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Jeff Dawson

Sat 26th Nov 2016 07:50

Nice one, like a show home! Quite calm for you this one Laura! Thanx for comments on Bolton Calling! I've spent many an hour on the A666 ! Ha ?

Comment is about Spick and Span (blog)

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Jeff Dawson

Sat 26th Nov 2016 07:44

Hi Ray, many thanks for your comment on 'Bolton Calling', much appreciated! And yes enjoying performing it, going well! Enjoyed reading your Old Kent Road, I think monopoly is first thing that most people think or the pearly kings and queens but I love the references to the Romans here, great stuff on the dirty brown OKR!

cheers Jeff

Comment is about THE OLD KENT ROAD (blog)

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Celia

Fri 25th Nov 2016 23:42

Ha thanks dave.. no, it's the 5.12 from Cambridge. But similar atmosphere I guess!

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Dave Morgan

Fri 25th Nov 2016 22:10

Did you feel the performers you saw at the exhibition were doing something that was categorically different than what we are accustomed to, or were they just particularly good at writing and performance?

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Dave Morgan

Fri 25th Nov 2016 22:04

Cynthia this is a rather beautiful and uplifting poem which in a nutshell encompasses a whole curriculum of teacher education... that which is no longer promoted or which teachers feel unable to implement in their attempt to force the largest number of kids through the SAT mousehole as quickly as possible. Why not just take the time to show them the door? It's big enough for all. Lovely.

Comment is about The Boy Who Conquered Fractions (blog)

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Harry O'Neill

Fri 25th Nov 2016 21:36

M.C.
Now you`ve frightened me!

Look what`s come out!


I`m strainin` me perishin` lug `ole
Attemptin` to figure out why
We all disappear down a plug `ole
When the time comes upon us to die.

Comment is about WASHED UP (blog)

Original item by M.C. Newberry

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raypool

Fri 25th Nov 2016 21:00

Hi Greg; re The Old Kent Road. So pleased you read this , I hoped it might fit the bill. I do so enjoy these cartography exploits. Just like to slip one in now and again.
Of course that word should have been horde, it will be remedied. thanks for spotting it. Re open mikes, I think enjoying what you write is important and trying to infect the listeners. I hope that works for me at least. Not quite ready for a pulpit yet. Re Bricklayers Arms, it started life as a passenger terminus, and i'm sure I read that royal trains ran there at least once . An earlier version of i'm a celebrity get me out of here probably.

all the best as always. Ray

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Greg Freeman

Fri 25th Nov 2016 20:19

Lovely stuff, Ray. A psychogeographer's delight. (I'm guessing "hoard" should be "horde"?) And I'm also guessing that there will be one or two open mics there or thereabouts ...

Comment is about THE OLD KENT ROAD (blog)

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Stu Buck

Fri 25th Nov 2016 18:38

thanks cynthia! and yes you are correct although he will be one in February!

i have a friend who visited tokyo a few years back and told me he used to stand in the middle of akihabara (possibly not spelling that right) and let all the noise and neon wash away the fact that he could not sleep.

Comment is about take me to tokyo where the lights may blind me (blog)

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Cynthia Buell Thomas

Fri 25th Nov 2016 17:01

Don't you have a new baby in the household? If so, life in general must be taxing. Forgive me, if I'm wrong, but something is twinge-ing in my memory.

There are many fine ideas here, and well expressed.

Lights in Tokyo are indeed overwhelming. It sure is a catching title.

Comment is about take me to tokyo where the lights may blind me (blog)

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raypool

Fri 25th Nov 2016 16:49

Colin, i'm glad you got the feel - The Old Kent Road area could be a fitting counterpoint to those grimy northern stongholds as a poetry bash area. There were always a lot of music pubs on the way out of town. Famous and still there is the Thomas a Beckett with a boxing club upstairs, scene of many a blooding. South London was always the poor neighbour but not any longer. Plan away my friend!

Very intuitive response David to pick up the main ingredients - I kept repeating Road to try to reinforce the remorseless nature of the subject, Thanks. As a point of interest, the M25 is a bit like a walled in psychological impasse for me, or an unwelcome centrifuge. Apparently some drivers have lost the plot on the way round (that couldn't be you could it?) I was on it once when my alternator faded and just about got home!

Cynthia thanks for liking this. The word Dance is a playful substitute for a more considered alternative, just came to mind!
Congratulations on getting WOL by the way- a clever and socially commendable contribution.

Ray.

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Cynthia Buell Thomas

Fri 25th Nov 2016 16:48

'Majesty' need not be elaborate, just simply true, and truly simple. Put this in your own wallet to have it with you always. It's that special.

Comment is about unto the newly borne.. (blog)

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Cynthia Buell Thomas

Fri 25th Nov 2016 16:28

Dreaming in colour is a rarity, isn't it? I also dream in colour; no idea why, presuming a perfectly viable, scientific reason. But then, I'm very sensitive to colour in every waking hour, thrillingly so.

I don't know anyone who apologises for their poetry. Why do you call yours 'unapologetic'? The phrase is 'catchingly' alliterative.

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Cynthia Buell Thomas

Fri 25th Nov 2016 16:20

Well thought, and well put.

Comment is about My joy is mine (blog)

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Cynthia Buell Thomas

Fri 25th Nov 2016 16:16

Terrific. The repetition is fabulous and expertly placed.

Comment is about Someone You Know but You Don't Know (blog)

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Cynthia Buell Thomas

Fri 25th Nov 2016 15:58

Enjoyed this, Ray. I like the final stanza; wish there was another word for 'dance' but can't think of one either. So, it's thought-provoking, and that's a good thing always.

Comment is about THE OLD KENT ROAD (blog)

Original item by ray pool

<Deleted User> (13762)

Thu 24th Nov 2016 23:04

love it Ray - the hipsters are gentrifying the city's poorer suburbs whilst the developers gouge holes and replace the bulldozed land with names that echo the past that no-one has an inkling of knowledge of the history - hell, you've got me back on town planning again my friend - all these years my talents have been wasted writing shite poetry!

Old Kent Road and Whitechapel were always my favourite properties on the Monopoly board along with the pinks and oranges. My brother went for the blues, greens, Mayfair and Park Lane - no guessing who always won - I think I'm still paying him back for outstanding rents.

Good night!

Comment is about THE OLD KENT ROAD (blog)

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<Deleted User> (9882)

Thu 24th Nov 2016 21:50

love the poem M.C. but just couldn't resist trying to out-limerick Mr Hill,hence......

Gazing down at red stained water in a slow draining sink
they came in and arrested me and clapped me in clink
cos I absent mindedly forgot to wipe all the blood off the knife
now I go day to day in an orange jumpsuit
for trying to end Colins life.

(I'll get him next time! MWAH-AH-AH-AHHHHH!)

Pardon the lunacy Mr N.


Rose ?

Comment is about WASHED UP (blog)

Original item by M.C. Newberry

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Harry O'Neill

Thu 24th Nov 2016 20:48

I forgot to thank you both for your interest and comments.

Sorry if mine are a bit turgid.

Comment is about About Jumbo (blog)

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Harry O'Neill

Thu 24th Nov 2016 20:40

elPinter and M.C.

Better late than never.

I was surprised to hear that America (To us, the land of the young and go ahead) also has an aging problem. I looked up some stuff on the internet and it was very interesting...Listening to the effect our own perpetual moans about the N.H.S. must have internationally I can now see why the Americans are not so very keen about it.

The point of my blog, is that the root cause of immigration
is low birth rates and the lack of sufficient replacement kids to grow up and become workers (and therefore also
consumers, and taxpayers) in the economy, which leads to the need of substitutes in the form of immigrants to keep the whole caboodle going...This cause of the problem is
studiously ignored in most of the arguments about it.

Barring a huge onset of female broodiness added to an enormous growth of male libido this situation is likely to continue.

I am Just trying to draw attention to it.

M.C. makes some very controversial points (which could set the generations against each other)

Pensions and the N.H.S. are paid for by the re-distribution of income which we call taxation. Large parts of that taxation go to pensioners in the form of pensions and in free health care. We are living longer and more liable to need more care (and our having to pay towards it upsets
us -and our heirs- quite a bit)...But come on Lads! with both rising salaries and house prices we never had it so good- in general - this last thirty or forty years.. (the one`s we poetically rant about are those who have been excluded from the party) with this depression, we`re not
doing so well but that, as the American`s say, `Is the way the cookie crumbles`

M.C. brings up the point of the robotic/electronic effect on redundancy. But at five percent unemployment In both Britain and America there is no redundancy - in fact it is full employment!...The government, by borrowing and increasing the deficit further is keeping the wheels of employment turning. Unfortunately this, cheap money, (and those in work payments causing so much comment) make the achievement of any kind of real `productivity`
(in economic terms) impossible, so how we`re going to fare in the big, tariff-free world of Brexit (and keep full employment) is quite a question.

Maybe the word is not uncertainty - but impossibility?

The question of how we share the fruits of increasing automation among ourselves in the future is going to
take a lot of thinking about.


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Stu Buck

Thu 24th Nov 2016 18:17

quite cohen-esque and lovely

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Green

Thu 24th Nov 2016 18:14

Thanks guys,
your right Colin the 'and' isn't necessary, Thanks! x

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raypool

Thu 24th Nov 2016 17:35

Thanks Colin for the social extra dimension so apt for this poem. What I found fascinating is the contrast of aspirations in the building. Apparently M & S wanted the space but presumably were elbowed out by the ching ching boys, who knows? Your utopian vision would be great with a few twists of arms.
Thanks Stu, I have spent about three pounds in there in the last year, so consider that quite an outlay.
Things are good thanks, now over the cold!

Ray

Comment is about RETAIL RISE AND FALL (blog)

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Greg Freeman

Thu 24th Nov 2016 15:39

Another great night at Write Out Loud Woking on Monday night! Fabulous poetry, a generous supply of audience, and we were pleased to welcome Michael Cutchey to the New Inn for the first time. Thanks also to Peter Morley, Karen Izod, Peter Taylor, Carla Scarano, Ray Pool and Eddie Chauncy. Eddie shared poems from his book Meditations, which is already sold out. We demand a reprint! Thanks also to co-hosts Rodney Wood and Greg Freeman. Next one will be our Christmas gathering, on Monday 19 December - make sure you're there!

Review is about Write Out Loud Woking on 21 Nov 2016 (event)

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Julian (Admin)

Thu 24th Nov 2016 15:08

A superb, informed and fascinating review, Neil. Thank you.

Comment is about Umbrellas of Edinburgh anthology, Freight Books (article)

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Stu Buck

Thu 24th Nov 2016 14:59

brilliant ray. my poundland does pick n mix so im happy but i understand the sentiment! a sing song piece with a really dark message. hope you are well.

Comment is about RETAIL RISE AND FALL (blog)

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Stu Buck

Thu 24th Nov 2016 14:58

beautiful, poignant and pointed. so few words, so many stories that spread from them. proper poetry.

Comment is about as you pass (blog)

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Stu Buck

Thu 24th Nov 2016 14:57

i agree with david, very 'reprogram unit' and 1984. wonderful lilt to the whole piece as well. great stuff.

Comment is about unto the newly borne.. (blog)

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Stu Buck

Thu 24th Nov 2016 14:41

thanks both! fine praise indeed. elP if this somehow finds its way on to your bulletin board i would be most pleased.
this was written last night david during a particularly shite nights sleep so i think you are right. ive been so wrapped up in this god awful book im writing i havent felt i could express myself properly for ages, this is what came out!
im taking the day off today so im looking forward to reading through some of the stuff i have missed on here.

Comment is about take me to tokyo where the lights may blind me (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

elPintor

Thu 24th Nov 2016 13:29

I would definitely call them prisons..quite a depressing thought but there's no getting out of it until the big sleep. I was thinking about your comment while getting cleaned up this morning and it seems to me that societal institutions seek either to harness, overcome, or destroy..I suppose that's the prison we're born into.

Thanks for your comments, David.

elP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjcwXSmY294

..bet you can't guess who I've been listening to this morning..

Comment is about unto the newly borne.. (blog)

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dorinda macdowell

Thu 24th Nov 2016 12:09

Congratulations, Cynthia! It's bloomin brilliant! - Dorinda x

Comment is about 'The Boy Who Conquered Fractions' by Cynthia Buell Thomas is Write Out Loud Poem of the Week (article)

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Greg Freeman

Thu 24th Nov 2016 10:00

Nicely put, Jimmy. Needs to be said.

Comment is about Fall back (blog)

Original item by Jimmy Andrex

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John Coopey

Thu 24th Nov 2016 09:16

Thanks, Colin. I should do a Compendium of Verse about Pentland Javelins. As you rightly say, it's what poetry's been missing.

Comment is about GARDEN OF LOVE (YOUR MOTHER'S SYCAMORE TREE) (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

<Deleted User> (13762)

Thu 24th Nov 2016 08:00

nice one Ray - with online shopping and out of town malls these behemoth high street stores seem to have been left behind and somehow have no place in the modern day shopping experience. Mine's a B&M Bargains - never been in it and probably never will. These stores are all a false economy sucking the last pennies from the poor in the belief they are getting a bargain.

I don't miss Woolies. But I blame the council for sky high rents and the lack of vision in not repurposing these big buildings. We need at least one in the centre of every town, subdivided into small retail outlets for local artists, artisans, craftfolk, producers etc. Bring back the nation of shopkeepers in all their local splendour. Well that's my great scheme.

cheers mate.

Comment is about RETAIL RISE AND FALL (blog)

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elPintor

Thu 24th Nov 2016 01:24

I want to print this and post it to my bulletin board..hope you don't mind me saying so, but I like it that much. Quite swift follow-throughs in the imagery you use and the trails of thought you express.

elP

Comment is about take me to tokyo where the lights may blind me (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

Jemima Jones

Wed 23rd Nov 2016 20:26

Ray,getting the impression(no pun intended re my Van Gogh poem)that you are something of a film buff,may I ask if you have seen the Kirk Douglas portrayal of Van Gogh,in the film titled 'Lust for life' ? If you haven't,I strongly suggest that you 'Net' it-pun intended! Thank you.Jemima.

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Tommy Carroll

Wed 23rd Nov 2016 19:01

CBT: What exactly abt 'AmeriKana USA' do you not agree with Cynthia? :- )

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John Coopey

Wed 23rd Nov 2016 18:57

Two great lyricists, Hill and Barker. The original of this is viewable on YouTube, MC, and is classic.

Comment is about GARDEN OF LOVE (YOUR MOTHER'S SYCAMORE TREE) (blog)

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M.C. Newberry

Wed 23rd Nov 2016 17:54

Ooo - roll those eyes and leer ? Benny Hill's naughty
lines preceded the style used by Ronnie Barker to good
effect later on.

Comment is about GARDEN OF LOVE (YOUR MOTHER'S SYCAMORE TREE) (blog)

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raypool

Wed 23rd Nov 2016 16:49

Jeff although from the south I admire and respect the sheer warp and weft of your poem - a wonderful bombardment of detail and all soaked in character. There is never going to be a comparable example south of Watford, unless you count Betjeman's examples of course !
Definitely one to listen to live .

Ray

Comment is about Bolton Calling! (blog)

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Alem Hailu G/Kristos

Wed 23rd Nov 2016 14:20

Thanks!

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darkdukeuk

Wed 23rd Nov 2016 14:00

I consider myself more of a lyric writer and it is others who liken some of my work to poems. As a record producer I am also well aware of how enhanced you can make the song atmosphere by production and music.
But one of my favourite experiences was going to something called 'Naked Poetry' in Tampa Bay Florida some years ago purely as a spectator but one of the poets there had my latest music album featuring my songs (with a band) and insisted I get up and do a reading. I was reluctant and I told them I'm just a songwriter but they said they thought my lyrics were often like poetry so I got up and did a few and they went down extremely well resulting in a magazine interview and lots of interest in my latest album. But one comment stuck out' One girl said she loved my beatnik delivery. I didn't really know what that was but assumed that because many people read out poetry in a monotone fashion and I red mine with a rhythm of the melody of the song that's what they meant.
At the end of the day whether its purely on the page, read out live or in a song if it touches you and someone likes it then its worthwhile and who are we to tell someone sorry its not poetry. There should be no boxes or restrictions to any art form and that's the way I approach all my artistic endeavours.
Thanks for everybodies contribution to this blog. R

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<Deleted User> (13762)

Wed 23rd Nov 2016 13:21

like this one Cat - some good ideas floating around despite the menagerie of geese, cats and mice. Look forward to reading some more from you.

Comment is about Goose on the loose (blog)

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Martin Elder

Wed 23rd Nov 2016 09:22

Very well deserved indeed Cynthia. I remember you reading this the other night. I particularly love the line
'dragging chains of failure'
congratulations

Comment is about 'The Boy Who Conquered Fractions' by Cynthia Buell Thomas is Write Out Loud Poem of the Week (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

<Deleted User> (13762)

Wed 23rd Nov 2016 08:22

Ho Ho Ho - Christmas poems are coming round earlier and earlier too Trev

agree with elP - maybe Trump tearing up the Asian trade agreement might mean less Chinese tat coming your way. Alas not for us tho.

Merry Christmas!?

Comment is about Christmas Is Not Here Yet! (blog)

Original item by Trevor Alexander

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Kevin Pugh

Wed 23rd Nov 2016 07:08

Stay in touch

Comment is about Greed (blog)

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elPintor

Wed 23rd Nov 2016 07:06

I appreciate your sentiments, Trevor..thanks for letting me get that off my chest.

elP

Comment is about Christmas Is Not Here Yet! (blog)

Original item by Trevor Alexander

Travis Brow

Wed 23rd Nov 2016 07:02

Cynthia, I can identify with the sentiment you express so well; a topic of the utmost importance. I help my seven year old nephew with his homework and on those occasions when he figures something out for himself, a certain kind of smile plays about his mouth; a display of nascent pride. Congratulations on POTW, and more so on the help and inspiration you've provided for those like the lad in your poem.

Comment is about The Boy Who Conquered Fractions (blog)

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Trevor Alexander

Wed 23rd Nov 2016 00:54

Don't get me wrong, I quite like Christmas as a secular feast myself (when it does actually get here!). There's nothing wrong with celebrating friendships and familyships(?) with parties, and giving/receiving gifts. Sometimes wish the spirit of Christmas lasted through the whole year - peace and goodwill to all men and all that! But the commercialisation is indeed way over the top.

One of my ways to protest about it is the cd 'Bah Humbug' that I trot out around this time of year, with tracks such as 'Santa Bloody Claus' and 'He's the Man Who Slits The Turkey's Throats At Christmas'.

OK, that's my Victor Meldrew moment over too!

Comment is about Christmas Is Not Here Yet! (blog)

Original item by Trevor Alexander

elPintor

Wed 23rd Nov 2016 00:32

Why Trevor, dontcha know? If we don't buy christmas presents and all those bloody ridiculous decorations and put them up on black effin friday (an americanism, i know), millions of poorly fed chinese may starve..

Maybe when we finally truly become a secular society that isn't masquerading under archaic representations of a homogenized and bastardized religion, they'll finally change the name to what it is--National Capitalist Day..what an ironic way to overcome the reds...

bleck!

elP

btw
If you don't recognize it, my apologies, that's a right sarcastic rant that may make little sense to you. However, thanks for bringing this up..it makes me glad that I've chosen to pretty much ignore the whole rotten thing until the day it actually arrives.

Comment is about Christmas Is Not Here Yet! (blog)

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