Thanks all. Graham, two poems mentioning dogshit, I've probably got a turd somewhere.

Comment is about I Live Over There (blog)

Original item by Ray

Thanks for your comments, Uilleam, Graham, Steve, Isobel, and Stephen, and for the Likes, Auracle, Naomi, Holden, K Lynn, Red Brick, Aisha, and Manish. My first LP, bought with paper round earnings, was Best of the Beach Boys vol 2. Included on it were I Get Around and California Girls. I have no idea what was on vol 1 ... My favourite lyric may be simple but it's perfect: 'We've been having fun all summer long ...'

Comment is about I can still hear music (blog)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Some great hard truths here, Ray. 👏

Comment is about I Live Over There (blog)

Original item by Ray

Nicely done, Greg. 👏

Comment is about I can still hear music (blog)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Quite right, Uilleam, on all accounts! Thanks for taking time to comment.
And thanks for the 🌷 everyone ☺️

Comment is about Forgotten Towns (blog)

Original item by Stephen W Atkinson

So it's the realness that brings poets a certain healness.

At least that's how I type.

Comment is about I Live Over There (blog)

Original item by Ray

How poignant Greg - I love how you tie in nostalgia for yester year with the hideous realities of the here and now. If only America wasn't such a big player in world events.

Comment is about I can still hear music (blog)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Thanks for like : Naomi 👍🌷

Comment is about Rambling Man (blog)

Original item by Tom Doolan

It's sad when glowing memories and deserved tributes run into the ugly present. For me, 'Holland' was a great, and mysterious, album. And Pet Sounds, of course. One of their later songs, if I remember, included the line : 'we don't understand why they sent in the National Guard'. Plus ca change..

Comment is about I can still hear music (blog)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Enjoyed the rhymes and the sentiment
The world was never meant to mould,
A soul like yours to fit the fold!

Fine lines.

To dance where no one is dared to go, - should that be "has dared"?

Comment is about Shine In Your Own Light (blog)

Original item by Aisha Suleman

Wow
The best of the best
At first i didnt understand
Until i read the last stanza
Kudos to you
More wisdom!!

Comment is about Fiona Larkin wins National Poetry Competition (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

No need for Scandi-Noir fantasy; we've got Grimm reality in the UK....another “Nail - on – head moment”, Ray.

deploring the darkies and ordering curries

and voting for parties in bed with the Tories

then falling asleep to their fairy-tale stories.

Comment is about I Live Over There (blog)

Original item by Ray

More dog shit Ray. It's becoming a regular feature. The second verse is a classic!

Comment is about I Live Over There (blog)

Original item by Ray

Thanks both.

Comment is about December In The Algarve (blog)

Original item by Ray

I wasn’t really a Beachboys fan but those tunes burrowed their way into your psyche somehow. Wilson was a real innovator who quite literally ‘showed the way’ for other notable writers.
This is a colourful tribute Greg, gently done. Bravo!

Comment is about I can still hear music (blog)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Conspicuous consumerism and plastic surgery can paper over the cracks for a while, but will never cure any country's deep-seated ills.

Comment is about I can still hear music (blog)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Thanks, Stephen.

That's the Thatcher goverment's "Managed Decline" in action, Stephen...policies at the time equally applied to Liverpool...and nowt to do with concerns over fossil fuels.

Incidentally, Israel's ethnic cleansing of Palestine is to date, reponsible for generating thirty-one, 31 million tons of CO2; a fact which conveniently escapes the tiny minds of Jackanory script-writers of GB Numpties, and Trash Talk TV who are currently mocking that Joan of Arc of our age, Greta Thunberg.

Comment is about Forgotten Towns (blog)

Original item by Stephen W Atkinson

@Hélène, thank you so much for sharing your story, it truly touched me.
I think the sun is the most fitting metaphor for a mother: constant, radiant, and quietly life-giving.

Comment is about Two Luminaries (blog)

Original item by Yanma Hidayah

What a beautiful way to describe it, @Hélène. Thank you.

Comment is about When The Home Is You (blog)

Original item by Yanma Hidayah

@Ray Miller, Thank you for reading so attentively.
The line you mentioned came from a quiet place — a time when I used to carry the weight of trying to make friends with everyone I met. That weight made me feel confined, like I had to mold myself to others' expectations.
I don’t blame myself and I didn’t know any better, I see it now as part of learning. These days, I no longer carry that burden.
I cherish my solitude, sometimes I pull away from friends just to regain my energy.
Still, I enjoy meeting new people, I laugh when they laugh, I cry when they cry, not because I have to, but because I want to.
The sense of “having to” now comes from the part of me that’s trying to grow my communication skills, not from a need to make friends. And Friendship will come, gently, with time, right?
I hope this doesn’t sound self-important, I just wanted to share the quiet process behind the lines.

Comment is about When The Home Is You (blog)

Original item by Yanma Hidayah

Yes, @Uilleam, beautifully said! Thank you.

Comment is about When The Home Is You (blog)

Original item by Yanma Hidayah

I totally agree, J.C. But after they closed, there were promises of more jobs & rebuilding that never materialised, & despite consecutive governments promising the same. We still remained all but abandoned
& thanks for the early likes 🌷☺️

Comment is about Forgotten Towns (blog)

Original item by Stephen W Atkinson

I have ambivalent views about the mining industry, Stephen. It paid me (overpaid me if I’m honest) for over 20 years. Still does with an ill-earned pension.
But the future of the planet, my kids, their kids and their kids is much better off without fossil fuels.

Comment is about Forgotten Towns (blog)

Original item by Stephen W Atkinson

Thanks Holden for extra like. 👍

Comment is about Addiction (blog)

Original item by Tom Doolan

Thanks for the like Stephen A.

David

Comment is about Pivot to War (blog)

Original item by David RL Moore

Some wonderful images in here Ray.
Love the unfinished Jenga and the last stanza is quite perfect

G

Comment is about December In The Algarve (blog)

Original item by Ray

Thank you SG. RM - he wrote this immediately before taking his own life (via a train, ironically enough). I decided to publish it exactly as he'd typed it.

Comment is about WEST COAST MAINLINE (blog)

Original item by John E Marks

every challenges we've had in this life means everything yet nothing as we go on...what a beautiful poem. i enjoyed reading it thurly.

Comment is about Proclamation of a Journey (blog)

Original item by Hélène

Many thanks Stephen G & Uilleam for your comments - Much appreciated. 🙂
Thanks for likes: Hélène, Nigel Astell, Yanma Hidayah & Larisa. 👍

Comment is about Addiction (blog)

Original item by Tom Doolan

Personally, I don't know the Algarve, but you paint a vivid picture of where to go (and where not to). I particularly like the verse including the cicadas and their unacknowledged alarm calls. Thanks Ray.

Comment is about December In The Algarve (blog)

Original item by Ray

Thanks Ray, Auracle and Stephen, so pleased you enjoyed.

Every May I try and write a poem every day for the month. I don't go in with any ideas, just a bunch of titles I think might inspire me in the moment. This poem and the previous one just popped out when I put pen to paper. I don't know who these characters are but their story felt pretty complicated. I'm really pleased you enjoyed.

Ray, thanks for the tip. That would flow nicely.

Thanks also to Red Brick, Graham, Tom, Uilleam, Stephen, Stephen, Aisha, Holden and Hélène for reading and for the 'likes'.

Comment is about Tenderness (blog)

Original item by Tom

Thanks for the likes, but no-one has expressed a preference for any of the versions. I would appreciate the feedback. Has anyone else done anything similar with a piece of their own?
Rob

Comment is about With Her Forever (Original and Versions Two and Three) (blog)

Original item by Rob J Mann

Thank you Uileam we really are living in Nazi Germany . The people in Gaza really are seen as sub human . Pepe of Man city Fame said something wonderful today which gave me some hope

Comment is about Cheering On Your Genocide (blog)

Original item by David R Mellor

Writing your way to sanity. Words are powerful. Prayer is powerful. A journey of pain. A journey of growth. The girl who writes, wins. Your poetry is raw and honest. Sending love and prayers.

Comment is about i have no eyes but i have to see (blog)

Original item by Zodinpuii

This is a gorgeous poem, Yanma. Also enjoyed reading your comment about the underlying inspiration of your mom's light giving rise to your own spreading of light. My mom is in heaven (mom passed 12 years ago at age 84); I miss her every day but feel her light still shining upon me.

Comment is about Two Luminaries (blog)

Original item by Yanma Hidayah

A poem that walks the reader home through gentle introspection. Lovely Yanma!

Comment is about When The Home Is You (blog)

Original item by Yanma Hidayah

The "Law and Order" and "Free Speech" brigade: they don't believe in it.
He has his admirers in the UK, God help us.

Comment is about The Emperor Wears a Badge (blog)

Original item by Rolph David

I'm so grateful that I was encouraged as a schoolboy to join our civic library.
I frequented a branch on my way to and from school, sometimes reading a book under the desk, whilst the teacher was trying to instill the joys of long division and fractions into me, and then having the book confiscated!

Then as an adult in retirement I was equally grateful to find books about music and walking in France which openend up a wealth of experience.
I wonder how many children today are as fortunate as I was?

Comment is about Books (blog)

Original item by Dawson

Great positivity once again Aisha.
It's Tuesday, and I'm still in one piece!😊

Comment is about Rise With Monday (blog)

Original item by Aisha Suleman

Lovely descriptions. Shame some of the lines seem to run out of track.

Comment is about WEST COAST MAINLINE (blog)

Original item by John E Marks

Good poem. The closing couplet is excellent and I like "don't force the finding" too.

Comment is about When The Home Is You (blog)

Original item by Yanma Hidayah

Thanks Stephen.

Comment is about Books (blog)

Original item by Ray

Speaking of Cheering on Genocide, David,
I see the vile blubbermouth presenter on TTTV Trash Talk TV is trying to big himself up by mocking Greta Thunberg and her colleagues.

Comment is about Cheering On Your Genocide (blog)

Original item by David R Mellor

Nice one, Tom.
Speaking of bullshit, I've got a masters in the subject!

Comment is about Addiction (blog)

Original item by Tom Doolan

Something rather profound there, Yanma.

Words would remain nothing more than marks on a page without a reader to interpret them.

Comment is about When The Home Is You (blog)

Original item by Yanma Hidayah

Thank you, Uilleam. They are the most dangerous, although I'm not quite certain exactly who they are. Perm any two from several hundred, I guess.
Thanks, Auracle. Once boundaries are in place they are not easy to cross. Cela peut etre francais, ou pas. J'ai de la chance ici d'etre entouré par des francophones, mais il y a très peu de Francais (ou Francaises).

And my thanks to the many of you who liked this poem. I am thrilled and humbled by your interest and loyalty.

Comment is about The Fence (blog)

Original item by Stephen Gospage

The title is so perfect, Tom. I am absolutely bowled over by this one.

Comment is about Tenderness (blog)

Original item by Tom

Thank you for this fine poem, Ray. I recognise some of this from my childhood, although my dad read the Daily Mail and would boo pictures of union leaders. Like you, the library was where I discovered so much. I remember wishing it was open on Sundays.

Comment is about Books (blog)

Original item by Ray

And what a beautiful one, John.....

Comment is about WEST COAST MAINLINE (blog)

Original item by John E Marks

A great performance, Tom. It's so easy to get addicted, and so difficult to stop. Let's try to help everyone out there.

Comment is about Addiction (blog)

Original item by Tom Doolan