very much, Uilleam, Trevor, Graham and Leon. It is sad that otherwise perfectly rational political leaders are being railroaded into accepting this 5% target, which seems to have no analytical basis, just to please and fawn to Trump and his MAGA crowd.

I don't think that I am naive about the modern world, but our focus should be on promoting peace and conflict resolution, not wasting resources on sabre rattling.

Thanks for mentioning George Butterworth, Leon. So many died in such a pointless war....

And thanks to everyone who liked this poem.

Comment is about Target (blog)

Original item by Stephen Gospage

Thanks, Red Brick Keshner

Comment is about Innocents' Deadly Foe (blog)

Original item by Jon63

So true Alexia! Thank you for commenting.

Comment is about A Somewhat Short Poem About Almost Nothing (blog)

Original item by Mike McPeek

Thanks for the like RBK.
I'm fast running out of seasonal references for Haikus; that darned Vivaldi only wrote four, very short-sighted of him.
Can we not get some up-and-coming composers to cobble together another dozen or so; Bob Vylan's pretty au fait these days😊

Comment is about Haiku for 2025 [No. 28. Politic-toc-tic-toc-tic toc-tic-toc-tic-toc-tic-toc-tic-toc-tic-toc-tic-toc-tic-toc-tic-toc-tic-toc-tic-toc-tic-toc-tic-toc-tic] (blog)

Original item by Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh

and you👍

Comment is about When Genocidal savagery meets the useless outrageous ignorance of closed eyes (blog)

Original item by LEON STOLGARD

Maybe fairly hard going at times Uilleam, for the likes of us, but we are still here, to tell the tale as they say.

Have a good lights out matey 😴


L.S.

Comment is about When Genocidal savagery meets the useless outrageous ignorance of closed eyes (blog)

Original item by LEON STOLGARD

Adding to my previous comment, Stephen, re the first world war, horror of horrors! slaughter of slaughters, carnage of carnages! omg!

and what a great loss of beloved poets and musicians
Geprge Butterworth comes to mind among many

' Banks of Green Willow ' absolutely beautiful!

Kind regards.


Leon

Comment is about Target (blog)

Original item by Stephen Gospage

Cheers Uilleam-ah! waggle dance-one learns something new everyday, 'one ' also needs to learn how to add a device so I can send you a pic of Wilfred Owens and Woodbine Willie poetry books.


I'm rubbish at A.I. 😩



Ta take two 👍

Comment is about Haven for timelessness (blog)

Original item by LEON STOLGARD

Literally: "Happy Faces, Sad Faces,"
...interpreted by some authorities as Meaning:
"Sometimes I'm up, sometimes I'm down", sometimes I'm almost to the ground".

Comment is about “Song without Words” for Sir Keir Starmer [With Apologies to Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn] (blog)

Original item by Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh

Late working bees.
I like that, the human touch. 😉
I think the zig-zagging's called the "waggle dance"; somebody named a beer after it, didn't they?

Comment is about Haven for timelessness (blog)

Original item by LEON STOLGARD

“ A world
which is doing its best day and night to make you like
everybody else”

That's why I choose to be a rebel with a cause, John.

Comment is about The Withering Of The Whispering Wind (blog)

Original item by John E Marks

Wilful Ignorance is the enemy, Leon.

The value of your words lies not in the use of fancy metaphors, or arty-farty sounding lines, but in the fact that the words needed saying, and that you said them whilst others chose to stay wilfully ignorant and stay cowardly silent. Incitement to pity is now an indictable offence.

I'm with you 100% about going without food through my own fault, been there, seen it, done it. It's heartbreaking to see those mothers unable to feed their infants. But there will be a reckoning!
Fight the good fight!

Comment is about When Genocidal savagery meets the useless outrageous ignorance of closed eyes (blog)

Original item by LEON STOLGARD

And this is why Sir, that I think you are our without doubt, worthy of being regarded as our resident war poet 👍


I watched a doc about the first world war today and thought, is it that we don't learn anything, or is it, that we BLOODY WELL don't want to!

Cheers, Mr. G,



Leon

Comment is about Target (blog)

Original item by Stephen Gospage

With the greatest of respect guys, my preference has to be about our sharing of the disgust and anger, regarding the slaughter in Gaza,

I n my opinion, that takes priority over how good, or not, this poem actually is. I think you'll know what I mean.

Nevertheless, I am very grateful, for the comments made by Uilleam and Stephen, and, the likes by Red-Uilleam-Stephen-Manish ( good to see you again ) and Yanma.

On a personal note, I, like thousands, if not millions of other people, have experienced days of going without food, due to one reason or another, the most common, as it was in my case, was the spending of money on booze, not food.

But this, and other problems, I had to endure, pale into absolute insignificance, compared with the poor suffering people in Gaza.

When sitting down to a meal, I consider myself very lucky indeed, not just for the food, but not being made in having to put my life on the line trying to get it.

not forgetting about the swallowing of sorrow, with every mouthful.

Comment is about When Genocidal savagery meets the useless outrageous ignorance of closed eyes (blog)

Original item by LEON STOLGARD

Can be roughly translated as:

"Let's not go down that rabbit hole".
or
"Let's beat about the bush".

Comment is about Another Poem for Sir Keir Starmer JUICY JCB WTF (blog)

Original item by Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh

"....and then they came for the poets".

Comment is about ‘Anthology’ without poems delivers silent swipe at Keir Starmer (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Since Yorkshire folks are so naturally taciturn and understated, Graham, they allow themselves one day a year to be a little more effusive.

Comment is about YORKSHIRE DAY (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Am I the only one thinking its about time WOL had a separate section for its 'political wing' to occupy?

Comment is about ‘Anthology’ without poems delivers silent swipe at Keir Starmer (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

A silence that's golden.
“Respect”, “Vocation”, “Beautiful”, “Good work”, “Dignity”?

Starver KCB QC, that well-known upholder of socialist values wouldn’t know the meaning of those words.

At the Labour Party conference, he laughed in the in the face of a young man who was protesting about the IDF killing of Palestinian children.
His dad was of course, highly skilled; producing the perfect tool, his pride and joy.

Comment is about ‘Anthology’ without poems delivers silent swipe at Keir Starmer (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Thanks for your likes:
Nigel Astell
Red Brick Keshner
Stephen Gospage
Holden Moncrieff
Rolph David

And for your comment, Rolph.

What immediately came to mind on seeing the Lioness’s victory, was not Wordsworth’s title, but his call to Milton; it would be oh so easy for me to agree with him that England, politically, and to some extent, culturally, is a fen, a veritable Murdochian sewer.

But, England’s Lionesses represent the very best of us, and that fact deserves our recognition.

Comment is about England Victorious, Sunday 27th July 2025 [Apologies 😊 to William Wordsworth and John Milton] (blog)

Original item by Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh

P.S.
French's words have been sanitised/ Anglicised in wikiwotsit and elsewhere.

His actual writing in the book -the version I quote- imitates the Irish accent of someone speaking English...hence "Wid" etc.

Comment is about Farewell (blog)

Original item by Trevor Alexander

Oh, you misunderstand me, JD.😉

I believe in the rule of law...for everyone.
The criminals in government don't...one law for us; another for those who can buy their way out.

Comment is about Mob Rule Mentality (blog)

Original item by JD Russell

Three 'undrid n' sixty-six in a leap yur...sithee...summat fer nowt!😊

Comment is about YORKSHIRE DAY (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

I thought there were 365 of ‘em JC.

Comment is about YORKSHIRE DAY (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Yes Uilleam, I had driven past it many times before I stopped once, curious about the carved stone. Having translated it, it compelled me to revisit it many times, and I will be doing so again in September. It also drove me to find out more about the whole subject of famine, its causes and effects on the population. And there are a number of Famine exhibitions around. There is a wonderful memorial sculpture in Dublin by Rowan Gillespie, and I have visited a couple of famine villages that show and tell the story.
And I love "The Mountains of Mourne" - particularly the version by Don McLean.

Comment is about Farewell (blog)

Original item by Trevor Alexander

Disappointing, isn't it?

'Here lies the human race. Yes, we lied, right to your face.'

Gen-next will use the factchecks

Comment is about The Nobel Prize for Lies (blog)

Original item by R A Porter

You couldn't make this stuff up Andy...but THEY did!

Comment is about The Nobel Prize for Lies (blog)

Original item by R A Porter

Congratulations, John.
Tha lot on’ ar lot ‘ve getten’ a lot in commun: wi all wear flat caps on’ wi keep whippits.
Th' ony diff’r’nce is, tha lot connut pronounce “booook” proper!

Comment is about YORKSHIRE DAY (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

No point spending additional letters.

Comment is about YORKSHIRE DAY (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Sad times, Trevor, and for many others around the world, little has changed. Apparently, a rough translation of that inscription reads:

"Family and friends of the person leaving for foreign lands would come this far. Here was the separation. This is the Bridge of Tears".💔

I have a book by Percy French, (printed 1962), titled “Prose, Poems and Parodies”, containing many humorous and whimsical works which deal with the subject of the Irish Diaspora. French’s song: “The Mountains of Mourne”, opens with the words:

“Oh, Mary, this London's a wonderful sight,
Wid the people here workin’ by day and by night:
They don't sow potatoes, nor barley, nor wheat,
But there's gangs o’ them diggin’ for gold in the street- …”.

I think his last verse is a cracker...and typical of his humour, but I’ll leave that for others to decide.

Comment is about Farewell (blog)

Original item by Trevor Alexander

The things we, humans fuss over. Nature sent you a winged reminder to always be grateful. Beautiful!

Comment is about A Somewhat Short Poem About Almost Nothing (blog)

Original item by Mike McPeek

https://youtu.be/4xMJ0ijV5-E

Comment is about frankenstein (blog)

Original item by Landi Cruz

We'd see the anger in his eyes
if we said he'd won the prize
not for peace as he supposed
but because we'd all proposed
it was his infinite capacity
for obfuscation and mendacity

Comment is about The Nobel Prize for Lies (blog)

Original item by R A Porter

"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others"!

Comment is about Target (blog)

Original item by Stephen Gospage

Could not agree more William! Thanks for sharing that - cheers!

Comment is about A Somewhat Short Poem About Almost Nothing (blog)

Original item by Mike McPeek

Oh gosh a drunk slug!

Comment is about Slug (blog)

Original item by Rick Varden

Uilleam, you are such an anarchist

Comment is about Mob Rule Mentality (blog)

Original item by JD Russell

"The Mob rules ok"...Literally!

Comment is about Mob Rule Mentality (blog)

Original item by JD Russell

Thanks Uilleam. Tea sorts most stuff out. But sadly it can't write a winning cover letter... Thankfully, I am once again gainfully employed and can look back on my time in the waiting room from the safety of my office.

Thanks also to Red Brick, Tom, Stephen, Aisha, Holden, Hélène and Yanma for stopping by to read this one and the likes.

Comment is about The Waiting Room (blog)

Original item by Tom

We get great pleasure from watching the birds in the bird bath.
I think the magpies have learned to dunk pieces of bread they've found elsewhere, in the water.
Luckily we get plenty of rain so it gets filled frequently!

Comment is about A Somewhat Short Poem About Almost Nothing (blog)

Original item by Mike McPeek

Thanks Stephen! Yes, many calm and relaxing places in Kyoto and other areas of Japan. In stark contrast the energy and bustle of Osaka and Tokyo. I'd love to spend a year there sometime.

Thanks also to Red Brick, Aisha and Hugh for the likes.

Comment is about Picnic By The Kamo River (blog)

Original item by Tom

Line 9 says it all in more ways than one.

Comment is about Target (blog)

Original item by Stephen Gospage

Well said Stephen...all's fair in love and war.

"We’ll pick women with the talents
To go and get shot dead as well."

Our rulers need “Forever Wars”,
So, our pockets are picked by their claws.
Our veterans’ street-sleeping bags,
Replaced by more body bags,
Which makes sense; in the morgue, they won’t snore!

Comment is about Target (blog)

Original item by Stephen Gospage

Hi Uilleam,
I just wanted to say how brilliantly you’ve turned Wordsworth’s London, 1802 on its head with your England Victorious. Your clever use of the Petrarchan sonnet form perfectly mirrors the original while flipping its message—celebrating the Lionesses as true modern heroes rather than calling on Milton’s old patriarchal ideals.
It’s not just a homage but a witty, sharp reimagining that elevates female athleticism and discipline as a beacon for society today. The way you suggest our political leaders could learn a thing or two from these women is both subtle and powerful. Truly impressive work—poetry that’s both thoughtful and timely.

Thanks for sharing such an inspired piece!

Comment is about England Victorious, Sunday 27th July 2025 [Apologies 😊 to William Wordsworth and John Milton] (blog)

Original item by Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh

Thank you Leon, Yanma, Uilleam and Red your your "🌷".

Take care, all of you,
regards,
Rolph

Comment is about What Truly Matters, part 2 (blog)

Original item by Rolph David

Uilleam,
You’ve truly become a steady voice under these pieces—a loyal soul with a sharp eye. I’m grateful for your presence and reflections. That you singled out that final couplet means a lot; it holds a quiet truth I hoped would land. Thank you for reading with such care, as always.

—Rolph

Comment is about What Truly Matters, part 2 (blog)

Original item by Rolph David

Thank you Leon, Holden, Steven, Uilleam, Trevor and Red for you "thumbs up". I really appreciate it.

Regards,
Rolph

Comment is about What Truly Matters, part 1 (blog)

Original item by Rolph David

Good morning Leon,
Your words made me smile—what a generous comparison! I’m truly honoured that these verses resonated with you in that way. Thank you, Sir, for reading so thoughtfully and responding with such insight.

All the best,
Rolph

Good morning Stephen,
I really appreciate your kind words, and I’m glad you found it a pleasure to read. That means a lot coming from you. Part two is on the way soon—thanks for your interest.

Kind regards,
Rolph

Good morning Uilleam,
Thank you, as ever, for your steady encouragement. Your words cut straight to the core—brief, honest, and very much appreciated.

Kind regards,
Rolph

Comment is about What Truly Matters, part 1 (blog)

Original item by Rolph David