I love the way this poem flows one line to the next. 'With the noise of spring dark and death by the fire'

Comment is about The moon's fame, child of the sun. (blog)

Original item by Danny Metcalfe

'the aftermath' is rich, isn't it? I look forward now to checking back on more of your work. You have a distinctive touch. I've been off-line with a defunct computer for weeks, and the new one is currently challenging with smaller and flatter keys.But I'm persevering.

Comment is about A.M. Clarke (poet profile)

Original item by A.M. Clarke

It is very atmospheric. May I suggest that you could drop 'the' in Lines 3 and 5. I tested it out several times and, IMO, the poem then takes another step upward to excellence. Sometimes little words are just like potholes in a smooth path.

Comment is about For An Evening (blog)

Original item by A.M. Clarke

So 'ekphrastic' means 'to interpret a picture of some sort, in poetry. I've been looking for that word for ages. Found it once and lost it again. There used to be many such poems on WOL. Ann Foxglove excelled in them. I did 'The Aperitif' myself.

I am motivated to try something similar again. Laura, this poem of yours is very original, as always. The ending is superb. I don't do 'imagination' all that well, looking out for stories of other people. I guess I have enough trials of my own.

Comment is about Jigsaw (blog)

Original item by Laura Taylor

Very effective indeed. He twists his ideas and words like skeins of wool off a loom, always with substance, tough and soft at the same time.

Comment is about Snow White (blog)

Original item by Twilbury Wist

This is a very good poem. I'm not sure if it should be called 'Strange Fruit' by title or content without specific reference to the original poem/lyric. I was shocked.

Comment is about Bitter fruit (blog)

Splendid - just plain splendid - brilliantly topical and timely.

Comment is about Philae Shakes The Hand Of God (blog)

Original item by Ian Whiteley

I do not know how it happened that this little piece became an entity for me, and was then shared, on the same day as mankind put a space machine on a comet. When the craft landed, I actually shivered with emotion at the ultimate juxtaposition of ideas - thus far. I am so glad I had the courage to take a chance, and that I did it today. Let's hope the 'stickers' grab tightly and stay secured for awhile. This is an amazing day!

Comment is about Transcendentalism (blog)

Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas

a little disjointed methinks,but I get the gist.x

Comment is about Quite strange (blog)

Original item by Alem Hailu G/Kristos

Of Louise's performance at Sowerby Bridge last week, Freda Davis, who has run Puzzle Poets for years wrote to her mail list: "Lots of you missed the opportunity to hear what was possibly the very best poet we have ever had as a guest. I kid you not.”

She kids you not. Her work is mesmerising. And Louise has agreed to be our guest at Risk a Verse at the Red and Green Club this month, on 27th November (see gig guide) fresh from her appearance on the wireless. You will regret it if you miss the opportunity to see this rising star.

Comment is about New Voices winner Louise Fazackerley's 'Love is a Battlefield' is featured on BBC's The Verb (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Hi Daniel
Thanks for your comments on Do it again. I hadn't thought about performing it. sounds like s good idea. I will give it a go.

Comment is about Daniel Dwyran (poet profile)

Original item by Daniel Dwyran

How very true!
When I was a schoolboy back in the early 1950s,
one of my teachers, Ms Helen Tarry, wrote as much
in my autograph book...
The Value of A Smile -
It enriches those who receive
Without impoverishing those who give...

Comment is about So You Want To Be Happier? (blog)

Original item by Gareth Glyn Roberts

Placing the "poetic" aspect to one side in favour of addressing the content...
After a surgeon had performed a risky operation
his patient told him of being above and
looking down as the surgeon worked. That was
greeted with some understandable scepticism -
until the instrument he was using was described
in detail to him: something he had brought late
to the operating table when the patient was
already under anaesthetic and would not have
been able to witness anything. Thereafter, the surgeon kept a more open mind about such things.

Comment is about Transcendentalism (blog)

Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas

That's a bit of a cryptic question, Tommy! But I can give you a straight answer. Not me, mate.

Comment is about Greg Freeman (poet profile)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Ah my mistake - it's missing from the word 'unknown' :)

Comment is about Transcendentalism (blog)

Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas

Yayy!! Gwan girl!!!

She's proper talented is our Louise!

Comment is about New Voices winner Louise Fazackerley's 'Love is a Battlefield' is featured on BBC's The Verb (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Oh, sorry I missed it.
Seriously though, If I have got this right, a work that purports to be communicating concerns about male oppression of females, yet makes the male section of the audience feel unqualified to write about what they have witnessed surely, thereby, handicaps itself?
Frances, regardless of your concerns about the piece, I enjoyed your review in terms of its balance and erudition.

Comment is about 'Schlock!' Mesmeric, shocking, and over-ambitious (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Thanks Steve :) Yes, to both counts. I have drawn parallels with Billie Holiday's haunting song and the disturbing new trend now prevalent in India.

Thanks for reading and your very kind words.

Comment is about Bitter fruit (blog)

Not at all Cynthia, all subjects are fair game of course.
I read the piece several times and it makes fascinating reading with some nice words

I postulate (dig me)

the germ or the death of creation

we dream only what we want to dream, perhaps even what we have to dream

.......but I couldn't find a poem in it.

regards,

Graham

Comment is about Transcendentalism (blog)

Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas

Yay! Go the team.

Comment is about Number of visits to Write Out Loud in October nears 54,000 and marks new record (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Thanks Greg. Great discussion going on on Facebook. This one is certainly a conversation starter.

Comment is about 'Schlock!' Mesmeric, shocking, and over-ambitious (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Thanks, you three, a whole lot. Harry, I find the mysticism of 'religion' absolutely fascinating, all forms having such a common denominator, currently or historically. About mind/soul, I think that questions evolve questions, and that, at this point in creation, answers do not yet 'materialise'. Today, even the brain is being severely subjected to empirical evaluation with physical criteria. It boggles the 'mind' what the human race has yet to discover about 'life'.

Greg, I'm not surprised. But one of the definitions of poetry is reducing the much to the minimum, and this took hours through days to condense, and still seem plausible. I'm hoping you do not mean simply that the topic addressed is unsuitable for poetry. 'little tilt towards poetry' is a splendid line.

For me, Science and Religion are inseparable partners: the one has no real value without the other.

Laura, I can't find the missing 'n'. Isn't that hilarious!

Comment is about Transcendentalism (blog)

Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas

I'm sorry but for me, this reads like an essay with very little tilt toward poetry.

Comment is about Transcendentalism (blog)

Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas

Awww - a lovely gentle wistful poem, this.

But wow, SIX?!! Oh my lord, I never made it past the one haha :D To be fair, she never slept more than an hour for 18 months. That MIGHT have put me off a tad! I was a single mother for most of her life too.

Anyhoo, yep, I know those feelings. My lass left home early this year, and if I may, I'd like to share my poem about that with you. I thought I was ready for her to leave, but when it came to it, it was a HUGE emotional rollercoaster, for the both of us.

http://www.writeoutloud.net/public/blogentry.php?blogentryid=40773

You know, they always will turn back to you, when they need you :)

Comment is about A Mother's Lament (blog)

Original item by Judi Strega

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

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

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

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

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