Thanks guys - not much of a poem - but thought I'd better post something in case you all thought I'd died! :)

Comment is about missing mum (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

Hi M.C.
I like this poem very much

Coincidental,same theme that
I,ve used in my latest poem
to which you kindly commented on.

Thank you!

Patricia Wilde.x

Comment is about CROSSED LINES (blog)

Original item by M.C. Newberry

Hello Dave. Thank you so much for your kind comments on my poem "Starved to Death, for Jovonie"
The sad truth is this four year old child died of starvation on Christmas day. Even sadder there are probably a million more like this.
Thanks again,

Shirley

Comment is about Dave Bradley (poet profile)

Original item by Dave Bradley

Works well, MC - manages to be both poignant and philosophical. Commiserations on your loss.

Comment is about THE DEATH OF AN ELDER SISTER (blog)

Original item by M.C. Newberry

M.C.

As ever...clear, concise, gracefully con- cordant and (only apparently) simple.

Clears both the ears and the mind.

Thanks.

Comment is about THE DEATH OF AN ELDER SISTER (blog)

Original item by M.C. Newberry

Come upon this just after pondering the last line of Rachels 42.
This makes me wonder, shouldn`t our aging and meagre-childed population which -with the rest of the over-fattened west - has enjoyed the fruits of the `economic miracle` for so many years now welcome the kaleidoscopic intake of new immigrants...if only to restore the balance of our pension finances? (just a thought)

Comment is about Tontine (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

From the heart - and it shows. A timely - and timeless -reminder of making the most of our loved ones while they are with us.

Comment is about missing mum (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

Hi dave it was great to meat you there. hope to c u there again soon

Comment is about Matthew Derbyshire (poet profile)

Original item by Matthew Derbyshire

Excellent poem, Ann, it summons up and sums up a mood and a moment beautifully.

My own mum, bless her, is still around and looks set to be for a long while. Could be all the whisky

Comment is about missing mum (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

c.l.i.t. good word that :)

Comment is about Laura Taylor (poet profile)

Original item by Laura Taylor

I really enjoyed this, George. You paint a wonderful picture.Thanks.

Comment is about Clogs & Shawles (blog)

Original item by oldlancsman

Clever, funny, well written. Enjoyed your poem.

Comment is about An Unannounced Inspection (blog)

Nice poem - that last verse is very moving.

Comment is about FEOTAL DISTRESS (blog)

Original item by Mike Hilton

Great to see you posting - and a lovely poem too. And what a fab photo to illustrate it!

Comment is about Clogs & Shawles (blog)

Original item by oldlancsman

A warm welcome to WOL Matt - I hope you enjoy exploring the site and look forward to seeing more of your work.

Comment is about Matt Carter (poet profile)

Original item by Matt Carter

A warm welcome to WOL David - I hope you enjoy exploring the site and look forward to seeing more of your work.

Comment is about David Lee Morgan (poet profile)

Original item by David Lee Morgan

A very warm welcome to WOL Oldlancsman! I look forward seeing more of your work to more too!!

Comment is about oldlancsman (poet profile)

Original item by oldlancsman

Ah, I know this feeling, if only we could have our mums back for a while...
Very poignant, Ann, well written. xx

Comment is about missing mum (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

Yes - I suppose once you get a label it can be very hard to escape from it and so easy to get caught up in trouble if you are kicking round the streets. I can remember my lad getting caught up in trouble when I first settled back in Wigan. It didn't get as far as the police, but it was close. A horrible moment for me cos I thought it signalled the birth of a delinquant son. Luckily it gave him a big enough shock to stop him from loafing round street corners!

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

Original item by Mike Hilton

Hi Lynn
we are glad the doggy problem
seems to have been resolved.xx

Comment is about Lynn Dye (poet profile)

Original item by Lynn Dye

Thank you Tomas
for comments on our blog.

P&S

Comment is about Tomás Ó Cárthaigh (poet profile)

Original item by Tomás Ó Cárthaigh

Funny cos that's what I was thinking about split lit heels and other imaginary ideas / innuendos.

Great delivery, loved it. Painted an excellent picture.

Comment is about MLC Car (blog)

This went well at the Tudor last night, Rachel. I've got an 02 reg Skoda with 180K on the clock. Must mean I'm not having a mid-life crisis? Shucks - thought I was.

Comment is about MLC Car (blog)

Mid Life Crisis car. As a lover of cars i am happy that most mid life men spend all their hard earned cash on fancy cars. However it seems that in their existentially mature despair they never want to drive very far in them because the petrol is so expensive.

Pull up to my bumper baby xx

Comment is about MLC Car (blog)

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

Comment is about Tontine (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

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

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)

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

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

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

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

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)

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

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

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

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

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)

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

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

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

Thank you Rachel x

Comment is about Sketch (blog)

Original item by Marianne Daniels

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

i love your words and pictures of blackbirds. beautiful

Comment is about Sketch (blog)

Original item by Marianne Daniels

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)

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

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

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)

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

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)