'Nothing was as it seemed". Yes, an interesting poem full of ambiguity.
Comment is about The Sixpence (blog)
Original item by Stephen W Atkinson
I enjoyed this, Ray. Guilty pleasures and the like. Our minds must think alike because I also wrote a crisps poem a few years ago. I will post it on the blog.
Comment is about CRISPS - THE FALLOUT (blog)
Original item by ray pool
Thank YOU Keith. Your perspicacity is a breath of fresh air as usual.
Comment is about Final Solution (blog)
Original item by John E Marks
I liked the optimism of this one Keith.
I hope that you are right.
Cheers Kevin
Comment is about A Fountain of Eternal Hope (blog)
Original item by keith jeffries
A very interesting write.
You do not tell us her age, but I would assume her to be a young girl.
When was it set..... Obviously pre-decimalisation .
What has she done or is about to do for a tanner.
We are left to fill the gaps in with our own imagination, and that is what I liked about this one.
Comment is about The Sixpence (blog)
Original item by Stephen W Atkinson
Some very clever writing here Stephen, which cannot but fail to intrigue the reader by its oblique descriptive quality.
Good poem
Thank you
Keith
Comment is about The Sixpence (blog)
Original item by Stephen W Atkinson
And Greg, thanks for mentioning the Auden poem. It is one of the greatest ever written and deals with aspects of the past, present and future surrounding that fateful day, with unforgettable language, such as the "elderly rubbish" that dictators talk. Can't think who that reminds me of.
My little ditty, in contrast, is a snapshot or ordinary people "on the edge of the unknown", as Keith says.
Comment is about September Ist, 1939. (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Thanks, Kevin. But Jenny just doesn’t have the sex appeal of The Governess.
And thanks for the Like, Aisha.
Comment is about THE GOVERNESS (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Thanks to Keith, Greg and KJ for your kind comments, and to Holden, Robert, Pete and Kelvin for the likes.
What fascinated me was the idea that everything stopped on the day that the Nazis invaded Poland. I suppose that, as you say, Greg, you can use the experience of cricketers as a metaphor for everything changing from one day to the next. There were many cricketers who never came back and many others who lost the best part of their careers (or were unable to play at all), as happened in so many other walks of life. Of course, the victory over fascism and the subsequent achievements of Attlee government are something to be proud of.
I'm glad you found the poem convincing, KJ. I really appreciate your comments. As Keith says, not knowing what would happen and how long it would all last must have been the worse part.
Comment is about September Ist, 1939. (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
What's not to like.
She's my second favourite chaser.
Jenny only pips her because she plays the ukulele.
Comment is about THE GOVERNESS (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
yeah, it's funny times in Manchester still Greg. The night I co-run Speak Easy started up again in July, and has being drawing steady to good crowds (everybody safe of course) at a new venue, but there are a number of pre-existing nights which ain't returning. Hopefully this will improve
Comment is about That people thing … enjoying poetry for real at our live open-mic poetry venue again (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
The skill of this is the convincing way that it was written in the first person. I could have believed that you were actually there.
The bitter irony of the piece is how people's thoughts were on the loss of a cricket season, without realising the extent of what was about to happen.
A very clever write.
Comment is about September Ist, 1939. (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Thanks for your comment Stephen. Have read a couple of your poems. Will read more.
Comment is about CATHEDRAL (blog)
Original item by john short
#dawn thank you for taking time reading this piece I am honored even though I have had time accepting compliments, I am actually happy to know that I am not the only one who goes through this more reason I should stick around. It actually gives me strength to find someone who relates to the way I feel
Comment is about Too much of life (blog)
Original item by JustKelvinMasilela
Cricket is a useful and skilful metaphor for the ensuing fight against the Nazis, Stephen. There was a sense of the British concept of fair play and decency being outraged by Hitler. I wonder how much of those qualities we as a country still retain today. And the 1940s was less of a 'low, dishonest decade' - as in the Auden poem that refers to the 1930s - than many others, as far as this country was concerned, at any rate. We defeated Fascism, and set up the NHS during that time - two things to be very proud of.
https://poets.org/poem/september-1-1939
Comment is about September Ist, 1939. (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
If only we could look in on each other’s dreams, Stephen and Pete.
And thanks for the Likes, Holden and Stephen A.
Comment is about THE GOVERNESS (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Stephen
Please write a poem about Theresa May ?
Comment is about THE GOVERNESS (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Give me a trident,
I might choose a pitchfork
I love how you said everything. Pushed it and exposed the deep.
What color?
Is like trying to get ahead of time...
Yes. Everyone who has ever had the courage to love - esp those of us that come from a less than perfect beginning - knows exactly where you were when you wrote this.
well done...
Comment is about Too much of life (blog)
Original item by JustKelvinMasilela
A time to remember as war was imminent. A moment of time as people lived on the edge of the unknown. Did anyone think it would last for six terrible years and change the face of history as bats and ball were simply put away for a season.
A poem of nostalgia, a time long forgotten but only remembered by a few.
A very good poem
Thank you for this
Keith
Comment is about September Ist, 1939. (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Thanks you, as always, Stephen, for the like ?
Comment is about A Sunflower In A Winter's Field (blog)
Original item by Stephen W Atkinson
The use of perspective is amazing. What a contrast. Well said!
Comment is about What did they see? (blog)
Original item by Graham Parker and his musings
I love this. What an image of pain and past. I like how you try to dig it out. Show it. Smell it.
I could experience your piece as much as read it.
Comment is about The fury of Hell inside (blog)
Original item by Stephanie S
Good to hear the Labour leader quoting Auden. Unlike the next glib sound-bite from BJ, it feels as though he means it.
Comment is about 'That eye-on-the-object look': Auden quoted by Labour leader at conference (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Thanks, John. I appreciate your support.
Comment is about Elvis Presley Boulevard 1994 (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Interesting thought, Adam. I saw big one in our garden recently, who may have similar ideas. Good one.
Comment is about Wishful Thinking (blog)
Original item by Adam Whitworth
Glad to hear it, John. I had similar feelings about Theresa May. OK, I didn't.
Comment is about THE GOVERNESS (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Great. I love the idea of walls being 'thick with prayers'.
Comment is about CATHEDRAL (blog)
Original item by john short
That rogue officer is an example of how the force as a
whole suffered an aberration who took vile advantage of how
a selection system had been engineered to its detriment
to permit his ability to apply and join in the first place.
The platitudes are always out there. But the fact also remains: This violence has been there in every generation and we
face an inability to understand and address that dangerous
reality in a society that promotes false promises and expectations. The reference to "callousness and indifference"
is a singular indication of how awareness and comprehension
of human wickedness can be loftily condemned in accusatory
fashion rather than considered for its intrinsic invitation to
face and not turn away from the awful actuality. .
Instead of the handwringing piety, tell us HOW to stop these things occurring. But I for one won't be holding my breath.
After the easy accusations about alleged "failings", it will
certainly be a case of "Answers came there none" in a weak
society that's become too smug and self-righteous to
address, let alone recognise and confront what remains horribly constant in base human behaviour.
Comment is about Tougher laws required (blog)
Original item by hugh
Sat 2nd Oct 2021 14:18
Beautiful poem!
I like very much where you say "A breath of wind,
which ripples the reflection of an usual sky. "
Comment is about When I met the summer sea (pretty words from picture books) (blog)
Original item by Sarah Mae
Thank you for reading & hitting the like button for this and some of my other attempts at poetry Lord Kelvin, appreciated.
And for the Like Holden ?
Comment is about A Sunflower In A Winter's Field (blog)
Original item by Stephen W Atkinson
Well said.
Comment is about What did they see? (blog)
Original item by Graham Parker and his musings
Thanks for reading and contributing feedback. I'm not religious either. I wrote this in the early 80s after visiting a lot of cathedrals in Portugal. I recently dug it out and gave it a few refinements. No religious opinions intended, I just wanted to capture the experience of walking inside a magnificent religious building and the awe and sense of peace that such places inspire. They seem to be both constructions of social control and evidence of human striving for nobler things.
Comment is about CATHEDRAL (blog)
Original item by john short
I hope you're okay Aviva and that you'll be back soon. ?
Comment is about Aviva Rifka Bhandari (poet profile)
Original item by Aviva Rifka Bhandari
This poem should ring the alarm bells in the souls of all mankind for each and everyone of us is malleable, pliable and liable to being seduced by outrageous lies. Ordinary men and women, those we sit next to on a bus or work alongside, yea even ourselves are the image of those who drove the trains, rounded up their victims, whipped and then gassed them to death. The herd mentality is a lethal component in the hands of the unscrupulous and the fanatics. We need to be aware, alert, and well informed before we follow any banner or flag.
A poem of chilling merit. Written as a sombre warning to us all. This is where poetry finds its true home. The voice of dissent always needs to be spoken.
Thank you for this
Keith
Comment is about Final Solution (blog)
Original item by John E Marks
Aw, me too Tom! Okay good plan Graham. Cape Leeuwin is one of the stops, Port Macquarie, then a world trip to visit our other WOL friends. Belgium, UK, where else? ?
Comment is about My Ocean Dream (blog)
Original item by Rasa Kabaila
Fri 1st Oct 2021 22:07
The loss of Britain & America is a horrible thing to contemplate.
I fear for my grand-kids and the future generations.
All you have to do is look at any Socialist Country
and you can see the results it brings.
No money, No Freedom. No voice.
Comment is about keith jeffries (poet profile)
Original item by keith jeffries
Thank you Ray. It is a rare treat to hear your considered point of view. A lie can be sold to millions and its effects are then catastrophic for millions of individual lives. When the 'common people' swallow a lie as simple as 'there is no petrol' the panic is obvious.
Comment is about Final Solution (blog)
Original item by John E Marks
Thanks, John and Stephen, and for anyone who pressed the like button.
Hope you got your plumbing sorted out John.
Comment is about How To Choose A Good Plumber (blog)
Original item by kJ Walker
This case has revealed all kinds of problems with the Met police that haven't been addressed. We can't just shrug our shoulders, and say, it was ever thus. Such an attitude suggests callousness and indifference. And don't bring 'wokeness' into it, please. We all have the right not to face danger and indeed, murder, from our own police forces.
Comment is about Tougher laws required (blog)
Original item by hugh
I am not a religious man but I admire hugely the way
any belief can produce such profoundly rewarding
buildings - the impressive memorials to their religious
inspiration; wonderful edifices of how Man can rise
above himself and create "glory" in the name of a
chosen god.
The words here adorn that reality....albeit with a caveat
about the use of "hushed" and
"sliced" in the same context. But
that's a personal view.
Comment is about CATHEDRAL (blog)
Original item by john short
Positivity is always welcome - at any age! ?
Comment is about Life Advice to My Younger Self (blog)
Original item by John McDonough
The care and concern are shared. But every generation seems to
face this situation. One only has to think of the likes of "Jack the Ripper" and work forward. I'd wager each year had its
murders of this sort, with the "Penny Dreadfuls" and the "Police Gazette" carrying the tales to be eagerly read by the shivering fascinated masses. Somehow, we have become
almost sanitised by life, expecting to be freed from the
of the beast beyond the door...as if each woman was some
"Alice" in a newly created wonderland. Tragically, reality
has been left out of the teachings and warnings that should
exist. Only the streets and traffic change; the predator
and prey scenario remains constant. Prevention and
deterrent remain the vital "watchwords". And for too long
the second has ceased to exist in any meaningful sense of
the word whilst we as a society have got our safety issues
confused with words like "rights", "equality" and "freedom".
Comment is about Tougher laws required (blog)
Original item by hugh
Mimi - I'm so glad you enjoyed the poem. I have no difficulty in
seeing the images it portrays in my own "mind's eye". The
walk starts at Higher Brownstone (car park) where the tree
can be seen and moves on down to meet the SW coastal path
opposite the old WW2 coastal defences. It is a bracing part
of the local area for a walk. As mentioned in a previous reply,
the location also has personal resonance, perhaps the primary
inspiration for how the poem "came together". Almost in
rhythm - words with steps taken. The later song version
was a natural sequel to this feeling.
Comment is about DOWN BY THE MEWSTONE (blog)
Original item by M.C. Newberry
There are some nuggets in this piece. The trouble is they are difficult to mine out of the whole poem. It is difficult to read and for my money needs to be in shorter lines.
It’s hidden well, but I search
deep within the crevices of your mind.
I interpret your words and actions
to depict intention and longing, want and need.
etc etc! Just my view, the words are good though
Comment is about (blog)
Original item by Jaysit
Greg Freeman
Mon 4th Oct 2021 18:34
Excellent poem, Ray. I especially like the verse about the cinema ... no wonder mice and even rats flourish there. They certainly did in Woking before the refurbishment. And you're right ... it's actually encouraged in the fleapits!
Comment is about CRISPS - THE FALLOUT (blog)
Original item by ray pool