Thanks, Tom. Much appreciated. And thanks to Stephen and Helène.
Comment is about A Song for Ukraine (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Thanks Stephen, enjoyed. The hardest thing is wanting to write about something but finding the validity in the voice to form an authentic response.
Comment is about A Song for Ukraine (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Thanks for the like Frederick 👍
Comment is about Early Learning (blog)
Original item by John Botterill
Sally Jenkinson is a Doncaster poet who now works nationally and does not get back to perform in her hometown so often, so it's a huge pleasure to have her guesting at Well Spoken! for November.
Sally is a poet, writer, performer and creative facilitator. She's been writing and performing poetry across the UK for more than a decade, and has written and performed internationally in Sweden, Iceland, and Australia.
Born and raised in Doncaster, she's now based in the Forest of Dean. She has recently been featured in Lighthouse Journal, Emerge Literary Journal, The Morning Star, and on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Power Lines’."
Review is about Well Spoken! at Doncaster Brewery on 10 Nov 2022 (event)
<Deleted User> (9882)
Mon 7th Nov 2022 18:04
Poems do not come much better than this Tom
a space ace!
Rose 💋
Comment is about Entropy (blog)
Original item by Tom Harding
Thank you all, I truly appreciate the encouraging feedback!
Comment is about Napkin Equation (blog)
Original item by Tom Harding
Thanks to Rose, Adam, K Lynn and Rudyard for your support. I enjoyed writing this one.
Comment is about A Song for Ukraine (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Dear Penguin,
This poem may be prompted by the music warehouse I work in.
So many titles feature skeletal zombies with hanging rotten flesh,
all kinds of monsters and miseries. Why this genre is so popular I don't know.
Perhaps people think these are dark times and the end is nigh.
Violent and depressing films are from the same stable
and I think poetry, perhaps always prone to melancholy,
is bleaker and more solid with misery than ever.
I just like to encourage the underdog and optimist here.
Comment is about The Luminous Poets (blog)
Original item by Adam Whitworth
Very nice. These two lines are pretty much saying the same thing, though.
In an inexplicable miracle of timing,
almost impossibly, at the same time!
Comment is about Thanksgiving, 2009 (blog)
Original item by Mike McPeek
I'm a bit confused. Who are the dark poets and who are the luminous poets and whose side are you on?
Comment is about The Luminous Poets (blog)
Original item by Adam Whitworth
"...a cacophony of sound and confusion,
and four children still learning
about volume control with their voices,
my brother exercises his necessary strategy;
he is the LOUDEST by far!"
I love it, I wouldn't have it any other way.
Comment is about Thanksgiving, 2009 (blog)
Original item by Mike McPeek
"...drunk on your own
ravings"
I know the feeling 😞
Comment is about The Luminous Poets (blog)
Original item by Adam Whitworth
Thank you all for your comments. It does no harm to examine
ourselves occasionally, warts and all. Objective or subjective....,
they both come intio play in our shared human existence.
Comment is about WE ARE ALL RACISTS (ULTIMATELY) (blog)
Original item by M.C. Newberry
<Deleted User> (33540)
Mon 7th Nov 2022 11:45
Very much enjoyed this piece Mike, thank you!
Comment is about Thanksgiving, 2009 (blog)
Original item by Mike McPeek
Is there not a difference between
A young woman and her child who have been removed from the country she loves and who's husband still remains in Ukraine to defend its sovereignty.
and
A young economic migrant male who has left his country, leaving his wife and family behind to make do without him.
I think in general, a majority would say it is easier to think better of the first example than the second.
Comment is about WE ARE ALL RACISTS (ULTIMATELY) (blog)
Original item by M.C. Newberry
WE ARE ALL RACISTS (ULTIMATELY)
Is a completely false statement. I have fought all my life in whatever way I could, against racism sectarianism and bigotry in all its forms.
Incidentally, I completely reject the ideological claptrap which holds, for example, that because I am white I am subconsciously a racist, or that because I'm male I'm a misogynist at heart.
"Ultimately" in brackets is an attempt to say "oh well it's going to happen anyway, so a little bit now and then, as and when its suits the political climate is OK."
And no, I'm not a "Social Justice Warrior" or a "Critical Race Theorist" with an ideological agenda.
Reggie's ghost is spot on in his observation about the UK's treatment of Ukranian refugees as opposed to eg. Asians or Africans...disgraceful hypocrisy, virtue signalling, and racist dog-whistling are rampant in the UK Parliament.
Comment is about WE ARE ALL RACISTS (ULTIMATELY) (blog)
Original item by M.C. Newberry
I think the shock-jock title doesn't do much to engender support for this piece. Perhaps the simple word 'are' at the front of it might have been more suitable for reflective comments.
I must admit that after watching the news (indeed all forms of the media) for example impoverished people using the ever increasing number of food banks and then the ever increasing number of boats full of immigrants (and the associated mess caused by this) all wrapped up in the present cost of living crisis, which some of us have seen before, it is easy to take an extreme view of the overall malaise within the country.
I think Reggie has a point. My wife and I have become acquainted with a Ukrainian lady and her young child and have helped her in several ways. But she didn't want to come here! Most of those coming in boats do! Ergo the sympathy changes.
Are we all a little racist? I think we are at times, usually during the bad times or when something bad has happened and we should be ashamed of ourselves. Amen!
Comment is about WE ARE ALL RACISTS (ULTIMATELY) (blog)
Original item by M.C. Newberry
Greg Freeman disregards the point - the legiitmate aim to pose questions that engender debate. He clearly has no time for
the latter when it diverges from his own views..
His comment that I am "misusing" this site deserves my swift
rebuttal for a variety of reasons, not least Voltaire's: "Judge a man by the questions he asks and not by the answers he gives."
I refer him to Alexander Pope if he wishes to confront really "uncomfortable" poetry - which also rhymes. Cheers. .
.
Comment is about WE ARE ALL RACISTS (ULTIMATELY) (blog)
Original item by M.C. Newberry
Mon 7th Nov 2022 01:46
Stephen, your dismissal of this posting as 'depressing and pointless' absolutely hits the nail on the head. What motivates MC Newberry to continue to misuse this site to peddle his views on matters such as racism and climate change denial, only he can explain. The words may rhyme, but they sure ain't poetry.
Comment is about WE ARE ALL RACISTS (ULTIMATELY) (blog)
Original item by M.C. Newberry
Contributors on WOL will in the main be extremely non-racist and keen to show it. But what MC says is probably true for the country as a whole. One has only to look at how we have embraced Ukrainian refugees compared to those from Africa or the Middle East.
Of course I am completely non-racist.
Comment is about WE ARE ALL RACISTS (ULTIMATELY) (blog)
Original item by M.C. Newberry
Thanks so much for your analysis, Stephen, which, as usual, grasps the point of what I intended. William is wise beyond his years!
Thanks too for the likes Frederick and Helene. 👍😀
Comment is about Early Learning (blog)
Original item by John Botterill
I found this utterly captivating, John, particularly the way you shape the poem to the title. Fortunately, I never had a craving for jelly babies!
Comment is about Early Learning (blog)
Original item by John Botterill
I love the warmth of this, Mike. Belle is a fine name for a rescued dog - we have the same.
Comment is about Thanksgiving, 2009 (blog)
Original item by Mike McPeek
Thanks John! Poetry is my therapy. I so enjoy poems about your grandkids. Delightful!
Comment is about I Am (affirmation poem) (blog)
Original item by Hélène
<Deleted User> (9882)
Sun 6th Nov 2022 09:59
Thanks Nigel for the comment as always.. Looking forward to seeing the book come out and your support is welcome as I hope you know.
Thanks also to Frederick Kesner, Tom and Stephen Gospage for the likes.. Means a lot these likes to both of us.
Powerful story that Rose and I agree with you completely over what you say there.
Comment is about Charity Anthology Submissions Wanted (blog)
Original item by Andy N
Gorgeous. Such a restful, mindful poem, Helene.
Comment is about Silence of the Hummingbird (blog)
Original item by Hélène
It's good to know when something works, like this poem. Thanks John (Botterill) 🌷👍
Comment is about seasonalities (blog)
Original item by Red Brick Keshner
Thanks John (Botterill) glad you think so! And for letting me know. 🌷👍
Comment is about in there somewhere was goodbye (blog)
Original item by Red Brick Keshner
Thank you Uilleam, Rose. Ray, Frederick and dear Holden. WB Yeats once wrote that what can be explained is not poetry. I agree with him.
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
William Butler Yeats,
Comment is about DAY OF THE DEAD - November 2, 2022 (blog)
Original item by John E Marks
<Deleted User> (9882)
Sat 5th Nov 2022 20:49
Good on you both guys! I think you'll see that we are more or less singing from the same hymn sheet when I tell you that after seeing a large skip on the grounds of a distribution centre and I do mean LARGE! filled to the top with in date bread and cakes that were the result of over production due to the fact ( according to the manager we spoke to ) that they (the bakery in question
( and no names mentioned for obvious reasons ) can never predict what amount will be needed each week.
So, since we work for a local foodbank we made arrangements
( months ago to go and collect all of their unused bread and cakes and then sort it all out and have since been delivering it to local church and community groups, to charity shop staff and lots of elderley people we know in our neighbourhood
and not ONE single crumb gets wasted!
But the sad thing is, is how many other over producers of these kinds of foodstuffs are still carrying out this wasteful practice?
just the thought alone makes me SO angry!
more power to people like you guys!
Rose 💋💋
Comment is about Charity Anthology Submissions Wanted (blog)
Original item by Andy N
Thanks also to Hugh and Holden.
Comment is about TURNING THE CLOCKS BACK (blog)
Original item by M.C. Newberry
A brilliant poem. Just fab.
Comment is about in there somewhere was goodbye (blog)
Original item by Red Brick Keshner
Lovely sensual poetry Frederick. 😎
Comment is about seasonalities (blog)
Original item by Red Brick Keshner
Thanks for the likes Bethany and Nigel 😀
Comment is about Boy Racer (blog)
Original item by John Botterill
This is great what you are doing so many people are suffering at this moment of time Andy and Amanda.
Good luck and I hope you can raise a lot of much needed funds for this worthwhile cause.👍
Comment is about Charity Anthology Submissions Wanted (blog)
Original item by Andy N
I think that qualifies, MC.
And thanks for the Like, Frederick.
Comment is about MY FIRST... (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
My thanks to SA; SG; GF and FK for taking the trouble to "like"
this contribution. The theme came - like many others - when
delaying getting out of a warm bed. The connection of time
in our lives linked itself to the November pause to reflect
on lost lives and their own lost time.
Comment is about TURNING THE CLOCKS BACK (blog)
Original item by M.C. Newberry
My own recall is "High Noon" (Do Not Forsake Me") by Frankie Lane - bought at Milsom's musical instrument and record store
in Bath when 45s were taking over from the ubiquitous 78rpm
discs, but you still had the choice. I wanted the Tex Ritter
version as sung on the soundtrack but Ritter hadn't seen its
wider appeal and no disc by that singer was available then.
He was to see his error and record it later. But it was the
deserved sucess of that "belter" of a Western theme song -
Frankie Laine -who grabbed the spoils from the hit it became.
He had a memorable career in that genre, with songs like "The
Hanging Tree", "The Gunfight at the OK Corral", "Rawhide"
and the Mel Brooks nod to a famous genre "Blazing Saddles"
among a long list of hits. I still have a CD somewhere with
them all listed. His recording of "Jezebel" was probably the
earliest pop vocal that I remember hearing that made an
impression before Rock'nRoll hit my generation. It's still
easily recalled and I can hear him in my mind..."Jezebel,,,it
was YOU...Could be better had I never known a lover such as you...." Happy 1950s post-war days of innocence....
PS if you're going for nonsense songs, how about Max Bygraves' "Your're a Pink Toothbrush" for starters?
Comment is about MY FIRST... (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
<Deleted User> (9882)
Fri 4th Nov 2022 23:32
I could not agree more with the previous comments Tom.
Rose 💋
Comment is about Napkin Equation (blog)
Original item by Tom Harding
Slightly scary concept, but it manages to calm us down at the end and become more than just a caffeine fix. It is like a reverse ad. which would by its depth and breadth of thought put off the average punter! Tom.
It's always good to tune in on your rare occasions.
Ray
Comment is about Napkin Equation (blog)
Original item by Tom Harding
Would Tony Blackburn's Woodchop song do, John? We didn't buy it, but found it second-hand in someone's attic.
Comment is about MY FIRST... (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
This is not at all what I was after, Graham! I was hoping for a cornucopia of tosh like Frankie Howerd’s “ Three Little Fishes” or Mike Sarne’s Come Outside”.
Comment is about MY FIRST... (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Stephen Gospage
Tue 8th Nov 2022 16:51
On dangerous ground, here, Uilleam, but I like it. I want to honour the victims of wars (11 November is a public holiday here in Belgium), but there is something sinister about the poppy obsession.
Comment is about Poppy Rocks Bollocks (blog)