Yes John, we have been royally shafted. I despair at each new revelation of how the elite wealthy are finding new ways to protect their financial advantage by disadvantaging the rest of us; and more so at the way our elected representatives either support or ignore this. There are solutions out there, but these are hampered on two fronts; one, by the public's apathy, and two, buy the disproportionate influence exercised over both the media and (all) political bodies. But, come the revolution . . . (Poets v Parliament?)
Regards,
A.E.
Comment is about The Fairytale of New Britain (Lucky Man) (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Enjoyed this Mike. It had a psychedelic/otheworldly/surreal feel to it. Well put together.
Regards,
A.e.
Comment is about Sitrep dnb stylee (blog)
Original item by Noetic-fret!
Ah, Ebenezer, my alter ego.
Comment is about Laura Taylor (poet profile)
Original item by Laura Taylor
Cheers Mike and a very Merry Christmas to you too.
Comment is about Noetic-fret! (poet profile)
Original item by Noetic-fret!
The premise so evocatively set down brought to
mind the view of a Latin gentleman of late(ish)
years who once wrote to a daily newspaper with
obvious relief that the demands of his youthful
ardour had diminished, leaving him able to
enjoy life without "the pressure to perform"..this in indignant response to the advance of the HRT female of similar age.
In short, there's a time and place in nature
which can provide its own rewards.....
and relief - that we should embrace not fear.
Comment is about Don Juan in his decrepitude (blog)
Wonderful! It certainly is a tour de force. I think He/She probably approves.
Comment is about PARTY! (a shameless re-post!) (blog)
Original item by Anthony Emmerson
Well said John,
I wish people would pay more attention to the fact that this historically unusual and temporary situation was brought about by the bankers creating oodles of shaky credit (remember all our credit cards?) The bankers also got rich (As Carlyle said. `Who has the management will have the money`) But so did everyone else. The trouble with the bankers was not just the thievery - but their incompetence...They didn`t fully understand their own business.
All this talk about `protecting the city of London` makes it likely that they will be incompetent again in the future.
Your blog, John, is a timely reminder that `progress` is far from being inevitable.
Comment is about The Fairytale of New Britain (Lucky Man) (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Anthony,
I sit in gobsmacked admiration before this cunningly roll-rhymed, trans creeds, beliefs and faiths, musically, politically and
biblically savvy, jocularly witty and apt, huge and genial humorous tour de force.
Thanks for posting it again.
Comment is about PARTY! (a shameless re-post!) (blog)
Original item by Anthony Emmerson
Thanks for the comment(s) about my carol. The
words came "as in a dream" and I surprised myself by getting a tune almost as readily.
I love the old carols and had a wish to contribute my own personal effort to the genre.
It is hugely satisfying to have done that and
I may yet get it on a commercial Christmas CD in the future.
I imagine your updates on a range of pop songs
must go down well in "live performance". You
seem to have NO shortage of material or inspiration. Great stuff.
Merry Christmas!
Comment is about John Coopey (poet profile)
Original item by John Coopey
tony sheridan
Thu 20th Dec 2012 19:55
Good one. Love the last three lines! Take care, Tony.
Comment is about Something I Wrote (blog)
Original item by Mal Foster
tony sheridan
Thu 20th Dec 2012 19:48
Love this! In those days we used our imaginations. Anything was possible. What fun we had! Take care, Tony.
Comment is about A Summer of Adolescence (blog)
Original item by Mal Foster
I have every sympathy with the predicament portrayed - and the painful irony that Mike picks up on that it is those closest (eg. family) who often are - and feel - the most powerless...surely a good case for competent independent care that is one step removed, yet so much more acceptable to the sufferer than enduring the awkward embarrassment of being "nursed" by those who bottoms a sick and aged parent used to wipe!
Charlotte - suffice to say: you are not alone in your experience...so well set out above.
Comment is about Help me - help me please (blog)
Original item by Charlotte Peters Rock
tony sheridan
Thu 20th Dec 2012 19:32
Hang on! I thought that the meaning of life was 42? Merry Christmas. Take care, Tony.
Comment is about The Meaning of Life (blog)
Original item by Noetic-fret!
For the present, I say toodle-loo
And wish you Merry Christmas too!
:-)
Comment is about The Meaning of Life (blog)
Original item by Noetic-fret!
Seriously good. Clearly close to the writer's
heart, with craft and commitment employed to equal effect.
Comment is about Afterwards (blog)
Original item by Tom Chapman
Ha-ha! It's quicker by vicar.
Mind you...I have to say that off-duty coppers
have better things to do than chase errant
prelates when there are politicians on slower wheels to pursue. The "motorway" lads are far more likely to do that - and it fits!
Comment is about Don't drink and drive !!! (blog)
Original item by hugh
If JC (the one upstairs, that is) is going to settle in Ireland, will he be able to settle things there? Mind you, they'd never stop boasting about being his new chosen people so that might do the trick - if the rest of the world didn't make a pact with the devil to get them to shut up! :-)
Comment is about PARTY! (a shameless re-post!) (blog)
Original item by Anthony Emmerson
Eee by 'eck, he might even have made his money designing and manufacturing wheelbarrows under the brand name of "Wheels Circular Wheels". Today, a man would probably look to take his company and the government to the cleaners!
Comment is about The Fairytale of New Britain (Lucky Man) (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Hi John,
You may be familiar with this link; if you're not Happy Christmas - enjoy!
http://monologues.co.uk/index2.htm
Regards,
A.E.
Comment is about John Coopey (poet profile)
Original item by John Coopey
Surprised you still have some teeth left, Nigel!
The sweets were indeed sweet (ouch!)
Comment is about Victory at Christmas - (December 2012 Collage Poem) (blog)
Original item by Stockport WoL
The essence of the poem is in its initial ambiguity. I leave the reader to determine if the wheelbarrow is red.
"Ah!" I hear you say "It must be red because it's called 'The Red Wheelbarrow'"
"Ah" I reply "The title refers to another wheelbarrow".
Other important questions can indeed be answere.
We are left to ask "Where is the wheelbarrow going?" "Why are bricks sometimes pulled?" "Is its speed critical?"
Unlike WC Fields I am happy to expand.
The chickens are being taken to their death, smashed on the head by the bricks. They will the be brought back in the wheelbarrow (along with the bricks) and sold to the butcher for Christmas shoppers.
The gardener's name is Colin.
I am happy to elaborate on any other unexplained aspects of this difficult poem.
Comment is about The Red Wheelbarrow (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
tony sheridan
Thu 20th Dec 2012 14:28
Great stuff! Well done mate! Take care, Tony.
Comment is about PARTY! (a shameless re-post!) (blog)
Original item by Anthony Emmerson
Road rage at Christmas! How "in the seat" that is still warm where the hiney has sat! A poem to which many can relate.
Comment is about The Driving Seat (blog)
Original item by Isobel
Seasons Greetings, Win.
Thanks for your thoughts on my "Red Wheelbarrow".
Comment is about Winston Plowes (poet profile)
Original item by Winston Plowes
Hello MC,
Glad you liked my "Red Wheelbarrow". Excellent song you reposted recently, by the way - I think I commented on it separately.
Comment is about M.C. Newberry (poet profile)
Original item by M.C. Newberry
Glad you liked my "Red Wheelbarrow" Isobel. But is it poetry? Compare and contrast.
Comment is about Isobel (poet profile)
Original item by Isobel
Seasons Greetings, AE,
Thanks for your thoughts on my "Red Wheelbarrow".
Liked the joke too. I used to think that monologue about an Irish brickie getting hoist up on a rope which had the wheelbarrow attached to the other end was hilarious when I was a kid. He fell, landed, the barrow fell, he went up, the barrow landed, spilled the bricks, barrow went up, he came down etc. (I suppose you had to be there!)
Comment is about Anthony Emmerson (poet profile)
Original item by Anthony Emmerson
Thanks for your lovely comment on my poem Mike.
I'm not sure that I'm a fantastic poet, but I do like to write about themes that people can connect with and I'm glad the poem worked for you. I've left a more detailed response on the poem but in case you don't get chance to read it, just wanted to wish you a very happy and peaceful Christmas too.
Isobel xx
Comment is about Noetic-fret! (poet profile)
Original item by Noetic-fret!
The length was daunting (Our Gert has told me this many times) but the investment in time well worth it.
Very enjoyable, AE; but a woman as the new Messiah? I suspect the 10 commandments would be amended so they covered less important issues like killing the neighbour's ass and touched on the more serious matters of colour co-ordination, carpets and curtains, and nail painting.
So a woman as new Messiah? (I'll have to ask Our Gert)
Comment is about PARTY! (a shameless re-post!) (blog)
Original item by Anthony Emmerson
LOL Anthony - trust you to choose the one line that was written by somebody else - though the poetic 'genius' of lifting it and putting it in this poem, is mine ;)
Yes - I think we've all been in this situation to some degree, either as the driver, the passenger or the observer.
Thanks for your comment Mike. I don't think this man was at all psychotic. As I understand it, psychosis is caused by chemical imbalance in the brain, leading to altered perception of reality.
This man seemed to suffer from stress. Stress often makes people to want to have tight control over the domestic side of their life, where it is easier to achieve. Perhaps people who feel this extreme stress are ill in some way - and I do agree with you that early trauma can affect behaviour later on to some degree. It's impossible to generalise though - sometimes we are just the way we are and it's not anyone's or anything's fault.
I'd agree that it's always a good idea for young girls to have a parent to bring them home after a night out - or to come home with people you trust. I'd say the type of abuse in the poem is probably more common amongst long term married couples though - that's where most of anger seems to be taken out.
I do hope to find some peace and quiet at Christmas - no more unsolicited stress for me - ever :))
Have a wonderful Christmas too Mike, Anthony - everybody!
Isobel xx
Comment is about The Driving Seat (blog)
Original item by Isobel
Difficult to be such a dispassionate and silent observer in such a situation, but I think you do it well here. But, like it or not, we can't deny that such behaviour affects even the observer - hence the "need" to write about it.
This line was the killer for me:
"and so this is Christmas."
It encapsulates surrender, resignation and a loss of any expectation. A sad, yet all too familiar scenario.
Happy Christmas Isobel.x
Regards,
A.E.
Comment is about The Driving Seat (blog)
Original item by Isobel
According to recent discussion threads
http://www.writeoutloud.net/public/newsgroupview.php?NewsThreadsID=1408&NewsGroupsID=3
everyone CAN write poetry, and everything IS poetry - or so I'm told. This seems to be at odds with the esteemed Ms Sampson's thinking. Photography seems to be much simpler to define; surely that's any image created using a photographic device? I would suggest most people could, given basic instructions, use a camera? As to the "quality" of the resulting image . . .
Comment is about Fiona Sampson to launch new poetry magazine (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Thanks for the advice John. Does that mean that it's best to leave one poem up for a week or so?
The sonnet form is a favourite of mine—I use it a lot.
Regards,
Tom.
Comment is about Afterwards (blog)
Original item by Tom Chapman
Very emotive, it's exactly as it is.
Comment is about Afterwards (blog)
Original item by Tom Chapman
Powerful stuff, Tom and in a classic sonnet form too.
Excellent. Keep posting.
(Just one word of advice if you're new to the site; when you post anything it automatically removes your previous post. I know you posted a political one recently which won't be visible in the main blog although it will be on your own page).
I think that's how it works!
Comment is about Afterwards (blog)
Original item by Tom Chapman
"Everyone thinks they can write poetry. It is like photography." I love that comment, right on the nail.
I used to be an OK photographer and able to scrape a meagre living but by that barometer I must be a terrible poet :)
Comment is about Fiona Sampson to launch new poetry magazine (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
tony sheridan
Thu 20th Dec 2012 01:27
Thanks Hugh! Where is Boozebury? Please keep me laughing! Take care, Tony.
Comment is about Don't drink and drive !!! (blog)
Original item by hugh
tony sheridan
Thu 20th Dec 2012 01:16
Thanks for your comments on Christine. I am working on the song version. Take care, Tony.
Comment is about Noetic-fret! (poet profile)
Original item by Noetic-fret!
LOL @ Jeremy Kyle show!
Have a great christmas.
Mike
Comment is about Note to Self (blog)
Brilliant! In all essence what comes to mind is a plea for more understanding of our frail and dieing.
I also think that more could be done to comfort our elderly in their twilight years but as ever, those that know them well are often the most powerless, their own children.
Try to find some peace this christmas and know that they will watch over you with caring smiles.
Mike
x
Comment is about Help me - help me please (blog)
Original item by Charlotte Peters Rock
I find this a very striking piece. Of the recent poems I have read this one stands out the most yet I am surprised that there are not more comments. Surely our fellow poets must know talent when they see it?
Well done Paul. This short poem is terrific.
Nice work
Mike
x
Comment is about What Angels? (blog)
Original item by Paul Sands
In just three stanza's you tell a tale that spans a lifetime. I agree with others that say it should be a song, but I also feel it could be a short story of sorts if you wanted it to be.
Nice wordage Tony.
Mike
x
Comment is about Christine. (blog)
I have been that man with rage but, I have been more the butt of abuse. He sounds really stressed and psychotic, I know both of them too. Sounds like he needs not the phone ramming up his jacksie but, perhaps a long vacation away to search what and who truly matters to him.
(My own stresses that have seen me react this way in the past were caused by too much time overseas on operations, that coupled with ill health)
although, I don't doubt that there are protagonists of anger out there that just cannot justify their rage (I have come across those too). I feel for the woman in the car, perhaps every good girl should be taught by concerned mothers and fathers to keep twenty quid aside for a taxi so avoiding putting themselves at risk.
Great poem and I feel your getting rid of some of your own anger in the way it is written. Very expressive, but what else would i come to expect from a poet as fantastic as yourself.
Have a great Christmas where I hope you can find some peace in this ever maddening world.
Mike x
Comment is about The Driving Seat (blog)
Original item by Isobel
I can see why Paper Tangle appealed to you Katy, best wishes, Steve
Comment is about Katy Megan (poet profile)
Original item by Katy Megan
Anthony Emmerson
Fri 21st Dec 2012 11:55
i don't/can't do music MC, but posts like these make me wish I could.
Regards and Best Wishes,
A.E.
Comment is about WHEN CHRISTMAS COMES AROUND (blog)
Original item by M.C. Newberry