I agree with Keith. You have captured something remarkable in this poem. It seems to strip humanity down to our essential uncertainty. Great poem. 😎
Comment is about The Wind & The Rain (blog)
Original item by Stephen W Atkinson
Sun 25th Jun 2023 22:01
Thank you Russell, that means a lot to me, I'm glad you liked it.
Comment is about Summer feeling 2.0 (blog)
Original item by Dilsonn A. Mejía
A great tribute to a wonderful institution, Keith. Congratulations 👍
And we need to use them or lose them as Uilleam suggests.
Comment is about A Library (blog)
Original item by keith jeffries
brilliant, I am the type of poet where, although one verse will do, I have to write ten, however, I really appreciate your work
Comment is about Guessing! (blog)
Original item by Ruth O'Reilly
I am only a Mental health first-aider but I have heard similar conversations and they touch me deeply. I hope you are ok anyway.
Comment is about I cut Myself. (blog)
Original item by Clare
I'm the last of my line as well. This is a great conversation, beautiful.
Comment is about a conversation with my great great great great great great great great great great great great great grandfather (blog)
Original item by Nadia Coia
Wow, the imagery of falling in love with the boy from the wrong side of town, loved every image, it made me hold my breath as I read
Thank you
Comment is about Summer feeling 2.0 (blog)
Original item by Dilsonn A. Mejía
Thank you Bethany, Clare, Stephen and n. I think (hope) that they compliment each other Stephen.
Comment is about Something lost, something found (blog)
Original item by John E Marks
I don’t understand too much of your response, MC, although I think “adjusting its position” is probably a euphemism for “losing”. So what would the Empire have looked like if Britain had retained control of Suez?
Comment is about WE KNOCKED THE BASTARD OFF (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Keith and Kevin - thanks for the comments; It's a sniper's job to be accurate! Thanks also for
the "likes" for these lines.
It's an unsettling feeling lying prone with the distant target in
the crosswires of the rifle sight, pulling the trigger and seeing
the hole signalled in the man-sized head and shoulders. There
is an uneasy thought that one is playing "God" with another's
life, removed from guilt by distance! Hard to explain but I can
put it no better than that.
Comment is about SNIPER (blog)
Original item by M.C. Newberry
Stephen, you have branched out with this incredible poem. It had me transfixed. I can't quite get over it. A poem of distinction with under currents. My imagination was held captive. Do you have anymore?
Great.
Thanks
Keith
Comment is about The Wind & The Rain (blog)
Original item by Stephen W Atkinson
Somewhere, I have old contemporary press cuttings about those
days (found in an auction). There was a concentrated political
concern about the changes and limitations that Nasser's action
over the Suez canal (wasn't that waterway the brilliant
conception from a French designer?) would see decisions
made about navigation that indicated restrictions inimical to
multi-national shipping that used the canal? It was a trading
link that affected more than just the nations that took action to
prevent it. It's a fascinating thing to wonder what would have
resulted had that action succeeded? But the times, they were a'changing for such police actions, with GB adjusting its
position in places like Malaya and the French suffering defeat
in a certain far east colony before the US found their own
trouble there.
Comment is about WE KNOCKED THE BASTARD OFF (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
History tells us that GB Ltd. have always been in it for the long haul. Give Brexit time, then we'll see. But I remain optimistic
that going for it was always a better choice than having our
trading and socio/political decisions made for us by a restless conglomeration with their own interests. The world is still
out there beyond that frequently warring web of disputatious
activity across the Channel where even our closest neighbour
is hardly representative of any particular feelings of bonhomie,
except when it suits them. 🎃
Comment is about Clacton (blog)
Original item by Greg Freeman
<Deleted User> (35860)
Sun 25th Jun 2023 14:48
Love this Helene and yes never desert the health of the soul or the spirit if you wish to maintain a happy life I say.
Comment is about Tuning (blog)
Original item by Hélène
The Brits were always known as good losers. Brexit changed all that.
Telboy in Henschotermeer.
Comment is about Clacton (blog)
Original item by Greg Freeman
A comforting, rosey read. Beautifully described, Keith 🌈
Comment is about A Library (blog)
Original item by keith jeffries
This is intriguing. I really like it. 🌻
Comment is about a conversation with my great great great great great great great great great great great great great grandfather (blog)
Original item by Nadia Coia
I love this, John. And, the song compliments it beautifully (or does the poem compliment the song?)Thanks 🌈
Comment is about Something lost, something found (blog)
Original item by John E Marks
Powerfully understated. Brilliant, as usual, Stephen 👏
Comment is about Fortunes of War (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Yes! Wonderful rhyming, generation defining! Lovely stuff, John 🌈
Comment is about A Pocket Full of Rhyme (blog)
Original item by John Botterill
Thank you Uilleam 😆 Greg, I've never did an open mic event. I'm more WOS than WOL (write out silently)Lol. And yes choosing the right words is the hardest part, whether they rhyme or not!
Keith, thank you for your continued & wonderful encouragement 🌈 M.C. correct! Thanks Stephen 😆 & K.J. I'm the same. I've wrote a few & not sure if it's poetry ar all!
And thanks for all the likes! 🌷🌷
Comment is about Rhyming Rant! (blog)
Original item by Stephen W Atkinson
Stella, the insult comes in the form of the insinuation made by the use of double question marks. To suggest that a writer has plagiarised is devastating because it calls into question ones integrity.
Suggesting that our poems read similarly (even though they don’t) is just like saying any poet who writes about love or heartbreak are stealing one another’s work.
I will leave it there.
Comment is about Multiplications of Me and You. (blog)
Original item by Clare
And I am in total agreement with Manish-thanks Helene
Comment is about Tuning (blog)
Original item by Hélène
Clare my name is Stella Forsythe-why winds solar has been used instead of my name is a bit odd but not a problem
I cannot see for the life of me where in my original comment to you on the subject of your poem
Multiplications of me and you
I had made ANY form of insult whatsoever towards you?
I simply stated that it reads quite a bit like Graces poem
Summing up
-in my opinion and that was ALL I intended to mean
Now you have said without ANY prompting from me or ANY form of insult that YOU can see the similarities which is EXACTLY what I meant
this is as far as I intend to go on the matter since I definitely do not want Grace to be drawn into this misunderstood situation which seems to be a case of crossed wires
and the reason for not wanting her to be involved over this something and nothing scenario is due to the fact that this wonderful lady and brilliant poet has enough to do with her voluntary job of sitting in with terminally ill people overnight in most cases ( according to her email to me ) thereby giving the relatives a break and a chance to get some sleep unless any emergencies arise overnight
and I also not happy by any means of being accused of making insults which is absolutely non evident
so I suggest we must leave it at that because I do not intend to respond to any more unwarranted accusations
Thank you
Comment is about Multiplications of Me and You. (blog)
Original item by Clare
My poem is nothing like Grace’s poem. I am absolutely devastated to receive a cloaked accusation of plagiarism. It is the ultimate insult for the writer!
Comment is about Multiplications of Me and You. (blog)
Original item by Clare
I think music is a little like poetry. They may share influences. The recent Ed Sheeran debacle is a case in point.
For example John Coopey recently beat me to the finishing line with an Everest poem, making me need to change one I had in progress.
Comment is about Multiplications of Me and You. (blog)
Original item by Clare
winds solar. I have just taken a look at Grace’s poem - Summing Up. I am not quite sure where you get the idea that my poem reads anything like Grace’s. The only thing they seem to have in common is that both contain reference to sums.
Comment is about Multiplications of Me and You. (blog)
Original item by Clare
winds solar - I haven’t seen that particular poem of Grace’s - although I am aware of her wonderful contributions to WOL. You seem to imply that I have plagerised someone else’s work!😯. This is a very serious accusation - one which I find highly insulting. If you take a look through my work on the site you will see that ALL of my work is original and I have absolutely no need to steal anyone else’s work.
Comment is about Multiplications of Me and You. (blog)
Original item by Clare
Supposing the US hadn’t reined in John Bull over Suez, MC, how would you have envisaged Britain’s future going forward from that? “Wider still and wider”?
Comment is about WE KNOCKED THE BASTARD OFF (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
A wonderful poem, Tom. It seamlessly combines public familiarity with private emotions. Thank you for giving us the chance to read it.
Comment is about Day Off (blog)
Original item by Tom Harding
I love the idea of passing the baton to the next generation, John. This continuity of experience is so important. A nice, unselfish poem.
Comment is about A Pocket Full of Rhyme (blog)
Original item by John Botterill
I read this last year in your book, Greg, and it still resonates with sadness - a lost world diving into a mad political experiment.
Still, here were are. Jo Cox's brutal murder was sympomatic of harsher, nastier times.
Comment is about Clacton (blog)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Wise words from a wise writer. Superbly written.
Thank you for this.
Comment is about Tuning (blog)
Original item by Hélène
Thank you Amelia,
brilliantly in tune,
a shining example,
of courage in action,
those last two notes,
poetry in motion,
as straight as an arrow,
unwavering determination,
straight to this granddad's heart.💘
Comment is about In support of Ukraine (or is this too political?) (blog)
hyperbole - you can say that again!
that,that,that,that,that,that,that,that,that,that,that,that,that,that,that,that,that,that,that,that,that,that,that,that,that,that,that,that,that,that,that,that,that,😉
Comment is about WE KNOCKED THE BASTARD OFF (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
This reads quite a bit like a poem by a lady called Grace Meadows and her poem ' Summing up' ??
Comment is about Multiplications of Me and You. (blog)
Original item by Clare
Sat 24th Jun 2023 23:22
Thank you so much, John and Manish, your wonderful comments always mean a lot! 😎😊
Comment is about Soothsayer. (blog)
Original item by Holden Moncrieff
Very powerful.
Glad you put on a preamble, it seemed to have been written from experience.
Comment is about I cut Myself. (blog)
Original item by Clare
Me too. "Poetry is the journal of the sea animal living on land, wanting to fly in the air. Poetry is a search for syllables to shoot at the barriers of the unknown and the unknowable. Poetry is a phantom script telling how rainbows are made and why they go away." Carl Sandburg, The Atlantic, 1927.
Comment is about BLANK SLATE (blog)
Original item by John E Marks
Blimey, MC, I'd completely forgotten that to which you refer. Didn't realise you were keeping such close tabs on me! You can't disagree that Mr Farage was rather closely associated with Brexit. My memory stretches to his Turkey poster on the eve of the vote ... what happened to all those Turks, then? And then he surprised the nation the other day by saying 'Brexit has failed' on Newsnight. But what's done, is done. We've self-harmed, and that's that.
Comment is about Clacton (blog)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Suicide's Note
The calm,
Cool face of the river
Asked me for a kiss.
Langston Hughes
Comment is about Anthem for all all these damned Youngsters (blog)
Original item by John E Marks
IC - I assume you mean that's why the US thought they could
gainsay an "ally" themselves by invading UK territory because
it suited them? Just what was the UN response to that
particular intrusion? Give me the Aussies & Kiwis any time,
especially when they had been so dismissively treated by
the political stitch=up in progress with our erstwhile enemies
across the Channel.
UIC - don't presume you understand my reference to mundane
inadequacy. Much of what passes for quality nowadays is
actually mediocrity. Or as W.S. Gilbert wrote "Skimmed milk
masquerades as cream".
There's so much of it about - not least in politics, news reporting, and general issues - that one would be hard pressed to know where to begin at any given time.
Mediocrity and hyperbole do a good job reassuring each other's existence in today's world..
Comment is about WE KNOCKED THE BASTARD OFF (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Hi all, thanks so much for the comments. Its hard to know how a poem like this comes across so the positive comments are appreciated.
Clare, would love you read your take should you complete your poem!
Comment is about Day Off (blog)
Original item by Tom Harding
I for one struggle to write poetry which doesn't rhyme.
In my own work, if the rhyme isn't there I don't know if it's a poem or not.
However when I read a poem written by others, which doesn't rhyme I can recognise it for what it is.
I enjoyed this one.
Cheers Kevin
Comment is about Rhyming Rant! (blog)
Original item by Stephen W Atkinson
Keep up the rhyming, Stephen. It's the best kind of poetry. Betjeman, Larkin and the likes of Alexander Pope did quite well on. Go, rhyme, go!
Comment is about Rhyming Rant! (blog)
Original item by Stephen W Atkinson
Clare
Sun 25th Jun 2023 22:14
John, in my humble opinion, this is one of the best poems you have given us to date - And that is saying something!! A fabulous insight into a world we rarely see. I love it! Thank you. 💕
Comment is about The Man I Am (blog)
Original item by John Botterill