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M.C. Newberry

Tue 23rd Nov 2021 15:01

A welcome piece of fun that anyone can probably identify with;
age is no bar!
With the day now stretching out ahead
I think I'd prefer to stay in bed! ?

Comment is about An old man's job (blog)

Original item by Stephen Gospage

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keith jeffries

Tue 23rd Nov 2021 14:09

dk.,
Thanks. I associate with both the high and low, whatever that means. Praise where praise is due and similarly so with criticism which needs to be constructive and not negative. Poetry and those who write it are strong individuals with well thought out ideas and the innate ability to describe what we see and our thoughts. We are both no exceptions to this. Write what you feel inspired to write, avoid the frivolous and write with pen and paper. The hand is connected to the arm which is in turn connected to the body which holds the mind. Poetry needs to flow from the mind and does not come well from stabbing away at key boards and peering into screens with bleary eyes.
Keith

Comment is about d.knape (poet profile)

Original item by d.knape

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John Coopey

Tue 23rd Nov 2021 12:36

Thanks for the Likes, Stephen A, John, Stephen G and Holden. And it’s munificence continues through my pension.

Comment is about THE MUNIFICENT PARIAH (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

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keith jeffries

Tue 23rd Nov 2021 12:02

A fantastic description.
Thanks
Keith

Comment is about Love: The Truth (blog)

Original item by Alexandra K. Parapadakis

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John Botterill

Tue 23rd Nov 2021 11:18

I love the positive and affirming tone of your poem.,Stephen, as well the ironic conclusion. Thank for this. Thought - provoking. John Botterill

Comment is about Why Can't We? (blog)

Original item by Stephen W Atkinson

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keith jeffries

Tue 23rd Nov 2021 10:52

One of the most heart felt poems I have read in a long time. It comes from the heart with love and it contains a beauty we seldom see.
Thank you for this.
Keith

Comment is about 'Stay Strong' (blog)

Original item by Mike Bartram

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keith jeffries

Tue 23rd Nov 2021 10:43

Cane we empathise in poetry? Well, this poem proves we can as it speaks to me this morning as another day begins. Sapped of energy the spirit is willing but the body is weak. Stephen, well crafted, tinged with humour and O so very true.

Thank you for this.
Keith

Comment is about An old man's job (blog)

Original item by Stephen Gospage

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Stephen Atkinson

Tue 23rd Nov 2021 10:21

A beautifully conveyed little mystery ?

Comment is about The Tower in the Woods (blog)

Original item by Brenda Wells

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Stephen Gospage

Tue 23rd Nov 2021 09:23

A terrific poem. How can one not enjoy this?

Comment is about The Long-Nosed Short-Legged Terrier (blog)

Original item by kJ Walker

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Stephen Gospage

Tue 23rd Nov 2021 09:18

Nice one, Rick. Cockney rhyming slang in the last verse - I hope not!

Comment is about Replacement Therapy (blog)

Original item by Rick Varden

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John Marks

Tue 23rd Nov 2021 09:10

Thank you Keith. Praise indeed from one who knows. And, aye, Pete, you're right there, Tommy Atkins, British soldier, unappreciated in peace yet relied upon in war:

"Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap." Kipling

Comment is about Tommy (blog)

Original item by John E Marks

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Stephen Gospage

Tue 23rd Nov 2021 09:10

A beautiful poem, Brenda. It conveys a sense of unresolved mystery so well.

Comment is about The Tower in the Woods (blog)

Original item by Brenda Wells

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Stephen Gospage

Tue 23rd Nov 2021 09:05

Thank you, Keith. 'woven into the soil' makes one sit up with a jolt. A very effective poem.

Comment is about What Remains (blog)

Original item by keith jeffries

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David Blake

Tue 23rd Nov 2021 02:46

I can't pretend to be a public intellectual with experience of human-robot interaction, but all I can offer here is to say that just because you can do something like this now, doesn't mean you should.

Comment is about Can a robot write poetry? Ai-Da responds to Dante (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Holden Moncrieff

Tue 23rd Nov 2021 01:39

Thank you so much for the comments, John and Stephen! ?

Stephen, I was thinking of the latter, but your late 1990s idea is definitely more interesting! ?

Comment is about Ineluctable (blog)

Original item by Holden Moncrieff

d.knape

Tue 23rd Nov 2021 00:02

Tanks Keith,
You are always too kind.

If I were you
I would not associate with anyone like myself.

wink. wink.

Comment is about keith jeffries (poet profile)

Original item by keith jeffries

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keith jeffries

Mon 22nd Nov 2021 22:34

Along with others I have dwelt on and written poetry about our fallen lads but this poem encapsulates more than I could ever say. John, thank you for these words, everyone of which is rich in truth and a tribute to those whose courage still shines through the mess we have created for ourselves and now live in.

Thank you indeed,
Keith

Comment is about Tommy (blog)

Original item by John E Marks

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Pete (edbreathe)

Mon 22nd Nov 2021 21:32

Thanks Keith,
I just started to write, the first line being about a door, but had no idea where it would end up 10 minutes later. My poems just draw me in their own direction. I just hold the tail and follow

Comment is about Deaths Door (blog)

Original item by Edbreathe

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Pete (edbreathe)

Mon 22nd Nov 2021 21:14

Great,
Tommy this and Tommy that

Comment is about Tommy (blog)

Original item by John E Marks

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Stephen Atkinson

Mon 22nd Nov 2021 19:25

Thanks for reading & Liking John, K.J. Aisha, Binte, & Julie ?

Comment is about Why Can't We? (blog)

Original item by Stephen W Atkinson

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John Botterill

Mon 22nd Nov 2021 19:14

Reminiscent of Maya Angelou I thought, Aisha. Highest praise, in my book! ? John Botterill

Comment is about Stand Up High (blog)

Original item by Aisha Suleman

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Stephen Gospage

Mon 22nd Nov 2021 17:42

You certainly get around, Julie. I was in Palma as a young idiot and used to stroll around the town in the midday sun, much to the bemusement of locals huddled inside in the August shade.

Comment is about Palma (blog)

Original item by julie callaghan

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Stephen Gospage

Mon 22nd Nov 2021 17:38

Fin-de-siécle is an interesting notion now. Does it now refer to the late 1990s (i.e. Cool Britannia, Millenium Dome) or to the louche turn of the 19th/20th centuries?

Comment is about Ineluctable (blog)

Original item by Holden Moncrieff

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Stephen Gospage

Mon 22nd Nov 2021 17:32

Fascinating piece, M.C. My brother was also at Limehouse as a PC and then a Sergeant in the 1980s and 1990s, where he seemed to specialise in arresting the relatives of well known boxers and people who drove their cars into shop windows. All law-abiding folk, except when they didn't feel like being!

Comment is about POLICING LONDON - BACK IN THE DAY (blog)

Original item by M.C. Newberry

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John Marks

Mon 22nd Nov 2021 17:16

Exactly remembered Keith. I recall taking the train into Manchester and it was as if we passed through one continuous black grimy tunnel - it was, of course, the pre-sand blasted mills, warehouses and factories leaning over us!

Comment is about Black country (blog)

Original item by John E Marks

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John Coopey

Mon 22nd Nov 2021 17:16

Cricket is indeed a rich vein for memories, Stephen. The only "Test" I saw was between England and the West Indies in a one-day match in the seventies, I think. Coming from Hucknall I was rooting for Derek Randall who always looked like a startled rabbit. But he made 80+ that day. We still lost . (Everyone did to the WI in those days).
As for the disease which cricket seems to have at the moment - it will spill over across all society until we realise that, so far as historic transgressions are concerned, we have all been guilty at some time or other.

Comment is about Queue (blog)

Original item by Stephen Gospage

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Stephen Gospage

Mon 22nd Nov 2021 17:14

Thank you for the like, Aisha.

Comment is about Queue (blog)

Original item by Stephen Gospage

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Stephen Gospage

Mon 22nd Nov 2021 17:13

Thank you, M.C. I was a bit too young for Lindwall but I do remember Wes Hall (who did not exactly glide either) walking back to very near where we sat on the grass. Dennis Lillee seemed to walk back for ever as well. Lord's Tests - yes, the desolation of being locked out that day in 1966 still lives with me.

Comment is about Queue (blog)

Original item by Stephen Gospage

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John Botterill

Mon 22nd Nov 2021 17:11

I visited London recently and I feel you have captured the mood and spirit perfectly. ? John Botterill

Comment is about The Nation’s Capital – London (blog)

Original item by Aisha Suleman

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Chris Bunton

Mon 22nd Nov 2021 17:06

Love it.

Comment is about My Sea Change (blog)

Original item by Rasa Kabaila

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Chris Bunton

Mon 22nd Nov 2021 17:05

Love it

Comment is about if only you knew (blog)

Original item by Sophie H

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John Coopey

Mon 22nd Nov 2021 17:03

Another one for Well Spoken, kevin. Like I said on Fb, I didn't see it coming.

Comment is about The Long-Nosed Short-Legged Terrier (blog)

Original item by kJ Walker

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John Botterill

Mon 22nd Nov 2021 17:02

I love the positive, optimistic feeling of this poem, Aisha. I feel boosted emotionally when reading it. Great! John Botterill.

Comment is about Stand Up High (blog)

Original item by Aisha Suleman

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John Coopey

Mon 22nd Nov 2021 16:59

I'll look this up, Greg.

Comment is about Richmond Palace (blog)

Original item by Greg Freeman

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John Coopey

Mon 22nd Nov 2021 16:57

No-one's beaten him yet, Holden.

Comment is about Ineluctable (blog)

Original item by Holden Moncrieff

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Greg Freeman

Mon 22nd Nov 2021 16:49

Thanks for the Likes, Holden, Aisha, Stephen and John!

Comment is about Richmond Palace (blog)

Original item by Greg Freeman

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keith jeffries

Mon 22nd Nov 2021 13:50

I am particularly drawn to this poem as a number of my own deal with death and eternity. The last stanza is very appropriate.
Thank you for this
Keith

Comment is about Deaths Door (blog)

Original item by Edbreathe

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keith jeffries

Mon 22nd Nov 2021 12:45

This is one of your best poems to date. Described and expressed in detail. You have taken the reader to that canyon and that is what all poets hope to achieve.
Thank you for this

Keith

Comment is about Tracks (blog)

Original item by d.knape

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Graham Sherwood

Mon 22nd Nov 2021 11:59

I really appreciate Haiku and have written many. Not a syllable wasted. Good to see you here.

Comment is about haiku #1 (blog)

Original item by a’

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keith jeffries

Mon 22nd Nov 2021 10:37

Words of wisdom.
Thank you for this
Keith

Comment is about K horizon (blog)

Original item by Ghazala lari

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John Coopey

Mon 22nd Nov 2021 08:09

I think Sebastian Faulks calls it a “mechanised abattoir” in Songbird, Stephen.

Comment is about The Last Call (blog)

Original item by Stephen W Atkinson

d.knape

Mon 22nd Nov 2021 03:08

You blocked me?
what on earth for?
I know my poems are not that great
but still....
that's going a little too far!
?

Comment is about Stephen W Atkinson (poet profile)

Original item by Stephen W Atkinson

d.knape

Mon 22nd Nov 2021 03:06

As long as you agree with Me,
you'll be fine.
?

Comment is about Jennifer Malden (poet profile)

Original item by Jennifer Malden

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keith jeffries

Mon 22nd Nov 2021 00:16

Fast moving, humorous and captivating
Thank you for this

Keith

Comment is about Perfectly Plain (blog)

Original item by Adam Whitworth

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keith jeffries

Mon 22nd Nov 2021 00:13

Following the war years most of urban Britain became stained with a blackness which covered most buildings. At one point, where I lived, notices appeared on lamp posts heralding the dawn of the smokeless zone. Coke would replace coal we were told. I can recall public buildings in town of a neo classical architecture, libraries, the town hall, the market hall and the Courts were black, so much so I thought that it was their natural colour. When sand blasting took place some years later these buildings revealed a new and different exterior, a honey coloured sandstone which astonished us all. God only knows, before that time, the effect which pollution had on people's health. A poem which catches the end of the industrial revolution so dependent on coal. Canals with barges carried it , homes burned it and we all breathed it.

Thank you for this reminder so eloquently put.
Keith

Comment is about Black country (blog)

Original item by John E Marks

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Stephen Atkinson

Sun 21st Nov 2021 23:36

Thank you very much Keith! I think it's probably the era, the trenches, mustard gas, & the general barbaric nature of a war so distant- yet, tragically, so familiar? Maybe!

Comment is about The Last Call (blog)

Original item by Stephen W Atkinson

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just_a_girl

Sun 21st Nov 2021 21:46

?

Comment is about how to (blog)

Original item by mona

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Candice Reineke

Sun 21st Nov 2021 21:02

Haha, Stephen! Maybe try a few until you find one you like? ?

Comment is about Scotch: a gentleman’s vice, a woman’s pleasure (blog)

Original item by Candice Reineke

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M.C. Newberry

Sun 21st Nov 2021 18:48

Having played rugby (under duress) at school, I am still ignorant
of the difference between RU and RL. But in all fairness, I didn't notice any mention of either in this rather entertaining post-event description....just the word "rugby" to accommodate the passing interest, no doubt.

Comment is about Never mind the rugby, the planes, or even the literature festival: grassroots voices put Richmond upon Thames on the poetry map (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

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M.C. Newberry

Sun 21st Nov 2021 18:30

A carnivore-free similar experience was my happy lot during a long-distance walk across Scotland, passing through a forested
area, when one of my companions held a finger to his lips and
pointed silently off to the side of the track. There, curled up but
watchful/curious as we moved on past, was an infant deer. We
saw no sign of "Mum" and had no wish to do anything that might
cause a separation of any sort. The creature seemed unfazed by our presence and was still "in situ" when we looked back down
the track. Sudden encounters of this sort certainly provide a
lift to the spirits.

Comment is about Seeing Red (blog)

Original item by Jennifer Malden

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