Thank you to all who expressed a 'like' for this poem and also for those who commented. I appreciate your interest.
Keith
Comment is about Return to Oman (blog)
Original item by keith jeffries
Beautiful poem Manish. It carries a lot of speculation and emotion through it till the last three lines, where we see the resolve of one heart's commitment. Well written, my friend.
Comment is about Reassurance (blog)
Original item by Manish
Thank you, Steve. The repetition and the understatement makes it all the more effective, I think.
Comment is about Al-Rashid Road (blog)
Original item by Steve White
Beautiful poem, Keith, that reminds us that the Middle East can summon up different pictures.
Comment is about Return to Oman (blog)
Original item by keith jeffries
A beautiful villanelle to celebrate what some would count as the truly 'beautiful game', Steve. The repetition of the form conveys a certain hopelessness, resignation, acceptance, which is what this poem is all about. The tail-ender keeps returning to the crease, even though he knows what's coming. Lovely work. I do enjoy a good cricket poem.
Comment is about A Village Cricketer's Lament (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
One of those mad moments that you attempt just after turning 50, Steve. Well, I did, anyway. The wind blew me up the loch until it eventually narrowed enough for me to wade to shore. If it had been blowing in the other direction, out to sea ... thanks for reading. And thanks for the Likes, Stephen, Holden, Hélène, Manish, and Hugh.
Comment is about The ferry waits (blog)
Original item by Greg Freeman
This is clear and readable but still conveys an air of mystery, Greg.
I enjoyed this one.
Comment is about The ferry waits (blog)
Original item by Greg Freeman
A villanelle to mark the start of the cricket season in England.
Comment is about A Village Cricketer's Lament (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Good morning Keith,
A geographic anomoly, or maybe a mirage but you'd need amazing eyesight to see The Negev from Jebel Akhdar.
A fond remembrance I'm sure.
David
Comment is about Return to Oman (blog)
Original item by keith jeffries
A lovely description, Keith. A pleasure to read.
Comment is about Return to Oman (blog)
Original item by keith jeffries
A good choice, Ray. All the rest are overrated!
Comment is about CUTTING MY CLOTH (blog)
Original item by ray pool
A really enjoyable, well-written poem, RA. At least Larkin is left to save us!
Comment is about The Poets' Ball (blog)
Original item by R A Porter
Thankyou Hélène and Holden for the overnight oats.
David
Comment is about Oystercatcher Volcano (blog)
Original item by David RL Moore
I tend to like poems that have an instinctive rhythm to them; that make the reader feel the words; almost like a chant or a song. Rhyming, although fun, is not particularly important to me, as a reader or a writer. I usually get inspiration in the form of a single sentence that pops in my head; I grab a pen (or my cell phone) and start writing, to see what flows. Enjoyed reading this post, Graham! Thanks for the referral to The Process of Poetry book.
Comment is about Writing poetry is easy! But how do we know if it's any good? (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
SA - wish you could have employed rhyme. But I can take a
woke! 😋
Comment is about The Poets' Ball (blog)
Original item by R A Porter
These words often reverberate through my mind. Thank you for this.
Keith
Comment is about Can we (blog)
Original item by Auracle
Succinct and plaintive! I like its brevity and strong message!
Comment is about Can we (blog)
Original item by Auracle
I have absolutely no experience of these regions but you make them sound very appealing Keith. Long may that picture stay in you head!
Graham
Comment is about Return to Oman (blog)
Original item by keith jeffries
RA, just go straight Into the smoking room, you're jacket will then stink of smoke anyway - 2 for 1! 😁... 🤔
Comment is about The Poets' Ball (blog)
Original item by R A Porter
Thanks Ray,
I can confirm I have been and remain a fool.
David
Comment is about ON APRIL FOOL'S DAY (blog)
Original item by ray pool
Thank you Holden Time and Hugh for your likes.
Yes David, the Fool carries a lot on his celestial shoulders maybe too much for an idiot - but then are we as wise as we all think we are, especially those who use this site - oops!
Glad to have your thoughts, challenging as ever. x
Comment is about ON APRIL FOOL'S DAY (blog)
Original item by ray pool
Thank you for your kind compliment, Stephen--it's nice to read that my words have sparked someone's imagination other than my own.
And, pardon me, David--thanks to you, too. I wasn't in the state of mind required to properly respond last evening...
I've been thinking as I've been putting this together over the past few days that, often, what remains unsaid is much more interesting than what is (have I said that before?). With that in mind, I've no doubt that there are some very dark actors who would be quite proud at the way things are turning out.
Still breathing, though. Just very slowly...
Comment is about we are not yet dead (blog)
Original item by Landi Cruz
Well, I've only written the one, Graham. But thanks. Twenty years ago?! Who knows where the time goes, as Sandy sang ...?
Comment is about The ferry waits (blog)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Thank you Landi Cruz, Auracle and David for your generous comments and inputs, they're very much appreciated!
I hadn't planned on writing this, it just came out in a flow and I'm glad that it did. Thank you all for taking the time to read my poem, it means a lot to me.😊
Comment is about There's Still a Tomorrow (blog)
Original item by Manish
I find villanelles both intriguing and exasperating. Half of me loves the cleverness and the other half is frustrated by the complexity.
Well written Greg. You were much younger then 😇
Comment is about The ferry waits (blog)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Hello Manish,
Written with authenticity I would imagine.
Although we move on from moments such as you've described we carry them with us like photographs. Taking them out to look at them is an act of almost self harm, bitter sweet remembrance.
David.
Comment is about There's Still a Tomorrow (blog)
Original item by Manish
Hi Penguin,
A sad portrayal of the routine and mundanity of survival.
Remembrance in the smaller things is often the thing that punctures the protective outer shell of our loneliness.
Sensitively written, lovely.
David
Comment is about A Clockwise Direction (blog)
Original item by Ray
Thanks again all - I like the idea of a “smoking room” Stephen - maybe I could start with a jacket & work my way up… 🤔
Comment is about The Poets' Ball (blog)
Original item by R A Porter
Thanks for the chuckle, Hugh!
Comment is about A lack of doctor’s appointments,unable to be seen !! (blog)
Original item by hugh
Perhaps somebody will write a poem featuring you in a few years RA... Brilliant stuff 👏
And Porter's in his smoking room
And Coopy's on the bog
Poor Gospage is trying to concentrate
But, M.C. won't shut his gob...(I'm just kidding M.C, but it fits in nicely 😁)
Feel free to carry it on 😆
Comment is about The Poets' Ball (blog)
Original item by R A Porter
Like David says, your writing has a lovely mystery to it that jabs the imagination 👍
Comment is about we are not yet dead (blog)
Original item by Landi Cruz
Days evaporate away, a glimpse, a gleam, wrap around a dream,
This is a ghost written elegy, for all that appears, or seems.
Some stunning lines, as always, John. 👏
Comment is about Biba — 1967 (blog)
Original item by John E Marks
Beautifully conveyed, as always, Keith.
And, like you say, if only...
Comment is about Andalucia (blog)
Original item by keith jeffries
Thank you, Auracle & Tim for taking time to comment. I'm glad you liked it! 😊
And for all the likes! 🌷🌷For everyone
Comment is about Mind Garden (blog)
Original item by Stephen W Atkinson
same here.
and all the tomorrows will be somehow
- just keep swimming, swimming, swimming - Finding Dory'
Comment is about There's Still a Tomorrow (blog)
Original item by Manish
I'm glad that you liked it Beth. John
“If neurotic is wanting two mutually exclusive things at one and the same time, then I'm neurotic as hell. I'll be flying back and forth between one mutually exclusive thing and another for the rest of my days.” – Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar
Comment is about Biba — 1967 (blog)
Original item by John E Marks
Thank you to all who expressed 'likes' and also commented on this poem. Andalucia Is a place close to my heart. Second to it and a short distance away is Morocco. These two places are rich in culture, cuisine, music, architecture, dance and a blending of Islamic and Christian coexistence which could well serve as a model in today's troubled world.
Thank you again,
Keith
Comment is about Andalucia (blog)
Original item by keith jeffries
Internal conversations are the best kind of conversation--this is the place where we can be both hostile and refugee 🌷
Comment is about we are not yet dead (blog)
Original item by Landi Cruz
This seems like an internal conversation, the kind of which is never resolved...
Like much of your recent writing it is mysterious (in a very good way)
Individual lines which can be mulled over and played with.
David.
Comment is about we are not yet dead (blog)
Original item by Landi Cruz
A moment full of possibilities--at once ordinary and ecstatic, impossible to bear )
Comment is about There's Still a Tomorrow (blog)
Original item by Manish
Thanks to those who have posted recent likes on this one today.
I think today a few more people may be asking the question posed in the final stanza, no answer will come.
Quite why it would take so long to question is totally beyond my comprehension.
David.
Comment is about Beyond the Valley (blog)
Original item by David RL Moore
It's a worthy cause, Hugh.
I think so many people who are parents today never had their own experiences as teens validated by adults and therefore need guidance on how to handle young people who are experiencing their first awakenings to the truth behind the world around them.
Maybe if we, as adults, see ourselves more as temporary shepherds than entitled rulers, they will come to trust us more.
Comment is about Teenage sadness needs parental aid (blog)
Original item by hugh
I agree, MC. Why is so much poetry devoid of fun? It doesn’t need to be self-indulgent navel gazing, does it?
Comment is about POETRY ON TV (blog)
Original item by M.C. Newberry
Thanks for the read and comment, penguin. I intentionally keep some flaws with rhyming, I like it that way. Also lets me know how attentive is the reader.
Comment is about There's Still a Tomorrow (blog)
Original item by Manish
Another excellent contribution from this source - thank you.
G.K. Chesterton's "The Secret People" is a favourite poem of mine
-never more timely than now, pehaps.
Comment is about The Poets' Ball (blog)
Original item by R A Porter
It's the luck of the language!
It's your good fortune, merry folks of England!
May your nation live long and prosperous always 😊
Comment is about Citizens (blog)
Original item by Ian Whiteley
John Coopey
Fri 5th Apr 2024 16:44
Lovely villanelle, Stephen. Greg sums up exactly what the repetition evokes.
Comment is about A Village Cricketer's Lament (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage