I was waiting for the punch line at the end. Nice one! And thanks for the feedback on my poems too, really appreciated.

I also just read the poem "Kid". I imagine that is a great poem to perform.

Cheers,
Suki

Comment is about Spontaneous human combustion (blog)

Original item by Matt

Jesus

Really, really powerful and raw

Comment is about "S 'n' M" (blog)

Original item by Rick Gammon

thank you very much guys for your kind words!

Comment is about 'Poem' by Chris Laverty is Write Out Loud's Poem of the Week (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Thank you to all three of you for commenting. My apologies for not replying to you each individually. Much appreciated

Comment is about Lustful company (blog)

Original item by Alexandra Lorenz

Very kind, gents. Thanks.

Comment is about Introspection (acrostic) (blog)

Original item by David Lindsay

Words any man would be proud to be remembered by.
Share what you have when it brings hope and pleasure.
Keep it to yourself if it won't make that measure.

Comment is about Glasnevin Reminiscing (blog)

Original item by Tom Doolan

Ian - thanks, as always, for the considered reply.
I think we can both agree about the tragedy of all
such incidents "over there". Never was a country
"conceived in liberty" such a victim of its own origins.
I continue to believe that the most important duty
is to approach all such happenings with a detached
and impartial desire for the truth, unfettered by
conditioning or prejudice. That's all.

Comment is about Lady Liberty Weeps (blog)

Original item by Ian Whiteley

Excellent, first class transportation. Has a Steinbeck feel to it for me. I love "mired in static" and the repetition of the line about meeting.

Ray

Comment is about Saloon (blog)

Original item by David Blake

That's interesting Stuart, sort of catches the breath. As a rope might.
Dom.

Comment is about rope (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

I read an obituary and listened to the radio remembrance spot on Friday: there was a tantalising fragment of his poetry included there, but beyond Mercian Hymns, which I wasn't wild about, and the curious passions of a couple of other pieces I haven't been sold on this famous poet. Can anyone offer some recommendations here?

Comment is about Sir Geoffrey Hill, former Oxford professor of poetry, dies aged 84 (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Chris's love of Keats is overtly apparent in this piece. Well done for getting POTW.

Comment is about 'Poem' by Chris Laverty is Write Out Loud's Poem of the Week (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

oh great minds laura

Comment is about 'Poem' by Chris Laverty is Write Out Loud's Poem of the Week (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

i loved this when it first appeared. a worthy victor. i love lots of poems every day but i always judge the truly great ones on one factor. how many lines would i steal/can i not believe havent already been written. this contains two in a row;

as I, on dream's soft fabric gently tread,

while stealing slices of sleep before daylight

and says as much in its few lines than many poems do in twice as many.

good stuff indeed.

Comment is about 'Poem' by Chris Laverty is Write Out Loud's Poem of the Week (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Hi Ed :) Thanks for the like on Shared Dreams xx Much appreciated.

Comment is about Ed Kynaston (poet profile)

Original item by Ed Kynaston

A beautiful poem this, I especially love:

as I, on dream's soft fabric gently tread,

while stealing slices of sleep before daylight.


mmmMMM. Well done Chris, richly deserved :)

Comment is about 'Poem' by Chris Laverty is Write Out Loud's Poem of the Week (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Hahahaaa :D :D Fantastic Suki :D

Comment is about Poem of the Week (blog)

Original item by Suki Spangles

I've visited this place Alexandra, in my own life. I'm drawn to your darkness In a familiar way. I love it because I feel your pain, you're able to articulate your emotions really well. Dope

Comment is about Lustful company (blog)

Original item by Alexandra Lorenz

Deep, and so dope. I know exactly what you mean. I think I do anyway, excellent work. Beautifully written

Comment is about Caroline (poet profile)

Original item by Caroline

Thank you Stu! I appreciate your comments as always

Comment is about The Process (blog)

Original item by Alexandra Lorenz

cheers ray. life does indeed go on. how fruitless our attempts at parity!

Comment is about inter arma enim silent leges (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

I just read your review of the Bronte poetry event and love the journalistic skill - apropos of nothing I picked up the mention of Frank Ifield by Terry Andrex. Curiously I worked with him at Scarborough Floral Hall in 1977. I had done the journey in an Austin Countryman to be with one of the dancers (19, I was 33), so you can see why.
There was almost a skirmish as Frank had his eye on her from the start. I don't think he pulled her but I was off balance and maybe she played on my jealousy a bit. You can't keep a good yodeller down I say.

Thanks for reading Ray (Southern Jessie!)

Comment is about Greg Freeman (poet profile)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Half plea half attack half defence - that makes 150% poem. Great lines especially tuning forks ...... an incredible smorgasbord of imagery.

And life goes on.

Ray

Comment is about inter arma enim silent leges (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

Hi Ray - Thanks for feedback. He was a great man. One of a kind. Slainte, Tom

Comment is about Glasnevin Reminiscing (blog)

Original item by Tom Doolan

thanks! glad you liked it. sometimes down and dirty is the best way!

Comment is about inter arma enim silent leges (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

Thanks for commenting, Ray..I kept getting a picture of something being lobbed but realized that my trajectory really isn't quite that certain.

elP

ps
maybe "fixed" is a better word than "certain"..

Comment is about volatile (blog)

Original item by nunya

I think this is absolutely brilliant, Stu..lots of real down and dirty imagery to effect disillusionment with these small worlds man makes.

elP

Comment is about inter arma enim silent leges (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

A pleasing mix of the mundane and the metaphor for
the hold that love has on us in its various ways.

Comment is about 'Imagine being so light as to float above water in love' (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Dreamlike in many senses - something about these lines
brings to mind those about Kubla-Khan and its writer's
flights of imagination.

Comment is about 'Poem' by Chris Laverty is Write Out Loud's Poem of the Week (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Harry - your question is deserving of close consideration.
In this day and age, "intelligence" is the most valuable
currency. Without it, we are blundering around in the
dark, unable to differentiate between fact and fiction
when so many other factors come into play, especially
in far-off nations with newly emergent means to
purchase the latest war weapons with which to achieve
dominance over their perceived enemies. There is
irony in the way the oil that lubricates the wheels of
the modern world now provides the lands which supply it
with the ways to achieve a threatening supremacy
over their neighbours, still based on ancient tribal and
ethnic differences. The Middle-East is a hot-spot
of tensions dating back centuries, yet there is still an
inability by "The West" to keep up with what is going
on there in a constantly evolving state of affairs,
when yesterday's enemy is today's new-found ally...
and vice versa.
Ergo. removing one dictator without foreseeing the
risk of admitting another on to the world stage needs
the utmost care before approving any operation, not
only for its hoped-for success but also the aftermath
- something that went disastrously wrong in the Bush/ Blair enthusiasm for the removal of Saddam Hussein.
But the cauldron still bubbles with barely restrained
antagonisms and ambitions.
Iraq, Iran, Israel - Oy, Oy, Oy!!

Comment is about A PERFORMANCE (blog)

Original item by M.C. Newberry

this is great. i genuinely had no idea what it was describing until the last lines. lots of lovely language too.

Comment is about The Process (blog)

Original item by Alexandra Lorenz

we will have to agree to disagree MC
my point is about American gun culture breeding unnecessary murders of innocent people - black, white and 'other' - as well as cops.
The difference is that the police are sworn to protect - it doesn't matter what colour anyone is - but the evidence suggest that beatings and killings are more prevalent against the black community.
It is too easy for the police to abuse their position as gun carriers when there is little or no perceived threat - as appears to be the case in this case.
If they 'take out' a criminal - as in the Dallas response - no one can argue that that is the right thing to do - I do not believe it correct to shoot someone in their own car for no reason - in this case a black, gun license holder reaching for his license as requested by the law officer.

Comment is about Lady Liberty Weeps (blog)

Original item by Ian Whiteley

Ian - the content and power of your poem is not denied.
It's always valued being to debate the points you raise in your thoughtful blogs.
My own misgivings centre on the way the media - even
more available via online dissemination in this global world
- make a "rush to judgement" about the tragic deaths
involving police action and those in their sights in modern America.
You seem to corroborate this approach with the words
in your second paragraph about the killing by "a cop" of
"a black man", asking the question: "would this have
happened if the man in the car had been white?" then
supplying your own answer: "Very probably not".
Therein, I suggest, lies the damaging presumption that
needs to be challenged. America has its own history,
and part of that does include a substantial amount of
crime - especially violent/ often gang and drug-related,
which sees an disproportionate ratio of black and hispanic inmates occupying US penal institutions.
This forms a big part of the scenario that some would
try to explain away or ignore, rather than face as the
festering social sore that it represents. Against this
background, the police are expected to step forward daily and face the unknown from their public, large numbers of which are actively encouraged & convinced
by vested/victim-orientated interests to view them as "the enemy", despite those in police ranks drawn from
varied ethnic origins.
Let me mention one example of how distortion can be
used to manipulate the reality to deceive. When the
video of "black motorist" Rodney King was given world-
wide media publicity and the LA Police roundly condemned for beating him with their batons, what was
not shown but apparently available to the Grand Jury
that declined to indict the officers involved, was the
preceding footage (edited by the media) that showed
King, a suspected drunk driver who had been pursued
by both the California Highway Patrol and the LAPD,
rushing at the officers (including a woman) on being
eventually stopped and challenged. A large and
threatening criminal, King suffered the consequences
- as did the officers (no guns used) under intense public
criticism for their actions. I suspect that if King had
been white, he would have "probably" got some of the
same until he was amenable to arrest.
"It's a fair cop, I'll come quietly" is not widely known in a country which has a history firmly rooted in its gun culture, its habit of making heroes of villains - and its
ongoing substantial social divisions, not helped by selective headlines like "Police Shoot Black".

Comment is about Lady Liberty Weeps (blog)

Original item by Ian Whiteley

M.C.
I couldn`t stop tittering to myself in church this morning at your fetching the poor Pope into Tony Blair`s troubles...I know the Pope is an `Argie`...but `uneasy conciences`...you`ve absolutely made my Sunday :)

How about this one:

`Dark night in the Vatican:

POPE...Listen, Tone, what do think are the chances of marching into Canterbury and freeing the English from
that vicious religious dictator Welsby?

Tony...Yeah...but will I get absolution?

Pope...Done!

(Exit conspirators into the shadows) `

It`s been great fun, but to get back to the question:

Do think that it might ever be right to forcibly disarm a dictator before he had time to develop nuclear weapons?

Comment is about A PERFORMANCE (blog)

Original item by M.C. Newberry

thanks so much for the 'likes' and the kind and supportive comments on this piece.
Just a response to MC
I'm not sure whether you are agreeing or disagreeing with the points I make here - I suspect the latter. Let me make it clear - this is not meant as a pro or anti anybody poem. It is about a cycle of hate and prejudice triggered by a medieval gun law in a country that is supposed to be the 'leader of the free world.
Where a cop - who is pledged to 'protect and serve' kills a black man who is 'licensed to carry' - for what reason? would this have happened if the man in the car had been white? very probably not. Because the police seem to be indoctrinated that 'black = threat' when, in fact, it should be 'proven violent criminal = threat'.
Consequently - an illegal, homicidal gun owner - takes it upon himself to 'avenge' a killing by targeting members of a force that is there to 'protect and serve' and in a huge majority do just that.
What is unacceptable is the fact that this situation is triggered by men of violence - whether in uniform and badged or in militia combats and un-badged.
Neither are right.
Both are wrong.
It's cyclical - but if the attitude by some police forces to target black people as criminals and violently react to the slightest provocation by over indulgence - and it is their responsibility not to do that if they don't want to be bracketed with the criminals - is not altered, then there will be more violence.
After all - if police forces do not treat everyone equally - and the justice system of a country does not protect that balance - then why are we surprised if the true criminal elements within any society react with violence?
Rant over

Comment is about Lady Liberty Weeps (blog)

Original item by Ian Whiteley

Love it! Spot on

Comment is about Poem of the Week (blog)

Original item by Suki Spangles

thanks for your continued supportive comments on 'Lady Liberty Weeps' Simon

Comment is about Simon Widdop (poet profile)

Original item by Simon Widdop

an interesting take no less. glad i have stoked the fires in such few words.

Comment is about borealis haiku (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

Thanks David and Stu for the appreciation, and David for the idea which I fleshed out. Humour must out in the ridiculousness of true life. You have been kind of late.

Ray

Comment is about THE GREEN GREEN GRASS AT DORTMUND (blog)

Original item by ray pool

What a fantastic and marvellous concept at the closing of the poem, and for me the parallel contains a black humour, a sort of wry acceptance of the inevitable so eloquently expressed.

Ray

Comment is about volatile (blog)

Original item by nunya

I like this Stu. Interestingly I have a railway signal in mind against a night sky - a fond image for me. A haiku should fire up the imagination and that you've done.

Ray

Comment is about borealis haiku (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

Very special this Tom. Instantly communicated in a most natural way without blarney. I feel privileged to be the first to comment. I hope you will read this to an audience - much better than a sermon.

Ray

Comment is about Glasnevin Reminiscing (blog)

Original item by Tom Doolan

Love it

Comment is about A.august (poet profile)

Original item by A.august

introspection..a somewhat dreadful process when performed only for the sake of itself..yet your writing divulges its true purpose in elevating us beyond ourselves..I must agree with Stuart..a beautifully arranged piece of work

elP

Comment is about Introspection (acrostic) (blog)

Original item by David Lindsay

Like Stockholm Syndrome in the end..

the violence here is so hard to approach..the nature of a boy's sacrifice for a loved one is beyond my words..

A very emotional piece of work..moving enough to preclude praise..makes me wonder if we can ever co-exist peacefully beyond our earthly human labels of race, ethnicity, and religion.

elPintor

Comment is about Janissary (1) (blog)

Original item by John E Marks

Very funny take on the fun of poem of the week. There's a clear copyright infringement over that cucumber sandwich line though. I'll contact my solicitor on Monday... This is war!!! ;)

Comment is about Poem of the Week (blog)

Original item by Suki Spangles

lots of hints of madness here and overall its a comic poem but

the sun has not been kind of late

is such a fantastic stand alone line that it instills the whole piece with a strange sense of loss.

enjoyed greatly.

Comment is about THE GREEN GREEN GRASS AT DORTMUND (blog)

Original item by ray pool

But who acts for the officer who is faced with non-
compliance to his orders and violent resistance to
arrest? How do you reason with someone who will not
listen or who does not/will not do what is demanded of them in a country where hundreds of law officers are
killed and wounded each year, often when stopping
people...shot from a vehicle at a roadside by those whose hands are not visible and who fail to show them on demand, except when a gun appears in the hand?
The dash cameras of US police vehicles often show just
how those approached by officers fail to comply with
directions given to them - often repeatedly - and place
police in immediate defence mode in the knowledge that
their own death could be a moment away. It is also
the case that these cameras have offered evidence
of police misbehaviour that results in officers being
disciplined/dismissed...something rarely publicised.
The media approach seems to be focussed on the racial
ethnicity of anyone who is subject to police action in
preference to providing "background, evidence and cause".
If a man is shot, it is highlighted that he is "black" -
but when has it been the case that this emphasis is
afforded to those of other ethnic origins? I can't recall
such an event but I'm ready to be proved wrong.
America has its history to deal with - exacerbated by
the resort to firearms - but the reality of what is
happening deserves not to be distorted by selective
irresponsible reporting that fans the spark of social
unrest and division. The black chief of police in Dallas
was dignified and responsible in his reaction to the
murder of his officers, a stark contrast to the mobs
that take to the streets to protest about unproven racial motivations behind police actions.

Comment is about Lady Liberty Weeps (blog)

Original item by Ian Whiteley

this is really brilliant. i find acrostics very difficult to write, but the ease and grace with which this one is pulled off is fairly mind blowing. i have a real respect for works like this. the piece would be excellent on its own, even without the acrostic element, but added in it makes it really worth while. i am suitably impressed and more than a little jealous.

Comment is about Introspection (acrostic) (blog)

Original item by David Lindsay

A truth - but it invites quantifying.
Speak up if you have something to say that contributes
to humanity's good order and peaceful progress.
There is always a season for good reason
A winter of discontent must avoid any evil meant.

Comment is about The Voiceless (blog)

Original item by Shirley Smothers

Dear Beth thank you for your comments... war is and always has been and always will be an ugly business. Before action things become tunnel vision, routines are a distraction, words lose meaning, so little is said other then reassurance, small jokes, and above all nothing to betray fear... which is why the hands are the betrayal. This is still how it is dealt with now.

LCPT its amazing isn't it, you are so right that common place is reached for in these circumstances, reassurance to banish fear... but mainly to be able to believe your not alone.
Thank you.

Comment is about 'Betrayed by the hands' by Phil Kay is Write Out Loud Poem of the Week (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman