Hi Cate
Thanks for the comment. I was in my 'rebel' years when I went to SA, but knew nothing of the ways of the world. The only things that bothered me were pop music, football and the odd? girlfriend. I know, now, that I knew nothing of apartheid. It was an illuminating period of my life.
A lot of the black South Africans had Biblical names. I think they were more Christian than the rest of the inhabitants.

Comment is about Cate (poet profile)

Original item by Cate

Hi John
Good to meet you at Hebden, and thanks for taking the time to comment.
I try to at least acknowledge the wrongs that I have been complicit in. I wish I had the guts to do more.
I was 19 when I went to SA, which I think is equivalent to a mental age of about 12 in todays children.

Comment is about John Darwin (poet profile)

Original item by John Darwin

Tee hee. Yes - that's one way of suffering big time...

Comment is about Neil West (poet profile)

Original item by Neil West

yes , to your comments about a fishmonger , cold dead things , slabs , all those ideas instantly in your mind

i am fine , taking lunch break at uni :)

Comment is about Gus Jonsson (poet profile)

Original item by Gus Jonsson

Hi Isobel, Thanks for the comments on CAFCASS Survivor. Good observation. Thanks. Win

Comment is about Isobel (poet profile)

Original item by Isobel

Hi Andy, thanks for reading CAFCASS Survivor, glad you liked.

Comment is about Andy N (poet profile)

Original item by Andy N

Thank you for your compliments on 'To write a poem', Win.This is the first poem I've written for a while.Found it exhilarating.
I see you have a quiet live poetry performing!!!!! Hope its going well for you,
Regards
Phil

Comment is about Winston Plowes (poet profile)

Original item by Winston Plowes

thank you as ever my darling... you say the kindest things
love ya to bits
gusxx

Comment is about Valerie Cook (poet profile)

Original item by Valerie Cook

Hi Anthony - I'd also like to congratulate you on being NPOTM. I've been keeping my head down lately or I'd have acknowledged you earlier, I know I've already mentioned Beyond the Equinox but it is simply a terrific piece of writing and I wish I'd written it!

Comment is about Anthony Emmerson (poet profile)

Original item by Anthony Emmerson

Hi Isobel. Sorry I've not been paying attention but I wholeheartedly agree with the choice of Anthony's 'Beyond the Equinox' for notable poem of the month, if I hadn't been burying my head in the sand lately I'd have voted for it too - good choice. By and by, thank you for your comments on An Anti-Love Poem, I'd intended it to come over as positive and affirming but perhaps I need to suffer a little more yet. I know, I'll post an opinion about next month's POTM:)

Comment is about Isobel (poet profile)

Original item by Isobel

HI Cynthia

thanks once again or taking the time to read and make considered comment on the call - the change of title to the list i had already scratched my head about prior to posting - good to know that there are like minds out there in the ether ; )

and i like that you question if this is indeed a tragedy

i am developing an overall context within which this poem sits

thanks again - i appreciate your comment and time

steve x

Comment is about Cynthia Buell Thomas (poet profile)

Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas

Hi Isobel, thanks for commenting on CAFCASS survivor.made a couple of tweeks on the blogs page. Win

Comment is about Isobel (poet profile)

Original item by Isobel

Good Morning Winston
I've added another thought to the funding discussion.
Thoughts?
Steve M.

Comment is about Winston Plowes (poet profile)

Original item by Winston Plowes

Hello Katie
I think I saw you at this Tuesday's Wicked Words in Leeds. Didn't you open? If it was you I thought you were v good. I was the Clog-Lump that did a few couplets about Our Gert and Betty's.
John Coopey

Comment is about Katie Sandham (poet profile)

Original item by Katie Sandham

I truly meant to congratulate you on being recognized on WOLOP. This a separate post just so you won't miss it.

Comment is about Marianne Daniels (poet profile)

Original item by Marianne Daniels

Thanks Spencer.
I really enjoyed Tuesday and nice to meet you.
I've been to a couple of Open Mics before but they were 10% Poems and 90% Discussion - mostly a load of bollocks. So Chapel Allerton was a pleasant revelation.
Keep posting.
John

Comment is about John Coopey (poet profile)

Original item by John Coopey

Tommy,
I expect Jerry would love the poem. I'm one of those people who just don't get him.

Comment is about Tommy Carroll (poet profile)

Original item by Tommy Carroll

Thanks Isobel, gobbledegoookeeoohgooksomemoregoodecrap.
nkidsssdeermmmpackitineeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrmdehobbllledegookgookdeermdeeebedtime

You know what I mean.

nicky x

Comment is about Isobel (poet profile)

Original item by Isobel

So when are you going to post your 'Take a Break' poem Chris? Loved it last night at the Tudor and this site could do with a laugh...

Comment is about christine yates (poet profile)

Original item by christine yates

Nice to of met you the other night , I have just about got over my coughing fit. It would have to happen as I am about to read and put me off my stride. I liked your spot it was great.

Comment is about John Coopey (poet profile)

Original item by John Coopey

Thanks for the comments! It is a lovely thing to go mad isn't it?....!

Comment is about John Darwin (poet profile)

Original item by John Darwin

Thanks for the comment Cate, 'double bummer' when your are working till four thirty because the only quiet time in the house is after 10pm......and then the youngest decide to wake up at 4pm, and by the time you have settled them by 6, the next wave errupts, and the rest of those beautiful little blighters come 'a bouncing' on your bed, pinching your pillow, sticking fingers up your nose and in your ears and throwing dodies and bottles with deadly aim, that normally bounce off your head!!:-)

11 cups of coffee later...........school run, and third wind takes over. haha.

nicky x :-)

Comment is about Cate (poet profile)

Original item by Cate

Thanks John! I have more stuff up at www.myspace.com/jackiejuno but will add more here when I have a minute!

Comment is about Jackie Juno (poet profile)

Original item by Jackie Juno

Hi Cynthia - the punch and judy piece is a bit off both - have changed it round a bit but have being delayed caus off ill health before I got it up online! glad you liked it - do have a poem called 'the little minixie' or something that I will put up which is dedicated to anna and yourself as you both inspired me at Poetica.. hope you enjoyed it! I'm gonna be missing next week but will return! x

Comment is about Cynthia Buell Thomas (poet profile)

Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas

No Cynthia, I think the poor pearl will be happy of the attention. My greatgrandma, grandma, and my mother, all of gaelic and celtic ( with some spanish and french thrown in - my mother did the family tree), background always told me as a child that pearls were for tears. I am going to do some reasearch now and see what I can find. Interesting how subconsciously things that were ingrained as a child automatically appear in work. I hadn't thought of that, and funnily enough the poem was written on the anniversary of my sons death, and was initially written about what I was doing that night when it happened. I wrote it in a way that was subjective to the reader, so that they could read anything in to it and they would not be put off or swayed in their commentary by a piece that was so personal, as I have already done that in 'the poem that should never have been....'. I found that all that people saw was the content, and the pain and not the poem itself. In 'Pearl Stitch', I hope I succeeded.

I think I have hit one of those blind spots now. My ideas are there and most of the words there, but they are not going onto the paper the way I want them too.

Comment is about Cynthia Buell Thomas (poet profile)

Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas

Congratulations on your WIN, Anthony. Well-deserved for a great poem. Sorry I didn't remember to say this right away...two days later just isn't on!

Comment is about Anthony Emmerson (poet profile)

Original item by Anthony Emmerson

Marianne, thank you for the most comprehensive comment I've ever received...and on Poetry Day! I love it! 'Six-fifteen ....' is one of my personal favourites.

Comment is about Marianne Daniels (poet profile)

Original item by Marianne Daniels

I tend to use spaces - which don't translate here - I'm a fan of letting the reader do the punctuating

Comment is about Steven Waling (poet profile)

Original item by Steven Waling

I have been known to rise to the bait too. :-)

Just read your poems here and enjoyed ' Geocentric'. 'All purpose stars' i can easily connect to and read that when it won potm. Your best on this site i think.

I notice you don't do punctuation. Is there a reason for that? I ask because i like to include it in my work, especially when a sentence ends and another one begins.

Janet.x

Comment is about Steven Waling (poet profile)

Original item by Steven Waling

myspace is breathtaking. Thank you.

Jx

Comment is about Anthony Emmerson (poet profile)

Original item by Anthony Emmerson

Hi John
Thanks for your comment on my poem. I too think there is room for humour sometimes in poems. I enjoyed reading yours about the Light Brigade.
Regards Yolande

Comment is about John Coopey (poet profile)

Original item by John Coopey

U dont sound like a jerk....your words are comforting.....i am young yeah but i got an old mind....thank you for your comments.....x

Comment is about Cynthia Buell Thomas (poet profile)

Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas

'brave new world' has become a generic expression - anything done on a grand scale - discovering the America's - landing on the moon - having a baby - and so on. Ideas and understanding must expand to meet really new challenges - like language and the Internet.

Comment is about Joshua Van-Cook (poet profile)

Original item by Joshua Van-Cook

At the risk of beating 'pearl/purl to death: My mother always said 'pearls are for tears'. I understood it was an ancient idea believed by many in the British Isles. Do you know of any such connection in folk lore, myth or fable?
So knitting is a similar idea to 'the tapestry of life'. Good poems do make the reader think a lot.

Comment is about Nicky Burrows (poet profile)

Original item by Nicky Burrows

Hi John, thanks for your comments on my profile. I wouldn't worry about not doing weighty stuff - it isn't to everyone's taste anyway - a number of poeple find my stuff naive and immature. There is a market for every style on this site - that is the great thing about it.
Till we meet again. x

Comment is about John Coopey (poet profile)

Original item by John Coopey

Thanks for the comments on my words. Keep up the good work mate!.

Comment is about John Coopey (poet profile)

Original item by John Coopey

A good bit of humour with a helping of the cheek -great.

Comment is about John Coopey (poet profile)

Original item by John Coopey

Congrats Anthony! I voted for you.... your work is head and shoulders above the rest!
Cate xx

Comment is about Anthony Emmerson (poet profile)

Original item by Anthony Emmerson

Good show last night Jordan... Enjoyed. Shame about the change of day. Good luck. Winston

Comment is about Jordan (poet profile)

Original item by Jordan

Hi nicky.....i am an appauling speller lol.....i wont shout at u im not that nasty......lol....thanks for ur comment....it really messed with my head writing that poem....i was scared the universe wud cave in hahaha.....thanx again.xx

Comment is about Nicky Burrows (poet profile)

Original item by Nicky Burrows

'Holiday Armageddon' is wonderful. Great imagery.

Comment is about David Pike (poet profile)

Original item by David Pike

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7aIdw-drtM

için ne zaman kalp .. seyahat..
debz : )

Comment is about John Darwin (poet profile)

Original item by John Darwin

You are quite correct Cynthia, in knitting terminology it is generally known as the 'purl stitch' and only sometimes referred to as the 'pearl stitch', for example seed-pearl stitch.

However, 'pearl' is a metaphor for something very valuable and very rare and admirable, also the pearl has a translucent beauty, an iridescent quality to it. The poem is about knitting, however, the knitting represents life - creation and the ongoing intricacies of life are synonomous to the intricacies of the pattern. The purl stitch the 'inverted stitch' - a change in the direction of that life, life being turned upside down by an event (which can be read as a wanted or an unwanted event depending on the reader), and the knitting remains unfinished - just as so many things in life do. We do not value life as much as we should and often take it for granted until something happens, in some cases that realisation comes too late.

Nicky x

So, yes, you also were correct when you commented that the title had significance.

Comment is about Cynthia Buell Thomas (poet profile)

Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas

Loved 'Gallery'. A great sideswipe. The Ted Hughes poem also made me giggle.

pip pip

Comment is about Tommy Carroll (poet profile)

Original item by Tommy Carroll

Nicky, it just hit me (I was doing dishes) that your poem about knitting is "Purl Stitch', the inverted stitch. I looked up 'purl' and the various definitions show this spelling to be correct. Perhaps 'pearl' is used as well?

Comment is about Nicky Burrows (poet profile)

Original item by Nicky Burrows

Hello Steven
I shall add my two pennerth in a moment. I think it will be educational (in all senses of the word) to see what is suggested

Comment is about Steven Waling (poet profile)

Original item by Steven Waling

Thanks very much for reading and commenting on 'Important'. Very much appreciated.
Cx

Comment is about stephen smith (poet profile)

Original item by stephen smith

Thanks Win!
Loved Paul's pictures of you on facebook - must get up north soon and see your act.
Hope you're well?
Cx

Comment is about Winston Plowes (poet profile)

Original item by Winston Plowes

Hi there,
Thanks for the comments on Growing Up - I think actually Palate Cleanser might be a better title!
Glad you're still listening to Phil Ochs - have a listen to some Leonard Cohen, 'The Future' is very interesting, he's an amazing poet.
Cynthia - I love the story about F.U.C.K, in the version I heard it was written over the stocks when adulterous women (never men) were put in, but sadly, I think, it is apocryphal, though its etymology is very vague.
Cx

Comment is about Joshua Van-Cook (poet profile)

Original item by Joshua Van-Cook

Hi cynthia, thanks for your comment on 'single malt', all criticism welcome - have left a comment on the blog. Really struggled with that piece, it was a rewrite of one I wrote 17 years ago - from a different perspective, you may prefer the other. I may blog it, to see if the re-write was an improvement or just self-indulgence on my part :-)

'The Painting' is fabulous! Represents how subjective Art really is. Enjoyed it.

Nicky x

Comment is about Cynthia Buell Thomas (poet profile)

Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas