Sounds good to me, Nigel. talk about this further but i likely will want to get involved in this.

Glad it's September as am bogged down with a few things at the moment however.

See you later

A

Comment is about Write Out Loud at Stockport art gallery tonight (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

There is never 'Greatness' without 'Atrocities', in any part of our globe, or in any historical era. Unbiased information is key to judgement, and who can decipher truly when or where such byword actually exists. Interpretation of events becomes increasingly difficult with the passage of time, IMO, always hindered by a preconceived plan to uphold or negate certain ideas.

I do not believe in changing 'facts' as nearly as we can be sure they are 'facts', or vocabulary in usage at the given time, however offensive we may find such vocabulary now. That is altering reliable 'truth' to suit our modern selves. How do we learn anything as a progressive human species if we deny how we used to be? We don't need to lambaste it into our psyche constantly, but we should never deny it, like children. We have to acknowledge how horrible we have been, are, and could still be, to each other.

I'm done. I realize it's a rerun of many good points already made.

Here's a thought: I truly believe every theologian of any religion should first have a PHD in World Histories.

Mr Newberry, you are having a grand time stirring up the WOL pot.

Comment is about HISTORY TO SUIT (blog)

Original item by M.C. Newberry

Once again, Jeremy, a lovely blend of chosen imagery and form. 'fun', 'frantic' and 'foxglove' are the kinds of words that lift a poem into the mouth, begging to be recited, the original and still the best purpose of poetry.

'tawning' is a major sidestep of 'tawny'. Not sure if it helps or hinders the final line. It is certainly a jolt.

Comment is about tanning (blog)

Original item by jeremy young

Greetings, Ali. You are definitely on the right track to consider writing. And, IMO, a musical background is a real asset because the rightly chosen words make melody in the mind, in any genre. I believe you will hear this silent music. And nothing beats a jazz twist to the expected. Bone up on vocabulary, and always keep a thesaurus at your elbow. Oh- and read a lot, all arenas and eras of literature, not because you have to, but because you want to.

Welcome to WOL.

Comment is about Ali Bell (poet profile)

Original item by Ali Bell

I like the strong idea of this poem, and many of its images. I'm not completely sure if the final two lines conclude a metaphor of peace and war, but given the sonnet form, I presume they do.

'viperous' is a very unusual descriptive word for a 'tornado', and may point directly to your cultural background. I shall check your bio.

Comment is about The Wind's Betrayal (blog)

Original item by Ali Bell

Delightful - magnolias and sandalwood in the same poem - like Everywoman. The diction and imagery are superb, and the internal music of rhyme and assonance. I REALLY like it.

Comment is about Dodging Cupid's Arrow (blog)

Original item by Katy Megan

Thanks all for your comments. It may read a bit like a commissioned poem - in fact, it was self-commissioned! Harry, you can read more about Woking's mosque here. It was the first purpose-built mosque in the UK, apparently https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shah_Jahan_Mosque,_Woking

Comment is about A Foreign Wood (blog)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Thanks for the feedback!
I appreciate the kind words and advice.

Comment is about The Hike (blog)

Original item by Ali Bell

I love this poem. Hummingbirds are my favorite animals. :)
Great job with the rhyme. I especially like the line "singing faires lulabies"

Comment is about Humming bird (blog)

Original item by mollie learmonth

I love your brutal honesty and lack of hiding in this. You put it all out there and I admire that. I smiled so fully for Feb 1st and had flashbacks of my father's Jan 31sts. Truly an amazing piece. Thank you for sharing Stu. Great work!

Comment is about sober (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

There are some things you never forget, especially stinging nettles, ouch !

Comment is about free (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

Nice one Tommy. this definitely has a lyrical flow to with a good connections and social comment in the lines.

Comment is about You at the back of the queue (blog)

Original item by Tommy Carroll

See below

The name Saxe-Coburg-Gotha should send shivers of terror through the Windsors for some reason.

Comment is about HISTORY TO SUIT (blog)

Original item by M.C. Newberry

To all these above views I would simply add that youth is mostly extreme in its ideals which is how it should be, as that is like a graph of personal development and cannot be perceived as the ultimate good sense in a situation. I think the same applies in terms of the worship of music idols - which cynical businessmen have always exploited. Nobody seems to complain about that.

Comment is about HISTORY TO SUIT (blog)

Original item by M.C. Newberry

Rhodes was 10 x the murder than Shipman. However some people in these parts use the avoirdupois system or imperial weights and measures to ascertain the validity of homicidal verisimilitude. And we all know that scales don't lie.
. Keep the statue of him and other murdering b*****ds, just chisel around their likeness' a litany of their filthy deeds. Let us start with Rhodes then All the monarchy since Harold (poor Harold) were foreign (foreign swine).

Comment is about HISTORY TO SUIT (blog)

Original item by M.C. Newberry

How abt a Harold shipman statue in your doctor's surgery, as he is responsible for far less murdering, pain and loss than Mengler.

Comment is about HISTORY TO SUIT (blog)

Original item by M.C. Newberry

Love it. x

Comment is about A Poet's View (blog)

Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas

Love it! : )

Comment is about Camp At Butch Farm (blog)

Original item by Nigel Astell

Great imagery and structure! The way you organize your lines makes it less rigid and more free, like the image you are describing.

Comment is about tanning (blog)

Original item by jeremy young

Nice one, Stu. Refreshingly nostalgic and I love the line adolescent astigmatism . Calamine: a great healer as I found out when I got chicken pox at 28!
Thanks for your comments on A Memory of Heat - blimey it got a good response all round. Not bad for fifty years ago I suppose!

Comment is about free (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

Hi Louise,

Chris from the Gford workshop here.

Just a self promo spam in order for you to czech out my stuff here! :)

Cheers,

C

Comment is about Louise Etheridge (poet profile)

Original item by Louise Etheridge

Of course poetry overlaps with other subjects. The Pond of Poetry IS all subjects, and our individual baits and hooks will catch unending diverse Points and Plots with skills suitable to the subject and Projected readership/listening audience.

And I do apologize for such a lame metaphor; but it flipped right into my head and flopped around my mind so I decided - Hell's Bells - just go with it.

Comment is about Armitage ready to investigate the role of rap in modern poetry (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Gregg,
On a personal note, you have set my mind at rest about that Middle Eastern type edifice I used to see from the train during my many union negotiating visits to Woking.

(somehow, I never got around to asking)

Comment is about A Foreign Wood (blog)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Thank you so much Ali.

David

Comment is about MY FATHER'S WATCH (blog)

Original item by David Subacchi

Ooh, I like this Cynthia, and I so love that about poetry - that possibility of endless interpretations that the poet cannot predict or control x

Comment is about A Poet's View (blog)

Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas

There are some really nice ideas in this piece Ali (including the arrow). I particularly liked the fallen trees applauding your ability to pick your way through them and the rocks written by the words of the creek. Some great images.

Comment is about The Hike (blog)

Original item by Ali Bell

a wonderful description of a moment in time. at the end of several lines, i could picture quite clearly the train, the passing of the girders and the billowing of smoke. great stuff, i'm on my fifth or sixth read through.

Comment is about MEMORY OF HEAT (blog)

Original item by ray pool

Hi Ali, I really like the way this resembles an arrow waymarking a trail or footpath. Whether intentional or not, adding and subtracting a few words would make it clearer. Thanks for posting.

Comment is about The Hike (blog)

Original item by Ali Bell

Great poem- really describes how objects left behind by loved ones remain a connection with them.

Comment is about MY FATHER'S WATCH (blog)

Original item by David Subacchi

My father worked on the railroad in India, I was often captive to his regime. I greatly enjoy your work.

Never doubt it.

Comment is about MEMORY OF HEAT (blog)

Original item by ray pool

Thanks guys, I'm really glad you enjoyed it. It was an incredibly cathartic experience writing this and I hope that shows in the piece. I take a lot of influence from Bukowski and the thing I love most about him is how he left everything on the page. No one was left in any doubt as to his life and emotions. I try to get that feeling into my poems.

Comment is about sober (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

This stands as a very moving poem Stu. Can't find anything to add as it is utterly complete and I'm sure resonates with anyone with that terrible experience.
great stuff.

Comment is about sober (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

HI David I have just read Your Chair and Work Horses and thoroughly enjoyed the easy and thought provoking style of both. Being a furniture restorer (also a musician) I appreciate the affection engendered by old pieces like chairs, particularly Windsors , slightly stern I know, and the line gruff serenity is perfect. A pleasure and sense of confidence comes through them! In Work Horses I love the juxtaposition of past tense and present "I am watching."

Comment is about David Cooke (poet profile)

Original item by David Cooke

as good a compliment as one could wish for!

Comment is about sober (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

You're not the first to suggest that, Graham. Cheers my friend.

Comment is about TREE WISE MONKEYS (blog)

Original item by THE PEN AND THE PAGE

This is particularly timely Darren.
Only last night I was playlisting on Spotify a load of old songs of my youth to remind me of my early teens.
Remember Barry McGuire and the New Christy Minstrels?

This poem of yours kept reminding me of Eve of Destruction. Perhaps you should add music!

Comment is about TREE WISE MONKEYS (blog)

Original item by THE PEN AND THE PAGE

Thank you so much for taking the time to read and comment. Actually, I am reading them having arrived home from an evening engagement which was difficult to get through because I am quite 'strung out' at the moment. This has made me feel better so thank you again.

Comment is about 'Yes, I Will Wear One' (blog)

Original item by Abigail Elizabeth Ottley Wyatt

Hi Abigail,

Your poem is beautifully phrased. I adored the change into the floral imagery.

Great stuff!

Comment is about 'Yes, I Will Wear One' (blog)

Original item by Abigail Elizabeth Ottley Wyatt

"flawed but still
perfectly human." So very true. So very beautiful.

R

Comment is about 'Yes, I Will Wear One' (blog)

Original item by Abigail Elizabeth Ottley Wyatt

Spot on Abigail.
I agree with Robert.
It will be yellow stars next.
Freda

Comment is about 'Yes, I Will Wear One' (blog)

Original item by Abigail Elizabeth Ottley Wyatt

Abigail,

Your words are both beautiful and poignant. As a 'survivor' of the rigours of mental stress and anguish, I appreciate the view that those who get through it have a greater insight, balanced judgement and are grounded in a more profound reality.

Let's see more of your work PLEASE.

Rob

Comment is about 'Yes, I Will Wear One' (blog)

Original item by Abigail Elizabeth Ottley Wyatt

This event I did my poem about was only given out to members just two days before it happened so it was kept top secret for these serious sexy swingers!

See you Monday

Comment is about Martin Elder (poet profile)

Original item by Martin Elder

News Flash !

This is a chance to have our poetry put on display in Stockport Art Gallery!

'The Enchanted Art Gallery Weekend'
26th & 27th September 2015.

We can as a group do something on the theme of Enchantment or just put in individual poems to be put on display.

I will bring along registration forms for anyone who is interested.

All forms and work must be taken to the Art Gallery
Tuesday 15th September - Sunday 20th September.

Comment is about Write Out Loud at Stockport art gallery tonight (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Thanks guys, these comments mean a lot. The bike riding is not going so well, I keep falling off. But, we shall overcome (some day).

Comment is about drop (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

This is excellent Stu, and poignant at the same time. I've never attempted the kind of 'concrete poetry' arrangement of words, the way you have here with...
're arr a ng e me nt'

..but it serves your purpose well.

There's no humiliation in learning to ride a bike, however old you are. Fuck it; and when you're ready, ride off in to the sunset.

Comment is about drop (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

Reading at the 'Cornwall in my Soul' event on Lemon Quay in Truro as part of the Truro Festival.

Comment is about 'Cornwall in My Soul' as part of the Truro Festival (photo)

Original item by Abigail Elizabeth Ottley Wyatt

Thanks David, I look forward to your comments as always! Shame about the work, still it could be worse, I have my significantly younger and smaller wife teaching me to ride a bike in the front garden. Humiliating doesnt cover it!

Comment is about drop (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

Yes thanks I was aware, but I fancied reading at the "official" poetry event first. Plus I need to pluck up the courage.

Comment is about Greg Freeman (poet profile)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Matthew, just wanted to make sure you knew, you can read your poetry on any Monday night at the Phoenix, at the open mic. Open to poets as well as musicians!

Comment is about Matthew John Rutter (poet profile)

Original item by Matthew John Rutter

Only our mother can tell us apart, Graham.

Comment is about MONOGAMOUS WORDS (blog)

Original item by John Coopey