It can't be the male menopause Steve - or maybe it's a joint menopause, cos I found this very moving too.
Tommy - you are such an unusual writer, so very original. Now see this has regular rhyming (which I'm not massive fond of these days), but it's so poignant that it lifts it completely.
Comment is about B ro ken mas onr y (blog)
Original item by Tommy Carroll
Couldn't agree more! A smile, a chat, a friendly look or gesture, brightens everyone's day, it really does.
Comment is about So You Want To Be Happier? (blog)
Original item by Gareth Glyn Roberts
I do believe this is the longest piece you have ever posted Cynthia.
Thought about tightening it up at all? Although it does have a swinging conversational flow to it and would probably perform quite well.
You've missed an 'n' in the 'know' in the 10th line, 4th stanza.
I disagree, by the way, heh, most especially with the 'allowed to dream' part ;)
I agree with Harry on the 'machine' aspect. I was very attracted to Cartesian dualism at first, but soon picked massive holes in it.
Interesting piece, mind (oops, pun unintentional ha) - feels like it's been building for a while :)
Comment is about Transcendentalism (blog)
Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas
Ahhh I have recently got this out of the library, and it's sat on my shelf waiting to be read.
I was very attracted by the cover, funnily enough ;)
Nice one Helen!
Comment is about Helen Mort wins first collection prize with 'Division Street' (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
I think it's really quite difficult to write good comic poetry - I know I struggle with it myself. The odd one, maybe one per year, may come out but I think you've got it or you haven't.
Our very own Dave Carr is one of THE best comic poets I've ever heard, and intelligent with it. He's had the room in fits of laughter many a time I've seen him. I wish I could write like that, but I can't!
Comment is about Roger McGough, London, 2014 (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Ha ha! I would never have thought of Elvis in this context but it helps soften the edge.
Comment is about SCAN THE MAN! (blog)
Original item by M.C. Newberry
Thank you, M C and Harry for your comments. As a mother of six who is now largely redundant, maternally speaking, it has taken a bit of getting used to. At least I can use the emotions for a poem!
Comment is about A Mother's Lament (blog)
Original item by Judi Strega
Thank you very much! I appreciate your read and comment:) I'm glad you enjoyed it:)
Comment is about Now I know (blog)
Original item by Spoken_Thoughts
<Deleted User> (6895)
Tue 11th Nov 2014 23:07
Richards? do you mean floating voters?hope you have brought a note of excuse for being absent?
Good laugh Daniel-aythankyor!xx
P.S. We refer you to our 2010 poem-
'No more on the roll'
Comment is about PORTREATH (blog)
Original item by Daniel Dwyran
Cynthia,
You were brave to attempt this.
Philosophical Transcendentalism is the theory
that we are `preloaded` with a kind of innate
`sizing up` capability of common sense before
we get here.
However I think your poem is dealing with the
(accepted?) `transcendence, of the `spiritual`
over the material’
Your first stanza speaks of the `out of body` or `other worldly` and of the probable uselessness Of defining the boundaries of such things.
Your second an encouraging `go for it girl` :)
and you promptly go on to define it.
Your third stanza declares that the operations of The human mind/soul are always `the result of the interlinking of prior real time experiences` which (to me) says that these mentally intangible things are material. (it talks of a `machine`)
The fourth talks of mind, soul, ideas, happenings, the subconscious, imagination, etc and offers an account of how they often operate humanly. It says nothing positive of what they are (but–then again –who ever could?)
The rest (without abandoning its position) tells us we can `take it or leave it`.
My own opinion (for what it`s worth) is that the mind is much more mysterious than we can explain, and that neither `scientism` nor the language can explain it to us. Calling it, in essence, a `machine` won`t do
(the vast majority of the worlds population – and me – go to religion and maintain a sort of agnosticism about the details of such things)
I admire you for tackling the issue in a poem (rather than the usual ignoring of it)
Comment is about Transcendentalism (blog)
Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas
To those of us of our era, MC, it was an immutable truth that the world was divided into capitalist and communist blocs. It was inconceivable that the divide should come down.
Now it must be inconceivable to those younger that the world could have been divided in this way.
Comment is about THE BERLIN WALL - REMEMBERED (blog)
Original item by M.C. Newberry
I would agree Graham, as a name I prefer "CC". But he had every right to change his name and his religion. I don't think his boxing skill either improved or deteriorated by doing so. Whatever he chose to call himself he was "The Greatest".
Comment is about THE GREATEST (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Good one Martin.. I hope you will be performing this one in the near future. A kind of Groundhog Day.. with attitude! Really like this Martin
Comment is about Do it again (blog)
Original item by Martin Elder
Cracker... made my day!
Comment is about So You Want To Be Happier? (blog)
Original item by Gareth Glyn Roberts
thanks for the kind comments on 'wounded' M.C
Comment is about M.C. Newberry (poet profile)
Original item by M.C. Newberry
thanks for commenting on 'wounded' Harry
Comment is about Harry O`N eill (poet profile)
Original item by Harry O`N eill
<Deleted User> (9882)
Tue 11th Nov 2014 17:49
no matter that you didn't mention pot noodles-
I absolutely love this poem.
Great Gray!x
Comment is about Waiting for Nancy (VIII) (blog)
Original item by Gray Nicholls
<Deleted User> (9882)
Tue 11th Nov 2014 17:39
OK!-take....;0)...that!...x
Comment is about So You Want To Be Happier? (blog)
Original item by Gareth Glyn Roberts
As the colleague that Frances quotes at the end of this very fair review, I guess I should add my twopennyworth. My overall feeling at the end of this performance was a sense of oppression, which clearly is one of the things it is concerned with. As a male, I honestly didn't feel qualified to write about it. The clearest image was the one at the start, as we filed into our seats and Silva sat on the floor, biting off pages of Fifty Shades of Grey, and then spitting them out. She put huge energy into the British sign language that she employed, which made me feel guilty that I didn't understand it. At an earlier event she quoted Cathy Acker as saying she wanted to play with language, "like clay, or paint".
Comment is about 'Schlock!' Mesmeric, shocking, and over-ambitious (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
I haven't read Division Street, but I definitely will!
Comment is about Helen Mort wins first collection prize with 'Division Street' (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Colin Hambrook (poet / arts activist, after performance at All Saints Centre, Lewes, October 2014)
‘It was fantastic. Such a rich and moving piece … I was so moved and am still processing all the imagery and words and ideas.’
Catherine Smith (poet and writer, after performance at All Saints Centre, Lewes, October 2014)
‘Zones of Avoidance was very moving; artistically layered and creatively designed; it dug deep into the strenuous relationship of a mother with a daughter who has addiction problems. To hear about the struggles she and her daughter went through was heart touching; narrated from a detached reflection in and of her thoughts and personal, so very personal… Sitting in the audience I was invited in to share this with her; move through the motions with her to the echo of what was her daughter, I felt honoured to be let in – for the brief momentary clip into what was their darker reality. Capturing and captivating; Zones of Avoidance keeps you glued to your seat and enthralled in the interactive portrayal of one mother’s journey through struggling to cope with and understand her daughter’s addiction issue.’
Review is about ZONES OF AVOIDANCE on 29 Oct 2014 (event)
Review from writer, William Sutton
I enjoyed Maggie Sawkins’ Zones of Avoidance even more second time round, if ‘enjoyed’ is the right word for a show that left me sobbing.
Though Zones of Avoidance won Maggie the 2013 Ted Hughes Award for Poetry, this is no mere poetry reading. Maggie and her director Mark C. Hewitt have woven a tapestry of words and images, telling the story of Sunny Girl and her descent through the circles of addiction. We begin with real recordings in which addicts discuss their problems with humour, articulacy and immediacy. These interviews alone are hugely affecting.
Maggie’s poetry tells the story of her daughter’s struggles and how they affected her relationships, especially, in the last section, with her son. The poems, delivered sometimes live, sometimes on video, have the clearcut, hard-hitting quality of a documentary, with the shimmer of poetic illumination: moons and stars, half-moons and tides.
“I’m reading ‘The Confessions of an English Opium Eater’ –
I want to understand what drove my daughter out in the snow
with no coat or socks, in search of a fix.
I want to understand what divinity led her
to set up camp in the derelict ‘pigeon house’
after running out of sofas to surf.”
Maggie is a poet, not an actress. The varied media, with moments of music, video and silence, offer us a different ways to listen, allowing the story to unfold in our minds at its own pace. The show wins us not through dramatic insistence but through a gentle rhythmic sincerity, with flashes of humour, flashes of pathos. A highlight of Portsmouth Bookfest, this powerful chronicle of lives damaged by addiction is a show that should be seen not just by poetry lovers.
http://www.william-sutton.co.uk/…/zones-of-avoidance-by-ma…/
More about Maggie and future shows:
http://zonesofavoidance.wordpress.com/
Zella Compton’s review of the show in the Portsmouth News:
http://www.writeoutloud.net/public/blogentry.php…
The director of Zones of Avoidance, Mark C. Hewitt, is holding a workshop on live literature on Saturday 29 November in Portsmouth.
Excuse me while I return to reading ‘The Confessions of an English Opium Eater’.
Review is about ZONES OF AVOIDANCE on 30 Oct 2014 (event)
aghhh! It has done it again. I'm impressed that you recall the fact. Cheers for the critique. T
Comment is about B ro ken mas onr y (blog)
Original item by Tommy Carroll
Grr this fone has edited my post 70%. Another go: The format is owing(due?) to my post is uploaded from my fone.
Comment is about B ro ken mas onr y (blog)
Original item by Tommy Carroll
Graham you are correct, this is an edit
Comment is about B ro ken mas onr y (blog)
Original item by Tommy Carroll
Families divided, separated and forced to spy on each other. Great hardship and the Berlin Airlift and people power saw the triumph of good against evil.
Comment is about THE BERLIN WALL - REMEMBERED (blog)
Original item by M.C. Newberry
Words we can readily relate to in the context of
family and the passing generations.
Comment is about A Mother's Lament (blog)
Original item by Judi Strega
The Great Entertainer! I still think of him as Cassius Clay, an altogether more wonderful name.
Comment is about THE GREATEST (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
I knew the family vaguely, as I used to pass their 'eccentric' house on my way to work in the sixties. The house had a shop window front which was filled with every variety of cactus [cacti?]I occasionally used to see Stefan himself, although we weren't on first name terms. He was somewhat of an 'oddball' which is probably why he was targeted by the deeply corrupted police force at the time. They were responsible for hiding Cyril Smiths crimes, and the people who battered Stefan into a confession got early retirement!!!! His mother died 6 months after of 'a broken heart' Afterwards I used to think that what happened to him could have happened to me as I felt 'picked on' myself a few times by unfriendly coppers!
Comment is about For Stefan Kiszko (blog)
Original item by Andy N
I don't remember this piece Tommy, not sure whether you've published it before or not.
Although I would prefer it in the "usual" format, I think the words are very effective indeed.
"I grind to bits my words and teeth" is excellent. The brevity is almost a curse.
Well done
Graham
Comment is about B ro ken mas onr y (blog)
Original item by Tommy Carroll
Thanks Anthony. Your message about corporate lobbyists reminds me of the words of Donnachadh McCarthy who has written about political corruption. He's going to be a speaker soon at our Barnet Green Party social. He was inspirational at Occupy Democracy in Parliament Square. We really do need change.
Comment is about Poet and publisher Adele Ward enters general election fray with the Greens (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Well, it wasn't an interview, Frances, but I do hope we'll have one with Tom some day soon. And yes, I did enjoy the festival!
Comment is about Newcastle's rebel poet from the 60s, and still fiery - Tom Pickard at Aldeburgh (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Write Out Loud Poetry Jam at Marsden Jazz Festival, 2014
Photos David Booth.
Comment is about Isobel Malinowski, Write Out Loud team member at 2014 Write Out Loud Poetry Jam (photo)
Original item by Marsden Write Out Loud
Write Out Loud Poetry Jam at Marsden Jazz Festival, 2014
Photos David Booth.
Comment is about Paul Broadhurst, poet at 2014 Write Out Loud Poetry Jam (photo)
Original item by Marsden Write Out Loud
Write Out Loud Poetry Jam at Marsden Jazz Festival, 2014
Photos David Booth.
Comment is about Greg Freeman, Write Out Loud News editor at 2014 Write Out Loud Poetry Jam (photo)
Original item by Marsden Write Out Loud
Write Out Loud Poetry Jam at Marsden Jazz Festival, 2014
Photos David Booth.
Comment is about Jan Scrine, Write Out Loud Poetry Jam at Marsden Jazz Festival, 2014 (photo)
Original item by Marsden Write Out Loud
There is indeed a cruel irony for Ali in that, MC.
Comment is about THE GREATEST (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
I think the most significant factor in those later fights was that he couldn't dance like before and his reflexes weren't up to leaning back from punches as he could in his earlier years.
Comment is about THE GREATEST (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Sounds like quite a character. Thanks for this interview, Greg. Glad you enjoyed the festival.
Comment is about Newcastle's rebel poet from the 60s, and still fiery - Tom Pickard at Aldeburgh (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
I want convey I became a paranoid and began to suspect all girls for theft.A paranoid to the extent I may miss my finger as well. Your ways also works because their is a saying
"When a poet writes a poem only God and he knows the message, after it is published only God knows the message!"
Thank you for your excellent feedback!
Comment is about The incident I never forget (blog)
Original item by Alem Hailu G/Kristos
Thanks for the write up John see everyone tonight.
Comment is about Stockport WoL (group profile)
Original item by Stockport WoL
Jan Dean is right. Context is everything.
If a word works that is all it need do.
There is no reason to comply with someone's
idea of what is not accceptable.
Comment is about Shard, daffodil, palimpsest: should some words be banned in poetry? (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Fate has the final say:
Ali, the epitome of self-promotion, now barely able to express a thought or apply himself, while Foreman twinkles with avuncular bonhomie promoting
his labour-saving appliances.
Comment is about THE GREATEST (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
The imagery of the poppy likened to a black bullet
wound spurting blood is well done. As Harry O
remarks - apt and timely.
Comment is about Wounded (blog)
Original item by Ian Whiteley
Like it!
"These physical impairments certainly rankle
If it's not the knee, it's the hip or the ankle!"
Comment is about My Knee (blog)
Original item by Gareth Glyn Roberts
Haha - thanks Judi! Yeh, once the temperature drops I just become ravenous!! Glad you enjoyed :D
Comment is about Winter Belly Love Poem (blog)
Original item by Laura Taylor
Aye, give it a go Steve! It's really interesting how writing about another piece of art can spur ideas in strange ways.
Many thanks for your comments, and taking the time to read it properly :) Appreciate that.
Comment is about Jigsaw (blog)
Original item by Laura Taylor
<Deleted User> (9882)
Sun 9th Nov 2014 20:10
haha!-ouch!-haha!-ouch!-haha etc etc-
gudden Gazz!
P.S.-you might need a needle...coat time!
P.P.S. good job you hadn't nobbled your n...
ohhh!!! and I've only got one coat! x
Comment is about My Knee (blog)
Original item by Gareth Glyn Roberts
Linda has set an good exercise here. I don't think my piece for it will be done in time but it's still a good un.
Comment is about Inspired by Wilfred Owen: Write Out Loud at Stockport art gallery tonight (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Laura Taylor
Wed 12th Nov 2014 09:55
I meant to comment on this at the time - it's stayed with me. The panic, the confusion, the loss of control, the straining attempt to keep the real NOW, and not let go of it, not let it twist itself out of the grasp. It makes me think brain problems/injury/stroke/epilepsy. I become very anxious when I read it.
To make a poem of it - I do admire you for that. I love this one, Tommy.
Comment is about in bits (blog)
Original item by Tommy Carroll