hi ray - didn't hit me straight away that either, but i like it...

i think there you may want to consider a split in the first stanza to make it two from 'shadow boxers...' onwards also, but if not - it's one to re-read and re-read certainly and that's always good fun..

Comment is about The Unspeakably Familiar (blog)

change in style for you here, Kath - and it's certainly more fragmented or raw, but i like it...

it's a good job however you don't perform poetry (unless you have changed your mind) as i would hate to try and perform this...

keep em coming, chick x

Comment is about (blog)

Original item by Kath Hewitt

lovely, janet.. warm and funny (in a way) but has a personal touch i love!

top stuff x

Comment is about Should Old Acquaintance Be Forgot? (blog)

nice stuff, ian.. really enjoyed - when i was growing up was a big fan of the film the killing fields, and it was a cert this poem would pull me in with it's introduction.. nice stuff!

Comment is about Hope (blog)

Original item by Ian Gant

When I read I thought "Oh YES" We do expect everything to conform in our sanitized little world don't we?..I thoroughly enjoyed this one Ann x

Comment is about motherfuckinfox (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

Thank you both. You are too kind ;-)

Comment is about Should Old Acquaintance Be Forgot? (blog)

I got a bit lost somewhere in the middle of this because long poems rarely hold my attention.
Having said that i wanted to read so persevered and glad i did.

ps. I agree with Antonionioni in the sense of population growth getting out of hand. Thing is, the whole of the world has got out of hand and it will most likely take drastic changes to improve life generally.
Sometimes we got to strip away everything we think we need then work on keeping what we really need.

Very thought provoking Alain and raises questions to which there are no easy answers :-)

Comment is about Poetry of the Apocalypse (blog)

Original item by Alain English

I love this. It makes perfect sense to me. I found myself skipping along to the rhythm too :-)

Comment is about Hope (blog)

Original item by Ian Gant

This takes a few readings Ray - not being in the blindingly obvious vein of poetry that I tend to embrace...

I would agree with Ann that it is well written - and sad.

Comment is about The Unspeakably Familiar (blog)

I like the last stanza...
Yes, everyone and everything makes an impact, however small.

Happy New Year Janet!

p.s. I just wrote a poem with the line 'for your eyes only' in it!

Comment is about Should Old Acquaintance Be Forgot? (blog)

Boy, they breed Hard and Tough in your part of the motherf'ng world. :/

Comment is about motherfuckinfox (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

Just found this one, Ann. Liked these lines particularly: "like beads on the string / of a short day's sunlight."

Comment is about A charm of goldfinches (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

Thanks very much, Ann. And a very happy new year to you too x

Comment is about Ann Foxglove (poet profile)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

thought it read beautifully with or without any changes - charming from the piccy and the title down

Comment is about A charm of goldfinches (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

hi Lynn email your address to
rachaelvdunn@hotmail.co.uk
and I will send you a copy of Alpha Ghost :) x

Comment is about Lynn Dye (poet profile)

Original item by Lynn Dye

Sorry about the silliness - I posted one a while back on the same subject
http://www.writeoutloud.net/public/blogentry.php?blogentryid=8732

Comment is about Progress (blog)

Original item by Ian Gant

I do like most of yours Ian very much. Sorry about the "Albert" comment - I wasn't being disrespectful of a very serious subject, it was a "monty python" moment I think

Comment is about The Passions and The Place (blog)

Original item by Ian Gant

PPS - Ian Gant - (whose poetry I like very much) prompted a rather sarcastic/humorous? remark from me about Albert with his horses head handle. Have you read it recently? - this is genius for me (but I dont think he ever was made poet laureate)
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/albert-and-the-lion/

Comment is about Ann Foxglove (poet profile)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

And our Albert, with 'is horses head handle...

Comment is about Progress (blog)

Original item by Ian Gant

Foxes are foxes & they do what they do, right?
So they've just as much of a right to be here as anyone else, right?
But people are people & the exact same thing applies. Many will say "ah but we are sentient & should know better".
Sorry - it doesn't work like that - if you start adding in all sorts of Ifs & Buts you soon tie yourself up in knots & end up with the UN, the EU, and every other motherfuckin waste-of-space concept you can shake a shitty stick at. I still LIKE foxes, BTW.

Comment is about motherfuckinfox (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

This is a very fun read.

I'm meant to be doing an essay on animal poetry so this is technically revision *carries on procrastinating*.

Comment is about motherfuckinfox (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

BTW - for what it's worth - who do you think would be most likely to be picked-up & widely published on WOL?
(IMHO) - John Aikman & Ray Miller.
Why? because they follow the rules. All supremely well-crafted, clever, well-thought-out. But has any of theirs ever caused me to shed a tear ? No. Because that's not what the establishment are looking for. So how DO the Hugo Williams & John Burnsides of this world do it ? Genius, yes, but also a lot - a real lot - of Luck, that's all. just my 2c. xx

Comment is about Ann Foxglove (poet profile)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

Win
Thanks for the comments on Ah Yes, I Remember It Well. I used to play rugby in the distant past and it's a truism that the older I get the better I was.

Comment is about Winston Plowes (poet profile)

Original item by Winston Plowes

Thanks for your c omments on 70m Dash. It is autobiographical although what I've neglected to say is that I was Champion of the Slow Bike Race for 5 years running.

Comment is about Isobel (poet profile)

Original item by Isobel

Hi - no way has it been down hill since, but (for me) Coromandel was so outstanding that it's a hard act to follow.
What are Queen remembered for?
Bohhemian Rhapsody.
Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights.
Doesn't mean that they haven't both done some awesome stuff since... but you see what I mean? Besides, you might send off Coromandel & get zilch, but for ME it's world-class. That's the thing with poetry (and many other artforms) that it's such a personal thing. When I've sent stuff off it's nearly always the poem that I added in as an afterthought that gets published, never my "good stuff". All you can do is your best. xx B

Comment is about Ann Foxglove (poet profile)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

Good Evening Antonionioni

Sad but positive, sad but needed, the commonality is the word sad.

Comment is about Progress (blog)

Original item by Ian Gant

Good Day Antonionioni,

After being n this earth for near three score and ten I find hope and a faith in humanity the only lights at the end of a very long tunnel.

Comment is about Hope (blog)

Original item by Ian Gant

Thank You Ann,
At my age I find it hard to hate anyone. However: I have a need to tell my story in verse and being economical with words was never my style

Comment is about Tadpoles In a Jar (blog)

Original item by Ian Gant

Thanks Dave and Stefan,
for more than twenty years I was driving 100K miles a year and caused more than a few 'road kills' mostly Rabbits ' hence the verse'

Comment is about Road Kill, A Lapin Lament (blog)

Original item by Ian Gant

Thank you Philipos and Stephan,
You had to know the history of my Godfather to have some appreciation of the man and this verse is no justice to what he was.

Comment is about SWANSONG (blog)

Original item by Ian Gant

Poignant! Well written too.

Comment is about The Unspeakably Familiar (blog)

Thank you Janet, Banksey and Dave
I appreciate your comments and the encouragement.

Comment is about The Passions and The Place (blog)

Original item by Ian Gant

Thanks for spotting the typo Anotionionio! x

Comment is about motherfuckinfox (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

Took one of your suggestions! Ta! ;-)

Comment is about A charm of goldfinches (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

Very charming poem, Ann. If you don't mind a few suggestions:
3rd line - and set them swaying.
illuminate rather than illuminating.
skims like a stone.

Comment is about A charm of goldfinches (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

Belt up, Janet!! Some touching observations here.

Comment is about Should Old Acquaintance Be Forgot? (blog)

Interesting one! It's all sadly necessary though as well as inevitable. We have got out of hand and the preposterousness of unchecked population growth has reached its zenith.

Comment is about Poetry of the Apocalypse (blog)

Original item by Alain English

Very interesting way of putting it!

Comment is about Hope (blog)

Original item by Ian Gant

Ian, this is sadly true despite the peace it (the bomb) has bought between the major nations for decades.

Comment is about Progress (blog)

Original item by Ian Gant

They can fox off, can't they? (Is there a mis-spelling in the title Ann?

Comment is about motherfuckinfox (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

I don't think this will be here for long!* Just been reading an article about how foxes are getting bigger therefore more dangerous. I wonder why? xx * self censorship will probably kick in tomorrow.

Comment is about motherfuckinfox (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

Thanks for commenting so thoughtfully on 'Respect', Izz. Yes it's hard to concentrate for a long time at an open mic evening, which is why the Bards formula works imo. Two breaks (not one) and the compere (Steve) saying something constructive after each person. This is usually a mix of the humorous and thoughtful and kind of helps the poem to settle in the mind.

Comment is about Isobel (poet profile)

Original item by Isobel

PS - for what it's worth - in Coromandel you wrote one of my favourite poems of all time - up there with Robert Frost, Hugo Williams, John Burnside, Mervyn Peake, etc - pretty good company, I think you'd have to agree ?

Comment is about Ann Foxglove (poet profile)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

I disagree Banksy. Incompetent and greedy though our political and economic masters are, they operate with a definite agenda which Pilger tries to get to the root of and more often than not, he succeeds in exposing the lies of the powerful and the effect they have on innocent people caught in the crossfire. Though the powers-that-be have much intelligence and cunning, their agendas (as Pilger and others depict them) are very complex and take several years to implement.

John Pilger is not a wanker. He is a brave and principled man who stands up for the powerless against the powerful and for this he deserves to be commended.

Comment is about The War You Don't See Review (blog)

Original item by Alain English

HaHa - unfortunately, that's the way it goes... you post one of your best & it gets no attention ! Me & Isobel have discussed this phenomenon at length. For my part, I didn't see the prog - and, charming as the poem is, I think it would have far more meaning (for me anyway) if I had.
And I like polish bears but I feel no great affinity for them like you do (it's cats I love - every last man-jack of em).
Some of what I consider to be my very best stuff has not attracted even one single comment. Hmph ! (stamps feet)xx.

Comment is about Ann Foxglove (poet profile)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

Hi Ian. I love the first verse. I almost don't think you need the rest, but that's just me ('spect you hate me now!) ;-)

Comment is about Tadpoles In a Jar (blog)

Original item by Ian Gant

On the naughty step. = good theme/title for a poem?

Comment is about Ann Foxglove (poet profile)

Original item by Ann Foxglove