Thanks guys - was written as a bit of a mickey-take of myself really - becoming a bit of a grumpy old woman recently! :)
Comment is about absent friends (blog)
Original item by Ann Foxglove
I find this one a tough read. To me it speaks of bitterness of how things are. I like the line that says................the guilt of love becomes a quilt of soot. So very true in more ways than one.
Nice work Yosh!
Keep posting.
Best wishes
Mike
Comment is about THE LONG HARM OF LOVE (blog)
Hi Tommy, I like this one, or rather, it intrigues me. Not sure why, but it might be the second stanza whereby you say....as all that is will come about with out you being ready!
I am wondering what it is you refer to here. Looking at the poem as whole I get the drift of it, but still it leaves me feeling that perhaps there is a missing stanza. Maybe you intended this, maybe not. It is quite clever in its shortness and brevity, and leaves you wanting more.
Best wishes,
Mike
Comment is about Applause (blog)
Original item by Tommy Carroll
steve mellor
Sun 4th Nov 2012 06:36
Yvonne, thanks for taking the time to read and comment
The Ofsted thing is part of my ongoing battle to stop writing about people who may go into a school, which came about with the little WOL campaign to write/submit poems that would go on the Poet-tree at Kingsland School
Comment is about Yvonne Brunton (poet profile)
Original item by Yvonne Brunton
steve mellor
Sun 4th Nov 2012 06:34
The perfect girl, paying for my drinks while I pub ramble . .good one Hugh .
Comment is about Completely Bald (blog)
Original item by hugh
Gentle humour releasing the tension from fraught circumstances. Well done, love it. xx
Comment is about A forgotten proposal (blog)
Original item by hugh
I trust that this is not plagiarism, John, and that Doddy has not registered these words as intellectual property.
To be hypercritical for a moment I feel that the alliteration is a little overworked but apart from that, if this is a tribute to the great and wonderful Ken, penned by your own fair hand ( not that I've had a close-up of your hand so the bit about fair is poetic licence and you can feel free to ignore it if you so wish) erm where was I? Oh yes, If you wrote it then all the literary analysis by our learned colleagues in praise of its poetic skill and artistry is actually praising you and your work not Doddy's.
Comment is about Experimental Poetry (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Well that's one aspect of Facebook that you are looking at. Those bland pompous statement that people post are the equivelant to the shit that you used to get on posters from Athena - the ones students used to hang in their rooms...
Ones like:-
'True friends are people you can be quiet with..' and a picture of two people in a boat not talking to each other in the sunset....
= fingers down the throat and wretch kind of statements.
I can't see Facebook dying any time soon. Too many people seem to have built it into their lives - in fact they don't seem able to go to a wedding reception, a night out or anything without posting at the same time.
It's an interesting comparison anyway.
Comment is about Superstition (blog)
Original item by Chris Co
A great take on a modern problem. Love the last line - sort of whips the rug from under one, makes one realise the size of the issue.
Comment is about Modern love (blog)
Original item by Freda Davis
clever stuff - what a cheery ending after the depressing middle. Liked it Ann.
Comment is about absent friends (blog)
Original item by Ann Foxglove
Hi John,
I guess I'm still alive since you're writing to me so I'd better find me pencil stub and me tatty bit of wallpaper and return to the chase. I've just been reading your Ikea song again and I can't stop laughing!
Comment is about John Coopey (poet profile)
Original item by John Coopey
Hi John, Am I right in saying it was St Dodd
who was banned from TV for saying,
"A man has a lot of hair on his head
but on the whole a woman has more."?
Ahh provocative Doddy.
Comment is about Experimental Poetry (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Ey up, Y.
Wot you doin' on this site again! Not seen you since your rather poor "100 Metres" pipped my excellent "Whinge and Fucking Bleat" to the tape in the Olympic Competition.
Get yourself a new pencil sharpener.
(Oh and thanks for the comments on "Racist Is...")
Comment is about Yvonne Brunton (poet profile)
Original item by Yvonne Brunton
hello Is
Thanks for your thoughts on "Racist Is As...".
I buy into the truth of what you say, but only to this extent.
Total non-racism would entail a complete change of attitude in every one of us. This is an ideal.
I'd settle for a complete change in behaviour.
Comment is about Isobel (poet profile)
Original item by Isobel
Hello AE.
Glad you liked "Racist Is..." and "Experimental Poetry". Yes, it struck me that there's more than one way to enter the debate about poetry.
Comment is about Anthony Emmerson (poet profile)
Original item by Anthony Emmerson
Glad you liked "Racist Is...", Win.
Comment is about Winston Plowes (poet profile)
Original item by Winston Plowes
(OOps. I said all this to myself on my own blog!)
I have to say that my own interpretation is a little at variance from the "repressed sexuality" theory of Isobel. (I am , of course, more than happy to help you explore this.)
For me the very vehicle itself (conventional metre and rhyme) is being sentenced to death by Dodd. Take the rhyme of "noo" and "noo". Many a lesser poet would overlook the symmetry of the two words. Some critics have indeed denied it is a rhyme at all. But this is the genius of Dodd - to make a difficult rhyme where none exists, condemning rhyme as a device to the dustbin of passe poetry.
Then consider the clipped final line which derives its power from the enforced caesura. Dodd clearly understands as a cursory glance at his lyrical masterpiece "Tears for Souvenirs" will demonstrate, the importance not of the music but of the gaps in between.
His use of the musical rest is crying out to us to "Listen to the silence". Thus he is also condemning rhythm to the dustbin of literary Luddism.
"Move on." he is saying, "Poetry is dead".
Comment is about Isobel (poet profile)
Original item by Isobel
Thanks for commenting on "Experimental Poetry", Nigel. You may be right about the Diddymen.
Comment is about Nigel Astell (poet profile)
Original item by Nigel Astell
I have to say that my own interpretation is a little at variance from the "repressed sexuality" theory of Isobel. (I am , of course, more than happy to help you explore this.)
For me the very vehicle itself (conventional metre and rhyme) is being sentenced to death by Dodd. Take the rhyme of "noo" and "noo". Many a lesser poet would overlook the symmetry of the two words. Some critics have indeed denied it is a rhyme at all. But this is the genius of Dodd - to make a difficult rhyme where none exists, condemning rhyme as a device to the dustbin of passe poetry.
Then consider the clipped final line which derives its power from the enforced caesura. Dodd clearly understands as a cursory glance at his lyrical masterpiece "Tears for Souvenirs" will demonstrate, the importance not of the music but of the gaps in between.
His use of the musical rest is crying out to us to "Listen to the silence". Thus he is also condemning rhythm to the dustbin of literary Luddism.
"Move on." he is saying, "Poetry is dead".
Comment is about Experimental Poetry (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
tony sheridan
Sat 3rd Nov 2012 20:16
tony sheridan
Sat 3rd Nov 2012 20:12
I love cumbria. You can recharge yourself. Nice one. Take care, Tony.
Comment is about Windermere (Chants from Walkabouts - 16) (blog)
Original item by David Franks: Walkabouts Verse
tony sheridan
Sat 3rd Nov 2012 20:06
A great love song. Take care,Tony.
Comment is about We Go Together (Chants from Walkabouts - 9) (blog)
Original item by David Franks: Walkabouts Verse
tony sheridan
Sat 3rd Nov 2012 19:58
Love this! Take care, Tony.
Comment is about To Care and Share (Chants from Walkabouts - 4) (blog)
Original item by David Franks: Walkabouts Verse
Rich with humanity. Really enjoyed this Ann.
Comment is about absent friends (blog)
Original item by Ann Foxglove
<Deleted User> (10439)
Sat 3rd Nov 2012 15:48
Brilliantly expressed with stark imagery.
Working with confused elderly, I find confusion can be overwhelming.
Well done Hugh !
Comment is about A forgotten proposal (blog)
Original item by hugh
tony sheridan
Sat 3rd Nov 2012 15:27
Love this! Well done. Take care, Tony.
Comment is about absent friends (blog)
Original item by Ann Foxglove
steve mellor
Sat 3rd Nov 2012 12:33
So here's another school related poem (whether you like it or not)
The Visitor
Ofsted is in school today,
I heard a grey faced teacher say.
I’m not too sure what Ofsted is,
But everybody’s in a tizz.
They must be very hard to please.
I saw our teacher on her knees
Offering up a little prayer
I think I even heard her swear.
Ofsted’s testing every class.
The teacher said she hopes we pass,
Cos if we don’t she’s up the creek
And looking for a job next week.
Comment is about Your poems wanted for school’s poet tree (article)
Original item by Julian Jordon
Thank you Isobel - will take on board your comments and do a bit of tweaking!
Katy
Comment is about Isobel (poet profile)
Original item by Isobel
Thank you Dave, that's what I have tried to portray - I will probably do a little tweaking!
katy
Comment is about Dave Bradley (poet profile)
Original item by Dave Bradley
I enjoyed the profundity of this piece, Mike. It seems to me that its potential nihilism is balanced by the positives you see in our children. It comes across to me as a plea to the reader to help the writer take heart from their innocence, their ability to see the world in a way less cynical than that of many of us adults.
Cry away, be a child again. We all grow up too quickly and stay children for too long.
Thank you Mike, for a wonderfully thought-provoking piece. Beautiful.
Comment is about The Shortest Time Alive (blog)
Original item by Noetic-fret!
Loved that Ann,a joy to read--It rolled along merrily through the years and generations.Well done !!!
Comment is about absent friends (blog)
Original item by Ann Foxglove
tony sheridan
Fri 2nd Nov 2012 19:21
Hi Hugh. Do not EVER stop writing! Nice one. Take care, Tony.
Comment is about Completely Bald (blog)
Original item by hugh
Hi Isobel, thx for reading and for the feedback - appreciated.
I can see your point in reference to Facebook. I suppose it depends upon what you read into the poem. I've tried to allow for multiple interpretations, but maybe I have allowed to much ambiguity into the poem.
Fortune cookies are supposed to offer peals of wisdom about life or fate, but most people accept them as nonsense cliches/aphorisms or cliches - arbitrarily picked up.
I will leave people to think what the second line could mean...
As for the 3rd line...
Facebook Mmm. Personally despite it's flaws I still think Facebook is very useful. It has it's issues one of which I note. But I think Facebook can be as good or bad as its user. It is a tool of those that use it.
The idea in the criticism here and the connection I had in mind is simple. Fortune cookies are seen as nonsense and the are for want of a better phrase old Skool superstition rightly regarded as nonsense.
Facebook in many respects is the modern replacement of the fortune cookie, it is packed, choc full of people making very similar statements or values, or sharing very similar statements or values. But rather than scoffed at, they are often thought to be wonderful and motivational.
Following the positive thinking movement in the United States; daring to suggest that one of these sayings is vacuous or a peal of nonsense is likely to see such a person attacked. Such a person is usually derided by a number of people for being, mean spirited, being downright nasty or their comments derided as being uncalled for. These aphorisms (I have edited the poem on reflection and swapped homily for aphorisms. I keep vacillating between the two, not sure which is the better way to define what it is we have here) are defended. The only views people want on them is; the tick of the like box and/or the tacit agreement that they are so wonderfully true/ inspirational. Dissent from that one allowed view is unequivocally not welcomed. Most logical people know this, so what do they do? They sigh at the endless nonsense aphorisms and do not challenge them...walking on bye.
I was thinking with my final line that perhaps, this side to Facebook may eventually overwhelm its good points and lead to its demise. The idea that may be there will be a tipping point?
i'm intrigued by the idea that one aphorism could be the straw that brakes the camels back. Of course that is akin to picking out a colour from a spectrum and could never really be done...but the idea still intrigues me.
None of this is to say that there isn't a pinch of truth in some aphorisms, or even on the rare occasion a great deal of truth. Nevertheless they are mostly nonsense/or deeply questionable when universally applied or pointlessly applicable to anything.
Like;
Let Love RULE
Not HATE!
See that is agreeable to almost everyone, but it is pointless in that it does precisely nothing!
Another one...
You have to take risks. We will only understand the miracle of life fully when we allow the unexpected to happen.
The above is ridiculously problematic;
The key to most of these things is that they are mostly either applicable to nothing that will help anyone, or very very few people. They are often written to pander to the individual. Written to sound empowering, but are far too simplistic and generalisations; coming as they do with all encompassing claims which are at the very least can be shown to be partially false or flawed.
I wonder, at what point does public perception shift? At what point does something like Facebook or the next big thing go from being; useful, trendy and respected to being seen as useless, farcical and dying as a result?
Comment is about Superstition (blog)
Original item by Chris Co
Corn on the nob comes to mind
Comment is about No chicks at the flicks ! (blog)
Original item by hugh
Very neat summing-up of the way some of us live now, Freda. They say social media is rewiring some people' brains - I fear it might be happening to me! Evolution?
Comment is about Modern love (blog)
Original item by Freda Davis
Maybe it could be tweaked but it's great as it is, Katy, doing some of the things that poetry is best at - expressing passion and romantic love and connecting these with elemental Nature. Reminds me of my sister who met her husband on the beach in Antigua. For her it was a working trip as she is an air stewardess.
Comment is about Wedding Day (blog)
Original item by Katy Megan
I'd agree there Chris. FB is a pile of absolute tosh - there for people who are bored out of their brains and desperate for anything to relieve themselves of that boredom - which is many of us sometimes :(
I found it a curious ending to this poem though. It seemed such a serious and weighty start - not worthy of throwing away on Facebook if you know what I mean?
Comment is about Superstition (blog)
Original item by Chris Co
Well maybe Katy means that the pair of them are stood alone - as in the fact that they have fused - one mass against the world and all its elements. To bring that home I think you'd have to follow it up with the melding of two bodies rather than accentuating the papoosing of one by the other though.
I suppose you'd know all about the dangers of too much friction, living near the sea, Anthony - I've never managed to have a butty on a beach without getting sand in it either :)
It's nice to read something romantic. I feel like grabbing a deck chair and going in hot pursuit of my own Romeo now :)
Comment is about Wedding Day (blog)
Original item by Katy Megan
Hello Freda .. pleased you enjoyed the 'conversation' .. true story about us playing on the 'Edale Folk Train' and a girl from the USA who came to video the day .. cheers.
Comment is about Freda Davis (poet profile)
Original item by Freda Davis
Cheers, Steve. An added interest for me was coming across several poems in the collection that David has tried out in the past on the Write Out Loud blogs.
Comment is about Work Horses: David Cooke (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
tony sheridan
Thu 1st Nov 2012 21:56
"He loves me in a modern way" Love it! Take care, Tony.
Comment is about Modern love (blog)
Original item by Freda Davis
Aah Doddy. Probably the most underrated and talented encyclopaedic comic of modern times. A true genius in my book.
What a beautiful day; what a beautiful day for shoving your tickling stick up the armpit of experimental poetry - and thoroughly discumknockerating it!
You make your point so eloquently Mr Coopey, and with a quality that experimental poetry seems not to have heard of - perhaps you should inform them of the existence of - HUMOUR!
:) :) :)
Comment is about Experimental Poetry (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
There are some lovely elements here, but how can you be standing alone yet in someone else's arms?
It just needs tweaking to become very good.
Comment is about Wedding Day (blog)
Original item by Katy Megan
Thank you Patricia and Stefan.
:)
David
Comment is about CASTING LOTS (blog)
Original item by David Subacchi
hello Anthony
thank you for your comments, I will have a think about standing V's stood!
Best wishes
Katy
Comment is about Anthony Emmerson (poet profile)
Original item by Anthony Emmerson
Ann Foxglove
Sun 4th Nov 2012 08:00
One from me...
Cats and dogs
When I go walking in the park
(promise I won’t go when it’s dark!)
I like to take my friend with me
He is a dog, he’s called Pippy!
He’s quite small but his tail is big
He’s got long hair, not like a pig!
He always smiles, he just can’t frown
He cheers me up when things seem down.
We love to jump into the leaves
All piled up beneath the trees
Sometimes we’re muddy – we don’t care!
With wet raincoat and soggy hair!
But when I get back where it’s warm
Another friend sits by my arm
All cosy on the red settee
My lovely cat – called Anne-Marie!
Comment is about Your poems wanted for school’s poet tree (article)
Original item by Julian Jordon