Joshua, I really like this, using the 'raincoat' to objectify the inability to 'let go'. It is very original, and cleverly done with fine diction and imagery: 'its hood folded into a grin' is super. And then you insert real action: ' your thumbs press into your temple'. Your assonance is flowing, carrying the reader eagerly on to your next idea. I happen to especially enjoy blunt, punchy final lines as you have here.

Comment is about Raincoat (blog)

Original item by Joshua Van-Cook

Brilliant Steve, no tears though if you win.

I'm struggling to choose from a few poems I've picked out. There's been some really good ones,
but I will get it to Isobel before the 6th, and considering the controversey surrounding the 'potm' this month I think everyone should get their reading specs on and participate.

Comment is about Have I Won? (blog)

Excellent. One of the best ever posted on this site, and one of the best I've ever read .. period.

Comment is about Churchill (blog)

Original item by Dave Bradley

A great piece of writing, Nicky, and, of course, the action that goes unchronicled is what gives the poem its beguiling and slightly sinister mystery. Knitting ... you are both creating and passing time. When something more pressing comes along it can be left as unfinished business, eh? Symbolism, it's EVERYWHERE!

Comment is about Pearl Stitch (blog)

Original item by Nicky Burrows

Yes, an oft-visited theme is autumn, or late-autumn as this seems to be. The heighted language, the elegant tone, the evocation of the magic of a landscape which dies and renews, which isn't human, but lives. All beautifully done here, Anthony. And I haven't even listened to the audio clip yet!!

Comment is about Beyond the Equinox (blog)

Original item by Anthony Emmerson

I tried to send myself a trial email by clicking onto the email address on my profile but it hasn't come to me. Haven't received yours either.

Janet.x

Comment is about Anthony Emmerson (poet profile)

Original item by Anthony Emmerson

Thanks for the comment Nicky. The answer is 550 pages. It's fascinating. It reads as if we should all be grateful his parents screwed him up, but there's obviously a lot more to it than that.

May not be on WOL much in next couple of weeks

Comment is about Nicky Burrows (poet profile)

Original item by Nicky Burrows

Hi Anthony,
sorry but no i didn't receive any email from you at all. Please try again if you like, you must have got the address wrong because other people here have managed to contact me privately. :-)

Janet.x

Comment is about Anthony Emmerson (poet profile)

Original item by Anthony Emmerson

Hi Stephen,
by chastened i would hope you mean humbled?

It's difficult to write like a male when you're a woman. I suppose my femininity has to show through somewhere. :-)

Janet.x

Comment is about stephen smith (poet profile)

Original item by stephen smith

Daniel, oooh, to feel like that! Actually I do, but for many years I didn't. It is not sensible to feel that way, actually, but we just cvan't help it, can we?

And it can be a case of unrequieted love, in fact this appears to be so, which is a dangerous but poetically glorious!!

Liked the poem. Personally I would lose the last two lines though and replace them with (just a suggestion)

"And if the world is to continue,
You MUST be mine!"

PS. A great line from TV drama comes to mind ... "Unrequited love is the greatest love of all, because it never changes, it never grows old and it never dies. "

Comment is about Please love this naked heart (blog)

Original item by Daniel Hooks

This goes straight to the issues of performance poetry. How to read, the different styles of poems, and the different styles of reading them (I'm still uncomfortable calling aural poetry "performing", unless the poet is someone like Pete Crompton, in which case it is entirely appropriate). As for the "poetry police" you're right to diss them at the end of the piece. Well done for turning a wittily forensic eye on the poetry scene. Hope you do go to the Tudot again though. I shall be back some day soon.

Comment is about Stand and Deliver. (blog)

Thanks for comment Winston. The only thing I know about Hebden Bridge is Arvon, Ted Hughes and that fine writer who lives nearby, Glyn Hughes.

Comment is about Winston Plowes (poet profile)

Original item by Winston Plowes

'youth tragedy' holds a wealth of fear and uncertainty regarding the future. The youth culture is sadley degenerating as each generation succeeds the next, a devolving of our humanity rather than the gradual evolution of man. Maybe we will go full circle and and devolve back to cavemen - life was much simpler then - however there would probably be gangs of youths clubbing each other to death rather than street shootouts and joyriding bison rather than cars. The onset of scientific thinking and technology has been the catalyst in the general greed of man which will no doubt destroy itself eventually. So mankind has only itself to blame for the general degeneration of each generation of youths, and the enlightened ones amongst the masses, either sit back, watch and study human nature or find that they are merely one voice crying out against the darkness.

Interestingly enough, I am not a particularly religious person because I question too much, but religion as a form of control has been replaced not by free thinking, but in the main part by peer pressure.

Very thought provoking and current poem.

Comment is about some more poems (blog)

Original item by NICK ARMBRISTER

OoooOOOOOOooooOOOOo, yes.

Comment is about Churchill (blog)

Original item by Dave Bradley

My thoughts are with Dave on this one Neil - I will be busy googling soon.

Really enjoy your style of writing Neil, you even manage to spin a web of fantasy around historical figures which captures the imagination.

Nicky.

Comment is about re poems about historical figures (blog)

Original item by Neil West

At last, haha. The long awaited Churchill - (did you read all 800 pages that quick - or cheat and skim read?) - it was worth the wait!

Particularly liked the last lines, and the juxtaposition of rejected and respected, emphasises the relationship between power and pain.

Enjoyed this very much dave.

Comment is about Churchill (blog)

Original item by Dave Bradley

Hi Anthony

Appreciated the comment on Churchill. Yes I've visited Chartwell too and it had a similar impact. A special place.
The poem has arisen from reading Carlo D'Este's 800 page doorstop of a book 'Warlord', which was a gift - wouldn't have bought it for myself. Churchill was such a difficult and often unpleasant boy and young man, who irritated or alienated many of those he encountered. It gives pause for thought that a man with his history and personality profile was exactly what was needed in 1940.
He always believed in his star, in his destiny, seeking out risks in the belief that he wouldn't be touched. And (remarkably) he was right.

My hairs still stand on end when hearing the key broadcasts. Extraordinary.

Enough. One could rabbit on.

Comment is about Anthony Emmerson (poet profile)

Original item by Anthony Emmerson

Steve, thank you for the comments on my poem 'the daylight comes with me' - appreciate you taking the time to consider it closely. I see your point and I did think about the repitition of 'charm' at the time but, as is my tendency, I thought 'fuck it' and left it as it was!! Lazyitis.

thanks again
John

Comment is about garside (poet profile)

Original item by garside

Hi Dave, thank you for your kind comment. I think there are many interesting and important figures that never made it to history's 'A list' but played just as significant a part in humanity's long journey to the present. i look forward to your new work, i enjoyed the Churchill poem here, do you have to read it in the style of 'we will never surrender'? Some great language too.

Comment is about Dave Bradley (poet profile)

Original item by Dave Bradley

Thank you for reading "Losing Interest"

I'm glad to find it well recieved by somebody.:)

Comment is about Cate (poet profile)

Original item by Cate

Hi Dave,Glad you posted this as a result of the discussion thread. I was fortunate to be able to visit Chartwell a few weeks ago. Being there had a very strange and moving effect on me - I don't mind admitting the atmosphere there had me in tears. Churchill was a very complex character; a natural Tory but instigated the installation of pit-head baths for the miners. Certainly a long way from Thatcherism. Walking through the house I could feel the gravity of all those monumental decisions that had been made there, with millions of lives in the balance. Such a huge sense of responsibility, largely on the shoulders of one man. He was certainly an eccentric, in the finest tradition. Huge intellect and vocabulary, shameless romantic, and a sharp and incorrigible sense of humour. If ever there was a perfect example of "Cometh the hour . . ." etc it was most definitely Winston Spencer Churchill. I felt you captured it all here, with both economy and precision. Very well done.

Regards,
A.E.

Comment is about Churchill (blog)

Original item by Dave Bradley

Hi Anthony, what message was that then?

I'm fine. No, you're definitelt not in my bad books. :-)
Be nice to chat soon.
Janet.x

Comment is about Anthony Emmerson (poet profile)

Original item by Anthony Emmerson

I love this version of a historical character.
It's so simple yet says a lot.

Nice one Dave.
Janet.x

Comment is about Churchill (blog)

Original item by Dave Bradley

Are you saying i'm a witch by any chance? :-)

Actually the stanza below that one can be taken two ways too. Hm!

Typo on the last line by the way!

Janet.x

Comment is about Home in the Country (blog)

Original item by stephen smith

This would be a great Valentine poem or just one inside a greetings card i suppose. You know the kind, the ones with no cutey messages inside already. :-)

Nice poem Daniel.
Janet.x

Comment is about Please love this naked heart (blog)

Original item by Daniel Hooks

first thing that comes to mind Is a good back-door slamming!!!

Comment is about Pearl Stitch (blog)

Original item by Nicky Burrows

My vote's already in. Found it helpful to make a note as the month progressed as to which ones were my faves so i wouldn't need to trail back to the beginning. I just hope that some of the people who are learned in poetry technique make use of their vote so that whichever one is chosen has had a fair judgement. In theory anyway. :-)

Sorry Steve but i'm not telling which one got my vote. I wish you luck. x

Comment is about Have I Won? (blog)

Fascinating Neil - I'm sure I'm not alone in knowing nothing about Nzinga or Hrolf, but I will now Google them. Well done. History is endlessly interesting isn't it. All the 'what ifs'

I've been slogging through this book on Churchill and you and Nicky have goaded me into writing something, which will be posted shortly. Thank you

Comment is about re poems about historical figures (blog)

Original item by Neil West

Hm, i'm sorry now that i read all the varied comments. My first impression too was of death.
It does have another edge to it though as others have seen. I'd like to think she knits but doesn't want him to know it for fear he'll laugh at her.

Janet.x

Comment is about Pearl Stitch (blog)

Original item by Nicky Burrows

you soppy bugger! lol but sweet... I dont think you need the ! at the end however..

Comment is about Please love this naked heart (blog)

Original item by Daniel Hooks

It is a poem
Here is my attempt at a road sign poem
There's a heart somewhere that's twinned with mine
And on the road there is a sign
'This heart has priority over oncoming vehicles’

Comment is about John Aikman (poet profile)

Original item by John Aikman

PS. Please please do comment on my poem. Honestly...I need it... I really have no idea whether anything I write has any literary merit whatsoever. The poem did make the recipient cry...but then it would...'cos it's about us...and she will forgive my cack handed metre and maudlin sentimentality and obscure references to stuff only we know about....but...is it a poem?

Jx

Comment is about John Aikman (poet profile)

Original item by John Aikman

Aah, just beginning to get the hand of this website, which is organised very differently to any I have ever visited before. If I may be forgiven for the observation that it is very idiosyncratic...threads all arse about face...e-
mail alerts all a bit random etc. ( I never got Isobel's). Tell me I wasn't a prick to Chris...I'm sure he's a spoof...or worse.

: )

Thanks for calling...I hope to be able to learn alot from here...and contribute too. I really am an OK guy...well, my family think so. :)

Jx

Comment is about John Aikman (poet profile)

Original item by John Aikman

Hi Dave, I enjoyed your discussion thread and was inspired to post a couple of poems about historical figures :)

Comment is about Dave Bradley (poet profile)

Original item by Dave Bradley

I know St Albans well - a very busy place on a Saturday. Welcome to the site. Apparently only poems on profiles are looked at for POM - and not a lot of people know that.... So if you want to be considered on a regular basis, you need to update your profile with fresh stuff every month - putting it into blogs isn't enough. Good luck - I suggest you make your next one on bestiality or necrophilia...

Comment is about John Aikman (poet profile)

Original item by John Aikman

Troilism? Are you thinking of going for POTM? Welcome aboard, I look forward to reading more of your work John! (and yes, I did have to google what troilism is!)

Comment is about John Aikman (poet profile)

Original item by John Aikman

Like it.
Cx

Comment is about Beyond the Equinox (blog)

Original item by Anthony Emmerson