The drogue, it seems is a type of parachute. This to me seems to be someone wanting to put the breaks on the whole war / life scenario. hence the retarding parachute. Then the next sentence is the most poetic line so far as the soldier / peace keeper comes back to society to reality maybe with a bump via a parachute landing. Enjoyed the journey Mike... Win x

Comment is about Mirror Man (Part Three) (blog)

Original item by Noetic-fret!

Hi Again... So, Now I see a man and a UN vehicle and the continued line at the start ends a powerful sentence. We are in a war zone with the UN. The middle section for me shows the seperation between politics / the press and the reality o the ground. Each in its own sphere. On to pt 3...

Comment is about Mirror Man (Part Two) (blog)

Original item by Noetic-fret!

So, Mike. I will read and comment on this series without seeing the next one before each comment. Lets see how it goes. So, the mirror never lies, like the camera in the pic perhaps. Mention of the Hercules transporter aircraft and nomadic feet makes me think of some eastern war zone. the last 2 lines drive this message home. Win

Comment is about Mirror Man (blog)

Original item by Noetic-fret!

I'm not quite understanding this one Janet - you'll have to explain it to me. It sounds very clever though and great that you are finding time to write - on that note I'd better start making a pick...

Comment is about Small talk. (blog)

Hi Mike,
these are the ones i personally can handle, in short but meaningful 'prose'. My mind builds the images slowly and can only take in so much at once which incidentally is what i receive within the text of this poem.

I enjoyed reading the Mirror Man series too.
Thanks for posting again,
Janet.x

Comment is about Sacrifice (blog)

Original item by Noetic-fret!

Hi Cate, thanks for taking the time to comment on the series i just put in the chat. Yes i am an ex service man. I did operational tours in several countries. i decided to share my imagery and experiences in here because some people call me a little selfish with my experiences. So i thought, in the dead of night when no-one is logged on, i would write some poetry that will tell a story. Alongside the poetry is the imagery of a soldier or two and all the manifestations of what was seen some years ago. The photographs placed with the poetry are all from my own lens. And the soldier you see sitting on the radio or on the road with the tribal men and women, is me. Over the next few days i will write more, to tell a story. Not all good, but i hope, by the time i have wrote the story and shown the imagery, it will have a positive effect not only on myself, but on the reader too. There is much conflict in the world at the moment, for ex soldiers like i, we still live it every day. my hope is that this little collage of writings and poetry from my own experiences, will result a grand finale. Glad you are interested, it seems hard to generate that interest in my work at the moment. Watch this space and more will come.

By the way, i like Keats myself. I was taught his work at college. But i beg to differ his opinions on children who prematurely die and dont experience a full life.

be well cate, and thanks for taking the time.

Mike

x

Comment is about Cate (poet profile)

Original item by Cate

Hi Mike, Im commenting for all the series of poems just put up. Some very powerful imagery here. You obviously have very deep feelings about the horror and futility of war. Are you a war veteran yourself? Is this all first hand experience?
Cate xx

Comment is about Sleepless (Part Two) (blog)

Original item by Noetic-fret!

Hi, not goona put more in for now. Just making a few entries and if you wish, can continue with more, but wont leave too much perhaps every other night. Its a journey i feel many could share.

If there are probs then give me feedback.

Be well all

mike

Comment is about Sleepless (Part Two) (blog)

Original item by Noetic-fret!

Thanks for your encouragement and support guys n gals. Damn i sound like a deejay. Sometimes i do wish i could mellow a little. I beg you all forgive me but i live in dark days where memories are not always good. I do have some humour, its just that if it be a reflection of the darkness, it can git a little giddy. So im stuck with writing on the dark matter. Thanks once again, will try and cheer up a lil.

Love to all

Mike

xxx

Comment is about On Being Snubbed! (blog)

Original item by Noetic-fret!

Yep. Top one!

Mike

x

Comment is about Spirit (blog)

Hi janet, i did smile by the time i got to the end of this piece where you saw alice. I like the Alice in wonderland tale. From big to small and small to big (depending on the pill you take of course). Many plays on words i like, such as the revolving door that made the character swear. It invoked more from my imagination.

Be well

Mike

x

Comment is about Small talk. (blog)

I agree with francine about the words you have written and she likes. I too like that line. I am a little lost with the line that enters platform two. It took the sentimental value away for me, to be replaced with thoughts of British Rail sarnees??? Nevertheless an enjoyable poem that i do like.

Mike

Comment is about Alcyone (blog)

I do love to read your poetry Sean and this one is just as pleasurable as others you've posted here in the past.
Francine is an incurable romantic and i have to agree with her comment. Lovely. :-)

Janet.x

Comment is about Alcyone (blog)

cheers guys, appreciate the honesty with these comments - personally i am not a fan of explaining the meaning behind my own work, but i will try - the true reality behind this poem is unclear and perhaps ambiguous, but disjointed words and a seemingly distant or non-existent relation between the words are at the core of how the thought sniper works. trains of thought are derailed and the ability to express is stolen.

Comment is about ode to the thought sniper (blog)

Original item by owen calvert

I liked the idea of the cliche.
Thought it was a nice empathy within the read.
Very nice Mike.

Comment is about On Being Snubbed! (blog)

Original item by Noetic-fret!

lovely beat in this, Janet. One of my more personal favs off yours! Keep this quality up!

Comment is about Small talk. (blog)

Thankyou to everyone for your comments.
Much appreciated.

Janet.xx

Comment is about Daphne Demure (blog)

Oh Val, don't start me off.
I think there's a conspiracy here to get us to tell you what we know! You'll have to do better than that.
Now! where's my cyanide pill! :-)

Janet.x

Comment is about Conspiracies (blog)

Original item by Valerie Cook

Hi Mike,

I think previous comments seem to make sense. I personally feel that your work is worthwhile - and always read it, but do find it difficult to comment on. I don't suppose you are about to change your style anytime soon, or start writing about fluffy kittens, Barbara Cartland style romance or your latest strawberry pavlova recipe. The gritty stuff is always the most difficult - but nonetheless worthwhile. And, just to show that you're not being snubbed . . .

Regards,
A.E.

Comment is about On Being Snubbed! (blog)

Original item by Noetic-fret!

Hi Val,
BIG question! Is religion a conspiracy theory? BIG debate! It seems obvious that for some it brings hope and comfort, for others it's merely superstition - a force to divide rather than unite people. I've encountered the most seemingly rational people who have been taken in by conspiracies. It seems to me that the greatest conspiracies are those we choose to ignore. Like they say, "The truth is out there." An interesting subject to explore though!
Regards,
A.E.

Comment is about Conspiracies (blog)

Original item by Valerie Cook

Can't say I agree with the idea of cliques. I think very many people do read and comment on the work of those who take the time and effort to reciprocate. That is only understandable but I guess could be interpreted as cliquey. I also comment on a wide number of poets who have and never will comment on mine. Certain styles or themes appeal to you or they don't. I have also come to realise that just because people don't comment, doesn't mean they don't read and aren't affected...

Comment is about On Being Snubbed! (blog)

Original item by Noetic-fret!

Hi Mike, just spotted this and had to log in to comment. I hope it isn't a feeling of personal reality to you. As Francine says, it is so true for many on here and other sites too. Much of your work touches on subject matter a lot of people cannot deal with emotionally but it is very powerful in the message it portrays so you shouldn't give up.

I remember having a tiny conversation with you at Middleton about my own reasons for not commenting on some of your poetry but it isn't a slant on you personally, you project a very spiritual image in public and you should know that what you do makes a difference in peoples lives. Be well, be happy but most of all be yourself. :-)

Janet.x

Comment is about On Being Snubbed! (blog)

Original item by Noetic-fret!

Hi - Have you removed the text of this post?
Cx

Comment is about The Capture of the Dodger (blog)

Original item by Joshua Van-Cook

Thanks again to you all for your comments – helps me shape my words thanks

Steve x

Comment is about Winston Plowes (poet profile)

Original item by Winston Plowes

Interesting debate...
and things we will never know...

Comment is about Conspiracies (blog)

Original item by Valerie Cook

Know this is true for many...
You have to believe in yourself regardless...

Comment is about On Being Snubbed! (blog)

Original item by Noetic-fret!

Love this one Dominic. Remember it at freed up.
Like the passage below. A grand rich mixture of things. Winston

I think Purple was my first kiss.
Or
at least its memory.
Tasted like pumpkin seed,
black coffee,skin bitten off round the nail.
When toddlers see ghosts it is Purple.

Comment is about Dominic Berry (poet profile)

Original item by Dominic Berry

Cheers for sticking this up!
It's going to be a good night..

Comment is about Adrian Mitchel Memorial Gig - Shoreham, West Sussex (article)

Thanks all. Janet's not far off the mark with the subtext being that of feelings of isolation feeding a negative self image (and a negative self image feeding further isolation. The other stuff in there (reading back on it) comes from a conversation I had about ghosts with a friend recently and how our minds make human faces out of things and hear sounds as voices and about a place where I once lived (where I had to walk across pitch black fields and through a maze of towering cornstalks to get home from the pub).

Comment is about Patterns in darkness (blog)

Original item by Dermot Glennon

Great piece, great man, miss him. Winston

Comment is about Hovis Presley Obituary (article)

Couldn't let this pass without comment. I didn't know him and only saw him perform a handful of times, going back to the early nineties. Never failed to bring the house down, loved him to bits.

Comment is about Hovis Presley Obituary (article)

Hi Janet, Together with the picture this sounds like the destiny of the Great Bustard or some other bird hunted to oblivion. (Should wonders = wanders). Win x

Comment is about Spirit (blog)

I know what Winston means - I, too, could imagine Magwitch wandering about the fields a bit....! - Quite Dickensian in places.
Enjoyed the poem, but wondered about the drawing together of being drunk .... and wondering about being alone/being ugly etc.... perhaps it just reminded me of too many conversations I've had with men who attempt to get a bit 'deep' when they've had a few ............ 'I reaally love you, no, no - ya don' unnerstan' ... I mean ... I reeeally think 'at you're.....zzzzz!'
Good, lively imagery though.
Cx

Comment is about Patterns in darkness (blog)

Original item by Dermot Glennon

Dermot Just had to post comment this is a wonderful read... and I am really sorry oif it's way off the mark but I have a timorous beastie ...field mouse character in my minds eye...masterful use of image and wordcraft...

Faces in the canopies that leered and morphed from abstract shapes:

gargoyle-like grotesqueries. When gusts gaped leaves, the same they asked

of ugly; but why ask that of me?

Wonderful.. mind you I once went to a party in Wigan and all the girls were like that.

Gus

Comment is about Patterns in darkness (blog)

Original item by Dermot Glennon

Aye! This should be a cracker, Ky.. Looking forward to it thou am a little nervous! lol

Comment is about Poets Express announces guest performers! (blog)

Original item by Kylyra Ameringer

thanks :-)

Comment is about Jeffarama! (poet profile)

Original item by Jeffarama!

Hi Owen,
interesting concept but like Winston i wonder if the word pairs could be better applied.
Maybe there are lengthy words which have the ''message thread'' running through like a vein of truth perhaps. Hm.. Not sure i want to go there but you got me thinking.

Janet. :-)

Comment is about ode to the thought sniper (blog)

Original item by owen calvert

Hi Dermot,
the whole time i was reading this i couldn't get Thomas Hardy out of my head. I know very little of the poet so have no idea if it is relevant.

I like the imagery very much, it's a sad truth for lonely people wondering why they're still alone, trying to find that special someone or something to allay their fears. Then after a while they begin to lose self confidence and it's a continuous fighting battle. ( well that's how i see it anyway)

Janet. :-)

Comment is about Patterns in darkness (blog)

Original item by Dermot Glennon

Hmmm...Imagine me on my desert island with my mirror... do you think that at some point I would be thinking those same thoughts ; )

Comment is about Mirror (blog)

I just soooo love this poem Cate and its soooo like our little Jackie, especially when he throws a epi !!!! One would really fear a red haired laddie with a few years on him weilding a claymore. Love Eleanor x

Comment is about My Little Red Haired Laddie (blog)

Original item by Cate

Hi Owen, Liked this one, dot the stars with eyes
is a great line... Win

Comment is about randomidnightreflections iii (blog)

Original item by owen calvert

Ingenious idea, wonder if more cohesion between the word pairs or lines can be made. Winston.

Comment is about ode to the thought sniper (blog)

Original item by owen calvert

Some really powerful images here. Not bedtime reading. Win

Comment is about Go to Hell (blog)

Original item by Marianne Daniels

Hmm... Interesting one Daniel. I would also like to know more about the background / inspiration of this. drew me in. Win

Comment is about Poems (blog)

Original item by Daniel Hooks

striking journey through the fields Dermot. Sounded like a convict on the run at first. Winston

Comment is about Patterns in darkness (blog)

Original item by Dermot Glennon

Hi Jeff,

I love your poem When I'm Down - something I relate to myself although I like that it recognises the transiency of feeling like that.

Angel

Comment is about Jeffarama! (poet profile)

Original item by Jeffarama!

Thanks for comments everyone and great reception at Wigan.
The Prisoner is an older poem so maybe could be improved. I'll think about changing it although I've got used to reading it without a problem. (in my humble opinion) I'm usually quite rigorous about line length myself and I've read Stephen Fry's The Ode Less Travelled, although I can't claim to follow his rules to the letter.
Dave

Comment is about Dave Carr (poet profile)

Original item by Dave Carr

wow, very nice poem!

Comment is about Go to Hell (blog)

Original item by Marianne Daniels

WOW...
Passionate, methodical and angry...
wouldn't want to be on the other end of this!
You are NOT to be messed with ; )

I love it Marianne!

Comment is about Go to Hell (blog)

Original item by Marianne Daniels

Enjoyed reading this Daniel...

I agree with Marianne - love these lines:
'Doorways that never shut into places we have never seen
emotional content that never relents or let us know
What it means to be human.'

And... I love this line too:
'Dreams past and present of how we can change the lives we lead'

Comment is about Poems (blog)

Original item by Daniel Hooks