Hi Steve
Thanks for reading and leaving comments on the cat poem. It has an unusual structure I guess. Quite suitable for these unusual animals. Liked your comparison to soldiers on the city walls. We once had a castellated fence which was even more fitting. I think you have to write a poem about this.
Winston

Comment is about Steve Regan (poet profile)

Original item by Steve Regan

Winston, I liked your poem about cats. My girlfriend is crazy about cats and has just got a new one from the rescue centre here in Wallasey. I like cats and they seem to like me but they make me sneeze and my eyes water so I guess I must be allergric to them. But I do like to watch cats patrolling the redbrick walls of the local neighbourhood ... like legionaries on the walls of Chester two millennia ago.

Comment is about Winston Plowes (poet profile)

Original item by Winston Plowes

Hi Belinda,
I think school is a rich vein for poets. The school is such a weird institution, when you think about it... taking children away from home, placing them with other children (in all their casual cruelty), dressing them in strange uniforms (at least in the British tradition)... I think Larkin got the emphasis wrong: mam and dad don't f*** kids up half as much as institutional schooling does.

Comment is about Monday morning blues (blog)

Original item by Belinda

Hello, thanks for the comment on my poem :) Much appreciated.

Comment is about Andy N (poet profile)

Original item by Andy N

hello good morning good people :-) as early as it is, i'm beginning to push March's POETS AND MASH as this month's is gonna be fan-tas-tic, featuring guest slots from ANDY CRAVEN GRIFFITHS, PICO THE SPONGE, EMMA DECENT and AKIEL CHINELO. More updates will follow. Join us! :-P

Comment is about Dominic Berry (poet profile)

Original item by Dominic Berry

Ah now, the old lesson fer the learnin....least you got a pair of socks out of it!

Nice one Mike!
Gus

Comment is about A Langdale Surprise (blog)

Original item by Noetic-fret!

I enjoyed your poem as well, Andy - congrats on poem of the month. I too listened to Peel for many years, at first under the bed clothes with a transistor radio bought with Green Shield stamps! I can still remember the first song I heard - it was by Angelic Upstarts.

A great many scenes owe Peely a massive debt but let's acknowledge the debt of the performance poetry scene to him. That's where I, and many others first heard, JCC, LKJ, Ivor Cutler, John Hegley/Popticians, Attila of course.....

Nice one, would like to hear it done live sometime. Cheers.

Tony

Comment is about The Greatest Gig Of All (article)

hard work, well done x

Comment is about Dreams of leaving (audio version with rant) (blog)

Nice one Gus! happy you liked!!!

Comment is about Dreams of leaving (audio version with rant) (blog)

I love that '...innocent air with impotent steam'.
but come on, I bet you have let rip really loud just once -on your own?

Comment is about The Car (blog)

Original item by sian howell

Thanks Andy

You Know full well they don't come any madder than me.....the old march hare... thats me.. just trying to lighten things a little....everyone's so deep..... possibly real poets...who knows

See you soon
Gus

Comment is about Andy N (poet profile)

Original item by Andy N

Pete Pete Pete....Wonderful.... I heard all your uploads....just ;kin wonderful... your '
Torquay Takeaway' just blew me away...
love ya
Gus

Comment is about Dreams of leaving (audio version with rant) (blog)

Hello Sian,
Thank you for taking the time to read Lullaby. We lose them all eventually don't we, especially after investing so much emotional currency. Thanks again. Graham

Comment is about sian howell (poet profile)

Original item by sian howell

Hi Mia You knew I'd love this...you little minx...Yeah so I posted King Tut Just 4 you....Looking forward with baited breath to seeing you at on the 19th.... are you have an after show party ...if so ...even old men need to be loved...
well done and the best of luck
see you soon
Gus

Comment is about Groupie (blog)

Original item by Mia Darlone

Thanks Sian / Christine

Winston ok I got the e mails and one from November!!!! sorry but i lost password to my webspace, crumbs some booking enquirie too! I got a paid gig on there in MAY!!!!! 09

Comment is about Dreams of leaving (audio version with rant) (blog)

a sensorary delight of a poem, albeit in my imagination, you're words and imagery are lovely x

Comment is about Paradise (blog)

Original item by Valerie Cook

Andy this is great. you've packed so much into it. The man was certainly a legend and played a huge part in developing my music tastes too (also starting with a tranny) he was fearless at showcasing across almost all genres. His humour and lack of technical skills - as his studios became more space-age - was just as legendary. well done andy. made me smile for hours :)

Comment is about The Greatest Gig Of All (article)

Hi sian, so many a metaphor can be applied to this. I must admit i did wish for more when i got to the end. But thats what makes the poem nice. And keeps me coming back to your work, hanging on the edge waiting for the next words.
Mike

Comment is about The Car (blog)

Original item by sian howell

Nice one, i have the book on peel and used to listen to him ever since a child with a tranny and the plastic earpiece, when sent to bed as a thirteen year old. Pity you didnt mention his favourite track. Teenage Kicks by the Undertones. But yeah, a fantastic poem in salute of a man who crossed many generations. Just brilliant. The last time i heard the guy, was the final gig of Orbital. Not only was he into his rock, but even jazz and dance music. Not bad for a man of his age. Big respects to ya for writing this one. I loved the guy too.
mike

Comment is about The Greatest Gig Of All (article)

your writing shows a depth of suffering which is palpable to the reader. very powerful images . Sian X

Comment is about Sleep Paralysis (blog)

Original item by Noetic-fret!

this indeed is a great take on the teenage party whilst the parents are away poem ..I thought it neatly summed up the atmosphere and I loved the ending. Very real.Sian X

Comment is about Party to it (blog)

Original item by Steve O'Connor

The frightening sense of madness is incredible in this audio version...I was transfixed, it is inspired Pete. Sian X

Comment is about Dreams of leaving (audio version with rant) (blog)

Fantastic!
Cx

Comment is about Groupie (blog)

Original item by Mia Darlone

Excellent.
Cx

Comment is about Dreams of leaving (audio version with rant) (blog)

Hi Winston
My email address at petecrompton.com ?
I cant acess that
best to use , oh actually i cant put it here, ill have to send a mail to you to show my address win

Comment is about Dreams of leaving (audio version with rant) (blog)

Hi Pete
Did you get my email response to this piece?
Win

Comment is about Dreams of leaving (audio version with rant) (blog)

Thank you!

Comment is about Scabby Knees! (blog)

I liked the line 'echoing locomotion and squealing swings'. I think the last stanza of that poem is especially good.

Comment is about owen calvert (poet profile)

Original item by owen calvert

I love angry poetry. Line 5 is just ace!

Comment is about Groupie (blog)

Original item by Mia Darlone

Sorry I’m confused; the comments are about dentistry, I thought it was a sex poem?

“but he says open wide
I've got a range of apparatus
I want to stick inside
I'm starting to gag
He digs and he pokes
says I will need a hygienist”

Comment is about Appointment with fear! (blog)

Original item by Jeffarama!

Hi Owen, Liked the Summerhouse - like the combination of Echoing locomotion and squealing swings but coughing up truth for me was a killer line. keep posting mate. Winston

Comment is about owen calvert (poet profile)

Original item by owen calvert

the fight ceases setting free another mind awake... great work Mike. you portray her loneliness and isolation so well, a prisoner of her own mind as well as her four walls. x

Comment is about FLAT 47 (blog)

Original item by Noetic-fret!

thank -you Winston, i'm going to check that song out- i love 'i am and i'll be what i'll be'. you're comments are greatly appreciated. don't think i've learnt much yet as i can't get past just blurting it straight out.x

Comment is about Winston Plowes (poet profile)

Original item by Winston Plowes

this is great! you're work is so accurately observed and delivered with amazing wit. real belly laugh stuff- it's like watching a sociological study unfold.. tragically funny- should i be laughing? yes! I'm definately going to come and see you perform x

Comment is about Groupie (blog)

Original item by Mia Darlone

I knew Jeff through his writing, and through some wise words of advice he gave me when I was going through a bad time. Thank you Jeff.

Comment is about Jeff Whitehead (article)

I don't see anything wrong with poems communicating, Atilla. All poems communicate. Mine may not be to malpoet's taste (but then so would anything in the least bit experimental, and he's rather too good at rising to the bait); but there are other reasons for writing than communicating. Trying to work out a problem in words, for instance; or a fascination with the sound of words (playing with words); or just writing down what you've seen in words. Most often, it's a combination of these things, but we all want to communicate. Sometimes, I find a poem that just puts down as accurately as possible what the poet sees, without comment, more powerful than any message that the poet gives out. Something like Charles Rexnikoff's "Testimony", or "Holocaust": very moving, taken from direct testimony, without comment. Might not work where you go, though...

But he wasn't trying to reach the audiences you do. Well, we can't all do that; some of us are just not built for it. I admire you for doing (as I admired Uncle Ade); but I have to do what I have to do. I probably largely agree with your politics; I just don't like standing up on platforms and shouting about it (sorry, I'm trying to find a way of saying that without it sounding like a criticism. It's not intending to be.)

As for the poem, the only real problem I have is with the last verse; which may well be necessary in the audiences you read it in, but in print looks like "the moral", and makes it sermonlike. It'd make an interesting discussion: what makes a poem work on stage, and what makes it work on the page, and in what way are they different?

Comment is about Asylum Seeking Daleks (article)

Thank you - I think beastiality is very underated. The dream stuff is interesting - I've stopped having (or remembering) my vivid dreams since I started writing.

Comment is about Tomás Ó Cárthaigh (poet profile)

Original item by Tomás Ó Cárthaigh

The descriptiveness in this piece is so tangible. The picture you paint in my mind's eye is so clear and concise I almost feel I'm there in the kitchen like a voyeur.

I really like this.

Comment is about Empty (blog)

Original item by sian howell

thought provoking.

Winston

Comment is about in a field (blog)

Original item by Christopher Dawson

like it.
Mike

Comment is about in a field (blog)

Original item by Christopher Dawson

Hi Jeff, Thank you for your feedback :) i'm good thank you, and will take a look at some of your stuff :)

Ta very much again Belinda

Comment is about Jeffarama! (poet profile)

Original item by Jeffarama!

A fantastic lyrical piece. Well done blue.
Mike

Comment is about Hyde and seek (blog)

Original item by Christopher Dawson

All manner of demons stalk the living these days, some of them be living too, or at least aspire too. I like the poem yosh. I hope you stay safe.
Mike

Comment is about Exposing the real foe (blog)

Thanks For the read re 'Olaf'...just a bit of excercise for the rhyme fairy really nothing serious....mind you thats my middle name...'nothing serious'..I was pleased to do Fat Elvis ...glad you liked it

See ya soon
Gus

Comment is about Jeffarama! (poet profile)

Original item by Jeffarama!

More coments left on your email address Pete. Winston

Comment is about Dreams of Leaving (got to get out) (blog)

Thank you all so much for your kind words. It is heartwarming to see that my dad was held in such high regard.

Of course, many of you knew my dad as a poet and as one of the many characters that attended a variety of WOL events. Prior to his writing, however, my dad had a very colourful history with his Martial Arts achievements and work.

He has also been an absolutely fantastic father to me and a wonderful devoted husband to my mum.

Our lives are so much duller without him in it and he will be sadly missed by us both.

I feel it is testament to his spirit that he continued to attend Write Out Loud when he could, despite his ongoing battle with cancer.

Thank you all, once more, for your support.

My dad's funeral arrangements are as follows:

Tuesday 3rd March 2009 - 12:45pm
East Lancashire Crematorium (Radcliffe Crematorium)
off Ainsworth Road
Radcliffe.

You would be more than welcome to attend.

Regards,

Darren Whitehead.

Comment is about Jeff Whitehead (article)

Thanks to you Jeff for your comments
your a star!

Comment is about Jeffarama! (poet profile)

Original item by Jeffarama!

Thinking of Jeff and his son, will be missed.
Everyones gonna miss you Jeff!
I'm sure I speak for us all.

Comment is about Jeff Whitehead (article)

great words
made me realise im not the only one with enemys, everyone has them
i know ill be defos locking my door tonight

much love

sez x

Comment is about Exposing the real foe (blog)

I like this Michael. I am full of 'flu and can't think of any intellegent useful thing to say, only that it is evocative, flows like a glass of cabernet and leaves me feeling just as warm. Deb

Comment is about Pacific Side Sound (blog)

Original item by Noetic-fret!