The girl that thought she was nothing,
Died for nothing,
Alone.

These lines from "Amy" are so brutally true.
Amazing work.

Comment is about Simon Austin (poet profile)

Original item by Simon Austin

Hello Shirley,
One God who doesn't make room for another God to sit in the sun seems to me to have a bit of an inferiority complex.

Comment is about Your God and My God (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Bugger. I meant Keats! lol Thanks for pointing it out M.C.

Comment is about If I were a proper poet (blog)

Original item by Gray Nicholls

Great stuff - right up my street. Well said.

Comment is about Fair (blog)

Original item by Steve O'Connor

Hey cheers Cayn! Looking forward to it :)

Comment is about LauraTaylor and Louise Fazackerley on bill with Attila in Wigan (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Only just found this (busy week). Wow. So powerful. The poem makes much of the 2CV but you're right - it wouldn't have been quite the same in another car. Totally endorse the others' comments.

Comment is about Touch and Go (blog)

Original item by Cate

lovely! your best one yet,Larisa.x

Comment is about Spring Mood (blog)

Original item by Larisa Rzhepishevska

Hi Ann! Pleased to meet you! I've just read your samples and think your writing is fantastic!

Comment is about Ann Foxglove (poet profile)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

David cites hundreds, Ambit and Magma: thousands. It occurs to me that I might sensibly halve the submissions I make, not that I make many, and I'll guess I'm not the only one. A little filtering might be called for: but in those giddy moments...!

Comment is about Poetry magazines and the creative writing boom: are editors being swamped with poems? (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Words to picture
Sentence to scene
Seasons to create
Art of make-believe.

Comment is about Stockport WoL (group profile)

Original item by Stockport WoL

Wot - no Keats?!
:-))

Comment is about If I were a proper poet (blog)

Original item by Gray Nicholls

thanks for the comments, solar on my little poem.

i have now amended the little slip from teats to yeats but glad you liked it. it was kinda a fun piece for me.

Comment is about Cate (poet profile)

Original item by Cate

thanks for the comments, harry on my little slip and poem.

i have now amended the little slip from teats to yeats but glad you liked it. it was kinda a fun piece for me.

Comment is about Harry O`N eill (poet profile)

Original item by Harry O`N eill

thanks for the comments, guys.

i have now amended the little slip from teats to yeats but glad you all enjoyed it.

Comment is about If I were a proper poet (blog)

Original item by Gray Nicholls

Thanks Solar )

Comment is about Candle (blog)

Original item by Richard Alfred

To doubt is the key, well said.

Comment is about AN OPEN AND SHUT CASE (blog)

Original item by M.C. Newberry

Thanks for commenting on my poem. I'm considering the 'ravaged' suggestion. I did have ravaged initially, but then I thought ravished is a signal to the past, that he hasn't always been old and unattractive and that once he was indeed ravished.

Comment is about M.C. Newberry (poet profile)

Original item by M.C. Newberry

Neat execution here MC Newberry. I see you are a master of rhyme.

'Ideology, power, greed,
Sowed the all-American seed.'

The root of all evil. You've hit it on the head. If only we could get rid of them.

Comment is about THE DAY THEY MURDERED JFK (blog)

Original item by M.C. Newberry

Awww hello you! Where've you been hiding? You'll have to make sure you come to the Christmas Spoke so we can have a catch up! xx

Comment is about Ged Thompson (poet profile)

Original item by Ged Thompson

Hugs XXX

Comment is about Bolton Arts Festival June 2012 Cate and Isobel on the poetry trail (photo)

Loved it! Well-paced to bring on a bout of nostalgia. My first street party was for the Queen's 25th, but there's a baby in the photo - I was already a father. Oh dear - time!

Comment is about Coronation Party, Amy’s Terrace, 1953 (blog)

Original item by STEVE RUDD

And many of the same from us John.xx

Comment is about Lost (blog)

Original item by John E Marks

great poem!(one 'r' too many-last line,fourth verse-'YOU are allowed)nice one Leslie.x

Comment is about Inspiration (blog)

Original item by Leslie Smith

Deepest,deepest,sympathies.x

Comment is about Lost (blog)

Original item by John E Marks

Deep!this great poem is approaching me from quite a few angles.Excellent!x

Comment is about Candle (blog)

Original item by Richard Alfred

Hi Harry, thanx for note about port sunlight after you saw it recently, yes he went the extra mile for his workers cheers Jeff

Comment is about Harry O`N eill (poet profile)

Original item by Harry O`N eill

Awesome!

Comment is about John Darwin is new compere at Write Out Loud Sale (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

LOL - and how many of them were child molesters I wonder? Remember going to see the old Gary Glitter at Wembley before the scandals emerged - it kind of casts a nasty pall over much of the era for me now.

Comment is about GLAM!!!!!!!! (blog)

Original item by Ian Whiteley

Lovely piece steve. There are so many layers to it. Sorrow for them because the future doesnt necessarily get better, sorrow for their future loss and our own losses. Community spirit and identity IS breaking down and it IS something to mourn.

The coronation day was before my time but I do remember May day and church walking days where all the roads were closed, occasions where communities naturally came together.

Comment is about Coronation Party, Amy’s Terrace, 1953 (blog)

Original item by STEVE RUDD

Evocative and delicious as a street party. Loved it.

Comment is about Coronation Party, Amy’s Terrace, 1953 (blog)

Original item by STEVE RUDD

I have a picture of myself at a Coronation party aged nine months, tucking into blancmange or whatever. And my street got flattened, too. Conjures up a lot for me, Steve, including the Lone Ranger. "Your staid gaiety in checked dresses / Bunting fashioned from austerity" are a lovely, very affectionate couple of lines.

Comment is about Coronation Party, Amy’s Terrace, 1953 (blog)

Original item by STEVE RUDD

Well done Rod, some great nights at Sale. And great news that you have regenerated into John Darwin who will do a fantastic job.

Comment is about John Darwin is new compere at Write Out Loud Sale (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Your very lucky to have a daughter. No son would do owt like that - theyd just come and borrow some money then bugger of, which would make the street a lot greyer.

I don't do criticising but I think this would have been nice with some rhyme in it. Theres a rhyming dictionary on google if you find that hard.

Comment is about Touch and Go (blog)

Original item by Cate

Emotionally devastating. Anyone who has seen
the face of someone suffering the disease will
immediately recognise the feelings expressed
here - and the impotence of being a witness.
Let's console ourselves with the belief there
IS a light at the end of the tunnel.

Comment is about FOR 'OUR KID' (blog)

Original item by Pete Slater

Congrats Harry.... your poem made me laugh and that is a precious gift to give anyone!
Lady Ha Ha... so did yours. More of a snigger though than a belly laugh like Harrys.
Nice to see humour taking its rightful place in the poetry world though, instead of angst and doom and gloom!!
Cate xx

Comment is about Touch and Go. Result (blog)

Original item by Dave Bradley

So no Tiger Tiger burning bright for you then? Never mind... I enjoyed reading this. AND I enjoyed reading the comments! lol
Cate xx

Comment is about If I were a proper poet (blog)

Original item by Gray Nicholls

Hehe :D

(psst - there's a surplus 'a' in "take a look")

Comment is about GLAM!!!!!!!! (blog)

Original item by Ian Whiteley

Sometimes I wait months to hear about an acceptance or rejection.

I see that the Faber and Faber New Poets award has just been extended for the second time - now it's January 2014. It states specifically the reason is due to the large number of submissions.

As for creative writing courses, I have a bit of an inverse snobbery about them. Mainly because competition winners all seem to write in that same vein - inaccessible and totally obscure. Must be clever though, eh? If they win? ;)

Comment is about Poetry magazines and the creative writing boom: are editors being swamped with poems? (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Like the humour in this great, observational piece.

Comment is about GLAM!!!!!!!! (blog)

Original item by Ian Whiteley

Brilliant! Brought a lump to my throat. Who can't empathise with this?

Comment is about Touch and Go (blog)

Original item by Cate

Heartfelt and heart breaking to read. A lovely tribute.

Comment is about FOR 'OUR KID' (blog)

Original item by Pete Slater

If you take those `teats` out it wouldn`t be fair to Tennyson...Leave them in and give him a thrill!

I like the humility of it.

Comment is about If I were a proper poet (blog)

Original item by Gray Nicholls

Cate,
The comments of `ache` and `humanity` and `emotion` say it all.

Shame about the lateness, A genuine heartfelt
one beats the humour every time.

Comment is about Touch and Go (blog)

Original item by Cate

'other lunchtime(s)with Teats.Describes my now grown up baby's once favourite time of day-lol! very good poem.No doubt thou shall correcteth thy typo.x

Comment is about If I were a proper poet (blog)

Original item by Gray Nicholls

(-: Actually, Lady Ha Ha you got a lot of second places, meaning that if there had been a third it would have been yours. A 'notional bronze' perhaps. I thought your poem was very good.

Looking forward to seeing what Harry comes up with

Comment is about Touch and Go. Result (blog)

Original item by Dave Bradley

Hi MC I'm glad Annus Mirabilis struck a chord. I've just enjoyed your poem on the Menin Gate.

Comment is about THE MENIN GATE - 11/11/2013 (blog)

Original item by M.C. Newberry

Starfish - Happy to make you titter.
MC - Shirley does a mean pie and gravy.

Comment is about Jilted John (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Verse 3 - line 2: I trust this refers to "Keats"!
As for sticking Kipiling's (sic) head into a cup of worms...
no comment. But he lost his own son to the war
that took Owen and his lines about "Tommy Atkins"
were full of pride about the ordinary British
soldier of his own day.

Comment is about If I were a proper poet (blog)

Original item by Gray Nicholls

Nigel, the Arts Trail books have arrived. And look magnificent!

Comment is about Stockport WoL (group profile)

Original item by Stockport WoL