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Ray Miller

Fri 13th Jan 2012 11:46

You really don't want to be giving people these sort of ideas, John.

Comment is about Tontine (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

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Ray Miller

Fri 13th Jan 2012 11:42

Nice rhythm except possibly here
I love the confidence I can win
To promote me within the team

and definitely here
“A successful salesman must

Be able to engender trust.”

but maybe that's excusable, different voice. Enjoyed.

Comment is about Depth Of A Salesman (blog)

Original item by Matt Carter

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Ray Miller

Fri 13th Jan 2012 11:35

So does MLC stand for Mid Life Crisis? Enjoyed, like what you've done at the end with the medal.Nothing about bumpers, though?

Comment is about MLC Car (blog)

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Dave D Poet Rhumour

Fri 13th Jan 2012 10:57

Hi Tomas - many thanks for your comments on 'All The Love In The World' - much appreciated. Like you I have a preference rhyming forms of poetry. :) Best wishes, Dave

Comment is about Tomás Ó Cárthaigh (poet profile)

Original item by Tomás Ó Cárthaigh

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Mike Hilton

Fri 13th Jan 2012 10:18

I enjoyed it Laura everyone made me feel welcome with lots of energy and smiling faces or was it moons?
Some great readings, makes me want to write more and hopefully get as good as you guys.

Got stopped on the way home at border control in Westhoughton. They said they it was because there had been an uprising in Wigan.
But I explained that they had got their wires crossed.

IT WAS A FULL MOON RISING !

You have to park your bike somewhere !

Comment is about Mike Hilton (poet profile)

Original item by Mike Hilton

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Laura Taylor

Fri 13th Jan 2012 10:05

Powerful piece Mike and the vernacular you've used shows your experience, I think

Comment is about NO BLUE PETER BADGE FOR A CHEAP COLLAR (blog)

Original item by Mike Hilton

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Laura Taylor

Fri 13th Jan 2012 10:00

Hehehe - funny, had me chuckling this one. Who hasn't blagged their way into a job and winged it?!

Comment is about Depth Of A Salesman (blog)

Original item by Matt Carter

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Laura Taylor

Fri 13th Jan 2012 09:59

That line 'split lit heels/clean rest it' - when I heard it last night I just heard 'clit' - even though I knew the words said differently. You're TERRIBLE, Muriel.

Loved this - bloody great to see you at the Tudor again me darlin xx :) You could have made an effort with your clothes though. ;p

Comment is about MLC Car (blog)

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Laura Taylor

Fri 13th Jan 2012 09:52

Eh up Mike! Great to meet you last night :) 'Fraid you picked possibly the quietest night ever in the Tudor to come along!! Still n all, there was some quality poetry, and it's nice to get the chance to read more than you expected to. Hope to see you again there chuck :)

Comment is about Mike Hilton (poet profile)

Original item by Mike Hilton

steve mellor

Fri 13th Jan 2012 09:24

This is no way a criticism, because I enjoyed the whole piece, but just the first verse is enough of a poem for me

Comment is about Sketch (blog)

Original item by Marianne Daniels

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Dave Bradley

Fri 13th Jan 2012 08:40

Hi Matthew. Good to meet you at the Tudor last night. Have you run across the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins? I think you might like it. Pied Beauty may be a good place to start.

Comment is about Matthew Derbyshire (poet profile)

Original item by Matthew Derbyshire

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Janice Windle

Fri 13th Jan 2012 07:51

I loved the rhythm and swing of this, Matt - I could hear the music - and the last line is a killer - had me laughing aloud! "C'est La Vie" might be an alternative title for this! But if at first ... etc ...

Thank you for your comments on my poem "Resolutions - actually the slimy hair isn't the hardest one to keep - I do have a strong stomach - starting my novel is probably the most difficult to see through,!'m afraid!

Jan x

Comment is about Matt Carter (poet profile)

Original item by Matt Carter

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M.C. Newberry

Thu 12th Jan 2012 22:27

Dave - I'm not sure that W.S. isn't slyly suggesting that instead of reading someone else's words, the reader might be making his own mark in the passage of time by writing something himself. Certainly, the poet
makes the point of "immortality" in a famous sonnet...
As long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
Or perhaps he is setting out a mischievous
awareness of the difference between artist and critic! :-)

Comment is about POETS ON POETRY (blog)

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Lynn Dye

Thu 12th Jan 2012 20:20

This is superb,Ian. Many congratulations for this, and also to your wife for her MBE.

Comment is about DANCING (blog)

Original item by Ian Gant

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M.C. Newberry

Thu 12th Jan 2012 14:51

Joy - these things happen unfortunately. In a slightly different vein, I once had a scriptread at a major Hollywood studio. It wasrejected but a couple of years later one of their films appeared with a dozen similarplot points. Plagiarism or coincidence - takeyour pick.
Your own poem is a good example of how things can happen and leave a lingering feeling of "Hmmm".

Comment is about Carol Ann Duffy under fire for courtroom poem (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

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Dave Bradley

Thu 12th Jan 2012 14:34

Just googled 'Jovonie' and found the story of Jovonie Ochoa, a 4 year old who weighed 16lbs when she died. She is not the only child to have suffered similarly, so ourageously, at the hands of parents or alleged 'carers'. Perhaps in a way you have written this for all of them. The poem moved me - especially the repetition of "If only I had known" - it's an almost visceral response we have to stories like Jovonie's and the poem captures that well.

Comment is about Starved to Death, for Jovonie (blog)

Original item by Shirley Smothers

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Marianne Louise Daniels

Thu 12th Jan 2012 14:33

Thank you Rachel x

Comment is about Sketch (blog)

Original item by Marianne Daniels

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Nigel Astell

Thu 12th Jan 2012 14:31

After reading
Strong emotions
Expressing feelings
Inside such
Vocal meaning
When at
Stockport W.O.L
Each piece
Seemed to
Fit in.

Comment is about Hands in my pockets (blog)

Original item by Andy N

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Rachel Bond

Thu 12th Jan 2012 14:28

i love your words and pictures of blackbirds. beautiful

Comment is about Sketch (blog)

Original item by Marianne Daniels

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Dave Bradley

Thu 12th Jan 2012 14:18

Really interesting this Harry, and a poem that is both though-provoking and well-written.

Since coming across Shakespeare's Sonnet 16 I've never been able to get it out of my head, especially the first 4 lines. Shakespeare is writing superb poetry but asking the reader why he/she isn't off doing something more important. It's so provocative and challenging.

But wherefore do not you a mightier way
Make war upon this bloody tyrant, Time?
And fortify your self in your decay
With means more blessed than my barren rhyme?
Now stand you on the top of happy hours,
And many maiden gardens, yet unset,
With virtuous wish would bear you living flowers,
Much liker than your painted counterfeit:
So should the lines of life that life repair,
Which this, Time's pencil, or my pupil pen,
Neither in inward worth nor outward fair,
Can make you live your self in eyes of men.
To give away yourself, keeps yourself still,
And you must live, drawn by your own sweet skill.


Comment is about POETS ON POETRY (blog)

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Harry O'Neill

Thu 12th Jan 2012 14:17


Nice appreciative proof that slightly archaic (but clear) language can still be used in modern poetry.

SOUNDS LIKE A NICE PLACE.

Comment is about The Tudor (blog)

Original item by Isobel

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Isobel

Thu 12th Jan 2012 14:11

Thanks Laura/Jonboy - yes it is a very different style for me - not one I embrace very often. I wanted to write in a kind of biblical way since I was using the Christmas story - I just couldn't get the flow going though - so it ended up being more classical. It is probably a bit too quaint and old fashioned for many on here. I think it worked well as a contrast to contemporary stuff in the book though.

(I only posted to illustrate how I set about doing Iambic Pentameter.)

Anthony - it would be lovely to see/hear you at the Tudor one day. You will have to make the effort to come up! x

Comment is about The Tudor (blog)

Original item by Isobel

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M.C. Newberry

Thu 12th Jan 2012 13:44

P.S. - my sympathy on your cold. If it's related to the one I had, it is an unwelcome
little bug(ger)! AND it seems widespread from
the comments I am getting.
Perhaps a subject for an ode? :-)
I'd remove myself from this unwelcome bug
That insists on giving an unsought hug.
No friend that I'd regret seeing off,
It lingers with a nasty cough!

Comment is about POETS ON POETRY (blog)

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Laura Taylor

Thu 12th Jan 2012 13:36

Aye, tis a great poem this one, one of my favourites from the crimbo booklet. Very different to a lot of the stuff I read by you Isobel. Love its 'nobleness' if that's a word, and if ever a place/night was worth an homage, it's the Tudor. I bloody love it in there, don't understand why some people seem to see it as argy - I feel soooo comfy in there it's unreal. I feel very uncomfortable in places where everyone is 'behaving' - much prefer shouty camaraderie and people hustling outside for a massive gang smoke :D :D

See ya there later!

Comment is about The Tudor (blog)

Original item by Isobel

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M.C. Newberry

Thu 12th Jan 2012 13:36

Harry - I'm intrigued by the early lines above - "And what it is that from us flows,The hearer better than the utterer knows."
It begs the question: if the utterer doesn't, why should the hearer? Or does the hearer merely place his/her own interpretation on stuff "to suit"? That seems to match the definiton of "random", when meaning is meaningless.

Comment is about POETS ON POETRY (blog)

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Jon

Thu 12th Jan 2012 13:08

Hi Isobel
First time I've seen this one...couldn't get to Tudor last month.A timely tale,and a well thought out homage to our beloved Tudor. Loved the bit about travellers speaking foreign languages! Amazing how we can decipher the Yorkshire dialect,and other regional strangeness yet still take them to our bosom like brothers or sisters isn't it!Nice one Isobel! x

Comment is about The Tudor (blog)

Original item by Isobel

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Martin Peacock

Thu 12th Jan 2012 13:06

Oh, I love this, Stella. Very sensuous/sensual [? - I always get these 2 mixed up] Gnomic and tingly in equal measure - phew!

Comment is about Hope (blog)

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Antony Owen

Thu 12th Jan 2012 10:45

Graham makes an interesting point.

Regardless of what people think of CA Duffy's poetry I think she is right to reflect the times we live in. Poetry is not a parlour game and should not devalue itself with pomp and ceremony but with reflecting the times we live in. Our next generation may be ashamed of ours for many reasons and CA Duffy is doing the right thing. I read the poem and think I understood why she wrote it with such accessibility. I think she wrote in a way that would serve poetry best in the bigger picture. Far too many people are indifferent to poetry because it does not move them. An empathatic connection is better than a poets poem for purists that ticks a box. CA DUffy is thinking outside the box and fair play to her.

On the poem itself - I found it poignant and it will be judged over time and not just the present.

Comment is about Carol Ann Duffy under fire for courtroom poem (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

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John Coopey

Thu 12th Jan 2012 10:34

You can't start too young with sound advice.

Comment is about Matt Carter (poet profile)

Original item by Matt Carter

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winston plowes

Thu 12th Jan 2012 00:39

got a lot from this, thx for posting. Win

Comment is about The Bait at The Bates Hotel. (blog)

Original item by Memoir.

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Anthony Emmerson

Wed 11th Jan 2012 23:49

Hi Matt,

And thanks for your generous comment on "Kenneth." I hope you're enjoying yourself wandering round the archives!

Regards,

A.E.

Comment is about Matt Carter (poet profile)

Original item by Matt Carter

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Dave Bradley

Wed 11th Jan 2012 23:42

Fascinating - and hilarious. It doesn't include Wigan's Scotsman's Flash!

Comment is about Poetic place names . . . ? (blog)

Original item by Anthony Emmerson

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Rachel Bond

Wed 11th Jan 2012 23:38

thanks for comments on 42.

sincerely
rachel bond

internationally respected manager and game plan extraodinaire of Bond Town FC.

dont mess x

Comment is about Matt Carter (poet profile)

Original item by Matt Carter

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Anthony Emmerson

Wed 11th Jan 2012 23:37

Take a look at this list - all for real apparently. Few things make me laugh out loud nowadays - but some of these are priceless . . .

http://www.ashton-under-lyne.com/placenames.htm

Someone good at constructing humorous poetry (no names) could have a field day with these. Favourites anyone?

Comment is about Poetic place names . . . ? (blog)

Original item by Anthony Emmerson

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Dave Bradley

Wed 11th Jan 2012 23:25

Not that it's poetic, but one of my favourites is World's End. There are two...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%27s_End,_Denbighshire

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%27s_End,_Berkshire

How can the world have two ends?

There is also Sodom in North Wales. http://www.british-towns.net/cy/level_4_display.asp?GetL3=16254

Who on earth wanted to call a place Sodom?

Comment is about Poetic place names . . . ? (blog)

Original item by Anthony Emmerson

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Anthony Emmerson

Wed 11th Jan 2012 23:08

I don't think that the Stephen Lawrence case was just "one case of murder," given its implications and repercussions not only for the Police force but also for society. Duffy's poem, whilst not being lyrically grandiose, reflects that with suitable poignancy and gravitas.

Comment is about Carol Ann Duffy under fire for courtroom poem (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

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Joy France

Wed 11th Jan 2012 23:03

I jokingly said that CAD stole my poem. Some people took me literally! I meant that this (below) were my notes for a possible poem, and they are not dissimilar - I am not comparing myself to her... just miffed cos I also wrote one about the icelandic volcano one day, and the next morning she was on the radio reading hers which had some almost identic lines lol.... See what you think. Some similarities?


Double your life lived passed
before your mother could mourn.
False hope
of conviction.
Her conviction that truth will out.
Held. Fast.
Long time.
You.
Murdered.
Lay. longtime
Cold.
Reduced to sound bites.
Microscopic fibre, speck revealed
truth
The sharp cut of a mother’s love overcomes all.
Except loss of her son.

Comment is about Carol Ann Duffy under fire for courtroom poem (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

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Anthony Emmerson

Wed 11th Jan 2012 22:50

We have Westward Ho! nearby. Apparently the only English place name with an exclamation mark. (Trust me, it really doesn't deserve one.)

One of my favourites inspired me to write a poem. I'm originally from the Derbyshire Peak District where there's a Water-cum-Jolly Dale.

http://www.knowledge.me.uk/photos/peaks/water_cum_jolly_dale.html

And then, of course there's S****horpe. I always wanted te meet someone I didn't like from there, just to be able to say, "So you're the one who put the **** in S****horpe."

Comment is about Poetic place names . . . ? (blog)

Original item by Anthony Emmerson

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Anthony Emmerson

Wed 11th Jan 2012 22:44

I'm gonna make it there - someday . . .

Comment is about The Tudor (blog)

Original item by Isobel

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Dave Bradley

Wed 11th Jan 2012 22:32

Incorrigible (-: How about Limerick?

Comment is about Poetic place names . . . ? (blog)

Original item by Anthony Emmerson

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Hazel

Wed 11th Jan 2012 20:17

Thanks for the comment on Faded Firelight

Comment is about Tomás Ó Cárthaigh (poet profile)

Original item by Tomás Ó Cárthaigh

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Julian (Admin)

Wed 11th Jan 2012 18:09

there are worse lies we perpetrate on our kids than Santa. hell, let them alone for a few innocent years before reality bites.

The picture reminds me of Paul Blackburn's poem: Te Be a Condom.

Comment is about Bonding Over the Argos Catalogue (blog)

Original item by Isobel

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Tomás Ó Cárthaigh

Wed 11th Jan 2012 16:45

"Dont mind the bats, Ill bring my cats" so innocent, yet so obscure... loved the poem, great roll to it!!!

Comment is about Melanie Coady (poet profile)

Original item by Melanie Coady

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Tomás Ó Cárthaigh

Wed 11th Jan 2012 16:43

Love the poem to the biro!!!

Comment is about kayberley (poet profile)

Original item by kayberley

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Tomás Ó Cárthaigh

Wed 11th Jan 2012 16:42

That every land is a merry land, and let our own lands be the same...

Comment is about Larisa Rzhepishevska (poet profile)

Original item by Larisa Rzhepishevska

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Tomás Ó Cárthaigh

Wed 11th Jan 2012 16:41

I love the English Rhyming couplet format of the poem, and of course the poem itself.

Comment is about All The Love In The World (blog)

Original item by Dave Dunn

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Hazel

Wed 11th Jan 2012 16:30

MC thank you for your input. I do tend to change verses round or lines that I wrote ages ago.

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

Original item by M.C. Newberry

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Hazel

Wed 11th Jan 2012 15:18

Hello MC 'I'm looking up at the stars', I changed the last one not sure if it works though.

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

Original item by M.C. Newberry

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Dave Bradley

Wed 11th Jan 2012 15:03

I like the poem too, though take the point about celebrity. CAD clearly couldn't write a poem for every murder victim in the country, so she has written one (and a very good one) for the murder that has had the nation's attention. Isn't that the sort of thing a Poet laureate is meant to do? It must involve being influenced by our celebrity culture and media shenanigins. There's no easy way round that, except maybe balancing writing about the headlines with writing about obscure events and people as well.

Comment is about Carol Ann Duffy under fire for courtroom poem (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

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Val Cook

Wed 11th Jan 2012 14:25

As a mother myself I feel this short poem speaks volumes.

Comment is about Carol Ann Duffy under fire for courtroom poem (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

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