Thank you, Graham and Ray, for your supportive comments. Very much appreciated.

Ray - it was originally 'grateful nation' and then changed. Perhaps the original was better?

And thanks to everyone who liked this poem.

Comment is about Revolution! (blog)

Original item by Stephen Gospage

A beautiful poem.
There are so many parts I enjoyed reading. "Love the mess and love the magic,
Even when the days feel tragic,"
"Don't wait for perfect..."
Look forward to reading the rest of your poems.

Best wishes

Rez

Comment is about Love The Light, Embrace The Rain (blog)

Original item by Aisha Suleman

Thank you. Greg. Based on preschool memories, reinforced by a few old snaps I found recently.

Comment is about The Bright Blue Sky (blog)

Original item by Stephen Gospage

...to a writing friend, a.j.r., who is gradually slipping away on the river of dementia 😢

Comment is about bridges (blog)

Original item by Red Brick Keshner

Ray
I stand doubly corrected and have changed my poem to reflect it. Thank you for pointing that out! The play I read was so clever if you ever get chance to read it. It really brought to life that concept. Having any kind of original thought is so hard. As I posted the poem I wondered how many other poets might have used the same imagery, because there are only so many ways you try to describe something.

Graham

Thank you for your welcome! I don't write much poetry any more and tend to only write if I'm deeply upset about something. Gaza is like nothing else I've experienced in my considerable lifetime. Normally you can assuage your conscience by giving money to a disaster fund, but that isn't the answer here.

I find myself deeply affected by a sense of powerlessness and poetry is the only thing I can do to register that. I think during the Holocaust the man in the street didn't really know what was going on so was spared the trauma - but we get to not just know but witness the most appalling footage on TV. I don't think I'll ever forget this or lose the feeling of inadequacy.

Comment is about Gaza (blog)

Original item by Isobel

Most so-called civilized countries have experienced a civil war. I’m minded to think that Palestine may need one between the People and Hammas! in order to move forward.
It’s only a view, no need to respond

Comment is about Saoirse don Phalaistín! (blog)

Original item by Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh

Thanks for the likes:
Red Brick Keshner
Aisha Suleman
K. Lynn
Auracle
Rolph David

Appropriately, there was indeed a blood-red sunset which I hurriedly attempted to capture, but my phone’s settings couldn’t cope.

Comment is about Haiku for 2025 [No.21. Madleen] (blog)

Original item by Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh

Yeah, I'm referring to the "History is written by the victors" phrase, too. Sartre may have used the phrase but it dates back to at least the 19th century, though most sources cite Churchill as the originator of the phrase.

Comment is about Gaza (blog)

Original item by Isobel

This isn’t just a poem; it’s a cry. A demand to be seen. It doesn’t ask for interpretation, really. It asks for accountability. 🙏🏻🕊️

Comment is about Saoirse don Phalaistín! (blog)

Original item by Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh

Izzy!!! Great to see you back but sad the subject matter is such a dire one. I’m afraid I cannot bring myself to write about this horrendous mess. Once again the bad guys screw it up for the little people etc etc!!

Lovely to have you back. Don’t be a stranger G

Comment is about Gaza (blog)

Original item by Isobel

Thanks for your comment Ray. I was referring to the fact that victors write the history books in the poem with the Sartre reference, not the Never Again phrase. I'm glad you've highlighted it as confusing though - I might tinker with the order of those words.

As a student many moons ago I read a play by Sartre 'Les Mains Sales', or dirty hands in other words. The play suggested that how we view an event historically depends on who won the war - that everything turns on that. So a Gestapo officer might have been viewed as a hero had things turned out differently and Germany was never defeated. It's a depressing thought.

Comment is about Gaza (blog)

Original item by Isobel

Thanks for your thoughts, Graham and Ray. No, you’re on safe ground, Ray. Shake a six = Kick the bucket. And thanks for the Like, Redbrick.

Comment is about LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

I shall probably regret asking, but what does it mean "to shake a six"?

Comment is about LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

I like the first stanza best too, nice rhymes throughout. I'm slightly bemused by the new-found nation.

Comment is about Revolution! (blog)

Original item by Stephen Gospage

Hello Isobel. Good poem, bad times. Interesting you attribute that phrase to Sartre. The phrase, in various forms, can be traced to the 19th century, but these days it's generally attributed to Winston Churchill. Which kind of validates the proposition.

Comment is about Gaza (blog)

Original item by Isobel

Thanks, David

Comment is about Eloquence (blog)

Original item by Ray

As Elvis C once framed it "Is it worth It?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ul6tLVNlku4

Of course, all gratitude to those who indulge my thoughts xxx.

Comment is about Triangular bandage (blog)

Original item by David RL Moore

Brilliant, Steve. I could hear Auden in those lines.

Comment is about Lines of Love (blog)

Original item by Stephen Gospage

You distil so much in a few lines, Steve. There is so much humanity in those lines.

Comment is about The Fence (blog)

Original item by Stephen Gospage

Wake yourself up, Steve, and write 'em down! They may turn out to be rubbish in the morning, but sometimes they're worth keeping ... The birds often wake me at four in the morning in our Northumberland village, and sometimes I thank them for it!

Comment is about Masterpiece (blog)

Original item by Stephen Gospage

You watch out! Gert’s about with a cold flannel!

Comment is about LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Mr G is back with a vengeance. Some great lines here Stephen by, V1 especially. Bravo!

Comment is about Revolution! (blog)

Original item by Stephen Gospage

I agree, Ray, the final two lines say so much. A wonderful poem about childhood, and everything else, Steve.

Comment is about The Bright Blue Sky (blog)

Original item by Stephen Gospage

Hi Ray,

I think sometimes the agony of loss is best expressed unvolantarily in an agonised almost animalistic bark/howl.

This piece presents the reality of how we express grief in differing ways, some in solemnity and some in an outpouring of uncontained emotions.

It has always been of interest to me how different cultures publicly manifest loss, what is culturally expected and acceptable and what is not. Do these differing displays reflect our attitude's to the living and life itself in some way? well, it's a question if nothing else.

Thanks Ray,

David

Comment is about Eloquence (blog)

Original item by Ray

Thank you Graham for your reading and comment.

Thanks also to Greg for the like.

David RL Moore

Comment is about Triangular bandage (blog)

Original item by David RL Moore

Thanks for extra likes: Stephen W, Holden, Yanma Hidayah & Aisha. 👍

Comment is about Who Am I (blog)

Original item by Tom Doolan

Great opening couplet and I love this line -
For, this old town shall be your urn

Comment is about Amelia (blog)

Original item by Stephen W Atkinson

Enjoyed the read. The opening stanza creates an expectation of rhyme that's not pursued, but no matter. I like the end lines to each stanza, sharp, abrupt.

Comment is about Hidden (blog)

Original item by Tim Daly

A very clever and incisive analogy this one David. Well done!

Comment is about Triangular bandage (blog)

Original item by David RL Moore

Thanks for the flowers RBK and Aisha.

David

Comment is about Triangular bandage (blog)

Original item by David RL Moore

Thank you dear @Stephen Atkinson; makes all the work worthwhile to have you much valued feedback 🌷🕊️🙏🏻

Comment is about boulevard mirage (blog)

Original item by Red Brick Keshner

Great imagery. Nice one 👏

Comment is about boulevard mirage (blog)

Original item by Red Brick Keshner

I came across a piece of writing that made me feel the need to share something. It spoke about old wounds that were never truly healed. In psychology, this is referred to as unfinished business.
In Gestalt theory, unfinished business refers to feelings, experiences, or conflicts from the past that remain unresolved. These linger in the subconscious or even within the body, and tend to resurface in the present, especially through intense emotions that sometimes feel disproportionate to the current situation. For example: when you were sad but told to be quiet. When you needed a hug but were met with anger. When you wanted to be heard, but were told you were overreacting. Those experiences were never fully processed. They stayed, hidden in your body and your emotional memory.
So when today you speak to the people who once caused those wounds, even small interactions can awaken those buried feelings. It’s not just your present self who responds, but also the little version of you who was once hurt and never got the chance to speak.
Sometimes, our emotions are not triggered by what’s happening now, but by echoes of what once was. Anger doesn’t always mean you’re a bad person—often, it’s your defense mechanism trying to protect you from old pain.
And maybe, just maybe, the one you’re really angry at-isn’t the person in front of you today, but the one from long ago who never said, “I’m sorry.”

Comment is about The Little Me (blog)

Original item by Yanma Hidayah

Thanks for likes: Hafsah Siti, Red Brick Keshner & Nigel Astell. 👍

Comment is about Who Am I (blog)

Original item by Tom Doolan

Yes @Ray Miller, that was a reflection which made the poem too long and too unwieldy. A failed attempt it would seem. 🌷🕊🙏🏻

Comment is about boulevard mirage (blog)

Original item by Red Brick Keshner

Thanks Stephen, I'm pleased you think so. 😃

Thanks also to Red Brick Keshner, Tom, Kimberly, Aisha, Holden and Marla for reading and for liking.

Comment is about The Meeting Tree (blog)

Original item by Tom

I had decided that the word was redundant having used the similar word before, thank you for the advice, appreciated

Comment is about The Iceman Cometh. (blog)

Original item by JD Russell

Hi Ray thanks for the pointers and commenting, I carnt see the woods for the trees sometimes.
No I meant wretched., I have spelt incorrectly its retched. Balter -is to dance clumsily and ungamely...Who knew...not I until two weeks ago...and now you too... oh thank you for persevering with the work...its a bind to write but good to get it off my chest.

Comment is about This Imaginary Life-Part 3 (Nature) (blog)

Original item by Phils Words

I wouldn't disagree with any of it, though you're preaching to the converted here. The length of the lines put me off slightly, but that seems to be the style you've adopted for this series. A few more things I spotted -
wrenched, not wretched
fulfil, not fore fill
don't know what you mean by "balter"

Comment is about This Imaginary Life-Part 3 (Nature) (blog)

Original item by Phils Words

That's very good, imaginative, innovative. I wonder if you might try an alternative to "protesting", having already used protest. Rebellion, dissent?

Comment is about The Iceman Cometh. (blog)

Original item by JD Russell

Enjoyed, some funny lines. Do you mean fondling or foundling?

Comment is about Do You Remember The Worst Time? (blog)

Original item by branwell kent

Enjoyed the images. Just as you mention symmetry, the poem becomes unsymmetrical, or is it asymmetrical. Whatever, are the 4 additional stanzas your attempt to address that?

Comment is about boulevard mirage (blog)

Original item by Red Brick Keshner

Thanks Stephen

Comment is about The Early Egyptians (blog)

Original item by Ray

Thanks for this, Greg. I seem to remember Monica Jones talking of Larkin's 'iron selfishness', which seems to be in evidence here. As you suggest, a love nest only takes you so far.

Comment is about A view of the bridge: the 'love-nest' cottage of Monica Jones and Philip Larkin (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

I love the scope and ambition of this, Ray. A great read.

Comment is about The Early Egyptians (blog)

Original item by Ray

A lovely poem, Clare. There is always a part of us which wants to break free and do the impossible. But 'life' is always there, I suppose. A marvellous read.

Comment is about The Final Goodbye. (blog)

Original item by Clare

Brilliantly funny, Branwell.

Comment is about Do You Remember The Worst Time? (blog)

Original item by branwell kent

Thank you, Ray. I'm pleased that you enjoyed the poem and am grateful for your kind comments.

And thanks to everyone who liked this poem.

Comment is about The Bright Blue Sky (blog)

Original item by Stephen Gospage

That's out my system .

Comment is about This Imaginary Life-Part 3 (Nature) (blog)

Original item by Phils Words

Collage Timetable

Waiting poetic passengers
Stations we become
Respondent train collects
Lines of connection.

Comment is about June 2025 Collage Poem: I Watched the Trains Come, I Watched the Trains Go (blog)

Original item by Stockport WoL