Helene you would have loved it - it was indeed a beautiful place and I was the only person there, it was one of those moments when time stood still and I was filled with a sense of joy and belonging, I am sure you know what I mean. The poem was written in my head long before I got home.
Thank you for your comment

Comment is about AUTUMN BEECHES (blog)

Original item by Flyntland

RBK, Tom D. hugh, and Jordyn thank you so much for your likes,

Stephen G, Aisha, Holden, thank you also for your likes.

Yanma, Naomi, and Pinocchio your likes are greatly appreciated

I cannot thank you all enough - your encouragement means so much.

Comment is about AUTUMN BEECHES (blog)

Original item by Flyntland

R.A. Porter, Many thanks for 'looking back' reading and commenting on this poem.
You are right—this pool is menacing, ageless, and in an oozing shallow bog—but unfathomable. It has swallowed plenty but reveals nothing and will continue doing so till long after after we have gone.
It was not a comforting poem.

Comment is about OPAQUE (blog)

Original item by Flyntland

Thanks David. Thanks Graham. I'll be honest, it's an old one. Hoping to write/finish something new soon.
Cheers
JH

Comment is about Multiple Choice (blog)

Original item by Jonathan Humble

Hi Jonathan,

We must all be guilty on some level of the avoidances you describe above. How exhausting it must be to actively care (beyond mere thought) about all the injustice in the world, is it even realistically possible?

The four examples you provide of how we push things away are well chosen, as I think they are quite common among many.

The token effort of offering a "like" to a plea regarding good deeds in need of support is a fine example of delusional simple self absolution.

David RL Moore

PS, This is also (to my mind) a well structured poem asking relevant questions of our day.

Comment is about Multiple Choice (blog)

Original item by Jonathan Humble

There is a powerful atmosphere to this poem, it sounds beautiful, menacing and still 🙌

Comment is about OPAQUE (blog)

Original item by Flyntland

Fascinating how our lives are a bit like an exam/questionnaire!
Good luck with your next test!

Comment is about Multiple Choice (blog)

Original item by Jonathan Humble

Hi Flyntland,

I have always opposed the flag waving, the pomp and ceremony that surrounds the exploitation of soldiers sacrifice.

Horrors that are too often mobilised by shallow spin doctors and men in power, creating a false patriotism that ensures such slaughter can be a recruitment tool for future revelling in "The Glory of War"

Thanks for your comments.

David RL Moore

Comment is about A lull in the fighting (blog)

Original item by David RL Moore

Hi Stephen,

thanks for your comment and your reading.

I visited a scene very much like this after the event. Fortunately for me the immediate gore of the fallout had been dealt with by feasting animals and a cursory clean up.

The site was in a beautiful peaceful forest, all the remnants of the attack remained minus the human casualties. The contrast of the horror of the happening and beauty of the location has always remained with me.

We sat and discussed the detail of what remained, casually taking some rest and doing the things soldiers do when there is little to do.

It is often the aftermath of events in which their true horror is imagined and revealed, such revelation can create a terrible beauty.

David RL Moore

Comment is about A lull in the fighting (blog)

Original item by David RL Moore

Thanks to RBK, Hugh, Stephen, Aisha, Tom and Flyntland for the likes.

David RL Moore

Comment is about A lull in the fighting (blog)

Original item by David RL Moore

Thanks for extra likes: Aisha, Marla Joy & Red Brick Keshner. 💕

Comment is about Honey Be My Valentine (blog)

Original item by Tom Doolan

Thanks for the likes.

So many of us are in bondage to something. What is worse is to be comfortable with it.

Comment is about Egypt (blog)

Original item by Marla Joy

Jeff, very peaceful and reassuring. And I love the use of the moonlight. Marla

Comment is about By The Light Of The Moon (blog)

Original item by Jeff Bresee

Thank you for your comment Ray. I'm so glad you enjoyed the trip to Ireland through my words.
And you're right—it's a bit of a prose bomb after all that imagery, isn't?
Thanks for pointing it out.
Naomi

Comment is about THE CALL OF IRELAND (blog)

Original item by Naomi

Brutal - authentic - very uneasy reading,

No glory - no flag waving - or heroic speeches - no reward in heaven - just the pain and the utter waste of the wrong people.

I clicked on like but I think that 'like' is the wrong word

Comment is about A lull in the fighting (blog)

Original item by David RL Moore

Ingenious poetry rampant
makeshift notes rally
wisdom lies beneath
somewhere often forgotten.

Comment is about February 2025 Collage Poem: Somewhere Forgotten (blog)

Original item by Stockport WoL

Thanks very much Stephen.

Comment is about Percival (blog)

Original item by Rob J Mann

If this incisive piece had been written anonymously Stephen I would have known it was one of yours! Great work at this most difficult and dangerous time.

Comment is about The Sunshine Boys (blog)

Original item by Stephen Gospage

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qDctKFJxWEA&pp=ygUJam9lIGhlbnJ5

Comment is about overqualified (blog)

Original item by Landi Cruz

Thanks for that. It's wonderfully mad. Didn't understand anything but it's like a breath of fresh air. Sometimes you have to think outside the box of conformist editors with limited imaginations. The poetry scene probably needs more of this.

John Short

Comment is about Saor Alba Gu Brath (blog)

Original item by ZTK Space

Thanks for likes: hugh, Stephen G, Holden, Hélène, Naomi & TOM MERTON. 💕

Comment is about Honey Be My Valentine (blog)

Original item by Tom Doolan

I can't believe this is happening—how can it end? These giant egos conspiring together plunge us deeper into a situation that can only make the world more unstable.

Your poem is well-written and chilling.

Comment is about The Sunshine Boys (blog)

Original item by Stephen Gospage

Well-written and very funny, Rob. (Sad for Percy, though).

Comment is about Percival (blog)

Original item by Rob J Mann

It's fascinating how this evolves from grim detail into beauty and compassion, David. Good work.

Comment is about A lull in the fighting (blog)

Original item by David RL Moore

Thank you so much, Ray, I really appreciate it! I didn't have a specific intention in terms of era when I wrote it, but your interpretation could surely apply!😎

Comment is about Ultimatum. (blog)

Original item by Holden Moncrieff

Marla,
Thanks you so much for the appreciation.
Binte

Comment is about Silent Call (blog)

Original item by Binte Afroz

Hi Ray,

Thanks for your reading and astute observations.

After writing, I had thought the element of a restrictive limiting jar might detract from the impact of the use of the word spill. Honestly, I think I had been too lazy to bother adjusting it.

I very much appreciate your suggestion as ultimately it wasn't that taxing to change. To my mind the alteration gives it much more weight and credibility, so thanks.

You are 100% right on the last line. For the life of me I do not know why I didn't see that, it is so much more final now I have inverted the original lines with minimal changes.

I am extremely grateful for your eye on this one, so thanks again.

David RL Moore

Comment is about A lull in the fighting (blog)

Original item by David RL Moore

Love the rhymes, the assonance. I just wish I knew what was what - contemporary politics?

Comment is about Ultimatum. (blog)

Original item by Holden Moncrieff

Enjoyed the poem very much.

And I could feel the sense of community woven into their fabric of everyday life.

In comparison to the rest, that's a bit prosaic.

Comment is about THE CALL OF IRELAND (blog)

Original item by Naomi

Having read some World War 1 novels recently this felt almost familiar. Perhaps you might omit the jar in the opening line, lend more weight to the endless spillage.

Inside each broken soul are all the parts that maketh man,

Good line, the type that should end a poem perhaps.

Comment is about A lull in the fighting (blog)

Original item by David RL Moore

Thanks to Jordyn and Naomi for their likes on this one.

David

Comment is about Gift (blog)

Original item by David RL Moore

That's so kind of you to say Tom!Ireland is a special place. Sláinte!☘️

Comment is about THE CALL OF IRELAND (blog)

Original item by Naomi

I truly appreciate that Marla🙂
It's always rewarding when a poem connects with someone in that way.

Comment is about THE CALL OF IRELAND (blog)

Original item by Naomi

Beautiful Naomi - You have made an Irishman very happy- . Sláinte. ☘️

Comment is about THE CALL OF IRELAND (blog)

Original item by Naomi

This carries me away to a place that I've never been. Marla

Comment is about THE CALL OF IRELAND (blog)

Original item by Naomi

Hi Stephen,

Thanks for your encouraging words. I'm pleased you enjoyed it.

All the best

Comment is about WOODEN ZOO (blog)

Original item by john short

Thanks for extra likes: Yanma Hidayah. 👍

Comment is about Hiding In Plain Sight (blog)

Original item by Tom Doolan

Hi Hélène,

Thanks for your reading and comments, they are very much appreciated.

David RL Moore

Comment is about Gift (blog)

Original item by David RL Moore

Stunning! Reading this, I was swept away to some place beautiful.

Comment is about AUTUMN BEECHES (blog)

Original item by Flyntland

I used to joke that getting old was relaxing because we couldn't remember what we have on our mental to-do list. Now I tell my husband not to feel bad if he has to put me away because of advanced dementia. I have quite a bit if alzheimers & dementia in my family line. Will I be spared this fate? Who knows, but in the meanwhile, let's laugh. A well-written poem that made me smile w/ recognition. Thanks Trevor!

Comment is about Nostalgia (blog)

Original item by Trevor Alexander

Yes, I'll probably be dead when/if I ever achieve the state described in this aspirational poem. Tolerance would help (along w/ agree to disagree). History suggests the violence will never stop on this planet. There are those who dream of a new earth where harmony prevails. Since I am elderly, I will likely have to be reincarnated to see that. (But I have already submitted my request to the universe to be sent to a more peaceful planet, lol).

Comment is about Tuning Into Love (blog)

Original item by Hélène

Thank you very much for reading, and the lovely comment, I have wrote of stuff about my Mum who sadly passed away 3 years ago xx

Comment is about The Singing Star! (blog)

Original item by Mike Bartram

Irresistible, Trevor, just like the pancakes!

Comment is about Pre-Lent Event (blog)

Original item by Trevor Alexander

Loved it.

Comment is about Pre-Lent Event (blog)

Original item by Trevor Alexander

Not so sure about those final two lines - religion was said to be the opium of the masses, after all.

Comment is about Egypt (blog)

Original item by Marla Joy

Good luck with that. I think for most of us, loving our enemies is a bit too much of a stress. Small steps, perhaps. Start with do not torture and exterminate and gradually move towards tolerance.

Comment is about Tuning Into Love (blog)

Original item by Hélène

Love this! I can totally relate...every day I miss my mom. Poems about our mothers surely make them smile, wherever they may be.

Comment is about The Singing Star! (blog)

Original item by Mike Bartram

A gorgeous poem, in content, rhythm and language. Enjoyed your video comments as well. May we all feel that mysterious, unknowable "something" that from time to time envelops us in light, beauty, caring. From this is born compassion and the will to carry on, I daresay. The music videos were lovely too. Tuning into the softness of "the ether" is such a gift. (Perfect title). Thanks for sharing RL.

Comment is about Gift (blog)

Original item by David RL Moore

Brilliant, Trevor. I like mine with Marmite - a little niche I know!

Comment is about Pre-Lent Event (blog)

Original item by Trevor Alexander

Thank you for this, John. I read it through many times and found it fascinating. There is a sense of place and of passing time. Enjoyed it very much.

Comment is about WOODEN ZOO (blog)

Original item by john short