Hi Peter. We did have the number of days in the countdown wrong just after the competition opened. Well noticed. It was our mistake so no need for apols. It has been fixed now.

Comment is about Deadline nears for Wolf poetry competition (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

this is easy "I gift you" always..

Comment is about I wish.. But (blog)

Original item by Ankita Srivastava

For some understanding (perhaps):
https://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/220/testosterone

From a woman who became a man...

Comment is about Objectify Me (blog)

Original item by mikaylamez

Hi Trevor, congratulations on POTW. Just goes to show that there is certain advantages to commuting by train, such as inspiration for great poetry.

All the best des

Comment is about 'Early Train' by Trevor Alexander is Write Out Loud Poem of the Week (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Thanks for the comments Leon, Patricia and Stefan. I was at the Protectors camp in Kirby Misperton in North Yorkshire's last weekend, and people were trying to think of songs to sing because it gets boring standing around at the gate to the fracking site all day if there's no trucks going in, so I got thinking about classic pop songs with lyrics I could subvert while driving home. Really we need something with a good singalong chorus though...maybe I'll come up with something easier.

Comment is about Yesterday (blog)

Original item by Tim Ellis

Thanks for your comments and your advice C?L, as you can see I have edited per your advice and I think you are right. The shorter lines do give the lines more emphasis and the poem more punch.
I was a bit dubious of removing the lidless eyes and gaping mouth bits, but I do think it works. Thanks for the advice, it’s always welcome.

All the best,des

Comment is about Seeping River (blog)

Original item by DESMOND CHILDS

Thank you Suki for your comments, they are much appreciated.
Poe-like,that’s a big compliment thanks, des

Comment is about Seeping River (blog)

Original item by DESMOND CHILDS

Delightful, fast and pointed. With much flair for words. Great ending.

Do you mean 'unpresentable' (which my computer rejects) or is it a word I just don't know?

Comment is about Perceptions (blog)

Original item by Jennifer Malden

Punchy and tender simultaneously. Much enjoyed.

Comment is about pledge drive promises (blog)

Original item by Robert C Gaulke

Welcome to WOL. I like your honesty. You will find many 'sad' poets here to match your current mood. But lots of cheerful and cheering ones too. After a bit, you might actually reconsider only sad poems. Or, at least, not so sad.

Keep writing. Neat little piece under your bio. I had to laugh. You have a good touch with self-humour.

Comment is about Rose Davis (poet profile)

Original item by Rose Davis

Hard-hitting and only too accurate in many situations. Very well expressed with sincerity and style. An interesting viewpoint, speaking after the fact, whether by death or some kind of hospitalization.

Comment is about After I Was Gone (blog)

Original item by Rose Davis

Tia, welcome to WOL. You sure sound like a kindred soul, age notwithstanding. Writing, travelling, people, music and smiling - in a splendid nutshell. Totally agree.

Cynthia

Comment is about Tia Lattanzio (poet profile)

Original item by Tia Lattanzio

Really good, with tension maintained and developed well, right to the very end, climaxed with 'a smile' and ' speech' from the invader. I hope it's not a real experience.

It boggles the mind, but I've been considering posting my own work called 'Woman in a Corner' written years ago. Perhaps I still will, and you will be shocked at the similarity.

Comment is about A Criminal Mind (blog)

Original item by Tia Lattanzio

All,
Thanks for taking time to read my work and the comments.
Cynthia,
I misspelled lonely. Thanks, I'll fix it.

Comment is about Missing you from me (blog)

Original item by 220August

I like this a lot. Very clever and sincere too.

Are you deliberately using 'loanly' or do you mean 'lonely' - 'alone'? I could work with either, but it is a stretch. Genuinely interested.

Comment is about Missing you from me (blog)

Original item by 220August

Trevor, Well done. So many of us are able to relate to this type of situation yet you have articulated it with real expertise. Thank you. Keith

Comment is about Early Train (blog)

Original item by Trevor Alexander

Hello Duncan, This is a cleverly though out poem and reflects how dreams can be so disjointed. Your rhyming is also very good. I found it both amusing and enjoyable. Thank you. Keith

Comment is about Another one from the crazy dream collection ( as yet untitled) (blog)

Original item by Duncan McKenzie Ross

unusual but nice piece Alex

Comment is about Visiting (blog)

Original item by Alex Smith

I hate to say it but I feel the same... ?

Comment is about After I Was Gone (blog)

Original item by Rose Davis

the kinda thought food I love

Comment is about To the Fools (blog)

Original item by Chunks and Marrow

literary drowning and dripping with imagery. Nice work Desmond.

I have a couple of suggestions if I may. Firstly, is the repetition of 'gaping' and 'lidless eyes' needed? Secondly, where you have commas I would choose to start a new line, for example:

The river flows turbid
barely moving

I think to spread this out would give each short line greater impact and clarity.

All the best. Col.

PS: weirs are frightening places and just the word is enough to send shivers down the spine. As Suki implied, the word sits well within the context of the poem alongside turbid, stagnant, detritus, decay, lidless, eddies and others.

Comment is about Seeping River (blog)

Original item by DESMOND CHILDS

Thank you, Hannah, Philip, Danny!

Comment is about Things that make me smile!! (blog)

Original item by Burning Aspirations

So true!!

Comment is about After I Was Gone (blog)

Original item by Rose Davis

HI Suki. I worked for the BBC and a government ministry and was familiar with the kind of Orwellian double think stuff before computers took over churned out day by day before being shredded. Mind numbing stuff, the sort of thing that almost made the world go backwards.
Thanks for posting. Excellent stuff.
Ray

Comment is about A Notice To All Interested Stakeholders Of This Blog (blog)

Original item by Suki Spangles

Hi Desmond,

Turbid ~ a top poetry word, and perfect for this poem>

Haunting verse, Poe-like. That's a compliment btw.

Thanks for sharing.

Suki

Comment is about Seeping River (blog)

Original item by DESMOND CHILDS

Hi all,

Graham ~ if I ever have to work in that postcode area I think I will cry a lot. Years ago I worked in Soho, but in a shelter opposite the Groucho Club.. Need I say more!

Col ~ You are nearer to the truth than you think! I laughed reading this. My method now is I write pretty much all my poems on a note document on my mobile phone during my commutes, and then at home I work on the final draft before uploading on my blog, and sometimes here on WOL. You are right though, I stare out into the middle distance often, and I have missed my stop sometimes..

David ~ I agree totally: show don't tell.
I wrote this poem a few years back, and I revisited it last week to tweak and edit. The inspiration for this was a wacky Human Resources document that was even worse than the crap in my poem. Then I watched the Bjork video, and my aha! moment arrived.

Thank you all for your kind words, and Likes too Glad it put a smile on your faces. Job done. I had great fun writing, and then rewriting this.

Suki

Comment is about A Notice To All Interested Stakeholders Of This Blog (blog)

Original item by Suki Spangles

Thanks Suki for your encouraging words on "I wish, But."

Happy Reading and Writing,
Ankita ?

Comment is about Suki Spangles (poet profile)

Original item by Suki Spangles

You have managed to create a picture of your loved one the fun you had the times together his blue eyes the closeness of your relationship then the sorrow of his declining health so very true in many of our lives when we are faced with losing some one we truly love.
I've just read a picture of your loved one and seen the person that he is .
Well done Paul. Christine

Comment is about A Picture of You (blog)

Original item by Pauliegreg

Ha ha the sea dog he had us all with that one so funny and a typical day out at the seaside making your fun alas does not seem to tbe around in these modern times .
Great fun summer Southport days I remember them well.
Christine

Comment is about The Sea Dog (blog)

Original item by Jon Darby

Touching sad thought full this poem just takes the reader on an unknown journey into the life of a lonely man re ching out for acceptance .
Loved the last stanza were you met up with him once again we have a long way to go but poems like this change our perseptions.
Thank you and keep these poems coming look forward to your next one .
Always thought provoking.
Christine

Comment is about Remembering James (blog)

Original item by Jon Darby

Witty and smart Jennifer and nicely turned; well said.

Ray

Comment is about The boyfriend (blog)

Original item by Jennifer Malden

I really thought it was going to be a person that they were all mourning. I did like the descriptions.

Only this week I was speaking to a lady who was recently widowed, she was convinced that a new star came out on the day of her husband's death, and only reappears on the anniversary


I liked the poem by the way, especially the first line

Cheers Kevin

Comment is about 21st September (blog)

Original item by Jennifer Malden

I am pleased to know, that your interest lies with English. I have already requested Sabrina Agha, to post English translation for this poem. Hope she will do it ASAP.

Comment is about Arzoo (02) (blog)

Original item by Mirza Sharafat Hussain Beigh

Aaishah, Thank you for your comment. Keith

Comment is about The Rat Race (blog)

Original item by keith jeffries

Thanks everyone for your comments. I must have touched some nerves with those quoted lines - delving into the ridiculous I feel is a liberty that can stir the imagination. Meeting pet subjects head on I think is often not that powerful. I wanted to convey the post death confusion suffered by those at the mercy of extremists expecting something more glorious. Who knows what awaits - if anything? All you observations are appreciated. I am not on drugs by the way, but I like my ovaltine shaken not stirred.

Thank you Emer for your like on this!

Love to all . Ray

Comment is about PARADISE LOST (blog)

Original item by ray pool

Yeah Natasha, I feel the same... It has some free writing in it. I don't question the muse. Tell them to go bother Tom Waits or Lenard Cohan (RIP). Someone who can make something of the donation.

Edit (1/25/18)To build you must destroy. With the destruction we prosper but with a loss of ourselves, however slight.

Comment is about Fall and Foster (blog)

Original item by 220August

Thank you Hannah, much appreciated

Comment is about An Angel (blog)

Original item by David T Jones

Thanks for the comment Col, I had no idea how this one was going to work out. I'm glad it gave you a gentle landing.

Comment is about Beatification and snacks (blog)

Original item by David T Jones

Cheers Col, I can see how addictive they are, great discipline though.

Comment is about Being (blog)

Original item by David T Jones

Thanks Keith and thanks Colin, your feedback is much appreciated ?

Comment is about Raking up the past (blog)

Original item by David T Jones

You could get a job on the team at W1A

Comment is about A Notice To All Interested Stakeholders Of This Blog (blog)

Original item by Suki Spangles

Colin, David and Desmond, thank you for your comments on The Rat Race. They are much appreciated. Keith

Comment is about The Rat Race (blog)

Original item by keith jeffries

careful David, they can become addictive! I have a tendency of spewing them out on Twitter - mainly for my own amusement! - especially as this type of micro-poetry fits easily within the 140 character limit. good luck with your haiku career should you decide to embark on it. cheers. col.

Comment is about Being (blog)

Original item by David T Jones

how did I miss this beauty. totally wow and awesome. I hope my comment draws more readers back to it. glad I found it. cheers. col.

Comment is about Raking up the past (blog)

Original item by David T Jones

you lifted me up and dropped me back to earth so gently with the promise of 'hot chocolate, warm crumpets and a fine autumn day'. I now feel suitably beatified and snacked out. Sunday bliss and as Keith said, masterful. Cheers David. Col.

Comment is about Beatification and snacks (blog)

Original item by David T Jones

love it Mike - one of those poems I imagine is difficult to stop writing when the mind is in full flow. Col.

Comment is about You're Fizzy (blog)

Original item by mike booth

the twenty-first century satirical post-rock humorist at his finest with a little help from the Icelandic berserkur.

I always picture you sitting in an office staring out the window composing your pieces and quite lost to your thoughts. perhaps your work colleagues muttering to themselves: ah there he goes again, lost to his poetry. until you are snapped back to reality by the rattle of the tea trolley. I'm sure your life is nothing like that but I like to imagine.

you remain, dear sir, a source of much inspiration. btw I mentally added in passing the word 'spin' between 'spiritual' and 'cycle'. hope you don't mind?

cheers. col.

Comment is about A Notice To All Interested Stakeholders Of This Blog (blog)

Original item by Suki Spangles

with greatest of respect Mirza could you provide an English translation please?



P&S xx

Comment is about Arzoo (02) (blog)

Original item by Mirza Sharafat Hussain Beigh

and us beatlemaniacs agree.



P&S xx

Comment is about Yesterday (blog)

Original item by Tim Ellis

Hi Greg. I cld have sworn that the number of days left before close had been stated as 27 - but it's (now) 57, so no discrepancy! Apols.
Peter

Comment is about Deadline nears for Wolf poetry competition (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman