Maggies article about the old Liverpool scene was very interesting.

Maggie`s memories start from a slightly earlier time at the height of the Beatles furore and the hordes of guys in smart suits looking for the next big money-spinner. My own memory of what was then called the Liverpool scene was at the very end of the sixties: I read at Adrian`s Hendri`s Gig at O`connors and, being very innocent, I decided to do a nine or ten minute thing called `You can`t win anyway` (yes, it``s that old`) The place was very crowded and the ceiling was very low . To my surprise it went down like a bomb, and Adrian, amidst the applause, kept calling out `What a debut`.....I thought I had arrived but, Alas, the following week I decided to read a serious one (with my whole body shaking due to standing on the mike wire) and amidst a growing mutter of disinterested conversation `Died the death`. I did a few more before joining Jim Blackburns outfit, which ended up at the Gazebo. The blast of the band under that low ceiling at O`Connors was ear -splitting.

Jim resurrected Sampson and Barlows for a while afterwards and we dId a newspaper sponsored thing there with Roger McGough, Which got an article in the `Echo`. Later a number of the Liverpool poets did a broadcast for some German radio station there. I was paid in marks but promptly lost the cheque. When we were there we were told that there was a Chinese
gay club next door. There was a poster of the Spinners still there in the basement at the time.

An experience was reading - with Jim`s group - at Manchester university, which was barricaded due to that French student inspired student revolution thing at that time. We had to go up to the hall through a passage of the chairs which were piled bocking the stairs. We were on with an Irish trio. Another night happened when only about ten of us turned up to find those big tall white T.V. wagons outside and discover that Jim had arranged (I think it was Granada) for us to be televised. A few shots were taken of an honestly awful night...and (thankfully) it was never screened. Another time we did a reading at Stone and jim jarred the car against the centre barrier of the motorway seriously frightening all
of us. On arrival I was first up to read in a converted barn, and when I caught sight of my face reflected in a
glass door opposite I was (as we say in Liverpool) `The colour of boiled shite`.

Another experience was reading at Chauffers, which was opposite the present Blackburn house... The sight of the `Ladies of the night (coming in for a drink in between their regular `patrols` behind the Anglican Cathederal) and random groups of itinerant young back-pack drop-
outs dossing down for the night in sleeping bags on the floor, was a sight to remember.

Circumstances drew me away but it was good - years later - to find the poetry scene flourishing once again.

Comment is about 'Poetry suddenly could be fun ... it was all very Liverpool' (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Not sure my orchards have given up wanting to bear fruit yet, but they're close!
Nice poem Stefan,
Best wishes,
Steve

Comment is about Wearer of shit tinted glasses (blog)

Thanks for looking in Rose and Natalie,
Steve

Comment is about The Thoughts Inside My Head (blog)

Original item by Steve Higgins

@preeti @lynn thanks so much!!! @cynthia you're right on all fronts , hard

Comment is about What if this is all real? (blog)

Original item by Corr Lens

Good poem.

Comment is about Is this what borders do? (blog)

Original item by Tommy Carroll

thanks and the same to you chuck.xx

Comment is about Wearer of shit tinted glasses (blog)

I thought it explained it's self, that the bow disengaged it's self and disappeared down the sewer, obviously not.
It was just a true event that happened 24 years ago one day when I took my granddaughter out for a walk.

Comment is about A Bow (blog)

Original item by Hazel Connelly

Tenderness - and hesitancy - with fine rhyming. What's not to like! Plus 'I hunger as your beauty grows unfathomably deep' is a line to set the gifted above the humdrum. I weep - well - not really - but the thought is there.

Comment is about UP FOM LONDON. (blog)

Love the style of the samples on your profile - any chance of posting more? I appreciate your 'observant' attention to detail and careful choice of vocabulary. There is a certain economy of words that indicates a deliberation of thought and a striving for the end product to be as good as it can be. Thank you for sharing.

Comment is about Susan Darlington (poet profile)

Original item by Susan Darlington

How very true of many places that offer reading stuff.
I sigh each time I have to negotiate past browsers to
the rack containing my daily 'paper! And many's the time
I've been tempted to ask "What do you think this is...a
(expletive deleted) library?!"

Comment is about BORDERS (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

The message is compelling - some lines scoring especially well. Perhaps the repetition isn't entirely needed - unless this is really a lyric for a song, and musically the repeated lines would work depending on the melody. But the whole poem is most enjoyable with the strength of honesty flowing through it.

Comment is about Kelvingrove Memories (blog)

Original item by Tom

A difficult topic to engage, but you have strong pertinent ideas, honestly, forcefully and 'artistically' presented. We all have to face our idiocies sooner or later.

Check 'impermanence'. Even this may not be correct; but it's probably closer.

Checked your Bio, and you're not 'sorry' at all. Who are you kidding? I look forward to more of your work.

Comment is about What if this is all real? (blog)

Original item by Corr Lens

Really enjoyed reading this Mr Lens

Comment is about What if this is all real? (blog)

Original item by Corr Lens

Hi Cynthia Glad you liked the Howlin' Wolf poem!

Comment is about Cynthia Buell Thomas (poet profile)

Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas

You are a pleasure to read.

Comment is about What if this is all real? (blog)

Original item by Corr Lens

Very interesting. I'm really hoping the child's foot wasn't still in the shoe, because I'm not quite sure what 'went down the sewer' - the bow, the shoe or the kid - or all three.

Comment is about A Bow (blog)

Original item by Hazel Connelly

Hello Cynthia

Thank you for taking the time to read and comment on both 'Take Away Love' and 'A&E'. Your opinion and comments are very much appreciated. I was a tad concerned about putting 'Take Away Love' out there and even sat my sons down to warn and explain what the content was really about. In response they just rolled their eyes!

Comment is about Cynthia Buell Thomas (poet profile)

Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas

Fabulous poem, smashes into you like a slab of granite.

Comment is about Prison Song (blog)

Original item by Russ Litten

Cynthia hi, I have forgotten to rewrite the ending. One moment.

Comment is about Cynthia Buell Thomas (poet profile)

Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas

Thanks for reading!! Checked it out and it's def in the same vein

Comment is about What if this is all real? (blog)

Original item by Corr Lens

A really well written piece Mr Wilde.Regards to you both

Rose.x

Comment is about Wearer of shit tinted glasses (blog)

enjoyed this one Steve.Cheers! x

Comment is about The Thoughts Inside My Head (blog)

Original item by Steve Higgins

Beautiful , it's fun when I can see a poem , in my head, so clear.

Comment is about Reravelling (blog)

Really evocative piece this Tommy, feeling like it leads somewhere and then leaves the reader wondering about you and Jez, where why who etc. Nicely lean too.

Comment is about Is this what borders do? (blog)

Original item by Tommy Carroll

Fucking love it. I've been the other side of this and I'm sorry , but I'm also very greatful to see and feel the fallout of a once loved thrown out booty call

Comment is about Obligatory (blog)

Love this, Nat, am going to read it to my kids, who I am sure will also love it! Xx

Comment is about FUN! (blog)

Cynthia hi, I have forgotten to rewrite the ending. One moment.

Comment is about Is this what borders do? (blog)

Original item by Tommy Carroll

Thanks Yogesh. x
More from me on http://colsibabes.blogspot.co.uk/

Comment is about Yogesh Bhatt (poet profile)

Original item by Yogesh Bhatt

Complete poem coming soon..!!

Comment is about (blog)

Original item by Yogesh Bhatt

Nice idea, and a great poem,
best wishs,
Steve

Comment is about The Little Flower Boy (blog)

Original item by Ged Thompson

Hi Cynthia The parallel between the Red Arrows and the geese was quite fortuitous. As I was thinking of John (my father in law) the geese flew past and it so happened that one of the many things he banged on about was what a waste of money those displays were. It's no more profound or complicated than that. There's also supposed to be a bit of gentle humour because he was a larger than life character who could often drive you mad when you were busy. Still, maybe my kids see me like that too!

Comment is about Cynthia Buell Thomas (poet profile)

Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas

Cheers for your coms Charlie. I see you made a couple of changes. It doesn't necessarily detract from your initial emotion at the time of writing to look back and make alterations. More often than not a few careful changes will strengthen rather than detract. Replacing 'remorseful' with 'passionless' avoids the repetition of what I would call a 'big' word within a fairly short piece. Not that there's anything wrong with repetition, it's certainly part of my style, but some words can sound clunky when repeated. Same with end of line rhymes. I try to avoid anything too obvious but if I get stuck I'm happy checking out rhymezone.com for help (am I allowed to say that?) Thanks for liking the 'short but giddy rhythm' in my piece, I'm glad you found it, sometimes it's hard to come by. Looking forward to reading some more of your lines. x

Comment is about Silly Mistakes. (blog)

Original item by Sharlie

love your poetry :)

Comment is about Susan Darlington (poet profile)

Original item by Susan Darlington

haha! thanks for the funny comments guys! xx

Comment is about beer house bust up (blog)

Intimacy of the mundane is great poetic material. You capture it well. Also the rippling effect of a single potent image.

Comment is about A&E (blog)

Good strong ideas with potent language to match. The metaphor never flags -which takes good concentrated writing. I did like 'the finger first' point, as it indicated some degree of responsibility for not hurting the female body unduly and shows also some degree of mutual acceptance of the sex act. Intercourse is just that - nothing more - and you capture the purely physical very well. And then you punch out the real issue of the poem.

It's not easy to write about sex without implying erotica, but sex and sexuality are fair subjects for good poetry.

Comment is about Take Away Love (blog)

Cynthia - many thanks for your kind words on 'Caught Out'.
I had never written a haiku before this and 'Crow' and had steered clear as I never truly understood them until I got the chance to research the history recently. I'm glad you enjoyed my efforts and took the time to read it more than once (which I now believe is the secret to this style).

Comment is about Cynthia Buell Thomas (poet profile)

Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas

You are welcome, Taff :)

The blog has been updated this morning.

Comment is about Remembering the Lancashire Fusiliers at Gallipoli readings in Bury and Rochdale (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

An excellent little poem exposing a very keen topic that all of us need to think about. Keep writing. Check 'privileges'.

Comment is about that could be me (blog)

Original item by Cierra Breeze Potts

I so agree - very clever - took me a moment - but worth it.

Comment is about Louder Than Words (blog)

Original item by CathyLCrabb

Really good - atmosphere is everything - disparate details add up - personal to observational - to political - and back to very personal with potential 'borders crossed' - very interesting.

Do you ever find 'symbolism' an unending monkey on your back? I have to fight it sometimes, or better still, laugh at it - or it is rough rider. Have you any idea what I'm talking about?

Comment is about Is this what borders do? (blog)

Original item by Tommy Carroll

Thanks, Martin and Laura. Sometimes I do worry whether I might be losing my touch.

I think the line that Martin highlighted is like throwing a bucket of paint at a blank canvas: no preconceived point, but somehow it works, and you leave it, without monkeying around.

Comment is about The Glaswegian (blog)

Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas

HI Laura,
Please don't apologise for not having time to write long comments on my stuff - I'm pretty excited that you took the time to have a read and comment at all - so thanks :))

Comment is about Laura Taylor (poet profile)

Original item by Laura Taylor

HI Jackie, Thanks for your kind comment on the ramblings, good to know others can relate - the injustice of being punished when you don't know what for, unforgettable ;). I'm sure I've probably given my own kids some similar memories...

Comment is about Jacqueline Phillips (poet profile)

Original item by Jacqueline Phillips

Hi Jackie, This brought such a big smile to my face, I have a 7 year old boy, and can so relate :)

Comment is about Sitting On A Chair Arguing About Computing (blog)

Original item by Jacqueline Phillips

Thank you Shirley-Anne Kennedy. I'm going to email Eileen tonight.

Comment is about Remembering the Lancashire Fusiliers at Gallipoli readings in Bury and Rochdale (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Just as there are 60 minutes in an hour and 60 seconds in a minute, there are 60 tick-tocks in a second and 60 wiff-waffs in a tick-tock.
It has always confounded me why there are 24 hours in a day. The duration of a day is set by the earth's axis rotation, and a year by its rotation around the sun. But what fixes an hour?
Wouldn't it make more sense to have 18 or 36 hours in a day, based on the globe's lines of longitude. But then what fixes the lines of longitude?
Napoleon got it right when he suggested metricating the hours in a day and minutes in an hour and seconds in a minute.
Even Napoleon gave up at tick-tocks and wiff-waffs, though!

Comment is about TICK TOCK (blog)

Original item by M.C. Newberry

Hi Taff

Please email poems to Eileen. Her email is:
eileen.earnshaw@yahoo.co.uk

Thanks :)

Comment is about Remembering the Lancashire Fusiliers at Gallipoli readings in Bury and Rochdale (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Where's the link to the organiser, Eileen Earnshaw, if I'd like to contribute a written piece to it please?

Comment is about Remembering the Lancashire Fusiliers at Gallipoli readings in Bury and Rochdale (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Thank you. It was recently published in the Interpreter's House.

Comment is about Myriam San Marco (poet profile)

Original item by Myriam San Marco