An interesting array of comments. When first reading this I
found myself reflecting that Jewish people could identify with
all and more of what is written here. The terrible irony of war
and its causes is ongoing in human history, seeming to exist
somewhere in this world at any given time. It was recently
reported that Israel's team of border-watchers (many of them
women) had reported suspicious ACTIVITY from Gaza
within their various areas but this had apparently gained no
action/response from the Israeli government. When the attack
came, the victims included border watchers. One can only
wonder if a long-game was being played, using the "sudden"
assault as a political excuse to launch a decisive all out
reply to reduce Hamas to a non-effectual entity once and
for all in a next-door land that was enabling it to exist.
Comment is about Have you ever........ (blog)
Original item by keith jeffries
I once suffered a rejcction at the hands of a former PE "name"
when he was editing "The Oldie". But you're right about taking
"The nothing ventured..." attitude. If you don't try, you can't
succeed. It's all subjective and often dictated by legal niceties!
Comment is about The VIP Fast Lane (blog)
Original item by R A Porter
RA - thanks for your comment. I remember now that I also have
somewhere a VHS tape of Sir John visiting some country towns admired by him A delightful stroll with places familiar to me
from days as a boy in Wiltshire. His love of his subject was
infectious and he deserves to be remembered as much for
championing the England he loved as for his poetry.
Comment is about SIR JOHN BETJEMAN REVISITED (blog)
Original item by M.C. Newberry
Belated thanks MC, I took your advice and sent it to them. The rejection was unequivocal and swift, but nothing ventured...!
Comment is about The VIP Fast Lane (blog)
Original item by R A Porter
Thanks for the kind comments and likes. Jx
Comment is about A Sea Glass Heart (blog)
Original item by julie callaghan
"...this sort of poem format...":
the kind of language increasingly used to dress up objections to an author’s message as literary criticism.
Let’s just have the cojones to say something like:
“I don’t agree that all human life is equally worthy of respect, regardless of nationality and race; however, if only you had written your poem in the style of Wordsworth’s Daffodils, you might just have ignited in me a spark of human empathy”.
Comment is about Have you ever........ (blog)
Original item by keith jeffries
Men think it's a man's world, actually it is still God's world. Men realize this fact too late, may be in their grave where they start paying for their sins.
Comment is about Telboy (poet profile)
Original item by Telboy
There's a difference between understanding and accepting. What suits our interests and aspirations are easily followed. Religious obligations are often easily overlooked because there's no religious policing anymore, but government's legal and societal moral policing is feared and implemented, either half heartedly or due to legal pressures upon the people.
Comment is about M.C. Newberry (poet profile)
Original item by M.C. Newberry
Polygyny is a misconstrued concept by many. I've just touched upon this topic from a woman's perspective. There's a lot of legal, religious, social aspects attached with this concept.
Thank you for reading it and leaving your words of appreciation on my blog.
Comment is about keith jeffries (poet profile)
Original item by keith jeffries
Thanks to Moonlight, Keith and Graham for commenting on this poem. There are some societies around the world where people live in fear of expressing themselves and of becoming 'non-persons' when governments become suspicious of them. We should all be wary of such creeping authoritarianism.
I love the idea that this could be about invisibility in old age, Graham! It just shows how valuable this sort of peer review is.
And my thanks to Stephen A, Holden, Steve, Manish and Tim for their support.
Comment is about Election Campaign (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
I remember enjoying being taught Betjeman as a 14 year old. I enjoy his wit and mastery of language as much now as I did then. I love his passion for Victorian architecture too. He deserves a wider audience today. I only discovered the albums during Lockdown - they are masterful (musically too) and guaranteed to make you smile. Thanks for the post MC, I’ll seek out the Parky interview.
Comment is about SIR JOHN BETJEMAN REVISITED (blog)
Original item by M.C. Newberry
Okay Greg, you've got the last word!
Comment is about Have you ever........ (blog)
Original item by keith jeffries
Gosh … such a wonderful mixed response for my little poem! ☺️. Thank you all for taking the time to read and provide your insights - they are much appreciated.
Comment is about Wonder. (blog)
Original item by Clare
Fair enough, Telboy, I apologise for misinterpreting the level of your compassion for the suffering of the Palestinians. But I still take issue with the word 'tedious', which oversteps the boundaries of constructive criticism. In my opinion.
Comment is about Have you ever........ (blog)
Original item by keith jeffries
Greg you have, deliberately I think, misinterpreted my comment. It's not the subject I find tedious - far from it as I expressed in my first line - it's the format. Just my personal opinion, which is the point of the comments facility after all isn't it?
Comment is about Have you ever........ (blog)
Original item by keith jeffries
Thanks Keith (and Greg).
These are things that we need to keep saying, and poetry sometimes has a reach that polemic lacks.
Comment is about Have you ever........ (blog)
Original item by keith jeffries
Telboy, you're quite right. I'll give you some stick straight away. Keith has chosen a hard-hitting format to express his empathy for Palestinians, which forces readers to face up to the fact that such things are going on out there. You prefer not to face up to them. You find such a list 'tedious'. I would like to think you are better than such a comment.
Comment is about Have you ever........ (blog)
Original item by keith jeffries
Basically it's a man's world.
Comment is about Polygyny - a divine decree (blog)
Original item by Ghazala lari
SG - your comment is appreciated, plus the "like". I still recall
the purchase of the poet's "Summoned by Bells" - the title itself
conjuring up a vista that invited me to share its promised pleasures. I have a CD of Sir John's work that added to that previous pleasurable experience.
Thanks too - to LC/HM and TD for your "likes".
Comment is about SIR JOHN BETJEMAN REVISITED (blog)
Original item by M.C. Newberry
These wonderfully scripted lines certainly resonate with me.
Thank you,
Keith
Comment is about Birthday Suit (blog)
Original item by Tim Higbee
There's a strong message here.
I'm sure I'll get some stick for this, but I have to say that I find this sort of poem format quite tedious. Sorry Keith but you're better than this.
Comment is about Have you ever........ (blog)
Original item by keith jeffries
Well composed and I shre your cynicism.
We have made it as it is.
Thanks
Keith
Comment is about Woodies (blog)
Original item by Robert C Gaulke
The positive aspect is the development of a rational and reasoning brain that the passing years creates. In the meantime:
It's a sad reality that the gift of the gab
Is cruelly accompanied by the gift of the flab! 😉
Comment is about Birthday Suit (blog)
Original item by Tim Higbee
The positivity of love that endures is always welcome here. 👍
Comment is about Reconstructing (blog)
Original item by Watts
From what I recall, the Mormons of Utah USA take a similar
stance and the American system of state law within a federal
entity allows it in that vast country that saw an early settlers'
rush to acquire lands in the pursuit of various aims & agendas.
Smith and his Mormons fell into that category, still limited tp
that one particular state over there. As a secular open minded
offspring, baptised as an infant, I now view the various
"beliefs" and what they either swear by or dismiss, with a degree of detached interest that remains mindful of the
histories involved and the basic reality of social "control" involved wherever they exist. Each to their own - down the
centuries and across this old long-suffering world of ours.
Comment is about Polygyny - a divine decree (blog)
Original item by Ghazala lari
Ghazala,
Thank you for explanation of a subject not really understood in a Christian community. You given us a clearer picture of what this entails.
Thank you,
Keith
Comment is about Polygyny - a divine decree (blog)
Original item by Ghazala lari
This is so incredibly beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing.
Comment is about Reconstructing (blog)
Original item by Watts
This is wondrous and wise and curious, with some haunting imagery
“Birdsong falling onto pages
Made from autumn leaves”
👏
Comment is about Wonder. (blog)
Original item by Clare
Clare I think the places people go to compose poetry are myriad. Historically drugs and alcohol have proven to be exceptionally good places for the creative arts! Whilst physical spaces might be conducive to inspiration I’ve rarely found them conducive for the process itself.
Thank you for providing this intriguing question
Comment is about Wonder. (blog)
Original item by Clare
Hello Clare,
I like your poem. It confirms to me my own feelings about poets and some of those who readily accept their often self bestowed title.
The poem itself portrays a thoughfulness which suggests it is heartfelt.
I wondered at some point if your questioning was ironic in nature, that you already know your answer. I suspect as suggested in a previous comment the place you speak of is a personal space of reflective retreat, less likely to be a physical space..although the question appears sincere.
I would qualify that I find peace and the space for contemplation in nature. I frequently visit such places in solitude. These places create a peace in me which offers contrast to many of the subjects and memories I conjure whilst immersed in the reflective environment they offer. Many of those reflections are the extreme opposite of the tranquil environment in which I summon them.
Having read poets I personally deem to be accomplished and credible I believe such methodology is probably a relatively common trait of behaviour.
I think it worthy of note that I do not often write of the beauty of such places whilst I am within them. I often write about them whilst I am in an environment devoid of them. In this respect it seems to me that it is the absense of things which enhances our ability or desire to summon them in our minds eye.
The Great War poets in most part conveyed the horrors they experienced after leaving the Battlefield, many of them wrote their greatest work in splendid isolation often withdrawn from human contact within some sort of escapist tranquility.
The idea I dislike in your poem is the implied notion that poets are special, in that they have a special place to go to cry. It suggests a desired exclusivity. That desire is again revealed and reinforced by the comment preceeding this one, that Poets are a "Special Breed of people" the notion of that is at odds with poetry itself. Poets are not special people they are ordinary people who are expressing something in a way that can be treasured or discarded by those who consume their writings. In this respect poets need no special place of retreat in order to suffer for their art or in order that they create art.
Similarly as if I was disturbed whilst within my own space of creative isloation, I would be extremely displeased having to share any poetically reserved space for the exclusive use of other recovering/retreating "poets", I can barely imagine anything more tiresome. In that regard such places should be outlawed unless mutually desired.
I find the idea of sharing my creative space with another person repellent and counter productive. However, the result of anything created and subsequently shared is beyond our control and I am glad of that. The former stance may seem to be a selfish trait, I believe it probably is. I am prone to honesty.
Thank you for providing food for thought Clare.
I hope you regard my input in the contemplative manner it was submitted. It is not criticism, merely opinion which your poem readily evoked.
Comment is about Wonder. (blog)
Original item by Clare
Hi Stephen-Thanks for feedback. All we have is today. 👍
Comment is about Hello Today (blog)
Original item by Tom Doolan
Finding each other
starting a lifetime
family love guides
them both with
God watching on.❤
Comment is about Marital bliss (blog)
Original item by Sunshine
God connects
two lovers
one love
connects all.❤
Comment is about Divine connection (blog)
Original item by Sunshine
There is a drive
operated by love
exploring every dream
holding hands together
we set off
cruise control selected
this lifetime drive
will never stop
because nobody wants
to get off.❤❤❤
Comment is about Dreamy ride (blog)
Original item by Sunshine
A love poem so well written and with perfect rhyming. In life's journey things often fall apart and with love the damage can be rebuilt and wounds healed. Often a long process but always with hope of a happy ending.
Thank you for this,
Keith
Comment is about Reconstructing (blog)
Original item by Watts
I like these short, different pieces with a moral to them.
Comment is about 5% (blog)
Original item by Marnanel Thurman
Gray,
this poem unfolds itself in an intriguing way. I felt attracted to every line as it is written in a manner designed to flow. I also felt drawn to that highly observant trait which most poets possess. What the eye sees does not necessarily tally what is in the heart or mind. Very well composed and thank you,
Keith
PS. I love Emily Dickinson because she was very introvert yet also fully concious of life and everything about her. As a woman during the time she lived she suffered gender discrimination yet despite all drawbacks she kept on writing.
Comment is about For Emily Dickinson (blog)
Original item by Gray Nicholls
Clare,
thank you for this poem. It spoke to me in a way no other poem ever has. Poets are a special breed of people. We appreciate beauty and yearn for love. Surely when we cry we retreat somewhere special and comforting. Either alone or in the arms of another where can let those tears fall in a sacred place.
A moving poem, skilfully penned.
Thank you again for this,
Keith
Comment is about Wonder. (blog)
Original item by Clare
A grim situation but not a hopeless one, yet. Prayers are the only solution and we can together make a difference.
Impactful write.
Its a scenario witnessed globally.
Comment is about Emptiness (blog)
Original item by keith jeffries
It's never too late, go fetch your dream.
Once amiss, always deep rooted regret. Well penned
Comment is about Birthday Suit (blog)
Original item by Tim Higbee
Sobering stuff Keith! Some would say your last line could be reversed to say 'God has forsaken us'.
I think self-preservation can take multiple forms and the most extreme examples of these often cause hardship/wars for others.
Having faith in the right places, friends, family, charity etc is my idea of religion. I don't want a pay-off for being/doing good.
Comment is about Emptiness (blog)
Original item by keith jeffries
This could even be about getting old! I often think us 70+'s are invisible. In fact Harry Potter often borrows my cloak!
Comment is about Election Campaign (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Stephen,
This is one of your best poems as it speaks of present day society and the fear we live in. Boenhoffer wrote a similar poem under the tyranny of Nazi rule. Maybe this poem has some prophetic value.
Thank you for this,
Keith
Comment is about Election Campaign (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Gem of a glass.... Metaphorical write. Well versed.
Comment is about A Sea Glass Heart (blog)
Original item by julie callaghan
Minorities always suffer.
Comment is about Election Campaign (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Thanks Stephen, hope you are keeping well. Not written anything for a long time, this is for a little project.
Comment is about A Sea Glass Heart (blog)
Original item by julie callaghan
Good to hear from you, Julie. Still in fine form, I see. Thanks for this.
Comment is about A Sea Glass Heart (blog)
Original item by julie callaghan
M.C. Newberry
Mon 22nd Jan 2024 14:11
There are lessons in life that we should heed, but all too often
we don't, and the saddest is ignoring what our body is telling us.
Friendship comes and goes - that is a fact of life that we have
to live with, but we should also be ready to recognise and
respond to those "what about me" messages we get from within.
Life is not just lived for ourselves but for others too. As Donne
tells us: No man is an island.
Comment is about John (blog)
Original item by Andy N