Carl,
Please keep writing as your poems are from a deep source of inspiration which has wisdom at its root.
Keith
Comment is about Carl E. McClellan (poet profile)
Original item by Carl E. McClellan
A truly spiritual response to the problems of forgiveness and being forgiven. I agree entirely that forgiveness releases the burden and lightens the soul. Thank you for this
Keith
Comment is about (blog)
Original item by Carl E. McClellan
I’m rather grateful to Ofsted, Greg, for classifying my old grammar school as “in need of special measures” and subsequently merging it (shutting it down). I take great pride in that.
Comment is about Song of the Ofsted Inspectors (blog)
Original item by Greg Freeman
You had very polite teachers, Uilleam. I used to get ATFQ.
And MC, everyone at some time or other has been on the wrong side of history; The Daily Mail is cemented there.
Comment is about THE DAILY MAIL (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
I love this, great writing.
Comment is about The Ghost in My Car (blog)
Original item by Steve Higgins
They are all a load of bastards. My niece is a super head. She took over what had been called a failing school. She and her staff turned herself inside out improving that school but when they came back to reinspect, they wouldn't give it beyond a satisfactory because they had no statistics to judge that improvement on. Covid had got in the way of SATS. And if you happen to have a bad SATS year, I don't suppose it counts how hard youve worked.
Not enough credit is given to teachers teaching in deprived areas where they're having to try to feed some children before they can even think about teaching and the parental support to learning just isn't there.
Comment is about Song of the Ofsted Inspectors (blog)
Original item by Greg Freeman
As my English teacher used to say about writing essays: "keep to the subject":
The Daily Mail's history of, and continuing racism.
Comment is about THE DAILY MAIL (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
JC - the cotton-trading source of the original Guardian was a
supporter of the Southern cause in the USA that was de facto
"at war" with Lincoln's government and in a policy sense put
the UK in potential conflict with the American administration
whose own policies supported the abolition of the slave trade
with the intention to defeat secession and preserve The Union..
Check the intemperate language from the Guardian's owner
against Lincoln at the time. Inflammatory or what?! The Daily
Mail has had similar historical ownership problems as far as
that sort of thing is concerned. But Mosley's Blackshirts were
already disparaged and despised and soon fell by the wayside
as WW2 approached. I lived and worked in the East End
for a number of years and its history was convoluted in so many ways, not least its place as a haven for many including
communist agistators and anarchists, Their presence and the part they played are often overlooked when mentioning the Mosley mob agitation.back in the day. Interesting how little
has changed in that respect!
Comment is about THE DAILY MAIL (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
The human dilemma Rasa that you illustrate perfectly here in your piece.
Wanting what we know we cannot have is bad enough.
Wanting what we know we shouldn't have but have a chance of having albeit with tragic consequences is worse!
Good to read this thought provoking work! I wonder how many of us have fallen foul of its sentiments.
Graham
Comment is about Covet (blog)
Original item by Rasa Kabaila
I know the feeling, Steve.
Comment is about The Ghost in My Car (blog)
Original item by Steve Higgins
It is quite useless, I’m afraid, Uilleam. Leavers are too invested in their gullibility. Of course there has been the monumental benefit of the UK-Asia Trade Deal, described by the Government as “the biggest trade deal since Brexit” which it estimates will grow the economy by 0.08% - just a snip beneath 1,000th.
Comment is about April Fools (blog)
I had fun reading this Hélèna. Life was so much better as a kid. Thank you for this.
Comment is about Let's Have Fun (blog)
Original item by Hélène
Ah, Steve, the two-minute hate! Never realised you could do it in the privacy of your own home!
Comment is about THE DAILY MAIL (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
All human life is here, Adam.
Comment is about Answers On A Blank Cheque (blog)
Original item by Adam Whitworth
Lovely, David, particularly the 'air of slumped defeat.'
Reminds me of driving a SEAT Panda around the Gran Canaria in 1982. How did we ever get up that hill?
Great work as usual.
Comment is about The 2CV (blog)
Original item by David Cooke
Thankyou for your thoughts, Stephen and Uilleam. I’ve just started reading “Palace Pier” and was disappointed to discover that Keith Waterhouse wrote for the DM.
Comment is about THE DAILY MAIL (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
A genuinely moving poem, Steve.
Comment is about The Ghost in My Car (blog)
Original item by Steve Higgins
Thanks, Uilleam. I remember Monty Python's Graham Chapman writing 'A Liar's Autobiography'. Lots of them must be queuing up to use this title.
Comment is about April Fools (blog)
A superb poem, Clare. Life would be much the poorer without art, and I like the way you pose the big questions (including the cat in the box) as you drift away.
Comment is about Is It True? (blog)
Original item by Clare
A proper song with rhythm and rhyme, John. My parents, I'm ashamed to say, bought the Daily Mail. I always remember my dad taking it from the letter box when it was delivered and immediately booing at whoever was pictured on the front page (usually Red Robbo, Ken Livingstone etc). I imagined millions of upstanding citizens doing the same in their hall each morning...
Comment is about THE DAILY MAIL (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Really lovely and so sweet!
Comment is about The Ghost in My Car (blog)
Original item by Steve Higgins
Logical fallacies such as Whataboutery, Red Herrings,Tu Quoque, and the Balance Fallacy abound when discussing such matters: they only serve-as is their intention-to distract from the matter in hand:
*Daily Mail January 1934: "Hurrah for the Blackshirts"-lengthy article.
*Daily Mail 1938
"“GERMAN JEWS POURING INTO THIS COUNTRY”
“By Daily Mail Reporter”
“the way stateless Jews from Germany are pouring in from every port of this country is becoming an outrage. I intend to enforce the law to the fullest.”
In these words, Mr. Herbert Metcalfe, the Old st. magistrate referred to the number of aliens entering this country through the “back door”-a problem to which The Daily Mail has repeatedly pointed.""
*In The Daily Mail By Suella Braverman 7 March 2023
"SUELLA BRAVERMAN: The British people have had enough of migrants pouring over the Channel... That’s why stopping the boats is my top priority"
10/10 for consistency!
Comment is about THE DAILY MAIL (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Indeed, what is life without art or creativity?
Great piece of work
Regards, Steve
Comment is about Is It True? (blog)
Original item by Clare
Not sure The Guardian ever cheer-led for a country we went to war with. And thanks for the Like, Steve.
Comment is about THE DAILY MAIL (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
In the interest of balance (and surprised that The Sun escaped
your attention), may we expect something on The Guardian
after their "mea culpa" following the previously known history
of its origins as the creation of a vehemently anti-Lincoln cotton
trader back in the day, since "Back in the day" (good title?) is hardly free from the endless complaints about what we have
nowaday? What fun!
Comment is about THE DAILY MAIL (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
A cheery paean to a car that holds a place in many people's hearts, David. So many of your poems see the bright side, I've realised.
Comment is about The 2CV (blog)
Original item by David Cooke
A tribute to art and all artists. It would be inconceivable to live in world which was bereft of any artistic expression. We would be cast into a wilderness. This poem jolts the reader into thinking, "What if we were without art". Art needs to be heard through music, seen in paintings, felt in sculpture and read out loud in poetry and not least to be absorbed in literature.
Thank you for this
Keith
Comment is about Is It True? (blog)
Original item by Clare
Thanks for your likes
Holden
Stephen G
Your Royal Poetess
and
Ruth.
.
Comment is about Got-Ya (blog)
Original item by Nigel Astell
Thank you, Stephen. I stand ready to take over the world.
Sorry; I mean, I stand ready to support world peace.
Comment is about Manifesto (blog)
Original item by JD Russell
I’m not so sure, Stephen. He also charges at the telly when animals appear on the screen. We lock him in the utility room as a punishment for an hour or so, But he is incapable of learning and keeps on repeating. Stupid, see. Or some kind of pooch autism.
Comment is about ALFIE THE INCORRIGIBLE OPTIMIST (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
A fascinating poem, Chris. I can feel the effort, the pain, of searching for that piece of inspired verse, trying to drag up memories.
Comment is about Creation (blog)
Original item by Chris Armstrong
Thank you, Mike, for this poem of pure joy.
Comment is about What Do I see? (blog)
Original item by Mike Bartram
A very fine poem, Steve. Close to the Earth and the human condition.
Comment is about Seeds For Gaia (blog)
Original item by Stephen W Atkinson
I go for the ancestral call, John.
Comment is about ALFIE THE INCORRIGIBLE OPTIMIST (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
I liked this poem Stephen. A meaning that slides in & out of view. A primordial earth goddess or a woman in distress or both at the same time?
Comment is about Seeds For Gaia (blog)
Original item by Stephen W Atkinson
I'm deeply flattered, Keith! Thank you!
Comment is about Seeds For Gaia (blog)
Original item by Stephen W Atkinson
Russell Jacklin for world leader.
Where can I vote? 🌈
Comment is about Manifesto (blog)
Original item by JD Russell
Thank you for reading and lovely comment
Comment is about What Do I see? (blog)
Original item by Mike Bartram
Thank you both for your wise and encouraging words 😘
Comment is about Manifesto (blog)
Original item by JD Russell
I agree with Keith, deeply magnificent. Perhaps it's time to turn the world upside down (with as much kindness as possible for each living being). Some say we are at a point of evolutionary transition, and we have some choices to make, collectively and individually. I don't know if this is true, but this poem contributes to the energetic conversation.
Comment is about Manifesto (blog)
Original item by JD Russell
Thanks for sharing the back-story on this poem Clare. I've re-read it several times & your life story makes it even more powerful & meaningful. Lots of interesting layers to the poem, & yes, written in a way that allows the reader to draw their own interpretation/meaning from it. It spoke to me on multiple levels.
Comment is about People Like Us (blog)
Original item by Clare
Some might think the author of this poem is barmy and claiming a utopia for the future. Others like those those at the Conference of Berlin which drew many of Africa's borders would reel in horror. The more pragmatic would dismiss it out of hand. Yet as a lone voice this poem embodies the answer to a world riven by greed and self preservation, rooted in ignorance and prejudice and doomed to maintaining a perpetual cycle of self destruction. A prophetic poem, one of hope and requires much soul searching from all who read it.
Magnificent
Thank you for this
Keith
Comment is about Manifesto (blog)
Original item by JD Russell
It seems to me, MC, unlikely that humans are the only animal species which has individuals mentally rewired differently. I reckon that Alfie is autistic.
Comment is about ALFIE THE INCORRIGIBLE OPTIMIST (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Thanks for the comments. 😔
Uo'C - the sagacity of your observation validates the virtue of
debate and discussion.
Comment is about POINTS TO PONDER (blog)
Original item by M.C. Newberry
We might well ask "What's it all about, Alfie?"
My niece has a "cross" out of that breed, chosen for its size and
convenience in her small South Devon seaside flat. They seem
to be a happy match.
Comment is about ALFIE THE INCORRIGIBLE OPTIMIST (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Thanks Mirabel.
I wonder whether we get the word "grim", (magic etc )as in sinister, from your title?
Comment is about Grimoire (blog)
Original item by Mirabel
Pleasing in its simple humanity. There was a certain irony too insofar that the poet was in her own enclosed space looking on
to share the moment.
Comment is about Breathing Air on a Wintry Day (blog)
Original item by Hélène
Graham Sherwood
Sun 2nd Apr 2023 20:33
Good to see you on WOL again. Time to get writing again!
Comment is about Isobel (poet profile)
Original item by Isobel