I admire the imagery and ambition of this poem. Thank you.
Comment is about Title. (blog)
Original item by Claire Maher
Thank you very much for your kind comments x
Comment is about Into My Past (blog)
Original item by Mike Bartram
Wed 15th Nov 2023 15:16
Sleep becomes an armour whispering answers gently
Wake up slowly to a new day of no whys only what we have
to start a brand new day of promise.❤
Comment is about Wondrous why's (blog)
Original item by Sunshine
Wed 15th Nov 2023 05:02
Love is a song
You never stop singing
When sad sing higher
Till two hearts burst.❤
Comment is about Opportunities (blog)
Original item by Sunshine
Soul lovers
Peace within
Never seeking
To refill
Always satisfied
Overflowing everlasting
Bonded love.❤
Comment is about Glass never empty (blog)
Original item by Sunshine
Tue 14th Nov 2023 21:15
I was ahead of the curve on this, Stephen. I did a piece on AI a few years ago. Oh, hang on - that was on Artificial Insemination.
Comment is about AI (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Thank you John & Stephen, these are dark days for satire. Do you think AI has actually taken over, only nobody told us?
Comment is about Dave's Back (blog)
Original item by R A Porter
Beautiful poem Stephen. AI can indeed do a lot, but humans do have the special ability to demonstrate personality and individuality!
Comment is about AI (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
You say it all, RA. The entitlement, the lack of accountability for mistakes, the old boy network..... 'Back to the future' would be a good way to describe it, because the past is so inconvenient.
Comment is about Dave's Back (blog)
Original item by R A Porter
Thanks so much Stephen-very kind as always! Glad you enjoyed the poem.
Comment is about Still Here (blog)
Original item by Rasa Kabaila
Thanks to Graham, Ray, Greg and John for the kind and encouraging comments. I tried to write an entertaining and lyrical poem, but I feel strongly about this issue. It is easy to become disheartened when, for example, seeing today's State of Climate Action 2023 report on just how far behind the required
climate targets governments are, or when faced with the prospect of COP28 being hosted by one of the world's biggest fossil fuel producers.
As John says, it's up to the kids (I also hope Greta Thunberg sticks to the climate question). Graham - I take your point - where will it all end? I can see some slippery slopes here. And thanks to Greg and Ray for the kind words - I'm so glad that a poem like this makes an impact.
Thanks also to Frederick, Steve , John GE, K Lynn and Tim for liking.
Comment is about COP28 (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
What's going on!!!??? What next? Tony Blair in Starmer's Cabinet?
Comment is about Dave's Back (blog)
Original item by R A Porter
We owe them so much. And to those who lost their lives in the Second World War. We should never forget how fragile is the construct of democracy.
Comment is about Walking into the light (blog)
Original item by R A Porter
Indeed, Stephen. Plus ca change. I'm afraid it's with the kids and not we old nay sayers. Having said that I was disappointed to see Greta diversifying into the geopolitics of Palestine/Israel.
Comment is about COP28 (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Thanks Tim, you have that spot on with your comment. I was a little worried it would be too vague when I posted but that has put a smile on my face - I'm clearly doing something right LOL
Comment is about Memory (I) (blog)
Original item by Gray Nicholls
Lyrical AND scary an achievement with full marks for observation Stephen!
Ray
Comment is about COP28 (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Thank you MC & Keith. I had the privilege of visiting the Somme battlefields a few years ago and was taken to Serre where Frank and so many others lost their lives that sunny summer morning in 1916. We will remember them indeed.
Comment is about Walking into the light (blog)
Original item by R A Porter
Love the imagery this poem conjures up. The mind's ability to lock away certain memories or suddenly thrust them upon our consciousness, amazes me.
Comment is about Memory (I) (blog)
Original item by Gray Nicholls
Thanks Manish. 🌷 There's a scarcity of this open vulnerability and perhaps for good reason. But oh that we all should feel deeply, indeed at certain junctions in our lives.
Comment is about darkish hopefulness (blog)
Original item by Red Brick Keshner
The last six lines of this sonnet are particularly powerful, Steve. And the final one - 'The Earth's thin skin will break and bleed' - really stays with you. Good work.
Comment is about COP28 (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
I am sorry to report that I am beginning to feel that all this sustainability is becoming unsustainable!
And today I read that they want to rename the heavens due to their colonial references.
God help us!
(sorry I'm sure it will pass)
Comment is about COP28 (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
I felt this one, RBK, deeply indeed. A poignant poem that's nicely written.
Thank you.
Comment is about darkish hopefulness (blog)
Original item by Red Brick Keshner
A little early - it only starts on 30 November - but I'm getting my disappointment in first.
Comment is about COP28 (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
A fine, compassionate poem, Andy.
Comment is about Hope Resurfaces For the Girl at Greggs (blog)
Original item by Andy Millican
Well it was it the first person when I wrote it , but I changed it when I posted this .
Which teaches me a lesson
I have never altered a poem on the past .
So changed it back
Thanks
Comment is about Eggs (blog)
Original item by Edbreathe
James Burford, collier and fitter, was the oldest soldier of all. When I first spoke to him in the trenches, he said: "Excuse me, sir, will you explain what this here arrangement is on the side of my rifle?" "That's the safety catch. Didn't you do a musketry-course at the depôt?" "No, sir, I was a re-enlisted man, and I spent only a fortnight there. The old Lee-Metford didn't have no safety-catch." I asked him when he had last fired a rifle. "In Egypt in 1882," he said. "Weren't you in the South African War?" "I tried to re-enlist, but they told me I was too old, sir... My real age is sixty-three." Robert Graves, 'Goodbye to all that'
Comment is about 11th November 1918 (blog)
Original item by John E Marks
Your first verse is incredibly good! I would like it even more in the first person but bravo!
Comment is about Eggs (blog)
Original item by Edbreathe
We are all here by luck , but we are here, and others aren’t
Comment is about 11th November 1918 (blog)
Original item by John E Marks
Thankyou for your thoughts, Helene. I don’t know how familiar you are with UK politics but the backcloth to this is that the UK Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, said that we should crack down on the homeless using tents for shelter, as homelessness was their “lifestyle choice”. Presumably she’d prefer them to get cold and wet in the rain.
And thanks for the Like, Pete.
Comment is about LIFESTYLE CHOICE (SCUM OF THE EARTH) (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Really like this tongue in cheek poem John. Every person on the planet has a story, a context, from which arose their current living situation. I have several very close friends who have a family member living on the streets. It is heartbreaking beyond words and there are no easy solutions. To say that human behavior is complex is an understatement. I applaud every social worker, government worker, etc. who faithfully continue to reach out and try to balance the competing needs of the bedraggled person on the street and the average citizen trying to peacefully navigate said street. One thing to me is simple and clear: we should try hard not to judge. Guys, I always appreciate your vigorous discussion. Please pray for a good outcome in usa 2024 presidential elections! (Oh oh that prayer request might trigger a vigorous discussion.)
Comment is about LIFESTYLE CHOICE (SCUM OF THE EARTH) (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
There but for the grace of God, Uilleam. I have to say that I never give money but I buy vouchers at Greggs to give them so they can get something to eat and a hot drink.
It's hard to envisage a more pessimistic view of human nature, MC.
Comment is about LIFESTYLE CHOICE (SCUM OF THE EARTH) (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Hopefully Nigel. Seek divine blessings🌷thank you.
Comment is about Reinstitute (blog)
Original item by Sunshine
Thanks John, a heartbreaking state of affairs.
Speaking of “respect” for Armistice Day.
https://www.bigissue.com/news/housing/how-many-veterans-are-homeless-in-the-uk/
This from the above published 9/11/22
“The most recent rough sleeping figures for London, the Combined Homelessness and Information Network (Chain), found 5% of the people counted on the streets of the English capital had an armed forces background.”
Xenophobia: fear or hatred of people perceived as being different from oneself; based on a person’s race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, or other distinguishing characteristics.
Philoxenia: love of strangers.
From the Christian Bible...the source of many of our allegedly "British Values".
“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”
Comment is about LIFESTYLE CHOICE (SCUM OF THE EARTH) (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
It's called reality, JC. Those who deal with it professionally get to
know all too soon the why's and wherefores. Somehow,
society at large seems unable to find a solution, perhaps because
ultimately, it comes down to human frailties and sheer bloody-mindedness. It's all too easy to appear virtuous as long as
you have no responsibility for finding the answer, which,
sadly, seems temporary at best for many. It should speak
volumes that the Vagrancy Act still has relevance two centuries
on from its creation.
Comment is about LIFESTYLE CHOICE (SCUM OF THE EARTH) (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Avalanche of poetic awareness
Spontaneous Collage energy produced
Feedback from poets present
Word power comes forth.
Comment is about November 2023 Collage Poem: Boneyard Blues (blog)
Original item by Stockport WoL
Fresh seeds with plenty of tender love
But only when weeds of mistrust are finally clear
This garden will grow and grow once again.❤
Comment is about Reinstitute (blog)
Original item by Sunshine
Thank you so much Manish, Hélène, John and MC for the lovely comments. And Manish, that's high praise indeed! Wow. 😃 We all need someone to listen from time to time and it always feels right to help a friend in need.
Thanks also to Frederick, Hugh, Stephen, Aisha, Pete and Steve for the likes! Happy weekend to you all.
P.S. I added an audio reading for anyone who's into that sort of thing!
Comment is about Asking For A Friend (blog)
Original item by Tom
Or not, Stephen. And Thankyou for the Likes, Red Brick and Tim.
Comment is about LIFESTYLE CHOICE (SCUM OF THE EARTH) (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
A very moving piece. The image of young men leaving for war on trains is so stark and raw, as we know that so many did not come back. The cheerfulness and 'over by Christmas' sentiments expressed in the poem now seem almost cruel.
Comment is about 'It took every soldier': railway company posts poem for Remembrance (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
A fascinating, substantial poem, combining disappointment at the perpetrator and act his act with an element of forgiveness and reconciliation. The language is rich and the style vivid. It's good to see the poet laureate doing this kind of thing.
Comment is about 'One tree can't breathe for the whole world': Simon Armitage marks chainsaw felling at Sycamore Gap (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Thank you Graham, Keith and Manish. It's a sad fact that in so many parts of the world pointless death is permanently on display.
And my thanks to Frederick, Aisha, Pete, Steve, Clare and K Lynn for liking.
Comment is about Cold Wind (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
A warm, optimistic poem, Steve, enhanced by the fact that so many of the places are familiar from my childhood.
My Dad once told me about having to take charge of captured German soldiers at the end of World War Two. I remember him saying that they were 'just like us' and just wanted to get back to a peaceful life. I like to believe that, deep down, everyone does.
Comment is about Josef (blog)
Original item by Steve White
There but for the grace of God go we, John. It's great to see how a poem like this can dismantle pig- ignorant views.
Comment is about LIFESTYLE CHOICE (SCUM OF THE EARTH) (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
That's the goal indeed. Thanks Nigel💐
Comment is about Slow but steady (blog)
Original item by Sunshine
We used to have a phrase in the Coal Board of "working without enthusiasm". It was written all over Charlie's face.
You're all heart, MC. Let's clear out these eyesores, eh?
And thanks for the Like, Greg.
Comment is about LIFESTYLE CHOICE (SCUM OF THE EARTH) (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Jon
Wed 15th Nov 2023 19:03
Thank you Stephen and K.
Comment is about A Dreamy Wave (blog)
Original item by Jon63