Very original. Enjoyed this. Love your style.

Comment is about 00:01 (blog)

Original item by Tommy Carroll

Thanks for commenting on my old coat Lynn - yes it's one that I think would appeal to women more than men - I do believe that we feel things differently at times.

Any chance of a poem from you on the 52 Hertz theme? x

Comment is about Lynn Dye (poet profile)

Original item by Lynn Dye

Thanks Richard & Isobel
it was written as an homage to Poe, so I'm so so glad that Richard picked up on that :-)
I write short stories Isobel, usually Magic Realism, Horror or fantasy - and this was adapted from one of those.
I love the idea that the clowns claim back their murderers by taking them into the caravan and painting them up to become one of them. A twisted revenge - who do you feel sorry for - the kids or the clowns????
mwuhaaahaaahaaahaaah!

Comment is about That Which Autumn Leaves (blog)

Original item by Ian Whiteley

I'm with Richard on clowns - I've always seen them as potentially sad subjects - covering their sadness with the paint and farce - not really being heard or seen.

This poem makes for a macabre nightmare story though - the stuff you might see in a film. I suppose as soon as you don any disguise there is the potential for children not to see you as you are - human beings.

Interesting poem - where do you get your ideas from? Not from experience, let's hope ;)

Comment is about That Which Autumn Leaves (blog)

Original item by Ian Whiteley

This just brought a great big smile to my face :)

Please don't consider it a tit for tat comment - though I'm grateful for yours on my coat poem. I just love the humour in this - the way your lofty, dreamy language leads to that punch line. I think it's very skilfully done - and a sad but funny reflection on reality :)

Comment is about perspective (blog)

Original item by Lynn Dye

Very good this, it for sure appeals to me, its funny, on a personal level I don't find clowns fearful at all I find them sad and wonderful but so many people think they are a thing of nightmares. This reads like something Poe might of wrote.....love it

Comment is about That Which Autumn Leaves (blog)

Original item by Ian Whiteley

Thank you Francine, gratifying to know :-)

Comment is about perspective (blog)

Original item by Lynn Dye

Hi Isobel, I really love this poem. It works so well on different levels, and definitely one I easily associate with. xx

Comment is about A day in the life of... an old coat (blog)

Original item by Isobel

The samples were speriamo good I had a scoot through the list. Wonderful stuff. Midnight Bird struck a chord. One thing i notice where i live now is the absence of light pollution. You can see the bands of the Milky Way when there are no clouds. I also thought of the way humans change the ecology of natural habitats. The foxes in British towns and the bears in Canada.

Loved Remembrance to. Very poignant.

Comment is about Paul Sands (poet profile)

Original item by Paul Sands

Hut's the way (uh-huh uh-huh) I like it (uh-huh uh-huh)...

Comment is about Your First Hut Is The Cheapest (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Cheers for the comments re: The Writing Class me hearty. I'm not much of an Abba fan either (can't you just tell there's a bad joke about Scandiwegian vegetables dying to come forward right about now?)

Comment is about John Coopey (poet profile)

Original item by John Coopey

Cheers for the comments Johnnie. Me too: I love the discipline of tight rhythm and rhyme - it makes me think about my native language in an expansive way. Although I write in free verse too I believe that one shouldn't think of oneself as a poet until structured poetry has been...well, if not mastered then at least taken to task. Is that a contradictory principle for a revolutionary socialist to hold? I can picture many poets thinking me a reactionary fuddy duddy for holding that opinion, but I'd argue that I simply love my craft, this artistic enterprise called poetry too much to be slipshod, to settle for 'just' or 'always' writing free.

Comment is about Jonnie Falafel (poet profile)

Original item by Jonnie Falafel

I could visualise this all the way through!

Comment is about perspective (blog)

Original item by Lynn Dye

After shock would work well too. I tried to explain that expression earlier. After pain resonates more for me because it relates to childbirth - it's about pain rather than shock - after pains are like contractions - very very painful and they strike right at the core of you.

In a way, poems are like babies, you give birth to them and then you outgrow them - or maybe they outgrow you.

Thanks for reading - I appreciate it.

Comment is about A day in the life of... an old coat (blog)

Original item by Isobel

LOL - everything you've said would be supported by very many people on WOL. You should check out the discussion thread on 'sentimentality', which wandered down that very same route.

There are the right wing extremists who believe that free verse isn't poetry, there are the left wing extremists who believe that ancient rules strangle the essence of poetry and there are the liberals, who believe that knowledge of rules is preferable, even if they aren't adhered to...

Those classifications are just me poking fun of course. There are probably plenty more you could think up. I've written a few poems in strictly metred format. I enjoyed them as an exercise but like to try my hand at free verse now. It's incredibly hard for me to do free verse though. My musical ear want it to flow - and it's a lot harder to write flowing poetry without rhyme - which leads me to abandoning lots of poems.

Rhyming poetry doesn't seem to win many poetry comps though, if you take a look around at what is flavour of the day... Not that that bothers me cos I don't enter them - it's just an indication of where contemporary poetry is going.

Best get off before I end up writing an essay :)

Comment is about Richie Muster (poet profile)

Original item by Richie Muster

Hmm. An evocative and thought-provoking poem Isobel. Poems do have the unsettling habit of reminding us of our former selves don't they? Might it be better ended by changing 'after pain' to 'aftershock'?

Comment is about A day in the life of... an old coat (blog)

Original item by Isobel

Well thanky kindly for your comment on 'The Writing Class', Isobel. Oddly enough it didn't take as long to write as it did to polish up. Shaving off the rough burrs and embellishing it took much longer! I lament the fact that not much rhymed poetry gets written these day: I get the impression that, for many free verse is the default option, to the detriment of good poetic style and construction. I'd be interested in your opinion on this: all I see around me is prose poetry (of which I'm not averse - I write quite a bit myself) which ought to be but one weapon in a poet's arsenal, not the be all and end all. Perhaps I'm an anachronism, but I believe that a budding poet oughtn't to write free until they've mastered structure. Is that contentious do you think?

Comment is about Isobel (poet profile)

Original item by Isobel

Brilliant news Frances

Comment is about Write Out Loud's reviews editor wins poetry award (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Great to see so many familiar names of Wolers in here :-) Well done all!

Comment is about Write Out Loud poets line up with famous names in Heart Shoots charity anthology (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Thanks Alex/Francine - the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Let's see whether it takes off as a theme. I hope it does as I'd like to see what people make of it. There's sometimes no accounting for what people want to write about though. x

Comment is about 52 Hertz (blog)

Original item by Isobel

I like this Harry - it's a well observed piece. It's funny how such moments can live with you for a lifetime - you capture it well.

Comment is about SIN AGAINST THE SPIRIT? (blog)

Original item by Harry O`N eill

One more (revised) re-post from my accidently wiped profile.

Comment is about SIN AGAINST THE SPIRIT? (blog)

Original item by Harry O`N eill

dear Yvonne

That's amazingly generous of you. I'll study yours hard and see what comes out. Must study use of reflexive.

I'm hoping that trying to write in French will help the compression process leaving me with "impressions" I believe Sam Beckett wrote in French for this reason - amongst others.

Meanwhile I'm having an additional bathroom installed next week and hope poets will drop in - all WOLs welcome.

Graham

Comment is about TRANSPOECY (blog)

Original item by Graham Chadwick

Dream on! I would have volunteered for the job but J. C.'s already offered me the position of chief groupie. Oh, decisions, decisions!
However I still enjoy reading your poems and this has lots of lovely images.
XX

Comment is about A poet at prayer (blog)

Original item by Harry O`N eill

In the firebird how's about:-
Au tombé du jour au bord du Salagou
J’ai vu l’oiseau du feu.
Dans les plissements entre les ruffes rougeâtres
Il se nourrit des grains de météore.
Tout à coup il s’est envolé,
Sa voix, "Clic, clic, clic!"
Un compteur Geiger.


Sur les collines le vent ebbouriffe

les feuilles d'olivier

Les transformant aux ailes des anges.

dans le bleu une plume argentée

cherche à devenir nuage.

mais elle se réduit, se réduit, se réduit à néant,

mais, peut-être, une intimation d'un orage,

la crise terminale de la canicule/

Le bruit blanc des cigales s'arrete, marque une pause,

et recommence.

Je n'entends que leur silence.

Des gouses d'acanthe s'explosent et jettent

leurs balles, PING, sur le toit du fer

de notre terrasse

Des cloches de chèvre tintent, quelque part, quelque part?

Parmi les arbres crie une tronçonneuse, crie, et s'arrête.

Et en haut, le bourdonnement parasseux d'un avion.


French makes frequent use of the reflexive form of the verb when there is no direct object.
It was easier to cut, paste then alter the originals rather than discuss individual words - but these are only suggestions anyway.
I enjoyed both poems graham and I envy you living in Grance!

Comment is about TRANSPOECY (blog)

Original item by Graham Chadwick

Hi Yvonne - I enjoyed your "like for like"
response on my last post (oops...sounds like I'm tempting providence...musically speaking!!)

Comment is about Yvonne Brunton (poet profile)

Original item by Yvonne Brunton

Quality stuff, this, John - unlike your first shed.
Ps can I have your old shed?

Comment is about Your First Hut Is The Cheapest (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

be glad that your heart will soon have regular thumps
The time to worry is if your farts have lumps!!
Enjoyed the poem. xx

Comment is about THE MAGICAL MEDICAL MERRY-GO-ROUND (blog)

Original item by M.C. Newberry

Excellent. Great analogy Maintianed to the end even to the name of the street. I really enjoyed this, Ian.

Comment is about Eyrie Avenue (blog)

Original item by Ian Whiteley

ok will have a think...

Comment is about Violet. (Short story) (blog)

Original item by Danny Metcalfe

Thanks for your kind words

Richard

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

Original item by M.C. Newberry

very nice

Comment is about Poppy (poet profile)

Original item by Poppy

Oh, please do. I want some feedback. :)

Comment is about Violet. (Short story) (blog)

Original item by Danny Metcalfe

In Axilfah on Thundersday we heard a sonic boom.
The rain came down but words held sway within a tight packed room.
They came from Leeds and Lancashire, from Cleckheaton and Hudd.
They raised their arms and voices too and spoke of death and blood.
And local wordsmiths said their piece. What rants and hymns we heard
when Genevieve her coven called to utter Weird Words.

Review is about Spoken Weird on 9 May 2013 (event)

Stef, we do indeed. Hope you and Patricia are well.
Jonnie, yes, you have a point there!
Thank you very much all for your kind comments. xx

Comment is about perspective (blog)

Original item by Lynn Dye

Thanks for the comments Solar.
Regards

Graham

Comment is about Moor Music (blog)

Original item by Graham Ramsden

Bi-lingual English French, I often write the same poem in both languages - not the same thing as translating it! I'd like to join in, but the Out Loud part is difficult as I only know two other (British) poets in my area of NW France.

I shall forward this to Joseph Harker, (http://namingconstellations.wordpress.com/category/reveries/)as he is a poet/translator of lots of languages, including Japanese.

Comment is about Mad experiment on Write Out Loud – translating poems online! (article)

interesting.

i could offer a lot of criticism about this and ask some questions of it...but after my last attack of your veggie subject i think ill just say that.

Comment is about Violet. (Short story) (blog)

Original item by Danny Metcalfe

'she clutched him in a tangled,dry embrace'...... ........and? oh! we don't have to wait for the next episode do we Ian? that's not fair,keeping me in suspenders!....and black fishnet stockings!

seriously,a very good poem.x

Comment is about Eyrie Avenue (blog)

Original item by Ian Whiteley

Upsetting,touching,dark,compelling. Possibly one of your best for me mate! 'I struggled for rainbows,wrestled with sunny days'

Comment is about Padlock (blog)

Original item by Richard Alfred

'By the hand of my past I am drowning'
Nice piece Richard,that I think,celebrates the individual.

Comment is about Seahorse (blog)

Original item by Richard Alfred

I like this. There was such a woman up the road from me when i ass a kid. She smelt of cloves and was always poised to pounce. Loved the cracking and popping carcass... inspired. I was trying to think of another word for 'horny' given its alternative connotations... but I couldn't!

Comment is about Eyrie Avenue (blog)

Original item by Ian Whiteley

killer last line.

Comment is about Fast, effective action (blog)

we know better,eh Lynn?
nice one.xx

Comment is about perspective (blog)

Original item by Lynn Dye

That's why you shouldn't always listen to the experts! I enjoyed your poem.

Comment is about perspective (blog)

Original item by Lynn Dye

We've all been there. I liked that very much.

Comment is about Fast, effective action (blog)

great stuff Ian.xx

Comment is about Eyrie Avenue (blog)

Original item by Ian Whiteley

AVB and the lads John. Dare to believe!!

Comment is about John Coopey (poet profile)

Original item by John Coopey

Which reminds me...I found online info. that tied the Texan LBJ of pre-White House days to an unsavoury character with a rep. for violence even unto murder, and there was a strong inference that LBJ used this guy for bad things which could be denied - and that just happened to point towards a certain murder in Dallas! The sheer number of "witnesses" who subsequently died in circumstances so weird that the odds have been given as many millions to one also supports suspicions of very big stakes and something far more worrying than mere "coincidence".

Comment is about in my head, scribbled down (blog)

Original item by Marnanel Thurman

Only just found this and am very struck. For me, it's had the biggest difference between a straight read-through and the audio track of anything I've ever encountered on WOL. For those who skip the audio, make an exception for this one.

Comment is about breathing (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove