"..I do maintain that this is an exceptional ad campaign, in so far as we’re reading our own poems (albeit to their brief). As I said before, if I’d been reading a rhyming jingle about interest rates for first-time buyers then yes, that’d be a complete sell-out. But this is a marriage of my words and their message.."

Comment is about 'It's a marriage of my words and their message' - Matt Abbott on the Nationwide TV ads (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

thanks suki! its very much open for interpretation, i tend to just write a stream of consciousness, rarely if ever edit and very often dont even derive a meaning myself until it is finished. this leaves it very open ended. who knows, i get a guy that was in a car crash, is now suffering in some way (due to his guilt), be it a coma, a jail cell where he loses his mind, or a form of spiritual limbo, then eventually meets his maker.

Comment is about one step beyond (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

A great interview with one of the scene's true forces of nature. Thanks, Greg. Thanks, Kat.

Comment is about 'It's more than just words ... it's a way of connecting with the world' - Kat Francois (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Wow! This poem is interesting in terms of a synchronicity. I have just read Albert Camus' novel The Fall, and the first part of your poem reminds me of that. However the last part of the poem makes me think it is perhaps more personal? Either way thank you for sharing. Suki

Comment is about Gone (blog)

Original item by Poetryum

Hi everyone, Thank you all so much on your feedback. Humbled and appreciated! Suki

Comment is about The Transcendentalist (blog)

Original item by Suki Spangles

Hi Stu, I have read this already five times, although I derived a slightly different meaning - not so much a coma, as a kind of spiritual disembodiment. Similar thing I suppose. Anyway, I love it, so thanks for sharing.
Also, thanks so much for your very kind feedback on The Transcendentalist. What can I say? Cheers, Suki

Comment is about one step beyond (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

Thanks for appreciating this Mark. You got the drift of this alright!

Ray

Comment is about ANOTHER DAY IN SOFAWORLD (blog)

Original item by ray pool

That's exactly right, MC - the love of money.

Comment is about SAMMY (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

A neat evocation of selling schemes and consumer dreams
in the high street.

Comment is about ANOTHER DAY IN SOFAWORLD (blog)

Original item by ray pool

Ouch!! If I were Sam Allardyce, I wouldn't want this
following me around...no need for music to embellish the
words this time. As for the man's utter lack of perception
about what was going on - words fail me!
Truly, it wasn't money...but the LOVE of money that was
his self-inflicted downfall.

Comment is about SAMMY (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Thanks for the feedback!?

Comment is about LOVE DRUG (blog)

Original item by Alexandra K. Parapadakis

wow this is superb. great character study, no sense of pity just regret and empathy. then the ending, coming right out of the blue. i didnt see it at all, i recognised there may be a twist, possibly that sadie was the narrators mother all along and had lost her spite along with her faculties, but it was bittersweet, pointed and well written. brilliant.

Comment is about "Sadie" (blog)

Original item by Rick Gammon

cheers all, i am glad it hit the spot. it grew as i wrote it from a piece about solitary confinement to something a little more mysterious and dark, as most of my pieces tend to do. thanks for your comments. i did have to listen to a bit of madness for the sake of the title, which then naturally turned into half a day listening to ska which is never a bad thing.

Comment is about one step beyond (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

first rate stuff. know where the place is where you are talking but this is so well wrote, i really know it now.

excellent.

Comment is about A Night At The Astoria (blog)

Original item by Anna Ghislena

ooooh. excellent Nicola. top stuff.

Comment is about Magicians of Verse: Enter If Bold (blog)

Original item by Nicola Hulme

lovely. excellent stuff

Comment is about short love poems for her (blog)

Original item by Ankur Pathania

nice ending. enjoyed this.

Comment is about Striving (blog)

Original item by Louis Audet

People I know who would probably never dream of going to a poetry event have *loved* the beermat poems. Hats off to OWF Press for thinking of doing them! Proof, if any were needed, that if you put poetry in front of people in the right way, they enjoy it....

Comment is about Anthology's tribute to poetry of pubs (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Hi Harry

You shouldn't be putting it about how hip it is to be an oldie. Some entrepreneur will come up with pots of wrinkle deepener cum toe nail thickener.

And as for the heap, at least we all at the end spend a brief moment on top of it.

Comment is about Harry O`N eill (poet profile)

Original item by Harry O`N eill

Hello, All,

You got it..it must be because we are so much more than our words, David. Though, it can seem like disappearance from the world when we cease to use them. I've seen times when I could barely speak for days on end because I was so far removed from the world I was forced to physically inhabit.

I tried, here, to blend elements of silence, sound, and movement. I suppose that's where the flightless "bird" comes in at the end. It's always there because it's unable to go anywhere of it's own accord--a lazy antagonist who leers and prods and picks because of it's own inherent lack of creativity. I have a hard time coming to terms with it's existence--even within the confines of my own writing.

Thanks for reading and, as always, I'm grateful for your comments.

elP

Comment is about clean slate (blog)

Original item by nunya

It is like a sequence of events experienced synaesthetically, all senses engaged involuntarily..such crystal clear descriptions of the moments of a trauma in first-person slow motion.

Very effective, Stu.

elP

Comment is about one step beyond (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

I would like to make an intelligent guess at the thinking here Stu, but I will just say I find it fascinating, erudite and full of wonderful imagery. I feel it skating on the thin ice of the subconscious, an area you excel in !

Ray

Comment is about one step beyond (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

Thank you very much for your comment, Tony.

Sometimes I myself disagree with myself ?

when these ideas appear, I just feel like formulating them, rather than trying to analyse.

Comment is about There are just four main types of art (blog)

Original item by Valerie Livina

Thanks David, Tony and Stu for commenting on this grim piece. These thoughts gain significance at a later age!
If we poets can't find an answer, who the hell can?

Ray

Comment is about BELOW THE GROUND (blog)

Original item by ray pool

thanks david. i often find it hard to describe the word 'black' adequately! the shapes of the light (apart from paul) are either celestial bodies or ancient gods, and i tried to link in the shapes and emotions that they produce to the shapes of the light. so saturn has rings, heimdallr has gold teeth etc.

i am glad you saw a coma in it. although it is open to interpretation, when i wrote it i wanted to transfer the feeling of guilt and remorse that the man felt due to the car crash, and make it something tangible, be that a waking coma or his projection of his feelings as a cell, an empty, black void.

thanks for the comment, glad you enjoyed it!

Comment is about one step beyond (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

and why they had to give up the ghost

ending up as rot or toast

love this. excellent, succinct poem.

Comment is about BELOW THE GROUND (blog)

Original item by ray pool

this is truly excellent. i mean, if i picked up the latest edition of poetry review and found this in there I wouldnt be at all surprised. brilliant all the way through, packed full of amazing imagery and wordplay and with an overarching theme that is actually a lot easier to understand than your usual work, but doesnt suffer because of it. simply divine.

Comment is about The Transcendentalist (blog)

Original item by Suki Spangles

oh my. lossy acoustic funnels. if that isnt just wonderful.

love it. as usual, so much interpretation available. i always look forward to your work.

Comment is about clean slate (blog)

Original item by nunya

seeing as this rhymes and is about love you can count it as the very antithesis of what i usually enjoy about poetry but damn if it isnt charming and beautiful at the same time.

Comment is about short love poems for her (blog)

Original item by Ankur Pathania

Magical spell
put under
when reading
poetry of
collage enchantment.

Comment is about Magicians of Verse: Enter If Bold (blog)

Original item by Nicola Hulme

Hi Suki.Loved the wealth of 'now' lines in this.Thank you.Jemima.

Comment is about The Transcendentalist (blog)

Original item by Suki Spangles

Many thanks David for your helpful info on The HighWindow Press. Very interesting, and I may feel inspired to take part, i'll give it some serious thought.

Ray

Comment is about David Cooke (poet profile)

Original item by David Cooke

You must be on the same medication as me Trevor!

Comment is about Dreams Of Demons (blog)

Original item by Trevor Alexander

Whistle Down the Wind, yes: He's not Jesus, he's just a fella. Spring and Port Wine with James Mason was a film very evocative of the industrial towns of the north, being set in a Bolton on the verge of urban regeneration. The film was punctuated by the whistles of steam trains, if I recall correctly.

Comment is about 'The black and the white' by Martin Elder is Write Out Loud Poem of the Week (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

thanks harry. its a delicate subject and i am glad you found it sympathetic. i take great encouragement from your words so thanks again

Comment is about anhedonia (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

You're dead right, Harry. "Here" is better than "there".

Comment is about MILFORD, NEW MILTON AND BARTON-ON-SEA (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

John,
Feel left out...never been there.

Fifth line from the bottom...should the `there` be `here`?

(or are you saying it in Yorkshire?)

I`m assuming we need to repeat the title for a last line.

Comment is about MILFORD, NEW MILTON AND BARTON-ON-SEA (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Stu,
I once had to visit someone who after a determined - but failed - suicide attempt endured this condition for seven whole months...It is on a different plane completely from what we call ordinary depression.

Assuming it is not about yourself it is a very sympathetic attempt to express it. (the spacing between the `drips` and
the repetitious isolation of the three `not self imposed` works well.).

The patient recovered into a bearable existence by means
of electric shock treatment

Comment is about anhedonia (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

Thanks everybody for your comments. I think I am still reeling from the shock of having this poem chosen. When I wrote this it reminded me of being a small boy and indeed Greg I do have fond memories the films you mentioned together with Z cars. Whistle down the wind was a particular favourite of mine.
I also remember my old Gran breaking up lumps of coal with a hammer to go on the fire
Amen to the clean air act Julian, I certainly intend to be at Marsden if everything goes according to plan with other Stockport folk.
Thanks for your encouragement Stu, John and Linda I really do appreciate it. See you in Sale in April Stu
Thanks again
Martin

Comment is about 'The black and the white' by Martin Elder is Write Out Loud Poem of the Week (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Thanks, Ray. I'll bow to your research. We'll check them out next time we're down.

Comment is about John Coopey (poet profile)

Original item by John Coopey

John, looking at your comment it looks like the cycle trail must have been the old track near Holmesley. Good man!

Ray

Comment is about MILFORD, NEW MILTON AND BARTON-ON-SEA (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

HI John I'm quoting from a book called Southern branch lines - plenty of pics in there. I'll list the relevant lines concerned on this conundrum!
1. Brockenhurst - Bournemouth via Ringwood and Hurn, closed 1935.
2. Brockenhurst Ringwood Dorchester .

3 Brockenhurst - Broadstone Junction.

4 Ringwood - Christchurch

Holmesley is no the old station tearooms with the trackbed forming a road (quote). Wimborne an industrial estate. I travelled the road from Brockenhurst towards Ringwood which is pretty much a main road. I don't have an old road map but maybe this might have replaced the track bed, albeit much more twisting! I couldn't find an alternative site for a line , but the station backs right on to that road. Have fun. Also there is a little preserved station called Breamore, near Fordingbridge(also served) which was ran north south.
Have fun. Cheers Ray.

Comment is about John Coopey (poet profile)

Original item by John Coopey

HI John. I'm going to go to your profile for the answer on this one! Don't want to clog up the comments here.

Ray

Comment is about MILFORD, NEW MILTON AND BARTON-ON-SEA (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Thank you Stu..

Comment is about "Descending into the abyss" (blog)

Original item by James Rudin

This is uncompromising stuff.
I thought the lines before the four "like" lines and those after it make a balanced piece. Somehow (for me) they snap it in two somewhat.

Love the work though, it's something I couldn't do!

Comment is about LOVE DRUG (blog)

Original item by Alexandra K. Parapadakis

A tortured trail of a re-emerging past and in a setting quite clinical and frightening to my mind. My own special memory is of my mum - 96- in hospital and a porter bringing out her bedpan at the same moment as a food trolley passed her on the way in. What more can I say?

Ray

Comment is about "Labour in Vain" (blog)

Original item by Rick Gammon

A lovely flow to it ,I'm in harmony with what David and Martin said. Great last two lines too, like a parent saying "sscchh" to bring calm and comfort. Unsettling as well.

Comment is about little nightmares (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

Hello Ray. We stayed at the Caravan Club Centenary Site about 1/2 mile from the Holmesley site. Are you sure about the railway track? We cycled on an old track from just outside Holmesley to Brockenhurst. I think it must go to Burley the other way.
Another brilliant old railway that's now a cycle trial is the Castlemain Trail. We do it from Wimborne to Poole. Beats parking charges every time!

Comment is about MILFORD, NEW MILTON AND BARTON-ON-SEA (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Well done to Martin in getting Poem of the Week!

Comment is about Stockport WoL (group profile)

Original item by Stockport WoL

You cover a lot of ground with this, Rick. The opening had me recalling me days as a volunteer porter, one morning a week, at the local hospital. (I was struck by how much I was paid for my regular job, and how little these guys got for such important work, and how wrong it was. I'm gong off at a tangent, I know ...) Hospitals get you thinking about all sorts of stuff, birth and death and the great big in-between, it's true.

Comment is about "Labour in Vain" (blog)

Original item by Rick Gammon