Hello John; it's rather sad to hear all you young lads worrying about not being here next year or whatever. I just looked up that website that predicts your final age and for me it said 93. Well I don't agree with that, I'm going to live to 100 at least, I'm a mycologist and we live for ages, our only problem is forgetting the names of things. That and losing ones eyesight. But. like you, all my mates are dying off in droves - all but one of my rock-climbing pals have died but he - the remainder - is still visiting us on his bike so there are a couple of us hanging on.
So I keep on keeping on as they say, but it gets harder all the time to write anything that S.O.Else wants to read and I'm too shy to do open mike events but I do appreciate what you write about them and one day I'll appear from the depths of Horbury to knock you all dead.
Thanks for reading. There's always something happening tomorrow, you just have to hang on till then.
PS when will we see you at the Red Shed?
Comment is about Staying alive: me and Mr MacCaig (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
An intimate tale of the lower regions DK which brings a whiff of fresh air to the site. Enjoyable and international in flavour. I can see your humour most clearly now with the benefit of your Q and A. Congratulations .
Ray
Comment is about The Write Out Loud Poem of the Week is 'Shoes' by D.Knape (article)
Original item by Stuart Buck
Ha ha, this is amazing. Truly entertaining read. I guess I learned one or two things, as wikipedia is our witness.
Comment is about Amazing but True (blog)
Original item by John McDonough
Hey Josie
you have tipped your toe in the water. keep going, as has been said you have posted a couple of fine poems. I look forward to reading more.
Comment is about Josie (poet profile)
Original item by Josie
Thanks for your like elPintor
Comment is about When the Screaming Starts (blog)
Original item by Nigel Astell
So do I Stu. An excellent effort.
For those who don't know, this form is 5 -7 -5- 7- 7- with reference to nature, feelings and with a twist or a question in the last line.
Comment is about tanka for the nemophilia (blog)
Original item by Stuart Buck
i'm nothing if not a rule breaker graham!
Comment is about tanka for the nemophilia (blog)
Original item by Stuart Buck
Stu you've got me going now (work in progress) but shouldn't Tanka be in the first person?
Comment is about tanka for the nemophilia (blog)
Original item by Stuart Buck
I swear on the google search engine that all these facts are the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth as wikipedia is my witness.
Comment is about Amazing but True (blog)
Original item by John McDonough
MC
I understand what you are saying. At times I look at poems and wonder if they are talking about themselves or some made up person.
When I write about my soft inner core it will be about me, not someone else. I guess I have to be brave and take my chances...
Comment is about Vultures Circling (blog)
Original item by Don Matthews
thanks both. i love the japanese short forms rachel, they impress a real boundary on the words you use but don't limit the imagination.
Comment is about tanka for the nemophilia (blog)
Original item by Stuart Buck
I certainly concur with much of what is written here. The freedom of
thought - a mind open in maturity to boundless possibilities - is
surely the most worthwhile of human treasures. But the human
being is a collective creature, drawn to others for reasons of
self-protection and self-advancement and the propagation of the
species. in circumstances it is comfortable with That leads me to...
How interesting that the expression "tribal"
Chimes (and rhymes) with any religious "bible".!
Comment is about Soul (less) (blog)
Original item by mentalelf. Philk.
The craft of poetry enables the writer to create situations and pose
questions without the need to be "confessional" in any overtly
personal sense. .Did John Masefield really seek to "go down to the seas again"?!! Or was he merely blessed with an imagination that
could conjure up vivid word pictures to resonate with the emotions
and experiences we have in common?
Comment is about Vultures Circling (blog)
Original item by Don Matthews
Racism is today's catch-all phrase. It is being used to define those
driven by religious motives for attacks which are becoming too prevalent. Extremists of all kinds are to be confronted but we should
also confront the situations that allow them to preach their sermons!
Comment is about Was it a waste of an egg? (blog)
Original item by John McDonough
Tue 19th Mar 2019 09:58
Honesty is bravery, and bravery needs a little catharsis every now and again.
J.
Comment is about Vultures Circling (blog)
Original item by Don Matthews
Humankind is my sample poem that I'm republishing in voice and image to make it simple to listen to.
Comment is about Humankind (blog)
Original item by Farag M. Afify
Yep, same here, I've got no time for racist pricks.
J.
Comment is about Was it a waste of an egg? (blog)
Original item by John McDonough
John,
Well said. I am with you all the way on this one.
Thanks
Keith
Comment is about Was it a waste of an egg? (blog)
Original item by John McDonough
d.k
Excellent. Well done and congratulations. I am so pleased for you.
Keith
Comment is about The Write Out Loud Poem of the Week is 'Shoes' by D.Knape (article)
Original item by Stuart Buck
<Deleted User> (21487)
Tue 19th Mar 2019 07:48
Don
I think very brave and very honest, we could all live a fantasy and invent who we are - but would our poems lose there authenicity?
Left to themselves vultures have been known to turn on each other,
just stand back and watch the feathers fly.
Comment is about Vultures Circling (blog)
Original item by Don Matthews
I guess this is an issue facing many of us on WOL. How brave are we to expose our soft inner core to strangers, not knowing who's out there?
Comment is about Vultures Circling (blog)
Original item by Don Matthews
elPintor
Tue 19th Mar 2019 06:00
I'm quite fond of these brief forms that embody such vastness--I must study more.
Rachel
Comment is about tanka for the nemophilia (blog)
Original item by Stuart Buck
I often beg for a clean slate. The relief of forgiveness is powerful. I very much appreciate the articulation of this idea.
Comment is about FORGIVENESS (blog)
Original item by Ty
I agree with Jason, Josie.
I have enjoyed both of your poems... I am very sure there are many more worthy words to read, so please share.
And keep writing!
?
Comment is about Josie (poet profile)
Original item by Josie
Many thanks, MC and Dorothy.
I am sometimes bemused by cries of Equality for Women. Of all my married friends There isn’t a single couple, myself included, where the wife isn’t in charge.
Comment is about OUR GERT KNOWS BEST (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
they know your every move
and everything you do
Oh, they do, they do.
Well-penned. John
Comment is about The Write Out Loud Poem of the Week is 'Shoes' by D.Knape (article)
Original item by Stuart Buck
Thanks all for the comments and likes.
They are much appreciated, as always.
Comment is about Word wanderer (blog)
Original item by Jon Stainsby
A compelling poem. Thoughts about who we are and who we resemble tend to come from outside sources more than internal, whether we want to be like them or not. I like your style.
Comment is about Augustus (blog)
Original item by Clarke
Nice One - cute!
Comment is about The Write Out Loud Poem of the Week is 'Shoes' by D.Knape (article)
Original item by Stuart Buck
A Christ
Mon 18th Mar 2019 17:32
I am a moth to flames.
March comes in like a tiger and leaves like a lamb.
To measure the impact of pressure and the radius of the bruise.
I submit my hopelessness to the gallow's of verdict.
Baby's got blue eyes when the morning comes...
https://youtu.be/4CiyKeSnSxk
Comment is about tanka for the nemophilia (blog)
Original item by Stuart Buck
very topical and cutting david. i agree whole-heartedly although i have to admit i am often quite vacant myself
Comment is about The Daily Sluice (blog)
Original item by David R Mellor
excellent recollection as ever cynthia. i may steal HOLY HOT HANNIBALEM! for use down the pub.
Comment is about Attack From The Rear (blog)
Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas
loquacious is one of those words that comes up constantly in the crosswords and i never seem to know what it means despite writing it a million times. so thumbs up from me, i learnt something and this has an articulate and academic amount of alliteration in it.
Comment is about Word wanderer (blog)
Original item by Jon Stainsby
great stuff ray as ever with a cracking send off.
Comment is about SAME OLD SONG (blog)
Original item by ray pool
first verse is an absolute killer tommy. love it.
Comment is about Knock - Knock (blog)
Original item by Tommy Carroll
<Deleted User> (21487)
Mon 18th Mar 2019 16:59
I loved this poem - I loved the rhythm - i loved the humour - but most of all I am so glad you recognized the truth. mmmmmm ?
Dorothy
Comment is about OUR GERT KNOWS BEST (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
funnily enough i read a bit about the black annis a while ago in a folklore book i pilfered for 50p from the local library. had never heard of her before and now twice in a month. this is great damon, it shows real skill
Comment is about The Black Annis (blog)
Original item by Damon Blackery
rather beautiful john. i agree with jason, its like a prayer to everything all at once.
Comment is about The greatest gift (blog)
Original item by John E Marks
cosmic joggle is sublime. the whole thing is intriguing and beguiling in equal parts
Comment is about Cosmology 101 (blog)
Original item by Chris Armstrong
Oh so many long words - they make me stop and think, to wonder if I can really take in what you are saying. I hope they are not one of your ways of distancing yourself from us common people.
Comment is about On love and self-efficacy (blog)
Original item by Clarke
I really enjoy poems about close relationships, especially ones that pose questions that we all might be wondering about in our own lives.
Comment is about Augustus (blog)
Original item by Clarke
Very stimulating to my imagination. Thank you.
Comment is about Cosmology 101 (blog)
Original item by Chris Armstrong
What's changed? The civil service runs the country. MPs just get in the way. They were finally given some work to do a couple of years ago and just look what they made of it. Your next poem might be The Country that was Murdered. Great read.
Comment is about The Town That Was Murdered (blog)
Original item by Joe Williams
In age, I'm a year behind the author and take some solace in
knowing my late mother - the youngest of a large Victorian - Edwardian family - lived until just after her 90th birthday...and her
sisters also got a long way down life's road, albeit not quite as far.
I can't recall having a taste for poetry per se when I was 16,
too busy being prepared via an apprenticeship process for my
chosen career, but managing to appreciate the likes of Frank
Sinatra and his unmatched interpretations of the lyrics of songs
that now occupy The Great American Songbook. Not a bad
substitute! By the time I got around to WOL, my working life was
over and the benefits of varied learning in retirement were on offer.
By then, it seemed to me that modern poetry had - ljke modern
classical music - lost its ability to "sing" and little has managed to
appeal - then or now. Life has to be enjoyed and it has never
seemed sensible to spend its allotted time with stuff that doesn't add to either. Of course, there are memorable exceptions and
they are valued even more for their (for me) comparative
rarity. Roll on "76" (plus++++++++++++++) ?.
Comment is about Staying alive: me and Mr MacCaig (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Well done, DK - a distinctive "voice" that refreshes the parts most
in need in an otherwise too serious genre of creative writing!
Comment is about The Write Out Loud Poem of the Week is 'Shoes' by D.Knape (article)
Original item by Stuart Buck
Brian - and those who clicked on "like" - many thanks for reading and
responding. I've always had a fondness for the "aphorism" approach.
Comment is about BETTER (blog)
Original item by M.C. Newberry
Another gem from a reliable source of entertaining (and challenging)
poetry. The attraction being not only the rhythm but also the choice of the words used, and the feeling that there is some reality behind them. A difficult trick to pull off successfully but no one does it better..
Sometimes I think a female in the place might be rather nice
But then I find myself thinking not just once - but twice.
To those who choose to take the vows that join man and wife -
I say to them "good luck old son - I'll take the single life". ?
Comment is about OUR GERT KNOWS BEST (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
raypool
Tue 19th Mar 2019 16:01
Hi John. To be honest I don't know the significance of the date, but in my opinion there is a great atmosphere and a veiled message implied in the text which again I'm not clear about. Having said that, I know someone will pick up on it and make me look an ignoramus. Just wanted to say your power as always comes through . Great image of the time!
Ray
Comment is about Tuesday 4th August 1914 (blog)
Original item by John E Marks