A bit of a sad ending though Janet - I'm hopeful that Kinsella will find peace - there has to be a further edition - I don't accept sad endings.

Comment is about Kinsella (part iv) In the Cave. (blog)

'lent not given' is very powerful and true. I tried to say something like this to my daughter on her first pregnancy but she thought I was heartless. Not many people can accept this idea except through the experience of losing a child.

Comment is about Lilley (blog)

Original item by Nicky Burrows

Thank you all for your comments.
Bernie

Comment is about Pitiful Poets (blog)

Hi Cynthia
Your very kind comments (After the Deal ..) are greatly appreciated.
I wish I could take great credit for its meter etc, but it's just what came out of my head, to suit this particular subject.
x Steve :-)))

Comment is about Cynthia Buell Thomas (poet profile)

Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas

Can i really jump up and down on Darren Thomas? Count me in! :-)

joking apart, i will be reading and voting in an appropriate manner and i fore-see a lot of hard work for Isobel and she deserves a medal for undertaking this project so i also wish for it to be a resounding success.

Janet.x

Comment is about WOLOP Award (blog)

Original item by Isobel

Thank you Paul - I never envy you the task of keeping this rowdy, self opiniated bunch of poets in line - you do a wonderful job. I am grateful for your support and tolerance. x

Comment is about WOLOP Award (blog)

Original item by Isobel

Good luck with it - Hope it goes well!

Comment is about WOLOP Award (blog)

Original item by Isobel

Cynthia -- every Hindu would tell you -- you are; always; and you could if you wished !

A fine thought.

Comment is about Wishes (blog)

Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas

Can't work out why I keep re-reading this Janet. You've hooked me and I don't know how. It must work!

Comment is about Kinsella (part iv) In the Cave. (blog)

What a great write-up. Despite being the only member of A&S staff who wasn't there, I now feel I was. Thanks for that.

R

Comment is about Big Chill Festival (article)

Steve, really really good, with rhyme and meter increasing the intense feeling not crippling it. Such a success is very difficult.

Comment is about After The Deal's Gone Down (blog)

Hi Nicky and thanks for your encouragement.
In answer to your question, i think we all have a bit of the devil in us. It isn't about winning a battle or even a war, it's about getting the balance right without hurting or getting hurt.
Inner conflict of emotions.
This might well be the last edition of Kinsella.

Comment is about Kinsella (part iv) In the Cave. (blog)

thanks for the explanatory comment Marc, but you shouldn't feel guilty at being alive. As for squandering precious life, precious moments are to be savoured and i think we all feel guilty of wasting time at one time or another.
This makes the poem even stronger i think.

Janet.x

Comment is about Life is Anxiety (blog)

Dave, your reviewing pen is insufficiently active. a joy to read.
You paint a picture that had me there with you - you sod! Leaning latrines, 45-degree tents, rain. Made me wonder why I never go to festivals.

Comment is about Big Chill Festival (article)

What lovely comments, thank you all.

I think there is probably more than one poem there, yes Steve. Two for the price of one? I don't want to break it up now, and reconcile myself to it by claiming the middle section gives it a disjointed, schizophrenic feel.

Janet, I'm glad you got that feeling from the last line, that is partly what I meant by "clear my debt". I actually meant it in a more literal sense however. My "debt to the dead" is my guilt of being alive yet squandering precious life with pointless negative emotions that only hold me back.

Comment is about Life is Anxiety (blog)

well done. Kinsella returns!

for me that last stanza is fantastic. Really happy that you did it your way! More please.Will Kinsella ever beat Satan?x

Comment is about Kinsella (part iv) In the Cave. (blog)

A dog like that would fit in at the Tudor. A couple of blind eyes might also come in handy.

Comment is about Prestidigitator and Poet, David Alnwick at the Hole in the Wall, Hebden Bridge August 2009 (photo)

Hi Nicky, I can only surmise from 'Lilley' that your son was very young when he passed away - a parents nightmare to lose a child, somehow it seems a crime against the nature of things in our society. My sympathies are with you, I know how years can pass without denting the void - my eldest daughter has always resented my youngest child because their mother succumbed to post natal complications.

Peace be with you, Dave

Comment is about Nicky Burrows (poet profile)

Original item by Nicky Burrows

Love the idea of this...
Have often wondered what it would be like.

Comment is about Wishes (blog)

Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas

Yes, this flows really well Steve...
I can get inside of it, see it and feel it.

Comment is about After The Deal's Gone Down (blog)

This is really beautifully written Nicky...
It made me cry : (

Comment is about Lilley (blog)

Original item by Nicky Burrows

I love this. And agree totally with Darren. Very medative.

Comment is about Wishes (blog)

Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas

Very interesting subject you tackled here i think.
I enjoyed the way you wrote the two side by side. They read into each other perfectly as well as individually.
I think i can answer Cynthias question, it's like once the worry or regret has been faced and then forgotten. It is dead. (the dead within ourselves) rather than in a literal sense.
It makes sense to me anyway unless i'm reading a little too much into it?

Janet.x

Comment is about Life is Anxiety (blog)

Hi Nicky, i love that last stanza. Really poignant and beautiful.

Janet.x

Comment is about Lilley (blog)

Original item by Nicky Burrows

Hi Steve, i know nothing of meters, except the ones that show me how much the punter has to pay. :-)

I love the speed of this poem though, so perhaps the way it is written has some effect on the way it is read. I really don't know.

A good portrayal of the emptiness felt after loss.
Janet.x

Comment is about After The Deal's Gone Down (blog)

Hi Cynthia
thanks for your comment on ''who pays the ferryman.''
Further comment on my blog. Do you think it needs more or is it ok as it is ?

Janet.x

Comment is about Cynthia Buell Thomas (poet profile)

Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas

Beautiful. Profound. Complicated with simplicity.

Comment is about Wishes (blog)

Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas

It was only this morning that I was reading some of Wordworth's work and although not his biggest fan - I respect the man and his writing.

The meter of this piece reminded me of 'Daffodils' (iambic tetrameter - I think?) which dictates the pace and slows everything down to a respectful speed. It's difficult to maintain such a meter and convince a reader that what you're writing in not contrived to fit the rhyming scheme - but you seem to have achieved it here Steve. Well done.

Comment is about After The Deal's Gone Down (blog)

Thanks Steve and i think you got the general idea there. :-)

Andy and Cynthia - yes there was a tv series called ''Who pays the ferryman.'' Not sure if it was ever a movie or a book but it was filmed on a small part of Crete which became largely popular because of the series. (it's now a very cheesy claim to fame) but the poem is supposed to reflect the beauty of the resort mixed with the financial gain for the islanders thanks to British tv.
For the life of me i cannot remember the name of the resort. It's probably around 15 years since i went there but it's a true account of how i remember it. I wrote it some time ago and did some editing recently to some old stuff so decided to test it out here.

Incidentally Steve's comment does make sense in that, does one want to be here where it has become so English, it's unrecognizable as a Greek resort.

Janet.x

Comment is about Who Pays the Ferryman? (blog)

I enjoyed this, Lydia. After the flow of such positive thoughts I did bump rather harshly into 'frown', which I know is comparing a typical newborn expression. Frowning in a parent, for me, is a loaded negative.

Comment is about Dad (blog)

Original item by Lydia

Pictures by Seamus Kelly - If you'd like a full size copy of your photo email mail@shaysart.co.uk

Comment is about Andy N performs at Middleton, August 09 (photo)

Just read your blog-poem, then enjoyed some more of your poetry, Dave.

Comment is about Dave Bradley (poet profile)

Original item by Dave Bradley

Hi Winston
Thanks for your message
I enjoyed meeting the faces that appear on WOL.
I'll certainly try to keep writing. I'm not 100% sure about readings as I'm not the greatest social animal.
Time will tell
Again, thanks. It's truly appreciated
Steve M.

Comment is about Winston Plowes (poet profile)

Original item by Winston Plowes

Very different to Stuff, Nicky, but just as good. The impermanence of beauty is captured well. The word 'daemons' brings one up short, but it isn't out of place. Why is there such a difference between human beings and the rest of Nature?

Comment is about Lilley (blog)

Original item by Nicky Burrows

Hi Lydia.

I liked this. Graham's comment says it for me

Comment is about Dad (blog)

Original item by Lydia

sorry that was supposed to say "the masters'" and not 'he masters'.. Amazing that missing out one single letter in a word can totally change the context and meaning of what is written.

Comment is about Write Out Loud! (blog)

Original item by Nicky Burrows

Liked this one Lydia, but probably on a different level to most. Families are complicated things. Win

Comment is about Dad (blog)

Original item by Lydia

Who knows Cate, the most famous artists and poets ( stress on the most ) are no longer with us, and he masters only reached fame after death. So our contributions may be famous one day. Who knows!? We probably won't.x

Comment is about Write Out Loud! (blog)

Original item by Nicky Burrows

Enjoyed reading this...
You manage to make funny the truth : )

Comment is about Pitiful Poets (blog)

clever stuff, tone.. like this new series!

Comment is about Pointless 2 (blog)

This is a lovely piece with real lightness of touch but immense warmth. Super last line. Well done.

Comment is about Dad (blog)

Original item by Lydia

Hello Jeff
Thankyou for your lovely comments.
I'll see you next Thursday at the Tudor.
Yolande

Comment is about Jeffarama! (poet profile)

Original item by Jeffarama!

A very funny punch line!

Comment is about Pitiful Poets (blog)

Janet, every time I think I've put my finger on it, I get lost again. Help me out. It's an imaginative poem, and I'm just missing connections.

Comment is about Who Pays the Ferryman? (blog)

Marc, it is indeed. But it is still a very good poem for many poetic reasons. It will also talk to someone very deeply. I have reread this several times, and I honestly don't get the leap from the main body to the three-line conclusion. What does/do 'the dead' have to do with the main theme of your poem?

Comment is about Life is Anxiety (blog)

Great, except for one factual mistake: there is no tedium in algebra.

Comment is about Back to School. (blog)

Original item by Marianne Daniels

Thanks for commenting on my latest - yes it was rather a performance piece - hadn't anticipated the language upsetting people on here! Will remember to tone it down in future.

Comment is about Andy N (poet profile)

Original item by Andy N

you are mad, tone. defo mad.. and i bet you have hundreds off these in mind knowing you! lol

Comment is about Pointless 1 (blog)