Although I have been fortunate in my life to have been spared such horrors as you relate I can a see a beauty in the writing which transcends it , if that is at all possible. Poetry needs to be grounded in truth, and this shines out. The sad thing is that it runs contrary to the perception described in conscription adverts. I wonder if it would deter those who are planning to join up?
My two pennyworth Phil.
Ray
Comment is about Friendship. Loss. (blog)
Original item by mentalelf. Philk.
Yes it's lovely. Nothing to do with Wolverhampton Wanderers of course.
Comment is about WoLF poetry competition winners announced! (article)
Original item by steve pottinger
Your poem is very profound, awesome job!?
Comment is about Rosa Dean (poet profile)
Original item by Rosa Dean
Thanks David. Ive also passed through the demon days and nights, and found solace in anything at hand except maybe the barrel of a gun.
The shame of it was it has been many years before I realised the authenticity of this reality.
Its also a love story for those who believe we wallow in mystery to write meaningful words!
As ever my friend your words mean a world of worthy ness to me.
Comment is about Friendship. Loss. (blog)
Original item by mentalelf. Philk.
Shuchi you lead a very romantic life on the moon.....
I will wave to you from my window tonight !
Lovely poem.
Comment is about I will be your moon (blog)
Original item by Shuchi Batra
Big Sal
Mon 28th Jan 2019 19:50
This reminds me of the process to form vermiculite, upon heating the mica it puffs up and changes form.
Start with one thing, end with another. Life eh?
?
Comment is about Memento Mori (blog)
Original item by mentalelf. Philk.
Haunting in its evocation of youthful imaginings that are barely
controlled in their intense insistency.
Comment is about 'All week, I ran a fever that wouldn't break' (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
"Tantamount" - now that's a word to savour. Worth seeing your
comment for that alone. by my troth.
Comment is about COMMENTS ON WOL (blog)
Original item by M.C. Newberry
Big Sal
Mon 28th Jan 2019 19:03
It's been a spell since you last posted.
Welcome back.
Nice piece of poetry here.?
Comment is about wishes (blog)
Original item by Jenny Kelly
To comment on a poem about comments ...
that I do declare is tantamount to incest !
Comment is about COMMENTS ON WOL (blog)
Original item by M.C. Newberry
Neat. Like the title. It chimes with how this situation uses the letters "men" within its title - as if also a contributory cause!
Comment is about Hormoanal (blog)
Original item by Linda Cosgriff
Fun = and fascinating for the various interpretations that can be
adopted by a reader. Cleverly crafted with a hint of a wink or two.
Indeed, time is the arbiter of what is retained - and remembered.
Comment is about The club of the clueless (blog)
Original item by John E Marks
Jean Sheridan
Mon 28th Jan 2019 16:25
Great to see you here John! Jean x
Comment is about Welcome to a new voice at Write Out Loud: John Foggin, aka The Great Fogginzo (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Thanks for all the likes Isobel, Jon and Farawla.
Hi Big Sal. I wasn't aware of the DiCaprio film - but I enjoyed No Country as being quite perverse and the usual black humour serving. Amazing how John Wayne became such an American hero - they still keep on coming. Bond is good fantasy stuff in its way. Bias should be ok everyone has a place.
Cheers David. Yes, I thought the audio was quirky, but sort of suitable in context. Take away my humour and I am naked I must admit (not a pretty sight). An endless yearning seems to exist for how humans can be disposed of even in official sanctioned ways. I suppose its curiosity really. To think that Nilssen was influenced by the death of his grandfather and longed to replicate that feeling. I suppose the tie between murder and art could be said to be a real thing, as it has often been portrayed through the centuries, e.g Goya's works very graphic. I take your points about the national element - there is a suffocating atmosphere within that European period in their society that cries out for release perhaps with undertones of sexual expression. Deep waters here.
I must admit to an increased sensitivity to watch horror films lately, a sense of disgust maybe crept in. It is the voyeur that is always served best by cinema I suppose.
Are you referring to Guillermo del Torro the director in one of his own films? I find his work fascinating.
I'm rushing back to my early Hammer DVDs for safety !
Mark, a good point . Personal influences must always affect opinions and how they might be formed. We could apply that argument to pornographic films too - I personally think the link is too tenuous to be proved . We all need a release (or perhaps a cause to hide behind). Bring back Mrs Whitehouse I say.
Alan, thanks. Directors like Mike Leigh and Ken Loach have tried that, but always a niche market sadly. Poverty will never be exciting, so perhaps that is the answer. On another level, any attempt to draw attention to that will be viewed by many as hypocritical, so it is a no win situation (IMO).
As an afterthought, I find Midsomer Murders farcical yet beloved by the public. They are in a way safe, in the way humour was safe in the Carry on films. The unravelling of the motives by messrs plod would never happen in reality, not in front of an audience anyway.
I'll get my coat.
With respect to all who take the trouble . Ray
Comment is about MURDER MOST FOUL (blog)
Original item by ray pool
excellent haiku david and brilliant advice as well!
Comment is about 'Haiku: Robin at New Year' by David Redfield is Poem of the Week (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Woah! That poem on your bio, friend!!!?
Comment is about Shannonloves2read (poet profile)
Original item by Shannonloves2read
Currently, Ray, the English - that's our government, that we voted for (not me but...) are killing people by poverty. Nobody is making nice exciting films about THAT.
Comment is about MURDER MOST FOUL (blog)
Original item by ray pool
Beautiful poem, David. Simply gorgeous. Sometimes, less really is more.
And thanks for the useful performance tips.
Comment is about 'Haiku: Robin at New Year' by David Redfield is Poem of the Week (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
A very worthy winner, full of poetic vision and shunning 'irritable reaching after fact and reason' even while addressing scientific questions.
Comment is about WoLF poetry competition winners announced! (article)
Original item by steve pottinger
Welcome, John, to Write Out Loud! Your first blog brought back fond memories of my two visits to Puzzle Poets https://www.writeoutloud.net/public/blogentry.php?blogentryid=58782. And great to read the story of how The Great Fogginzo came into being, within a place of "high ceilings". I look forward to your next blog, and many more.
Comment is about Overlooked poets, open mics ... and how a blog got its name (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Thanks very much Martin - yeh, was a lovely surprise to see you at Word Central ? Loved your poems ?
Tom - yes, this was the 'wanderer' themed comp.
Comment is about WoLF poetry competition winners announced! (article)
Original item by steve pottinger
Hi there Poemagraphic
Thank you for your comment. It is always nice to read something of value when it comes to things so close to the heart.
I agree, the darkness will always try to rid the world of light but light is a power that very few can master. Light within the soul can ignite your "Youniverse" within oneself if you allow that beauty to take hold within life.
I have walked a very dark path to find my light and I know the shadows fear every minute of my waking hours.
Words are like a weapon to the terrified and I will continue to fight that good fight everyday of my existence and Angelica Journals are only the beginning of what is to come.
Thank you again for your comment. I very much appreciate it.
RaVeN
Comment is about Angelica's Journal (blog)
Original item by RaVeN Mathews )0(
Haiku can often feel like a breath of fresh air - as does this one. Thank you, David. Thanks also for the top tips on reading and performing poetry!
Comment is about 'Haiku: Robin at New Year' by David Redfield is Poem of the Week (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Thanks for the comment Big Sal. Glad you liked it. It started as a comment that morphed into a poem of its own.
Write on.
Willow
Comment is about The song that never ends (blog)
Original item by old shoes
Good cat houses are hard to come by.
I don't think I know what I'm writing about anymore.
Write on Sir Po
Thanks for the comment
willow
Comment is about I Don't Know What To Make Of It (blog)
Original item by New Shoes
Big Sal
Mon 28th Jan 2019 04:44
I will try this. It's easier since you put up an example. . I'll see what I can come up with.
Comment is about 5 W H (blog)
Original item by Jason Bayliss
Big Sal
Mon 28th Jan 2019 04:43
Thanks Lisa, I posted in discussions that I wondered if anyone else fancied doing this as a challenge? i.e. write a 5WH poem, any length any subject matter as long as each line has the 5WH questions:
Who.
What.
Where.
When.
Why.
How.
Might be fun??
Comment is about 5 W H (blog)
Original item by Jason Bayliss
Big Sal
Sun 27th Jan 2019 23:47
Really? We have right-wingers pretending to be poets on here and then Ruby leaves?
Wow. Write Out Loud has gone downhill. I guess we can all go back to pretending now.?
I only hope she saw John's comment before she left, as that's validation incarnate.
Comment is about The Write Out Loud Poem of the Week is ‘Half-hearted’ by Ruby (article)
Original item by steve pottinger
Very perceptive piece, Alan. I remember throwing a coin into the Thames from a bridge, whereupon my father chided me , thinking it a rash move. I told him, that in times to come it might be re discovered, and set someone thinking. What more can we really do in different formats.
Ray
Comment is about Coins in the Trunk (blog)
Original item by Alan Travis Braddock
This poem is quite remarkable Phil. I recall your work from a while back, and seeing this is to me like a beacon in a darkly oppressive scenario. We need more quality like this at the moment, so thank you for raising my spirit at least.
May I just say that is often the habit of some to appear to conjure up poetic effects without soul , but you have illustrated the art in its finest form.
Ray
Comment is about We loved you all (blog)
Original item by mentalelf. Philk.
"For the memories of younger days will fade just like you".
Tend patiently to your lighthouse, it's gonna shine really bright one of these days.
Thank you ?
Mae
Comment is about Children of The Tree (blog)
Original item by Mikey V Kinsey
"And the sun only comes out in forms of letters" Wow.
You're getting there Damon and when you do I bet the world is gonna be in awe of you.
Thank you?
Mae
Comment is about Words of The Waiting Man 27 (blog)
Original item by Mikey V Kinsey
Hi David. Thank you. I hope you are well. I'm on here for the first time in years. I had a couple of years in the wilderness. Thank you for remembering.
Comment is about We loved you all (blog)
Original item by mentalelf. Philk.
Big Sal
Sun 27th Jan 2019 21:47
Well hey at least they won't ignore your submissions!
?
Comment is about Welcome to a new voice at Write Out Loud: John Foggin, aka The Great Fogginzo (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Big Sal
Sun 27th Jan 2019 21:45
Applause ?...
Nothing beats the truth
Comment is about TRANSFORMATION (blog)
Original item by M.C. Newberry
I love reading your work ?
You have a pure heart my friend, not so many in this world unfortunately... Sad but true..
You keep shinning bright and never stop creating such spectacular pieces x
Comment is about Bellow (blog)
Original item by Vautaw
Big Sal
Sun 27th Jan 2019 18:59
elPintor
Sun 27th Jan 2019 18:46
I considered moving to the twin cities, Minnesota, but thank goodness I didn't. It has a booming tech industry, but the hell-on-earth-cold of the US midwest winter is like a cyclical death sentence to a seed that's just begging to thrive.
And, yes, hope is the sound of a sunbeam when it's 30 below...
Comment is about the quiet room (blog)
Original item by Stuart Buck
Thanks - all comments and responses duly appreciated and acknowledged.
Comment is about TRANSFORMATION (blog)
Original item by M.C. Newberry
I recall the respected UK film critic Barry Norman defending the
film industry against the accusation that its depiction of violence
(perhaps better defined as the gratuitous sort) was instrumental in
affecting the unbalanced easily influenced mental state that some
possess and which might be encouraged by what is seen on the
screen as some sort of justification for what they feel they can
commit In "real life". His defence didn't sit easily with me - and
still doesn't. But, in fairness, his father Leslie Norman was an
influential figure in an earlier British film industry. .
Comment is about MURDER MOST FOUL (blog)
Original item by ray pool
Big Sal
Sun 27th Jan 2019 17:49
No problem.?
Keep up the great work writing.
Comment is about The Void (blog)
Original item by Vautaw
Love this one Adam. Beautiful. Haunting. Raw. Real. Thanks for sharing. Adding to my collection of greatest hits!?
Comment is about Sudden kinship (blog)
Original item by Adam Whitworth
Not sure how I mistook Big Sal for Po (or anyone else) when I know you have no fear of marching into the inferno where few dare to tread. Thanks for your support Jacob. You are awesome! ?
Comment is about The Void (blog)
Original item by Vautaw
Big Sal
Sun 27th Jan 2019 16:01
The biggest question of all and still no answers will be provided.
The 'gods' have given us all an SAT in another conceptual language entirely.
I only hope I don't fail. But I will.
Comment is about Growing older but no wiser (blog)
Original item by John E Marks
Big Sal
Sun 27th Jan 2019 15:57
Excellent thought-provoking piece, Alan.
That's often my only hope when writing poetry anymore, is that it will be preserved in some way, shape, or form after I'm long gone.
??
No stone is too small to NOT make a ripple of some effect.
Comment is about Coins in the Trunk (blog)
Original item by Alan Travis Braddock
Trevor Alexander
Tue 29th Jan 2019 12:21
…..and that's just the way the cookie crumbles.
Comment is about The club of the clueless (blog)
Original item by John E Marks