It seems so. đ
Thank you Nigel đ
Comment is about Mysterious message (blog)
Original item by Sunshine
Looks like she is on her way no matter what well done Isabella.â€
Comment is about Mysterious message (blog)
Original item by Sunshine
Isabella has found her true path.â€
Comment is about New Beginnings (blog)
Original item by Sunshine
The journey
never ending
paths we tread
sometimes so unpredictable.â€
Comment is about Life's journey (blog)
Original item by Sunshine
Your tapestry
woven strong
knot free
love supreme.â€
Comment is about Entangled soul (blog)
Original item by Sunshine
Thank you to Telboy, Greg and Stephen G for your reading and commenting of this poem. I yearn for peace but it must come with justice. I am am not anti anyone. As a gay man I have endured sufficient prejudice in my life to abhor intolerance and hatred. Justice, peace and reconciliation must prevail. I endeavour to speak the truth based on personnal experience. I have visited Palestine five times in my life and have seen the IDF abuse people in a manner which is abhorent. The present Israeli Government is fascist. It claims to be a democracy, the only one in the Middle East, but there is not one man one vote. Only Jews can vote. So much for democracy.
I could go on but do not wish to protract this debate. A massive injustice is being perpretrated. Can any of us look into the eyes of wounded children and say they were the victims of anti semetism? What is now taking place will have a serious adverse affect on Jews and Palestinians alike. The future awaits the consequences of this tribulation.
Thank you again,
Keith
Comment is about Future Consequences (blog)
Original item by keith jeffries
Sad commentary on a serious problem, Hugh. Thanks!
Society wants to keep them hidden because they don't like reminders that tomorrow it might be them.
Comment is about Homeless and depressed (blog)
Original item by hugh
You make your point strongly in this poem, Keith, and I respect you for it. It is not in any way anti-semitic. However, the brutal nature of the October 7 atrocities may have something to do with 'the cause of their misfortune'. The cycle of violence has to stop, and both sides have to learn to respect and recognise each other.
A long history, I know, which you have previously referred to, but someone must be strong enough to sue for peace.
Comment is about Future Consequences (blog)
Original item by keith jeffries
Well done, Stephen. At least the footy hasn't changed, except for VAR.
Comment is about Meta Clause (blog)
Original item by Stephen W Atkinson
I hope you are describing someone else, Hugh. If so, a strong and important poem, given that so many are in this predicament at this time of year.
Comment is about Homeless and depressed (blog)
Original item by hugh
You paint a wonderful picture of an overlooked landscape, Ray. Although I was often frustrated to find that I could not overlook the tops of fenced-off reservoirs! I love the bungalows and water-weary boats.
Comment is about THAMES SIDE TRYST (blog)
Original item by ray pool
Thank you for your comment, Carlton. I think I will Bethlehem a wide berth for the moment. In fact, I never got further than East Jerusalem. But I can well believe what you say.
Thank you, Ray. I appreciate your comment. 'Aching for a resolution' sums it up, I think. I love the Christmas story, and I feel desperately sad that the Holy Land is now the setting for so much hate and anger.
Thank you, Uilleam. I understand your view, although I don't think religion (or at least its Earthly manifestation) can be absent from this conflict, given that the likes of Iran are providing so much of the funding. I want a two-state solution, where Israel's existence is fully recognised and where Palestinians can live in dignity.
Thank you, Frederick.
Comment is about Nativity (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
I think Keith is quite at liberty to post this poem, as even the US has raised concerns at the levels of destruction and the number of deaths inflicted upon the citizens of Gaza by Israel, that we see nightly on our TVs, in retaliation for the atrocities by Hamas of October 7. No one should be afraid to criticise the actions of Israel, for fear of being labelled anti-semitic.
Comment is about Future Consequences (blog)
Original item by keith jeffries
Keith you fail to mention the friends and family of those Israelis killed, injured and taken hostage on day 1. Let's have some balance, otherwise this may be seen as anti-semitic.
Comment is about Future Consequences (blog)
Original item by keith jeffries
RBK - thanks for adding your "like" to this seasonal blog. Much
appreciated.
Comment is about CHRISTMAS SNOW (blog)
Original item by M.C. Newberry
Hi Manish, thanks for your comment. You're absolutely right, a strong marriage needs to be able to overcome those obstacles.
This one was inspired by a depressing conversation I overheard earlier this year between some men moaning about their wives who were struggling with the menopause. I wanted to write something to express a more supportive and compassionate way for a marriage to work.
Thanks also to Frederick, Graham, John, Stephen and Holden for the likes đ
Comment is about Days That Have No Anchor (blog)
Original item by Tom
The same scripture that provided the saviour provided the reaper, and what delight mankind has taken in it.
The magnificent enlightenment or the blinkered bliss, either way a child is born and a child dies.
Bethlehem these days is a confusion of righteous Pilgrims looking for a place to park their SUV's, you should go take a look. From there you can hear the gunshots, maybe even the distant thud of God's enablement.
Happy Christmas, a child is born.
Comment is about Nativity (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
A very thoughtful piece aching for a resolution, which of course can never arise due to the perverse nature of man in general and racism in particular which is at the root of much hatred and subversion.
Thanks for always being straight and truthful Stephen.....
Ray
Comment is about Nativity (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Thanks Stockport WOL.
Do Zombies eat mince pies?
Cause-or effect?
Comment is about December 2023 Collage Poem: Roaring Fire (blog)
Original item by Stockport WoL
Thank you Stephen.
You clearly express sorrow here, sorrow, which surfaced in me yesterday, as I watched our little ones relate the tale of Jesusâ Nativity at school.
The 75 year long Nakba, and the genocide it has now become is not about religion. Itâs about an abuse of power (fascism and apartheid) falsely exercised in this case, in the name of Judaism, a fact which horrifies and angers Jews across the world, and peoples of all and of no religious faith.
If religion were truly at the root of the killings, Jews, including those in the USA and the UK, would not be protesting against Israelâs treament of Palestinians, and against the imprisonment and abuse of Israeli conscientious objectors and of anti-zionist Jews.
The flippant dismissal of the sufferning of innocent humanity, of our fellow poets, artists and journalists and of other cultures as being âall about religionâ displays contemptuous ignorance. đ
Comment is about Nativity (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Thank you, Manish, Greg and MC for your comments.
This is a poem about sorrow. How has it come to this? Acts of the most despicable violence are presented as justifiable by one side or the other. A warped moral universe of staggering proportions.
We need peacemakers and a two-state solution.
And thanks to K Lynn and Holden.
Comment is about Nativity (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Thanks Manish đ·đđ»
Comment is about branches of a tree (blog)
Original item by Red Brick Keshner
Thank you to all who both liked and commented on this poem. The root of this crisis did not begin on 7 October but 75 years ago when the state of Israel was created. This had no moral legitimacy. A nation in diaspora took hold of another nation's country. They dispossessed the indigenous people of their rightful land. Hence the situation we now witmess. A lesson can be learned from this. " Don't take what does not belong to you".
The Jews of the Warsaw ghetto have much in common with those imprisoned in Gaza. They too staged an uprising and attacked the German troops which encircled them. They did so with inferior weapons yet killed many Germans. It is normal for any people to resist occupation, subjugation and enforced imprisonment. Those who now govern Israel employ an apartheid system whereby the Palestinians are treated as second class citizens with numerous restrictions imposed on them. This is intolerable. We are now witnessing ethinic cleansing by the Israeli State. Those abused so cruelly by the Nazis have now become the abuser.
Thank you again for reading this poem.
Keith
Comment is about Abstain (blog)
Original item by keith jeffries
I still think we should played âRawhideâ, at least we were offered cocktail sausages and pork pies at the end - hopefully the vicarâs wife will forget it ever happened, eventually.
Comment is about The Tough Gig (blog)
Original item by R A Porter
Snug and warm - a pleasing evocation of the most welcome aspects of the "bleak mid-winter" and the Festive Season.
Comment is about WINTER (blog)
Original item by Wilma Gundy
Aha...
You arrange a programme with proper prescience;
There's a time and place for a bit of "rock" in it.
The secret of course is knowing your audience
And when to insert a well-judged sock in it! đ
Comment is about The Tough Gig (blog)
Original item by R A Porter
I find it most unsettling that oddly
Religion is the weapon of the ungodly! đ
Comment is about Nativity (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
It's certainly not much of a Christmas this year, Steve, for all the marketing.
Comment is about Nativity (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Thank you Manish, your feedback over this short story series is very motivating. I'll try to write a few more pages. May be in continuation or something new. đ·
Comment is about True love (blog)
Original item by Sunshine
Another great provocative poem, Stephen. Your poems always leave an essence in my mind, which I later build-up on, through more reads and understanding. Sadly, the last four lines of the poem is the harsh truth and is heartbreaking.
Thank you.
Comment is about Nativity (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Passionately written, Keith. The situation is tragic and complex on all sides, but I appreciate the depth of your feeling expressed here.
Comment is about Abstain (blog)
Original item by keith jeffries
The rage, the message and the use of the word "abstain" in this poem has moved me, Keith. Very well written and provocative.
Comment is about Abstain (blog)
Original item by keith jeffries
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this poem, Ghazala Lari! There are indeed words hidden in old books and pages that could work for us, provide us with solace and wisdom.
Thank you.
Comment is about Hidden pearls (blog)
Original item by Ghazala lari
An argument with your partner can sometimes take a really bad turn and get ugly. But one always lets go off the ego and the debate and settles to be the wrong one, and that's how it really works I guess, cause that's how I've seen my parents do it all these years.
Thank you for this poem, Tom. These four lines really touched my heart,
"On the worst of days
Iâll wait, patiently
I will be the weight
on days that have no anchor"
Comment is about Days That Have No Anchor (blog)
Original item by Tom
A beautifully written poem, Ghazala.
Comment is about Hidden pearls (blog)
Original item by Ghazala lari
It's an unbearable and excruciating pain when someone you love suddenly lets you go. You break and burn and never let anyone else come close to you ever again, like you've built up this great wall of safety. But it's love that conquers and lifts you up again, lets you trust in the right people and invest in the right people. Your walls slowly come down, and that might not necessarily be by another lover, no, love doesn't restrict itself to a romantic relationship, sometimes it could come vastly through an animal or a friend or parents.
Thank you for this lost and found story of Isabelle, of regained freedom and love.
Comment is about True love (blog)
Original item by Sunshine
Beautiful and elegant, RBK. I absolutely loved it!
Comment is about branches of a tree (blog)
Original item by Red Brick Keshner
Going slightly off subject, I think if I lived in Israel I would want my government to take decisive action so that rockets no longer rained down on me and armed men no longer came across to murder civilians and take them hostage. And to send out a message to Lebanon, Syria, Iran et al that my country will respond significantly greater than just proportionately.
Comment is about Abstain (blog)
Original item by keith jeffries
I found myself pouring over the map to discover exactly where you may have taken tea.
"time's excrescences" summons many interesting images, an inspired coupling.
Comment is about THAMES SIDE TRYST (blog)
Original item by ray pool
A touching honest remembrance.
Beautifully heartfelt.
Comment is about I loved you very much. (blog)
Original item by dawnenes20
The world depicted in your poem reflects a harsh reality. We find ourselves in the role of mere spectators, unable to speak out against injustice for fear of becoming victims ourselves. It's as if we are sitting on the fence, silently witnessing the suffering of others. The only time we raise our voices is when we personally experience brutality. The cry for innocence is strongest when it is our own, but deep down, we know that others are just like us, silently abstaining from taking a stand.
Comment is about Abstain (blog)
Original item by keith jeffries
Thank you M.C and Stephen đđ
Comment is about Miss doubtful đ€© (blog)
Original item by Ghazala lari
Well done, John. Any one of us could slip through the net. No real equivalent of Greggs Vouchers here, I think, but cash usage still more common than in UK, I think. Supermarket stamps might work, if someone collects them.
Comment is about IN THE BLEAK MID-WINTER 2 (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Iâm in full agreement with Jewish Labour MP Oona King, who, as a member of the Jewish Council for Racial Equality, said of her visit to Gaza (2003?) that it was "the same in nature but not extent" as the Warsaw ghetto; in addition she added: "No government should be behaving like that - least of all a Jewish government".
She also said: "As a Jewish person, I hoped I would never live to see the day I was ashamed of the actions of the Jewish state.".
Itâs becoming increasingly obvious despite media censorship and campaigns of lies and smears, on behalf of the Netanyahu lobby, that Jewish people across the world now share her views.
Comment is about 'If I must die, let it bring hope, let it be a tale': words of Palestinian poet killed in Gaza (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
An absolute delight, Martin.
Comment is about A Christmas story (blog)
Original item by Martin Elder
Betjeman territory but the verse distinctively yours, Ray. A rich poem indeed.
Comment is about THAMES SIDE TRYST (blog)
Original item by ray pool
A heartfelt gem of a poem, Mike.
Comment is about The Living Can Be Selfish (blog)
Original item by Mike Bartram
Sunshine
Sat 16th Dec 2023 05:11
True path indeed Nigel đ·
Comment is about New Beginnings (blog)
Original item by Sunshine