You soppy old duffer! Liked it, Foxy.
I resent the way that young dudes can sport a couple of days growth and look hunky, whereas an old git like me looks like a dirty old tramp.
Really liked the ending. It should be available on the NHS as an alternative to Viagra. It did it for me!

Comment is about mousey (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

If the carlos book you were reading was the first - the Teachings of DJ, then, yes, the last part is shite - but it was not meant to be entertainment, just a write-up of a PhD dissertation, so it included all the boring stuff at the end. His second - A Separate Reality - is one of the best IMHO. They really did (utterly) change me + my life... but if it's not your thing...
Another "must read" is "I'm OK, You're OK" by T. Harris, which I know sounds like typical Aymerican psycho-babble bullshit, but is (IMHO) nothing short of amazing. In a nutshell it's all about how peoples minds work & how to make your own life & relationships better by understanding this stuff (ie how your own psyche and that of other folks all works = we are not all the same)- another life-altering book. just my 2 cents tho !

Comment is about Laura Taylor (poet profile)

Original item by Laura Taylor

Do Earworms migrate? Have you ever walked into your house humming a tune that someone at home was just singing or they start humming a tune you were just listening to in the car?

It's ever so spooky and I have also woken up before my radio alarm with a song in my head that comes on when the alarm goes off!!

Anyone else get that or is it just me??

By-the-way, great poem Laura :) xXx

Comment is about Ohrwurm (blog)

Original item by Laura Taylor

Hi Ann - re: Combustion, I was part of an investigative team where some forensic knowledge was a prerequisite - glad you liked the poem and thanks for commenting x

Comment is about Ann Foxglove (poet profile)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

So very true...scribbled notebook of cliches...aww takes me back to long hard working days...i'm free!!!

Comment is about CONFERENCE JUNKIE'S (blog)

Very scary - this is a world of which I know nothing of - thank god!!!!

Comment is about CONFERENCE JUNKIE'S (blog)

how true! It's like working for Write Out LOud! get me out, get me out! Oh, I am out. damn!

Comment is about CONFERENCE JUNKIE'S (blog)

"A greasy, miserable wench,
who owns no redemption."

is fab! A really strong mature poem Kath - though I agree with Ray that she does not suit the word "bland." Unless in a way she is like two people in one?xx

Comment is about Diplomatic acceptance (blog)

Original item by Kath Hewitt

Good poem John;interesting comments about behaviour and upbringing from other poets too.
Maybe some people can't/won't be helped,whilst others unknowingly act the way they do due to the environment they were raised in?

Comment is about Spitting at Bus Stops (blog)

Original item by John Togher

Enjoyed this,Isobel! Easy to read,but a bittersweetness to your observations! Funny as well,the academic 'carbon',contrasted with 'why,no,it's love'.Lovely!x

Comment is about The Stuff of Life (blog)

Original item by Isobel

Great poem.

Comment is about The Stuff of Life (blog)

Original item by Isobel

Cheers for the recommendation Rachel, I'll get on it ;)

Comment is about Spitting at Bus Stops (blog)

Original item by John Togher

Sorry Julian - I just didn't switch the recording off when I thought I had - I know I should re-do it but I was feeling too lazy! I should be able to chop the end off myself (if you see what I mean!) That's all! :) Someone else did that a while ago - naming no names - I listened to him read his poem, then he finished, then he sighed, then he sipped a nice cup of tea (well, it SOUNDED like tea!) then he sighed. Went on for about five minutes!

Comment is about mousey (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

How do you mean "edit the audio", Ann? We don't (yet) have audio editing facilites on the site, but you can re-do the audio if you want to, then simply click on edit and replace the current onw with another. Is that what you mean?

Comment is about mousey (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

Would you describe her as bland, though? Don't sound it. Greasy, miserable wench is lovely.Liked the last verse a lot, last line especially.Nice poem. It's exaggerate, by the way - I've had trouble with that word for years.

Comment is about Diplomatic acceptance (blog)

Original item by Kath Hewitt

A stubbly neck - not a chin! A scurrilous mat!? Enjoyed the poem though I keep wanting to see scratched and scratched and scratched rather than purred.

Comment is about mousey (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

Impossible to judge the person without knowing them. I think as a writer, you paint a very strong picture of hatred for them though.

The last verse does make you feel for that person though, regardless of the faults they may have.

The poem is strong in its open endedness and the way it's made me think.

Comment is about Diplomatic acceptance (blog)

Original item by Kath Hewitt

It is an interesting question whether blogs are finished work, or work in progress. Obviously they are whatever you want them to be, but I wonder how others view them?
I have posted a discussion about this: http://www.writeoutloud.net/public/newsgroupview.php?NewsThreadsID=1229
cheers

Comment is about Kath Hewitt (poet profile)

Original item by Kath Hewitt

Ooops! How DO you edit your blinkin' audios? (yeah, and this couple are even older'an ME!! :)

Comment is about mousey (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

Lovely, capturing a moment so gently, a pleasure to read, made me ache for such a moment - I love it when a poem makes me feel :) x

Ah, how different after reading the comments, on the surface this piece seemed one thing but peel back a little & it's something else & I definitely don't want a moment full of delusion - just got out of a relationship like that!!

Cracking piece all the same, though I now feel sad for the guy & a bit sorry for myself - lol!

Comment is about Some Angel (blog)

Oh Ann - if only we could learn to be attracted to flea bitten and stubbly....

Comment is about mousey (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

lovely Charlene, exotic feel to it.

Comment is about First proper haiku (blog)

I kinda feel sorry for her, but then I don't have your take on the character Laura ;)

I imagine it would be a vain attempt to help this person but me being me I'd try anyway - lol!

Very well described Kath, I get a clear picture of someone quite repulsive, not necessarily in how they look but how they feel to be around.

Comment is about Diplomatic acceptance (blog)

Original item by Kath Hewitt

Hi Trev
Sounds like quite a trip you are having there. clever rhyming commnetary. keep it coming.
Is Austin the US answer to Much Wenlock, or vice-versa?

Comment is about Trev's USA Tour 2011 (blog)

Original item by Trev the Road Poet

Thanks for comment on Ohrwurm Dave - yes, 'earworm' is a loan translation from the German ohrwurm, so an interesting word all on its own, never mind the poem itself. The poem seems to be introducing earworms all over however - I did it to myself last night and was Hawaii Five-Oing all bloody night.

Comment is about Dave Bradley (poet profile)

Original item by Dave Bradley

Hi Laura - thanks for commenting on Combustion and good luck to you if you do decide to go for a career change - and yes I did watch Six Feet Under quite compelling viewing I thought and ground breaking entertainment - I tried not to miss an episode x

Hi Laura - re: Combustion again, yes there were definitely some hiccups in the series SFU like the woman who after a post mortem supposedly died of choking and yet was shown on TV stretched out on the slab without any cut marks but it was grand series in spite of that

Comment is about Laura Taylor (poet profile)

Original item by Laura Taylor

*puts Rachel on ignore*

Isobel - red rag accepted ;p I remained a nightmare into my 20s, and it was only when I had my daughter at 23 that I actually settled down. There's some other stuff involved, but it wasn't just down to my intellect, unfortunately. So according to your logic, I shouldn't have reproduced. But I did, and not only did I 'improve', I introduced a hugely polite, considerate and caring person (my daughter) to the rest of society.

I think most people who behave 'badly' do so because of a cycle being repeated. Bullies and psychos, in my experience, have suffered themselves.

I'll give you the luck bit though - cos sometimes, that does come into play ;)

Comment is about Spitting at Bus Stops (blog)

Original item by John Togher

Glad I clicked on this to read it properly, because the front page doesn't show the line structure properly

Great first haiku!

Comment is about First proper haiku (blog)

Christ - this could be about my mother! Except she's more evil.

I liked this in a quietly venomous kind of way - the seething hate (too strong a word?) pushing out of your pores for this person.

Comment is about Diplomatic acceptance (blog)

Original item by Kath Hewitt

some interesting points raised here regarding the youth in wigan.. last time i was there the other year - ended up watching man city get beat wigan and ended up on the train going back with john oddly enough when the city fans made a right unholy racket and set a fire exchingser if my memory is correct during the journey.. fun days..

john - your poem to summed up those memories for me and i love the way it comes full circle.

generally for the record i was a good kid (had a bad time at secondary school thou) - all went wrong for me when i started going to the pub when i was 17 and generally started going out! lol

Comment is about Spitting at Bus Stops (blog)

Original item by John Togher

thanks for the comments (a kind of heaven).I wrote this about 2-3 yrs ago but it took me a while to decide if it was "worthy" of posting - funny - folks seem to like it !- there's no accounting for taste... I like it, but I didn't think most would "get it". Ta. B.
BTW - how's it going with carlos ? are you bored with it yet? or has it blown your mind like me??

Comment is about Laura Taylor (poet profile)

Original item by Laura Taylor

Hi-thanks for the comments (a kind of heaven).
I wrote this about 2-3 yrs ago but it took me a while to decide if it was "worthy" of posting - funny - folks seem to like it !
- there's no accounting for taste... I like it, but I didn't think most would "get it". Ta. B

Comment is about Dave Bradley (poet profile)

Original item by Dave Bradley

thanks for the comments (a kind of heaven).
I wrote this about 2-3 yrs ago but it took me a while to decide if it was "worthy" of posting - funny - folks seem to like it !
- there's no accounting for taste... I like it, but I didn't think most would "get it". Ta. B

Comment is about Ann Foxglove (poet profile)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

Enjoyable - possibly not technically great, but what do I know and who cares anyway - 'twas good stuff. I was told about ohrwurms years ago by a German friend and thought then what a great word. It does seem to have migrated to English now.

Damn - you've got me humming 'The Beat goes on'

Comment is about Ohrwurm (blog)

Original item by Laura Taylor

'i was an nightmare teenager and i turned out ok' this laura lovely is debatable. ;)

Comment is about Spitting at Bus Stops (blog)

Original item by John Togher

you could try watching 'slutty girl gets f*cked at a bus stop'Starring Kerri Sable good example of that quick f*ck nostalgia ;)

Comment is about Spitting at Bus Stops (blog)

Original item by John Togher

Perhaps there is an element of luck in how we all turn out. You are an intelligent woman who can think for herself Laura - also a strong one that doesn't go with the flow - that probably helps.

I have no answers about over population. I just wish that anti-social hooligans didn't reproduce. The odds say they are likely to produce more anti social hooligans. I realise this is like waving a red rag to the proverbial bull - but so be it :)

John - you probably turned out OK because you had parents who cared enough to worry about the bad influence of other kids. I'm not saying that you aren't an intelligent man who can't think for himself, mind...

I'd agree with Julian about the absence of identity/jobs/careers being a problem also. It's sad that we should all rely on labour for a sense of identity isn't it? Being occupied certainly gets you into less trouble though - also keeps depression and lack of purpose at bay...

Comment is about Spitting at Bus Stops (blog)

Original item by John Togher

Isobel - back in the early 80s, we had a local youth club, with pool tables etc. Know what we did? Threw pool balls at each other and broke the cues over each other. My daughter and her mates are WAY more polite and sociable than we ever were, and they have nowhere like that to go, and no facilities at all.

Less youths being born...got a plan for that?

In my experience, teenagers enjoy being social pariahs, and actively seek out places in which to behave as such.

Last thing - I was a nightmare teenager, and I turned out alright in the end. ;)

Comment is about Spitting at Bus Stops (blog)

Original item by John Togher

More than one in every five young people is out of work; almost a million of them:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/apr/13/unemployment-fifth-young-people-jobless

Timely, apposite and some good lines, John:

Not all of them fall, some soar to the stars,
some join the army, some continue their learning,
some have a passion, the right stimulus, a yearning.

Motivation is the key to learning, the key to that drive, that passion you mention. The lack of an appropriate identity is one of the key determinants of their lack of ambition. What are they? Boys? Men? Girls? Women? NEETs? What can they become? If we don't have anything in the way of an identity (jobs being a strong one for boys/men) to offer them, where is their status, their identity to come from?

Good one, John.

Comment is about Spitting at Bus Stops (blog)

Original item by John Togher

No students in at work today. I think I must be missing them...

Cheers for comments.

I was recently made aware of a childhood friend who is now in jail and we used to hang around on street corners, cause trouble, etc, with my parents saying what a bad influence he was.

I'm not sure what it was, maybe a decent education (we went to different schools), that caused us to take different paths in life. Ah well, back to some marking.

Comment is about Spitting at Bus Stops (blog)

Original item by John Togher

More facilities to occupy youths - less youths being born - that might help.

There used to be more youth clubs around when I was younger - but such places rely on voluntary workers who enjoy working with young people...

Comment is about Spitting at Bus Stops (blog)

Original item by John Togher

No - for me it wasn't - and that had nothing to do with money - just upbringing. Something seems to have gone very wrong somewhere. The older generation of Wiganers are lovely - the warmest people you could come across. There is a roughness, a lack of discipline around now that is a bit depressing. If it's always been there, perhaps it is more obvious now cos society/schools are less disciplined now - also there are more people around now - the world is busier.
Went to Southport beach this week with the kids and was stunned by the litter - empty beer bottles and shit that people had left behind. There seems to be a complete lack of respect for the environment or for other people. It doesn't happen to this degree abroad - the beaches in Australia were spotless and kids just don't drop stuff where they feel like it - or spit - not sure what the answer is or if there is one.

Rant over - good poem - it sums up a lot of society's problems - in a sympathetic non-judgmental way.

Comment is about Spitting at Bus Stops (blog)

Original item by John Togher

I find there's usually very little actual phlegm, but way too much bubbly saliva. That constant spit spit spitting that they do, raining down tiny droplets in a square foot of space.

You're right though - we were exactly the same. Getting moved on by the coppers was a regular occurrence for us.

Comment is about Spitting at Bus Stops (blog)

Original item by John Togher

Ahh, okay - just to say first of all that I normally bloody loathe having to explain anything in my poems myself. Not sure how you feel about it though.

Right, well, armed with your explanations, then this makes a hell of a lot more sense to me. The jarring is deliberate - nice touch. I should really have picked up on that I think.

The actual two word phrase of Some Angel puts me in mind of Bogart, believe it or not! Can picture him saying it carelessly, blowing smoke out the side of his mouth :D

Poor bloke actually - that last line is a corker, upon rereading. Just one little instance of having any power - and it's gone. Like dust, his dreams just blow away.

Hey - keep at it, the editing. Don't worry about not getting comments, not everyone is on here all the time, and it just might happen that there is no one on here that engages, or identifies, with any particular piece. That doesn't mean it is a Bad Poem! (of course, it could mean that it's a Terribly Shit Poem - but I prefer to think otherwise, heh). Can be a little disconcerting though, when you've slaved over something, only to have it seemingly ignored ;D I've seen some absolutely brilliant poems (that I think are brilliant anyway) get only 1 or 2 comments, if that.

Anyway, epic all done! Thanks for the explanation, and again I look forward to seeing further poems by you :)

Comment is about Some Angel (blog)

I really wanted to give it the feel of someone who doesn't know what's best for him. Like he has it all wrong.

"Brilliant rays of night touching my skin" - When I was writing this I pictured a man pretty much down and out, sitting in a dark smokey room, maybe he'd been drinking, a small crack in the curtains let in a single ray of light, like hope, that landed on him, making him think maybe it'll be alright, but knowing it never would.

"Heart as warm as winter hair as soft as rain" -
Hearts are wishy washy things, they can burn with passion one minute and be filled with contempt the next, rain isn't that soft, usually it stings, again I wanted to show that maybe the guy doesn't have a clue what's good for him, that this girl that he has idolized isn't what he has made her out to be.

It's meant to be a sad poem, he lives in this world that he has built around a woman that has obviously destroyed him, but she's all that matters to him.

Anyway, see, this is what happens when I spend all day editing something, I think way too much into it and it comes out crazy.

Comment is about Some Angel (blog)

I love signing in to see you've posted a comment on something I've done. I really makes my day.

My Sunday editing really has cut down on a the quantity of material I have been coming up with. I don't write anything new at all on Sundays, and only work on two poems. As you can see, I went from posting about a poem every other day on here to see what you guys think to posting about one a week. I don't think they went over very well though, no one made any comments on them. Still, I'm going to try to keep reserving my Sundays for just one or two poems and really try to squeeze everything I can out of them.

Comment is about Laura Taylor (poet profile)

Original item by Laura Taylor

I like this overall but some lines jar a bit for me. Night rays? I guess you could say this was linked to the moon. And 'heart as warm as winter' - well, again, I suppose it could be a warm room in winter?

I like the repetition - gives it a song-like feel

How's the Sunday Editing going? :)

Comment is about Some Angel (blog)

Cheers chaps

steve - High Chaparral was very nearly in this! Haha :D

Comment is about Ohrwurm (blog)

Original item by Laura Taylor

Thanks for the comment John, I'm stopping the cigs at the moment and your mate is right!!

Comment is about John Coopey (poet profile)

Original item by John Coopey

Comment is about John Coopey (poet profile)

Original item by John Coopey