reading this Martin, I'm with Suki here as it does has a song like flow to it.
using reputiton sometimes in a piece can either be excellent or stilted as hell i usually find. this is a very clever, well thoughtful poem.
great stuff.
Comment is about she's the one (blog)
Original item by Martin Elder
excellent, Martin. Perfectly paced as always
Comment is about Hands open (blog)
Original item by Martin Elder
Thanks for these comments and the link to the Arena documentary
Sorry for slowness of reply
Write out loud is such a freindly and supportive community X
Comment is about visiting the chelsea hotel (blog)
Original item by pauline sewards
enjoyed the story you gave.
thank you.?
Comment is about THE WATER METER (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
you've written a very well thought piece.
Comment is about Create an anarchy (blog)
Original item by Hasmukh Mehta
well done sir
really enjoyed your work and your background sound
was quite the sound. thank you.
Comment is about There'll always be an England (blog)
Original item by ken eaton-dykes
Hello
thank you for sharing your Easter day.
Comment is about EASTER (blog)
Original item by Colette Hutley
elPintor
Mon 2nd Apr 2018 01:00
Eve, this is a reminder to me of all the women who flee to my country from the sexual assault of gangs who hold so much sway over the power of law in their homelands. The religious right, here as in their supposed home, denies them both refuge and freedom from their forced pregnancies--that's hardly a reverence for the sanctity of life!
Rachel
Comment is about Gang 13 (blog)
Original item by eve nortley
elPintor
Sun 1st Apr 2018 23:46
Almost two decades ago, after ending a bad relationship with the father of my only son, I moved back home with my own father. As a teenager, I never took much interest in the work my father did, but when I went home again, I needed to feel close to him. I always admired how he seemed to be able to do just about anything. And, I had grown up with two brothers and saw how my Dad raised them to be resourceful and independent and wanted to learn from him the way they had.
He's always been willing to do whatever he could for me. But, I wanted to show him that I was willing to learn from him and do the things that I was able on my own. There came a time when my vehicle needed a new head gasket and I asked him to let me do the work under his supervision. He guided me through everything, patiently. It took me two weeks and I said words I never knew existed (who knew a mechanic went through so much pain?) but I felt the most pleasurable sense of accomplishment when it was finished. That experience helped to instill a sense of independence that has been a part of me ever since.
Thanks for reading and your lovely comments.
Rachel
PS
Hi Hazel. You're right about people drawing imaginary lines of sorts. And, I've found that, sadly, women are about as likely to do it to other women as men are to do it to them. Within just the past couple of years, I went to my local auto parts store to get supplies to change my oil and was checked out by a female clerk who was wearing gloves. I told her that I forgot that I had no gloves which prompted her to ask if I was doing the work myself. When I told her that I was, she replied that she was "no grease monkey" and didn't even know how to change a tire--all implying that she was too good for any of it. I thought to myself why they would ever hire such a know-nothing to work in an auto parts store. Thankfully, I haven't encountered her since.
Comment is about undivided (blog)
Original item by nunya
This will go well in LAL 2 when the time comes...excellent Eve
Comment is about meeting of minds (blog)
Original item by eve nortley
<Deleted User> (13762)
Sun 1st Apr 2018 22:47
I'm sorry, I thought he had responded. Apologies if you didn't want others to comment Hazel. All the best, Colin.
Comment is about To Wolfgar from the edge. (blog)
Original item by Hazel ettridge
I just lost my twenty minute response to your valued comments. I havn't got the energy to repost it tonight sorry. x
Ray
Comment is about EASTER: A NEW START (blog)
Original item by ray pool
Thanks Col. I know this is my poem, but I feel that David is the one who should be responding. I don't have any arms to curl into when I need it - but I know the feeling.
Comment is about To Wolfgar from the edge. (blog)
Original item by Hazel ettridge
<Deleted User> (13762)
Sun 1st Apr 2018 19:51
the edge of anywhere is a fearsome place to be but it's good (in a way) to go there and be able to come back in order to know what it's like to be there. Many people don't know what it's truly like. David's writing often takes us there and we glimpse it. I'm sure your father went there many times during the war and afterwards. I know my grandfather did. It came back to haunt him in his final years. And of course depression can take us there too. I tweeted the following lines just the other day:
'I fear depression more than death
The path beside the cliff edge
The tangled branches in a forest
The crowd of voices in my head
These are the places I fear to tread
Curl me into a ball within your arms'
It turned into a poem which I put on my blog. I thought I wouldn't put it here but maybe I will as, in some ways, it continues a thread of responses.
Col.
Comment is about To Wolfgar from the edge. (blog)
Original item by Hazel ettridge
<Deleted User> (13762)
Sun 1st Apr 2018 19:37
How many ex-lovers does it take to change a lightbulb?!
Nice poem Mahika and a good interpretation of the prompt.
Thanks for posting. Colin.
Comment is about Foolishness (blog)
Original item by Mahika
<Deleted User> (13762)
Sun 1st Apr 2018 19:29
oh blimey oh gosh I love this Tommy. The first two lines had me reaching for YouTube. Apologies for sharing two of my all-time faves. Col.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXJi3qh-Cvs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9Lexvl85qk
Comment is about Drunk (blog)
Original item by Tommy Carroll
This poem was originally written from my own edge to my dad in recognition of his edge which linked to his experiences in WW2.
So although it wasn't written for you it was put on this blog as a dedication to you. That's got to be worth something.
Comment is about To Wolfgar from the edge. (blog)
Original item by Hazel ettridge
David, I have no useful advice to give. And I don't have the intellect for useful responses to other comments you have made. For myself it just makes sense to stay with what is in front of me with courage (which is what you appear to be doing) and as much humility and kindness as I can muster.
Comment is about To Wolfgar from the edge. (blog)
Original item by Hazel ettridge
Comment is about Tommy Carroll (poet profile)
Original item by Tommy Carroll
great ending Dorinda but the full piece is a good un
Comment is about Another Day (Foolishness Themed Blog) 1-4-2018 (blog)
Original item by Dorinda MacDowell
lovely piece with a great ending. keep em going
Comment is about wands (blog)
Original item by racha
hard-hitting poem racha, thats for sure. must admit i was wondering if it was about you until i got to the end.
very well wrote thou. just not a easy read and that sometimes good writing
Comment is about tragedies (blog)
Original item by racha
HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!
Let us all celebrate the beauty of poetry, which I’m very new too. I love WoL, I love all the poetry on here, the poets, and most of all the VOLUNTEERS who run the site and facilitate the space for us to express our gifts, talents and opinions on each other’s work. Kind regards
Comment is about WHY? (Good Friday Poem) (blog)
Original item by Rick Varden
leah
Sun 1st Apr 2018 13:44
SUSAN RICHARDSON – ENDANGERED SPECIES AT WRITE ANGLE – MARCH GIG
Do you speak Plibble? Probably not! But Susan Richardson does. It's the language of the endangered European sturgeon and Susan's last poem, Plibble, was recited in that weird tongue – translation to be found in her new book, Words the Turtle Taught Me. It's been extremely well reviewed and she's now on a 40 gig whistle-stop tour to promote and celebrate it – Write Angle in March was her third venue.
She observes the creatures of the sea but is also interested in man's interractions with them. In Fluke, about the bottlenose dolphin, she deals with the reaction of the crowd of trippers when the dolphin's fail to appear: “spirits sag like jelly fish” and “pleas of refunds please”. Cartoon deals with the puffin, the clown of the seas, with “his growly call from underground like the electric sound of a pencil being sharpened”. She wrote Play in the voice of the Porbeagle shark, “Love best when frondling kelp, the under over, the over under roll and Oh, the giddy tingle...” if these sound strange to you, don't be surprised, but they're part of her unique style and after a while, they do start to make sense – sort of!
Nerrivik is based on Greenland creation stories; telling how the creatures of the sea are the dismembered body of the goddess of the sea: “hear the slice of the knife when my father chopped off my fingers, my arctic howl as I sank to the ocean floor”. Metamorphasis is based on her dream that she was becoming an emperor penguin! “Soon I must force this hard, new truth between my legs and hatch it.”
At the open mic, Joyce D'Silva, new to Write Angle, recited her song, Creatures of the Factory Farm, a fitting follow-on to Susan's theme: “They die for us. They are no more. But they long to feel the sun upon their backs, to stretch their limbs and rest upon the grass”. A talented poet we hope to hear more, from - In Saving The Earth, Leah recommended never throwing anything away: “So keep them forever, the sofa the chair, one day you'll be a millionaire”.Connecticut Court told of her brother's bad luck in having a man-hating judge hear his divorce: “She went for the heart and the wallet of men...” Topically, Would You Blame Me For Trump: “I'm guilty, I'm guilty, Oh yes I am, 'cos I'm a Yank, related to Uncle Sam”.
Naz Kourgli returned with the poem, A Little Lull: “A lot of lonely hearts collapse beneath the weight of empty space.” He followed with Sarah Story, telling how, at a party, trying to make contact with a beautiful young man while 'under the influence', he was embarrassed when he (and his friends) realised he was standing in front of a cardboard cut-out of Hans Solo”. His story was so realistic it was hard to accept it was fictitious. Colin Eveleigh's Caught on Camera was other-worldly, about a leaf spinning on a spiders web; his Be Still for a Moment had a peaceful, mindful quality: “Stillness is here, no reason, no purpose, stillness”. It brought back memories of his poem about a cup caught in a tree, getting higher as the tree grew.
Damian O'Vitch, whose talents were so obvious when he first came to WA's open mic, he was asked to be Write Angle's guest. Unfortunately, he has to wait till January 2019 – as all of 2018 is booked! - humorous as ever, this time he performed The True Story of Why Garden Gnomes Look Like Santa Klaus. Santa's children are “cast out from Eden, dumped on doorsteps....offspring of the lecherous, nomadic...”. His eloquent The Oldest Living Resident, on the theme of parks, described the trees: “Unfinished compositions. They etch the sky like the caligraphy of evening starlings...”
Phyllida Carr provided three favourite, sing-along tunes on her mouth organ – sorry - harmonica – Blowing in the Wind, Let it Be and The Runaway Train. There's no way the audience would not have joined in. Your reviewer had Let It Snow, how we're never prepared but “Our strength was ever the art of muddling through”. I Remember It Well dealt with how we each have different memories of the same events: “Is each the centre of our life? Memories well crafted to fit our personal image...”.
The raffle prize was a double act of a dinner for two at either India Gate or the grill house, Flames, two excellent Chichester restaurants. The winner: a vegan. We're sure he'll find something to his taste.
Review is about WRITE ANGLE POETRY & MUSIC +OPEN MIC on 20 Mar 2018 (event)
Martin I am proving to be your biggest fan...
Autographs are free to registered poets I assume?
Ta re "Plans..."
;- )
Tommy
x
Comment is about Martin Elder (poet profile)
Original item by Martin Elder
Hi Hazel, thanks for your comments re "Plans on hold".
l use "thoughts" to act as a pivotal and personal expression of what would otherwise be a too factual, impersonal account of events.
I appreciate and welcome any and all such advice.
Tommy
x
Comment is about Hazel ettridge (poet profile)
Original item by Hazel ettridge
Or to Dolce and Gabbana, Hazel.
Comment is about THE WATER METER (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Cheers Cynthia. Thanks for your comments re "Plans on hold".
I use the capitalisation of the third person singular as not to weigh down the line with a period.
Try it.
;- )
Tommy
x
Comment is about Cynthia Buell Thomas (poet profile)
Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas
'oooh's' and 'aaahhhs', grunts and groans, whistles and chirps are language in common to us all. No need of complex voice patterns or organised grammar whatsoever for basic communication.
'conference a ready man' is a very apt expression, meaning, I take it, one who is 'working with other people to discuss and carry out a particular plan' of any kind.
Happy Easter, Tommy, to you and yours. I always enjoy your input.
Comment is about Tommy Carroll (poet profile)
Original item by Tommy Carroll
I came back to this to recheck the first line: 'What had betided you?' It is one of the best lines I've ever read, and especially effective as an opening. And 'I flipped my hair/To catch sight of you.' - an image that stays with the reader in its powerful simplicity of such a universal gesture. It conjures equally so much artistry in the idea of 'hiding behind my hair', such an ancient, womanly ploy.
Margaret Atwood is a powerful writer, a superb icon to admire.
Comment is about 'Dear Sad Friend' by Ruby is Write Out Loud's Poem of the Week (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Just rechecked your 'bio'. I've been enjoying your recent participation in 'Comments' on many poems. I'm not sure what you 'might call home'. Your own inimitable self?
(Have I spelled that right - too rushed to check my dic. Definitely slipping!)
Comment is about Hazel ettridge (poet profile)
Original item by Hazel ettridge
Just the giggle I needed this morning. You should try selling this to your water company.
Comment is about THE WATER METER (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Colin/Hugh, thanks for your suggestions.
Comment is about THE WATER METER (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
A poetic flush from the brain,
Please don't put it down the drain.
Well done for putting pen to paper,
A brilliant capture of this caper.
Comment is about THE WATER METER (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Thanks, MC. I do a fair bit of gardening so I’m hoping for a lot of rain this summer to keep my water butts topped up.
Comment is about THE WATER METER (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
<Deleted User> (13762)
Sun 1st Apr 2018 08:45
Cynthia, as a child in Sunday school, I realised that Christianity would probably never have come into being if it wasn't for Judas.
Comment is about WHY? (Good Friday Poem) (blog)
Original item by Rick Varden
<Deleted User> (18980)
Sun 1st Apr 2018 08:36
It's official then...Fred's better than David! (Lol)
Comment is about WHY? (Good Friday Poem) (blog)
Original item by Rick Varden
We humans like to put everything in a box and label it. One of the most unnatural definings, I think, is gender. You have opened this box with such love and intelligence, gently referencing without stating or claiming. I'm charmed.
Comment is about undivided (blog)
Original item by nunya
<Deleted User> (13762)
Sun 1st Apr 2018 08:29
every time I pick up a banana I make like its a phone ?
not sure what that says of me. Happy Easter Fools Day! - interesting coincidence?!
Comment is about 100% Zero (blog)
Original item by Hazel ettridge
A true fool can't seem to get her photos the right way up!
Comment is about 100% Zero (blog)
Original item by Hazel ettridge
Another little gem from this reliable source of dark humour.
Looking forward to more!
Comment is about Light damage (blog)
Original item by hugh
My landlord pays the water bills but leaves me to pay
everything else! If I had the responsibility I would look
at the control a water meter encourages and provides.
And feel flushed with satisfaction!
Happy Easter JC.
Comment is about THE WATER METER (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
elPintor
Sun 1st Apr 2018 00:57
Insightful, as always, Suki. You are part of the draw that keeps me coming back.
Rachel
Comment is about human anatomy (blog)
Original item by nunya
Andy N
Mon 2nd Apr 2018 07:55
lovely picture with a great last line
Comment is about The Dawn (blog)
Original item by Ankita Srivastava