Thanks, John. I was going to say great memories but I suppose that they weren't for many people. I was a bit older, but like you I remember enjoying myself sometimes. Just the sight of that snow!
Comment is about Winter, 1963 (blog)
Original item by John Botterill
Tue 17th Jan 2023 02:13
A really powerful poem, Kristian! đˇ
Comment is about Angel Fish (blog)
Original item by Kristian Deidre Brown
Thank you so much for your feedback, great memories
Comment is about Lady Penelope (blog)
Original item by Rick Varden
Yes, MC, I see I wasn't imagining it . IThe snow really was that deep! What would Pepys have made of 1963?!? Thanks for your comment and for the history. I love it! đ
Comment is about Winter, 1963 (blog)
Original item by John Botterill
Thanks for your thoughts, Stephen and MC.
I regret painting such a negative picture of the nurse. The staff at the hospitals my mother-in-law has been in have all been rushed off their feet but marvellous.
And thanks for the Like, Helene and Hugh.
Comment is about ROSIE (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Ah yes...the great freeze this18 year old found himself facing
just before taking up full time employment in The Smoke. As
the song goes on...I remember it well. When I see and hear
climate reports today, I just think back a further 300 years to a
very different winter reported by Samuel Pepys in his diary for
1661: "It is strange what weather we have had all this winter; no
cold at all; but the ways are dusty, and the flyes (sic) fly up and
down, and the rose bushes are full of leaves; such a time of the
year as.was never known in this world before here."
Our Samuel should be around now to compare notes.đ
Comment is about Winter, 1963 (blog)
Original item by John Botterill
Reminds me of a lady I recall visiting a pub I used who was
once a "Gaiety Girl" in C.B. Cochran's Music Hall Revues.
With a twinkle in her eye, she'd hold out her glass for a refill of
G and T, still immaculately coiffured and attired in her 80s.
She was mugged for her handbag in a nearby street and never
properly recovered.
Comment is about ROSIE (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
I recall writing much gentler lines of a "political" nature and getting cancelled on WOL.
Comment is about National Emergency: Life or Death Fight for the NHS! (blog)
A brilliant piece of verse, John. It's extraordinary how we can create wonder of out personal sadness. Through my tears, it takes me back a few years to seeing my mum in the same state. Thanks a lot for this one.
Comment is about ROSIE (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Superb, Rick. I was always intrigued by Parker, who looked a bit of a repressed thug. Nowadays, he would be sorting them out at the Queen Vic.
Comment is about Lady Penelope (blog)
Original item by Rick Varden
Thank you so much, HÊlène and John. I will always be a voice for piece. I recognize that Ukraine has no choice but to defend itself but war and violence are always abhorrent. The 'zero sum' element of the poem is the way that war is sanitised and justified by illusory gains which involve front line troops being used as cannon fodder for a maintaining a deadlock, while towns and infrastructure are gradually destroyed. So sad.
Comment is about Zero Sum (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
For me, Rick, it was the beautiful, enigmatic Marla at the HQ of Space Patrol, my favourite puppet show. Her catchphrase? 'A Venusian has the facility never to forget.'
Comment is about Lady Penelope (blog)
Original item by Rick Varden
No-one does, Graham. Until they get there. And then we all want another 5 minutes.
And thanks for the Likes, Frederick and Helene.
Comment is about ROSIE (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
A poem for our time John. I don't want to get that old.
Comment is about ROSIE (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
A fine analysis of love, Keith, accomplished with skill and feeling.
Comment is about The Bonds of Love (blog)
Original item by keith jeffries
Exceptional poem. I love the interweaving of personal experience with a wider philosophy and the way it ends as it began. Bravo, Helene.
Comment is about Dawning (blog)
Original item by HÊlène
Brilliant poem. Intelligent and humane. Unlike the war!
Comment is about Zero Sum (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Thanks very much Stephen. I might go to Davos but it sounds expensive đ
Comment is about Comfort me with Green (blog)
Original item by John Botterill
I really appreciate all these voices for peace. Thanks Stephen for putting our thoughts & feelings into poetry, & thanks guys for the comments taking a broad historical view of this utterly heartbreaking attack on Ukraine. Mankind can't seem to let go of violence, on the battlefield, on the streets, in homes, everywhere really. Is there a dimension where peace and harmony reign? I would like to go there someday! But in the meanwhile, thanks again guys for being thoughtful voices for peace.
Comment is about Zero Sum (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Beautiful written HĂŠlène. Loved it. đ
Comment is about Dawning (blog)
Original item by HÊlène
Wonderfully entertaining, John. Next stop Davos, I suppose. (Them, I mean, but go if they invite you.)
Comment is about Comfort me with Green (blog)
Original item by John Botterill
A lovely theme, HÊlène, beautifully written.
Comment is about Dawning (blog)
Original item by HÊlène
Fascinating poem, Ray. I suspect tinsel town is a state of mind, or a dream?
Comment is about PTSD put to music (blog)
Original item by ray pool
Thank you so much for this moving piece of verse, Philip. In many ways, human life is so fragile.
And thanks to Steve, Sofia and Holden for your support
Comment is about Parachutes (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Thank you for your comment, Philip, and thanks to Holden for liking.
Comment is about Last Man Standing (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
And thanks to Rudyard, Keith and Manish. Your support is really appreciated.
Comment is about Zero Sum (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
You put it most eloquently, Greg. The 'Zero Sum' element of this war (mass slaughter for small bits of territory, often subsequently lost) harks back to WW1 and the punishment bombing to WW2. So sad that a great civilisation like Russia has descended to this.
Thanks, Philip. There is something about war which recreates a lethal school bully.
Thanks for the kind comment, Reggie's Ghost.
Comment is about Zero Sum (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
This war is turning into an amalgam of the first and second world wars ... the pointless slaughter, the mud and deadlock of the first, the evil genocide of the second. What a legacy. How Russia has trampled memories of its heroic fightback in the second world war into the dust.
Comment is about Zero Sum (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Another one for your music collection, Ray. Very strong image: "a nylon band jacket, its bright colour betraying age and sweat". The old adage - write about stuff you know, and you can't go wrong.
Comment is about PTSD put to music (blog)
Original item by ray pool
Thank you U. C. Ođ
Thank you Nigelđˇ
Comment is about Attraction (blog)
Original item by Sunshine
When I was about 20 which was a long time ago I sat with an ex vet who served during the WW2....sipping neat whiskey and half a beer....
"He spoke of falling candles
And how of in the dark
A manâs shoot when it did not open
Flickered like a spark.
Many times he would land safely
Then pause and look to the sky
There he would see a flickering light
And know a man was about to die"
True story
Comment is about Parachutes (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Pure misery of war, and the barren landscapes of people left behind.
Comment is about Last Man Standing (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Thinking about this piece Ray, I can honestly say I don't think I've ever had a dream with music, as in never heard music in a dream!
Or even colours come to think of it!
Had many a service station breakfast though and heard the early shipping forecast many times too.
I'll get my coat (thought provoking stuff as usual).
Comment is about PTSD put to music (blog)
Original item by ray pool
Ungrown men are dangerous thier actions disastrous.
Comment is about Zero Sum (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
The right words, in the right order. Sleepiness (hypersomnia) oozes out of this poem Jennifer. J
Comment is about A Mellow Yellow High (blog)
Original item by Jennifer Malden
So beautifully sad Clare. I spoke three eulogies this year and suffered the suicide of my oldest friend. Christmas & new year is a time when many of us count our losses. The surprise about the nature of flying is so cleverly done. John
Comment is about Whisper my Name (blog)
Original item by Clare
I will keep walking
One step at a time
I know I will find
This heart that was always mine.
Serendipity or fate? Who knows? Not me. John
Comment is about Aftermath (blog)
Original item by Clare
The tenderness and fragility of hope. A true poem Clare.
"Serendipity is the instrument by which God reveals to each the beauties of all the others." CS Lewis
Comment is about Serendipity. (blog)
Original item by Clare
We share similar tastes, MC. I like chocolate brazils too. Payneâs are the benchmark. But I think for cheek in rivalling Kit Kats (and Polo) they should replace the nut with fresh air.
And thanks for the Likes, Frederick, Stephen G and Stephen A.
Comment is about THE GENIUS OF THE KIT KAT (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Stephen Gospage
Tue 17th Jan 2023 07:47
Magnificent, JD. 'La Grande Bouffe' for our times!
Comment is about Swiss Roll Family Robinson (blog)
Original item by JD Russell