Howdy Steve :)
Good - I am delighted that WOL has inspired you! Oh, and I only joined this site 3 years ago, had written ONE piece before that, and never ever really paid any mind to poetry. Never read it, wasn't into it.
When I first joined, my profile simply said 'Performed nowhere, published nowhere'.
I wouldn't say I was an expert, no, but what I HAVE done is just simply wanted to keep writing, to see what I could do, to keep trying different things. Some of my earlier poems were quite good, but most were pants :D
It is only ever YOU that makes the difference between continuing and improving, both writing AND performing, and not being arsed about it enough to do that.
Keep writing, and keep trying! I've enjoyed a few of your pieces, as you know. You've more to come, I'm certain of it.
Performing is terrifying. There's no two ways about it. I still SHIT myself beforehand, and convince myself no one will want to hear my 'pathetic crap'. Practice x 10000000 - it may be terrifying, but if you can touch people, and you hear that applause, the buzz is HUGE :D
Very best of wishes to you Steve and I look forward to reading more by you :)
Comment is about Steve Higgins (poet profile)
Original item by Steve Higgins
Good descriptive stuff, reading in heartbeat rhythm, just as it should to keep the fear factor strong. And a open ending to titillate.
Comment is about All Hallows Eve (blog)
Original item by Ian Whiteley
I love Callum's developing vocabulary, his rhyming ability and sense of rhythm. I started when I was really young, and my grandson also has an innate imagination that works in metaphor. I do wonder if genes count a lot, or is it example? How delighted you must be. That last line is so typical of a very young writer - the POW factor like ten exclamation marks, a very good poetical strategy. And so what if an adult had a finger in the pie.
Comment is about The Autumn Season (blog)
Original item by Dave Bradley
Dave, don't be offput by lack of comments; this is really topical and typical, charming and well-written. Maybe the current readers are all in childless environments - their loss. How does anyone forget childlikeness? All my life I have been influenced by the Biblical story of 'Jesus and the little children' because the story expresses pure wisdom from whatever level, or angle, you approach it.
Comment is about The manikin and the mannequin (blog)
Original item by Dave Bradley
Hi laura,
Thanks for reading 'if you don't like the record' I have to admit that this site has inspired me to have a go (some day) at actually performing my stuff. Clearly, reading your profile you're a bit of an expert. Pity I can't take my own advice but one day . .
Steve
Comment is about Laura Taylor (poet profile)
Original item by Laura Taylor
A rare moment of cosmological navel-gazing, Graham.
Comment is about A World Turned Upside-Down (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
:)
As someone who has made several life-changing decisions, including one which nearly cost me my life, I applaud the content! And I hope you sing it when you perform it :D
Comment is about If You Don't Like The Record -Change it! (blog)
Original item by Steve Higgins
:)
Write us a poem about Dunnocks, Darren - they have far more interesting habits!
Comment is about Selling spoken word: reasons to be cheerful at Burning Eye (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
darren thomas
Mon 28th Oct 2013 08:55
My next poem is about Chaffinches.
Comment is about Selling spoken word: reasons to be cheerful at Burning Eye (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
I enjoyed this article too and it's great to think there's someone out there looking to give the spoken word more respect.
As for page vs performance poetry, I still maintain there is a difference, but it becomes less of one depending on the skill of the poet. There are plenty of stonking performance poets out there, whose work I just wouldn't want to buy - because it doesn't work on page for me without the delivery; I suppose it depends on personal taste in reading matter.
'Poetry written by urban poets, writing about real life using accessible everyday language.'
That's pretty much what I love about the performance scene. I don't want to hear about chaffinches - nor for that matter do I want to read about them ;)
Comment is about Selling spoken word: reasons to be cheerful at Burning Eye (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Hi Cynthia,
Thanks for looking in on 'if you don't like the record' I chose that title because it was the first line I wrote and everything else came later. Slow down is good though and perhaps more appropriate, certainly for me as the advice given in the poem is advice I could never take (as much as I might want to . .)
Steve
Comment is about Cynthia Buell Thomas (poet profile)
Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas
Thanks for all your comments guys and gals but I must confess that while this may be great advice . . .I have yet to follow it myself!
Comment is about If You Don't Like The Record -Change it! (blog)
Original item by Steve Higgins
Hello Nigel,
Thanks for your comment on my "Two Line Horror Story",not my best work but fun to do.
Thanks
Shirley
Comment is about Nigel Astell (poet profile)
Original item by Nigel Astell
PS. Still learning to WOL. I see this won the hertz thingie. So it should!
Comment is about The Last Song (blog)
Original item by Cate
Have you done the Caen Flight Harry? Ecstacy!
Not far from me. Smug.
Comment is about Pidgin poem about wondrous canal lock (blog)
Original item by Harry O`N eill
Memory returns! This 'poem' was written out of pure spleen! (How surprising!) The opening is the clue. I had just read some pretentious offering - hence the pretention of my opening.
Oh dear, I had better do some shame.
Comment is about BLANKETY BLANK SLATE (directed infant rage 2012) (blog)
Original item by Barrie Singleton
Have you stopped taking the pills again JC?
Comment is about A World Turned Upside-Down (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Tommy,
Trust you to wait six months before hitting me with stand alone conjunctions!
The football`s on in a minute. What are you tryin` to do - spoil Saurez`s goals for me?
If I can figure them out I might reply :)
Comment is about Tommy Carroll (poet profile)
Original item by Tommy Carroll
Cracking comment Gromit! Even your critique is pure poetry Harry. Re sympathy: I am an odd cove in that my psychology does not engender chemistry; I see everythng in shades of black, but depression eludes me. The cure cost me a lot of money but it was money well spent - assuming one wants to be out of step with almost everyone almost all of the time. Cheers.
Comment is about BLANKETY BLANK SLATE (directed infant rage 2012) (blog)
Original item by Barrie Singleton
Many thanks M.C. on your comments on the poem Top 10-Non movers. I began to get into music in the early eighties with the new wave scene. Bands like the Specials, Police and Madness where I then progressed into rock and metal music. But I also appreciate music from the sixties-The Big Four, stones etc. I even like some of todays music Adele etc. I just feel that today with MTV etc that chart music today has become formulaic and stale relying on looks and glamour rather than raw talent. And as for Rap and Hip Hop music,it has progressed from a brute force which was incisive as the punk era into a formulaic splurge of singing about cliched lifestyles, style but no substance.
I agree with you variety is important enjoying music ranging from Adele right up to Napalm Death.
Cheers for your comments
Dean
Comment is about M.C. Newberry (poet profile)
Original item by M.C. Newberry
barrie,
I can`t tell if this is actually asking for sympathy.
But how can anyone sympathise with a guy who can write brilliant stuff like; I dragged my reluctant cognition forward through the slough of respond` and `conceived of my parents personal war (during a lull in the bombing)`...whatever it was, you`re obviously cured.
(Re `His image`...millions of us are waggling masses of ridiculous configuration...come down off that snooker table and join us)
Comment is about BLANKETY BLANK SLATE (directed infant rage 2012) (blog)
Original item by Barrie Singleton
I`d like to say Yup!
(but...if only?)
Comment is about If You Don't Like The Record -Change it! (blog)
Original item by Steve Higgins
Thank you for your comments on my last two poems, trying to evolve and experiment a bit! Hope you are well : )
Comment is about Cynthia Buell Thomas (poet profile)
Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas
Poets on the move. This should bring the system down
Comment is about Poet Tim Wells to stand as Class War candidate at general election (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
A mantra I myself aspire to, rather than expecting some other bugger to sort it out for you.
Comment is about If You Don't Like The Record -Change it! (blog)
Original item by Steve Higgins
Oh Dave! You torturer - OF MY MIND. Glad I wandered back. Do we grow to realise the error of our murderous ways or just absorb a cultural nuance - set aside for wasps? Are you familiar with Zimbardo's 'Stanford Prison Experiment'? (Invoked again in recent squaddy behaviour.)
AJJ a neat condensation of a massive subject.
Comment is about August jam jars (blog)
Original item by Dave Bradley
Oh Dave! A positive blood-orgy! Sooooo neat combining the blood of 'unclean' with the blood of redemption. I wish I had thought of that. So glad I popped in. And a BONUS BALL! Isobel had led me to submit to 'Touch and Go' but, almost blindly, I followed her directions. NOW I understand! What a multifaceted place is WOL!
Comment is about Touching the hem of the robe (blog)
Original item by Dave Bradley
Spufford is new to me - hail Google! What joy to see that he undermines Bishop Dawkins! I feel deeply complimented by your comments Dave.
Many thanks. I am convinced that perceptions at birth - common across all mankind - predispose us to the CERTAINTY of absolute power 'out there'. Only a high degree of maturation brings release from bondage. Increasingly, we die immature; schooling (institutionalising) sees to that.
Comment is about BLANKETY BLANK SLATE (directed infant rage 2012) (blog)
Original item by Barrie Singleton
Interesting. Nice use of words and flow to the poem. And yes, done it. Sometimes. But only sometimes.
Comment is about If You Don't Like The Record -Change it! (blog)
Original item by Steve Higgins
Fascinating. Unusual. Compelling. Had to read it again out loud, slowly. The perfect poetic companion to my recent reading, Francis Spufford's 'Unapologetic'.
Comment is about BLANKETY BLANK SLATE (directed infant rage 2012) (blog)
Original item by Barrie Singleton
But - what kind of poems is this lady reading - to use the pronoun 'much' instead of 'some'. It does seem from that one word, that the review must be a severely slanted one. And I do think that 'God's Glory' is manifestly revealed in 'much' poetry that does not wave the specific 'Christian' flag. So said, by all means greatly enjoy a specifically targeted collection. I often do myself. Just don't make it sound uniquely 'God's-glory' possessive.
Comment is about Book Review by Ellen Tanner Marsh: Reaching Towards His Unbounded Glory (blog)
Original item by Joseph J. Breunig 3rd
Great posting and a pleasure to read. It rolls along, keeping the reader in a smiling nostalgia. I best liked the first two stanzas and the last one. IMO, you could probably do without the morallising one, Stanza Three, which is a bit of a mood dampener. But true enough, and it's your poem.
Comment is about Remembered Hallowe’ens of Childhood (blog)
Original item by C Richard Miles
Thanks for the comment about "The Political Poet".
I had commented on the work of certain WOL
contributors insofar that I sought to show there
were differing points of view to a stance taken
by them - and found myself consigned to the
category of "troll" and told to remove myself
from their sight (or words to that effect).
My short poem was a response to an attitude
that brooked no argument or alternative point
of view...clearly only interested in approbation and applause for a pre-set POV.
I enlarged upon that later in another short poem that finishes...
See the open hand reach out,
A closed hand is a fist.
The open mind makes room for doubt,
A closed mind will resist.
....................................
Comment is about Joseph J. Breunig 3rd (poet profile)
Original item by Joseph J. Breunig 3rd
It is certainly very interesting, and challenging in the precise diction selected to cover so much relativity in symbolism. It demands multiple readings. And that is only a good thing.
Comment is about Crest (blog)
Original item by Katy Megan
I've loved music - with a few exceptions which
shall remain nameless - for much of my life.
Indeed, I write songs, some of which feature
here and elsewhere. I came to adolescence in
the 50s - young enough to thrill to the daily
change in songs in the Top 20, with hits that
are "classics" of their kind now - but also old
enough to see what a singer like Frank Sinatra was about. He stayed with me through the years
- and his many recordings as his breathtaking (literally!) skills developed will never date.
He had - and will continue to have - something
for every generation as it grows to maturity.
The joy of music is, of course, its amazing
variety - and I thank my lucky stars for it.
Comment is about Top Ten Non-Movers (blog)
Original item by Dean Carroll
Sock it to world. Yes! Great theme and well presented. Great choice of title -maybe because it can also be ambiguous.
Would you consider 'Slow down'?
Comment is about If You Don't Like The Record -Change it! (blog)
Original item by Steve Higgins
I enjoyed reading this. The enterprize sounds worthy. PagevsPerformance is such a lark. IMO, the only aspect of this debate worth discussing is Spelling and Punctuation which means nothing in recitation, and rather more to the reader. Otherwise, what is the difference?
Comment is about Selling spoken word: reasons to be cheerful at Burning Eye (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
A useful code for getting by! But it takes nerve
to change direction and that isn't always easy.
No wonder so many poems moan about what IS - rather than what COULD BE.
Comment is about If You Don't Like The Record -Change it! (blog)
Original item by Steve Higgins
Graphic and succinct. We all meet our inner
demons at some time or other and have to fight
the good fight - not always easy.
Otherwise, allowing for the random upper and lower
case use of the wording, a couple of typos.
"Its harder..." should be "It's harder..." - and
"too grow" should be "to grow".
Cheers.
Comment is about Inner Demon (blog)
Original item by Tj Steele
thanks for the comment over what next, tommy.
yeah, i guess it is kinda song like. if i get a punk band together - i would defo sing it, or maybe pass it onto a friend.
thanks either way. the revolution will happen!
Comment is about What next? (blog)
Original item by Gray Nicholls
thanks for the comment over what next, tommy.
yeah, i guess it is kinda song like. if i get a punk band together - i would defo sing it, or maybe pass it onto a friend.
thanks either way. the revolution will happen!
Comment is about Tommy Carroll (poet profile)
Original item by Tommy Carroll
know both norman and gemma so am pleased to see this is still carrying on. good stuff!
Comment is about Ringing the changes at Write Out Loud Middleton (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Hi Dave, thank you for the comments on One Million Broken Souls, its very much appreciated. I found myself in that situation when I was young, it didn't last long though. Three weeks on the street was long enough for me, it was a real eye opener though. Again, thank you for the comments, I hope this finds you well.
Comment is about Dave Bradley (poet profile)
Original item by Dave Bradley
Well - neither of those poems would have been written had you not set me a challenge. (Now tell me to tidy my home!)
Sadly, I suspect the energy comes from infant rage, redirected - another human paradox.
I am glad you write only when passion dictates. At our Workshop, we use the term 'toothpaste job' for a poem 'squeezed out' to a set theme. It usually shows! Off now, to kill some windmills . . .
Comment is about RENEWAL (blog)
Original item by Barrie Singleton
That's more like it Barrie - and all with such wonderful metre!
It's the way we conquer illness that I find staggering - things you'd never have survived even a couple of years ago. A great thing for our loved ones - not so great for the planet and the human race in general.
I wish I had your energy. Writing poetry can be a tortuous exercise for me unless I'm in a passionate mood.
Comment is about RENEWAL (blog)
Original item by Barrie Singleton
thank u sir...yeah love happens only,when n how we cant tell...and we cant force others for this also
and love itself says die for other...only thing is we fear to be lonely
Comment is about Love or Lie (blog)
Original item by SATYAJIT BEHERA
ok mam...actually i am quiet busy now on my academics so unable to giv proper attention here..i will take care of ur advice
Comment is about SATYAJIT BEHERA (poet profile)
Original item by SATYAJIT BEHERA
Your son and I have a lot in common, for I too like to play my favorite bits of trax over and over again. I like to play techno or drum and bass, but sometimes I play classical music too when the neighbors have tired of me. Tell your son he is as normal as me, and i was once normal enough to be a soldier.
Fantastic words, fantastic insight into someone that many do not know a lot about. He sounds quite a kind chap, brave too. And obviously with these words, full of love to give.
Tell him an old soldier has a smile on his face because of his words, and pass on my love too.
Brilliant!
Comment is about Comfort in patterns (blog)
Original item by Ian Beckett
Yup, truly astounded by this one. I like the last stanza the best. 'there will be the lateness, the loneliness, the dark, the deafening quiet, and the unanswered hope. I curse the morrow........I need the morow.
Brilliant bit of writing.
Keep posting
Best wishes,
Mike
Comment is about PRISONER BY CHOICE (blog)
Original item by Dr. Joe Simplicio
Cynthia Buell Thomas
Mon 28th Oct 2013 12:56
Love it Love it Love it! I've often thought about such a 'poem' but never executed it. No wonder the ancients and near-ancients found the concept of a globe that is conceptually 'flat' so mind-boggling; because it still is. It really is.
Comment is about A World Turned Upside-Down (blog)
Original item by John Coopey