I've got no choice, Graham. It won't let go of me.

Comment is about FAREWELL TO THE LANE (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

I think there's a little bit of us all incorporated into this poem Jon, something we can all identify with and yes I have heard of the Woodcraft Folk but we haven't met so maybe it doesn't count!

In trying to pick out favourite lines I'm in danger of quoting almost the whole poem but.... 'sticks of saccharin loaded / Sickly sweet sticky sticks / Of toffee rock' really lays it on deliciously thick.

And I particularly like the following fish and vegetarian verse as if fish cakes aren't really fish, just a step towards full veggie status. All in all a well crafted and constructed poem.

Colin.

Comment is about Caravan holiday (blog)

Original item by Jon Darby

Morning Ray, I like this very much, the idea of using an object as a reminder. It brought to mind a poem I put on here some time back called 'a lipstick kiss full of hope' which had the character lining up Prosecco corks on her dressing table, one for each year that failed to bring her happiness. A little different to your addiction to the vintage '69 maybe.

with a few alterations I wonder if this poem could also be about Sherlock Holmes?!

cheers
Col

Comment is about REMOVING THE STOPPER (blog)

Original item by ray pool

Love this poem, especially like your dad asking for a polo to break the silence ?
Very well written.

Comment is about Caravan holiday (blog)

Original item by Jon Darby

Thanks for the comment Ray. I know, I was undecided as to has instead of had. I put has cos me Dad is still alive but I think you may be right. Cheers !

Comment is about Caravan holiday (blog)

Original item by Jon Darby

Heartbreakingly sad yet strong poem. Sent shivers up my spine. I can't see how it could be improved. Well done

Comment is about Excuse Me (blog)

Original item by Karen Ankers

Hope you're well Stu,

Another poem of yours to read while listening to Godspeed You Black Emperor.

Love it!

Suki

Comment is about incorrectly identifying the arias of mario lanza due to the sheer volume of the voices in our heads (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

I feel refreshed reading. Nice ray.

Comment is about REMOVING THE STOPPER (blog)

Original item by ray pool

Keep the faith JC.
Exciting times ahead soon.

Comment is about FAREWELL TO THE LANE (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Beautifully constructed. I admire anyone brave enough to write a villanelle! This works really well. Congratulations.

Comment is about 'Villa Nil' by Ray M is Write Out Loud's Poem of the Week (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

great piece of writing, sets a beautiful scene and gets me all excited for two weeks time when i will be handling owls myself (belated xmas present from the mrs).

Comment is about About an Owl (blog)

Original item by Rick Gammon

wonderful stuff ian. full of memories, romance and the ultimate acknowledgement of defeat and lessons learnt. and so beautifully written, all tied in wonderfully with the title and the brief dalliance of the mayfly.

Comment is about The Mayfly Dance (blog)

Original item by Ian Whiteley

a fine sentiment indeed. something hopelessly sad about seeing nature in general at its lowest point, as noted here with the bluebells and their hanging heads. very much enjoyed.

Comment is about Bluebells (blog)

Original item by IanQ

brilliant stuff. angry and full of portent.

the beast awakens, as it were

Comment is about Excuse Me (blog)

Original item by Karen Ankers

lovely writing and a fine sentiment. good to have you back!

Comment is about wisp: John Wayne 0344 (05/20/2017) (blog)

Original item by Zach Dafoe

excellent. as above (below?) i particularly love the send off, wraps the whole piece up beautifully.

Comment is about unbent (blog)

Original item by nunya

i like this a lot. i was reading some Louis MacNeice earlier and this is quite reminiscent in the colour and shape of the landscape/language. very enjoyable.

Comment is about The sound of settling masonry (blog)

Original item by Graham Ramsden

Thanks, Ray. It's been a long and largely unrequited extra-marital love affair.

Comment is about FAREWELL TO THE LANE (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Thank you for this. I always welcome good advice. Thanks indeed. Keith

Comment is about Soggy goings on... (blog)

Original item by keith jeffries

THanks for the comment Suki. If I'm right those trials took place on a circular track - not sure. Without boring you, the conveyance of goods and minerals were the prime object in those times, and passengers were sparsely cared for!

Ray

Comment is about TO THE NORTH! (blog)

Original item by ray pool

Tear jerker John. I used to walk from Walthamstow every Saturday to see Spurs with many others, and logged every game there in 1970. Gilzean, Chivers and the like were on offer. It must have been cheap to get in, as I was mostly broke. Thanks for the reminders. There was never any violence then. I don't even recognize that stretch where the ground was now.

Ray

Comment is about FAREWELL TO THE LANE (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

beautiful, but so sad.

Kevin

Comment is about Always Mistaken (blog)

Original item by Adam Whitworth

"I discern deceit and duplicity....." works really well. the mellow pace of the whole poem suit the words.


Kevin

Comment is about The Mellow Years (blog)

Original item by keith jeffries

a nice bit of nonsense. I've been reading quite a bit of Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear just lately, and this has elements of them about it.(yes I do need to grow up and start reading adult stuff). Deroids and Gronts work well as names.
I see what Ray means, the rhymes do get better towards the end.

Cheers Kevin.

Comment is about Soggy goings on... (blog)

Original item by keith jeffries

Hey Karen, I really really love what you're trying to say with this poem, and I think the tone is really lovely. However, If I could maybe give a critique, I think working on your imagery would be great.

In your second to last stanza you have such unique phrases like "You fed us poison through television tubes" and "Dripped bitter drops of venom into dream infested sleep" and I just wish we would see more of that. We all heard of the child with no home and the homeless man that gets treated like dirt, and yes those are real issues, but I want to hear something New, give us some unique examples of what's wrong with our country, with our world.

I think with more unique imagery, your to the point style of writing would work very well. ?

Comment is about Excuse Me (blog)

Original item by Karen Ankers

Thanks again Cynthia, she was one of the best.

Comment is about My Aunt from Wales (blog)

Original item by IanQ

Thanks Cynthia,

Hope it is endless, keep expecting nothing else to come/flow.

So far so good though, seems to be there when I want it and quick, very quick to escape.

Cheers,

ian.

Comment is about IanQ (poet profile)

Original item by IanQ

the flavor of tar and sodium orange not alien to me,

the images this evokes are strong, unfortunate anchors of common ground.

i got nothin to fix for you. i really like this.

Comment is about leaves of glass (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

Thank you for amazing comments Keith - much appreciated.

Comment is about The End Of Time (blog)

Original item by John Walton

I must have had a brain seizure when I first read this and suggested it would have been top of the league if written as a villanelle when it so obviously was! So my apologies for that and my hearty congrats for this POTW recognition Ray.

Thanks also for pointing the way to A Disused Shed in County Wexford by Derek Mahon which is indeed richly layered and the accompanying notes give added background to the piece. It reminded me also of days when I went rooting about old disused buildings in Co Mayo where abandoned furniture balanced on rotting floorboards and forgotten photos of ancestors stared from broken picture frames.

Colin.

Comment is about 'Villa Nil' by Ray M is Write Out Loud's Poem of the Week (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Hello John, I am not given to using the word ¨masterpiece ¨but this poem qualifies for the title. The two opening stanzas are magnificently written and the poem in its entirety is one you should be inordinately proud of. Thank you for this. Keith

Comment is about The End Of Time (blog)

Original item by John Walton

Señora, Splendid words. Thank you for this. Keith

Comment is about unbent (blog)

Original item by nunya

Hello Zach, I endorse every word of Colin´s comment. A profound but true statement told without any frills. Thank you. Keith

Comment is about wisp: John Wayne 0344 (05/20/2017) (blog)

Original item by Zach Dafoe

I'm not sure we are awake at all Karen - the 18-24's don't vote and there's hardly riots in the streets despite just about all our public services being on their knees and the wealthy continuing to get more wealthy at the expense of the poor. Vive la Revolution not ?! Corbyn might have some of the right ideas but him and his cronies are hardly made of the stuff that inspires revolt and surely it's a revolution we need. Maybe the French saw that in Macron - youthful and eloquent - not the bearded old lefty and clueless acolytes that can't get their numbers right that we've been lumbered with. Excusez-moi. I seem to have gone off on a rant of my own! A good poem provokes ?

Comment is about Excuse Me (blog)

Original item by Karen Ankers

'writing on the wall' seems very apt with all that's going on or down in the world these days. If only all the politicians and soldiers turned to art maybe then we'd live in peace (man)

good to see yer scruffy beard gracing the pages of WoL matey.

Comment is about wisp: John Wayne 0344 (05/20/2017) (blog)

Original item by Zach Dafoe

A real rant. Hard to read without shaking your fist.

Kevin

Comment is about Excuse Me (blog)

Original item by Karen Ankers

I don't know what a dumper is, but I get the picture anyway. nice one

Kevin

Comment is about THE CAMP COOK (blog)

Original item by Jonalyn Cajefe

Many thanks, Sonia.
The disappointment I've learned to cope with. It's the hope that I can't bear.

Comment is about FAREWELL TO THE LANE (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Excellent. Loved reading this Karen.
I particularly liked the way it flows, unfolding the truths one by one.
A good wake up call.

Raj

Comment is about Excuse Me (blog)

Original item by Karen Ankers

Unbent and unbowed. Love it.

Best of all are the last two lines:

I travel lightly along
with the setting sun.

Raj

Comment is about unbent (blog)

Original item by nunya

Thanks, Suki, what you see above is the 31st revision - as of Sunday morning I ain't looked at it yet - I foresee another day of editing to lick it into shape.

At least a day...but not today...

Bad lines pop up like Hydra's teeth - I will slay them all - come out you b*studs - show yourselves - I'll fight you to the death.

p.s. My recently deceased cynosure Shirley loved owls - I promised I'd write a pome about owls.

pps - Just gave it a once over...like I'm prone to do ..a few lines disappeared... :)
ppps - A good friend told me I wrote farrows when it oughtta be furrows - looks like I birthed a litter of pigs ha ha :)

Comment is about About an Owl (blog)

Original item by Rick Gammon

Ahhh this is beautiful... bitter sweet growing up!! Loved it!

Comment is about The Mayfly Dance (blog)

Original item by Ian Whiteley

Feels like a nostalgic farewell and an excited beginning! Loved it

Comment is about FAREWELL TO THE LANE (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Loved this... truth!!

Comment is about Excuse Me (blog)

Original item by Karen Ankers

Loved this... truth!!

Comment is about Excuse Me (blog)

Original item by Karen Ankers

Thanks Rosie.
Always good to receive your comments.
Have a refreshing, relaxing and blessed weekend.

Raj xx

Comment is about Seduced by life (blog)

Original item by Chakraj

sorry for being disrespectful, i dont mean it..

song

Comment is about THE CAMP COOK (blog)

Original item by Jonalyn Cajefe

You've a certain gift for being plain without being blunt, Karen--feelings so identifiable yet skirting blocked and rote definition...very enjoyable (for lack of a better word) work.

Rachel

Comment is about Excuse Me (blog)

Original item by Karen Ankers

Thanks for the comment Pintor! I really love exploring the visual language of type, so this was an experiment in that.

Comment is about Selfie Culture is Just Culture You Stupid Fucking Baby Boomer. (blog)

Original item by Connor Lannes

It's rather an oddity that one generation is unable to perceive how the next is only an outgrowth of itself..

Rachel

btw..the editing is stimulating and notably creative

Comment is about Selfie Culture is Just Culture You Stupid Fucking Baby Boomer. (blog)

Original item by Connor Lannes