A nicely related tale with all the trimmings Cynthia. It can't be overstated how bonded people can be with their pets. Quite sad and I like your empathy. A real goodie.
Ray
Comment is about Man and Dogs (blog)
Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas
The first poem of yours I've read, and it's a treat. An eloquent psalm to motherhood with all its grandeur and hopes and expectations. Really awe inspiring stuff, that men can't really expect to fully understand.
Ray
Comment is about THE BIRTH (blog)
Original item by Yvonne Brunton
Thanks for your appreciation Yvonne. I since found out he was injured in a quad bike (but that was before I saw him ) and I fell for him!
Ray
Comment is about THE RAGBAG SHEEPDOG (blog)
Original item by ray pool
Thanks Wolfie - I shall aim to 'trust my gut' from now on! x
Comment is about Look Closer! (blog)
Original item by Pixievic
Immortality in women's poetry? If only there had been the women poets available for history to make a decision about immortality. That may change in decades to come.
Comment is about First the cheers, now the arguments over TS Eliot Prize winner (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Lovely images. I love
"tease your hair into a web that entraps my thoughts"
and the alliteration of " whisper the wind".
Comment is about Monsoon winds (blog)
Original item by Tommy Carroll
The best thing about a mobile phone is the power I feel when I ignore it. you are so right about the big corporations preying on our base instincts for consumption.
Comment is about Digital Distraction (blog)
Original item by Chris Briggs
The beauty of this is such a powerful emotion so simply expressed. Thank you for sharing.
Comment is about You and I (blog)
Original item by Martin Elder
Cynthia - you have managed to combine acute observation, humour, poignancy and pathos into this lovely piece of work. I love the detail and the commentary. As a regular dog-walker I can also empathise with the characters. Bloody brilliant.
Rob
Comment is about Man and Dogs (blog)
Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas
it's often that I'll sit on jagged feelings that don't fit into nicer words. then they come out like a blunderbuss.
there are times where patience is too short a rope to link understanding and empathy, and I need to stop carrying so many fucking skins. There are times where I just need to be selfish for ten minutes and shed them. Alcohol and self-made promises are tethers too poor to stop the warehouse collapse of self-neglect.
Comment is about the absence of eloquence with time hastily borrowed (blog)
Original item by Zach Dafoe
I like this - no surprise there - but I'm struggling just a little with the 'precipice' metaphor. I'm not sure it's really what you meant as your poem develops its theme. It's just my opinion, always open to return flack. I'm trusting we are on such a foothold as to make this possible.
Comment is about tipping point (blog)
Original item by Twilbury Wist
quite right too!!
Think of all the decision-making angst she 's saved you from.
Giggle, Giggle.
Comment is about A Wonderful Opportunity (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Comment is about the absence of eloquence with time hastily borrowed (blog)
Original item by Zach Dafoe
Stu - thanks for the tip off about Haiku Journal. I have submitted some examples today. Will let you know how they get on. Cheers.
Rob
Comment is about Stuart Buck (poet profile)
Original item by Stuart Buck
well drawn image of an old dog. I especially like
"With a streak of purpose and a flattened pose" a perfect sheepdog description.
Comment is about THE RAGBAG SHEEPDOG (blog)
Original item by ray pool
Alison Hill
Mon 25th Jan 2016 10:58
That's great news, a great choice and champion of poetry.
Well done Steve!
Comment is about Stepping up to the mic: Steve Pottinger is Write Out Loud's new chief executive (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
whoever she is, she just got burnt...
its so nice to see such a lack of restraint in a poem. often people hold back, you can see it (actually pinpoint in a poem where they wanted to scream but instead just whispered) but here you just fucking went for it. its reminded me of what can be done when we give up on a pretense and shoot fire from our fingers. i have been guilty in the past of holding back, even more so lately when i think ive tried to hard to be 'a poet' and not hard enough to write poetry.
chemtrails and vinyl. i know girls like that. they are nothing but trouble.
Comment is about the absence of eloquence with time hastily borrowed (blog)
Original item by Zach Dafoe
brilliant. such beautiful cynicism, makes me want to applaud and kill myself at the same time.
Comment is about The army and fucking (blog)
Original item by Eric Broke
a lot of strong emotions.
Loved reading it.
Keep writing.
Comment is about Nameless (blog)
Original item by Chandana
Hey Wolfie - thanks for your comments - I battled with the idea of letting the reader discover the acrostic themselves & wish I'd stuck to my instinct which was to not guide - I posted it that way on my other page & enjoyed the response when people figured it out! - I'm still learning to trust my instincts! But that's what life is about eh - learning!! Yes the 1st & 3rd verse are a deliberate contradiction as I think 'Love' is contradictory - & the LLC ....... I didn't want it to be 'about' someone - more about the nature of love - but I did have a person in mind who I was referring to. Thanks again for taking the time to comment - much appreciated x
Comment is about Look Closer! (blog)
Original item by Pixievic
Helps if you're already a distinguished academic, I suppose.
Comment is about First the cheers, now the arguments over TS Eliot Prize winner (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
<Deleted User> (13947)
Sun 24th Jan 2016 19:49
This brought up so many childhood memories for me. Very nicely written. I was committed to reading this all the way through. I needed to see the ending.
Comment is about BALLPOINTING FOR DAD (blog)
Original item by GeeProcessor
<Deleted User> (13947)
Sun 24th Jan 2016 19:46
<Deleted User> (13947)
Sun 24th Jan 2016 19:43
Breathtaking. I love "I will lure your smile with those fingered words" :)
Comment is about Monsoon winds (blog)
Original item by Tommy Carroll
<Deleted User> (13947)
Sun 24th Jan 2016 19:39
Brilliant! I caught myself smiling at this a lot. And then seeing some of myself in it (minus the Candy Crush Saga of course :) )
Comment is about Digital Distraction (blog)
Original item by Chris Briggs
<Deleted User> (13947)
Sun 24th Jan 2016 19:34
<Deleted User> (13947)
Sun 24th Jan 2016 19:33
I really like this. "and the summer is too slow to come" is a stunning line
Comment is about Loss (blog)
Original item by A.M. Clarke
<Deleted User> (13947)
Sun 24th Jan 2016 19:31
<Deleted User> (13947)
Sun 24th Jan 2016 19:29
I liked this quite a bit. There are some really clever and killer lines in there. My stand out favorite would be
"I’m washed up in pills and self loathing"
Comment is about On my end (blog)
Original item by Eric Broke
I would value Gray's "Elegy in a Country Churchyard" in
terms of the sum mentioned and more...and I wonder if
anything produced by this young lady will similarly
survive the test of time to immortality in the same way?
It would be certainly justify the payday and prestige she is enjoying in today's world of poetry and its rewards for the
chosen few.
Comment is about First the cheers, now the arguments over TS Eliot Prize winner (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
It would be nice to think that the money invested by the
faithful for this project is earning useful interest while
the failure to obtain the promised premises is addressed.
Planning the use of property and its future suggests that
time spent on reconnaissance is seldom wasted!
We look forward optimistically to a hoped-for proper shop-window.
Comment is about Plans to open poetry bookshop have been delayed, says magazine editor (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Cheers again for taking the time to comment, Martin. Appreciate it. DB.
Comment is about Martin Elder (poet profile)
Original item by Martin Elder
Maybe Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn't there Stu. Check that out.
!! Ray
Comment is about THERE WAS A GIRL (blog)
Original item by ray pool
Verse off is 7:30pm not 7pm. Look forward to seeing you there :)
Comment is about Write Out Loud Middleton at the Ring O' Bells tonight (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
I was reading up on the WOL piece on the TS Eliot prize, all interesting, and of course Sarah Howe's poetry is certainly worth the read. On the other hand, a comment by barbkay on Katy Evans-Bush's article (see WOL link) seemed pretty balanced, to paraphrase, to the judges: don't tell me how good she looked, give me the work!
Thinking the whole competition thing should probably be avoided, I came across the judge's report from last year's The Interpreter's House prize, the judge, Liz Berry, in judging anonymous entries, declared that she immediately recognised an admired poet's work, so had to be very careful to mark it fairly, along with the two others he submitted, I suppose. This raises questions. Perhaps the organisers felt the wind knocked out of their sails, a bit. Maybe not.
Anyway, it strikes me something's not right with the poetry bake-off. I am beginning to think competitions should generally be avoided. At least, add a pinch of salt when the laurels get shared around.
By the way, I am not including the 2015 Interpreter's House Judge's Report 2015 here. Feedback is the only thing that can be asked of a judge's report, and Liz Berry clearly conducts herself entirely properly in that.
Comment is about Liz Berry to judge Black Country Museum's poetry competition (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear,
Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair,
Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn't fuzzy,
was he?
Comment is about THERE WAS A GIRL (blog)
Original item by ray pool
Thanks again Martin for taking the time to read & comment - always appreciated - us creative types often become 'unglued' I think!! ;-) xx
Comment is about Martin Elder (poet profile)
Original item by Martin Elder
Thanks Martin - I love the moon but I do seem to be effected by its cycles!! It's the 'lune' in me!
Comment is about Moonshadow (blog)
Original item by Pixievic
I've heard that poem too, Stu. It's a goody and children love silly things - but then we should sometimes be flippant - it's a kind of cleansing.
Here's one I wrote years ago:
turnips are a special kind of plant
they havn't got an uncle or an aunt
they sleep together in all kinds of weather,
they'd like to move around
but they can't.
Comment is about THERE WAS A GIRL (blog)
Original item by ray pool
Sun 24th Jan 2016 12:04
Hi Cynthia, I live just north of Sydney, so Christmas is always a hot time, but I love it, very relaxed, summer holidays for the children etc. A lot of restaurants do 'Christmas in July' which is a great time to enjoy the traditional pudding and food which is all a bit much in the heat. Needless to say, we don't get a white Christmas (or even a white winter in most places) but still sing all the traditional songs anyway. I love the idea of a white Christmas, it looks so pretty, but I'm sure the reality of the cold would be quite a shock to my system :)
Comment is about Cynthia Buell Thomas (poet profile)
Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas
reminds me of a poem i read my daughter.
'As i was walking down the stair,
I met a man who wasn't there,
He wasn't there again today,
Oh how I wish he'd go away'
Witty and brief!
Comment is about THERE WAS A GIRL (blog)
Original item by ray pool
Like it a lot David ' A word to the wise ' sums it all up, the poem flows well, almost twisting and turning as it goes. Fab
Comment is about On Ambition (blog)
Original item by David Blake
I love the line 'Whispering shells' fantastic you are so good at dropping in these killer lines in your poems.
Comment is about The Pusher (blog)
Original item by Andy N
This is lovely Vicky both in it's simplicity but also paints a wonderful picture with such few words. I love 'pending thoughts unglued' I am with you there
Comment is about Moonshadow (blog)
Original item by Pixievic
Thanks Ray , this is one of these rare occasions when I just woke up one morning recently and was inspired to put these lines down.
Comment is about You and I (blog)
Original item by Martin Elder
Thanks Ray I count this as a real compliment. Dylan Thomas is my poetry hero
Comment is about Smoke room (blog)
Original item by Martin Elder
John Coopey
Mon 25th Jan 2016 16:29
We share the decision making quite equally in our house, Yvonne. I decide all the big stuff (which government we'll have, EU policy, should Scotland go independent) while Our Gert concerns herself with sweating the little stuff (should we get married, have children, move house etc). You might think this demeans her but it works for us.
Comment is about A Wonderful Opportunity (blog)
Original item by John Coopey