Hey, I absolutely love this. It's inspired and innovative. Thank you for posting.
It broke my heart.
My best friend lost his mother recently, I'm lucky enough that my mother is still alive, but my friend's loss has me imagining life without her and the thought of it puts me in a horrible place.
The hope that you offer the final stanza really sorted me out tonight, thank you.
Comment is about Your coffee (blog)
Original item by Guinevere Heron
Thank you Stephen and Tom. I'm glad you enjoyed it. ?
Comment is about Your coffee (blog)
Original item by Guinevere Heron
Thank you Stephen A for your kind words and support. I’ve been blown away by the number of signatures. I started it yesterday, shared it on Twitter, I only have 60 followers?
Comment is about My Petition (blog)
Original item by julie callaghan
A beautifully constructed piece ?
Comment is about Your coffee (blog)
Original item by Guinevere Heron
Lamenting loss & loneliness on a cold winters night, as so many do. Lovely stuff
Comment is about Cold winter night (blog)
Original item by HBaher
Well done Julie, a worthy petition. And 30,000 is absolutely superb! I've just signed it, so 30,001 ?
Comment is about My Petition (blog)
Original item by julie callaghan
Wow, this is beautiful. Very moving and a pleasure to read.
Comment is about Your coffee (blog)
Original item by Guinevere Heron
Thanks Tom, i'm pleased you spotted it, especially as it's the closing line.
Ray
Comment is about FUNCTION BAND (blog)
Original item by ray pool
"an ocean of dancing heads" is an especially beautiful line, Ray.
Comment is about FUNCTION BAND (blog)
Original item by ray pool
Hi Stephen and Brenda, thanks for the comments and likes. I wasn't sure whether this went deep enough but that news story really got to me at the time and wanted to say something about it. Heartbreaking is absolutely the right word.
Thanks Holden, Stephen and Leon for the likes too. I appreciate you reading.
Comment is about Mayor of Kabul (blog)
Original item by Tom
Martin Brenchley
Tue 24th Aug 2021 23:59
We can only hope the graveyard shift don't fall asleep.
Comment is about From The Silence (blog)
Original item by Brenda Wells
Vividly presents an unforgettable, unfortunately, memory. Liked the last two lines in particular.
Jennifer
Comment is about The Log Sledge (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Thank you Graham, Stephen, Stephen, Tom and Holden for reading and liking my poem.
Ray
Comment is about FUNCTION BAND (blog)
Original item by ray pool
Thanks to Keith and M.C. for your positive reviews of this. I am so pleased that you found emotion and atmosphere here. That's exactly what I was trying to create.
Many thanks to Julie, Michael, Stephen A., Holden, Brenda and Pete for the likes.
Comment is about The Log Sledge (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Thanks,MC. I deliberately chose simplicity of language and melody which shadowed the original.
Comment is about HE WAS A FRIEND OF MINE (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Thanks for the likes Holden, Pete, MC and both Stephens. Thank you for the comments Stephen G also MC you are very kind. Thank you
Comment is about A Moment To Savour (blog)
Original item by julie callaghan
Plaintive - well suited to the subject.
Comment is about HE WAS A FRIEND OF MINE (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Sensitively sums up a heartbreaking situation.
Comment is about Mayor of Kabul (blog)
Original item by Tom
Praise be for the soft flutter of butterfly wings. A welcome
visitor at any time - like the posts from this writer.
Comment is about A Moment To Savour (blog)
Original item by julie callaghan
A vignette of an incident that we are invited to speculate upon. The atmosphere is tangible. Nice one!
Comment is about The Log Sledge (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
A personal perspective to be sure, but also a pointer towards
seeing and valuing things for their intrinsic worth to us.
Comment is about Mandarin (blog)
Original item by Krab
Simple but not simplistic. A reminder to make hay while the sun
shines and be grateful..
Comment is about Awake (blog)
Original item by Cody Roach
Thanks for your likes
Holden
Stephen G
Stephen A
and
Michael.
Comment is about Betrayal on a Massive Scale (blog)
Original item by Nigel Astell
Thanks for the Likes. Stephen Atkinson, Stephen Gospage and Holden.
Comment is about HE WAS A FRIEND OF MINE (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Their is a depth here which it is almost impossible to explore but only to speculate on. A deeply emotional poem, written in a heartfelt moment.
Thank you for this
Keith
Comment is about The Log Sledge (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
This is a very fine poem, Tom. The sad thing is that the West created expectations among some of the Afghan people which could never be realised.
Comment is about How To Think About This (blog)
Original item by Tom Harding
Thank you, Julie. 'Pottering' is such a lovely word.
Comment is about A Moment To Savour (blog)
Original item by julie callaghan
Mon 23rd Aug 2021 16:08
Of course I am grateful for your reading and comments LK.
There is no doubt that titles grab readers, it is a well established fact the tabloids alone are proof of that.
We live in a world of fast news and quick fixes which is impacting upon the quality of writing and the accuracy of detail therein. If the only way we can attract people to read is to entice them with redtop tactics that in my mind is a great shame.
Writers who utilise subtlety born from a broader grasp of the subject matter take a risk at remaining unread by a wider readership.
That said, it may not really matter as those who miss the subtle directive would most likely not appreciate the greater content in any case.
Thank you again for your response, it was though the cause of some frustration which went some way to prove the point I was with some futility attempting to make.
No matter
One could also attempt to stand out from "the others" by not writing shite, that's also a useful tool.
Comment is about Death, Sex and Violence (blog)
Original item by Crimaldi
Thanks, Tom. As I said on your own post, shameful indeed.
And you’re right about it being a Bob Dylan song. But a cover. It is much older than His Bobness.
Comment is about HE WAS A FRIEND OF MINE (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Thanks all on the poem.
There is much to lament in the world but I think this episode has been truly stunning for many. There are points worth recognising on either side but my overall reaction was a type of paralysis. Not a particularly political one beyond a nihilistic feeling that this is place where politics utterly failed.
It feels impossible to process some of what we see in the news cycle... And finding a hopeful message to pass onto the next generation about what life is and what it means, becomes harder and harder.
Comment is about How To Think About This (blog)
Original item by Tom Harding
Lovely. The folk process in operation. I like the appropriation of the song in this context. Bob Dylan would be proud.
Comment is about HE WAS A FRIEND OF MINE (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Life Krishna is what you alone decide you have crafted this poem to ask yourself perhaps what you already know.
Comment is about What is Life? (blog)
Original item by Krishna
I 'm loving hearing about these international biscuits! Stephen I hope we can all share some hobnobs with some tea and poetry some day together. ?
Comment is about Put me on the kitchen counter—please! (blog)
Original item by Rasa Kabaila
I'm putting prude in the past. ?
Comment is about Put me on the kitchen counter—please! (blog)
Original item by Rasa Kabaila
<Deleted User> (30611)
Mon 23rd Aug 2021 10:50
I take a slightly different view. I think the title and the first line can be effectively used to draw the reader in. It's like submitting your CV...how do you get it to stand out from the others?
Comment is about Death, Sex and Violence (blog)
Original item by Crimaldi
The world has always had its share of human tragedy but today's global media brings it to us on a 24/7 basis. Nations
fail at any given time, with circumstances playing their part.
Question: is the West too mired in the belief that all nations are
ready and really willing to embrace its own hard-won ideals of
"freedom" and "democracy"? Or should there be a "step-back"
- as in Afghanistan - where decades of death and huge cost
sees a so-called unconquerable warrior nation flee from a
very familiar bunch of religious insurgents instead of standing
en masse for THEIR freedom and THEIR country? The original
9/11 motive for going there succeeded, but two decades have
clearly revealed no sign of any political/national will or desire
to act as a "nation entire" shoulder to shoulder and resist their
impertinent hugely outnumbered oppressors.
The West has been on another road to hell with all its good intentions, plus its protective 9/11 self interest. Tragedy takes various forms and this is one more
example in this modern world.
Comment is about How To Think About This (blog)
Original item by Tom Harding
Mon 23rd Aug 2021 08:48
Thank you for the likes.
It seems that those who write be it essays, prose or poetry have to now employ shock tactics to get anything read by the masses, not that many of the masses read at all these days.
I have seen some excellent writing on this site, the more thoughtful focussed writers seem to employ a level of subtlety in the titles they give to their work which probably results in them being skimmed over by those seeking redtop type fodder. It really is a shame.
I thought I'd scribble some doggerel which reflected my observation, which may also stand to prove my theory. I won't hold my breath.
Comment is about Death, Sex and Violence (blog)
Original item by Crimaldi
Thanks all for the likes and to KJ for the comment.
Comment is about Today’s News (blog)
Original item by julie callaghan
I sense you are on to something here, Stephen. You might consider a follow-up to my own treatise of a couple of years ago but on your own experiences of emesis.
https://www.writeoutloud.net/public/blogentry.php?blogentryid=95635
Comment is about FADED GENES (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Not sure I'll sleep well tonight, Rasa.
(And Stephen - what did you have to tell her for? It was better she didn't know).
Comment is about Put me on the kitchen counter—please! (blog)
Original item by Rasa Kabaila
I swore I would give up drinking after being sick on a rush-hour Circle Line train near Tower Hill one evening in the 1970s. I still shudder when I think of the passengers retreating as though I had the plague. Still, I did more or less give it up. Some can take it, some can't.
Comment is about FADED GENES (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Much poetry is fantasy. I'm surprised more politically minded
individuals aren't prominent. ?
Comment is about Our man in Berkhamsted: poet becomes mayor in Graham Greene's home town (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
We are covered and drowning in media and indeed can often only respond internally as you well describe. Such news comes home to roost on our doorstep where we are vulnerable. A very poignant moment described Tom
Ray
Comment is about How To Think About This (blog)
Original item by Tom Harding
Thanks, Kev. In truth, I never liked the stuff (Newky Broon,, that is) but it was de rigeur at the time. And just as all animals have the same number of heartbeats in a lifetime, they say that we all drink the same amount - it’s just that I drank twice as much as most so I got there sooner; meaning I could stop.
Comment is about FADED GENES (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
It's heartbreaking to see what is happening over there. It's hard to watch the news, but impossible to turn away from it.
Comment is about Today’s News (blog)
Original item by julie callaghan
Nice write John.
I was fortunate enough to have got most of my stupidity out of the way when I was very young, and I took my drinking as more of a serious art form .
Now I limit misen to just a couple of pints, and you are T.T .
I'm surprised that you managed to get 10 pints of Newky brown in, seeing how long it takes you to just pour a pint or the fizzy stuff.
Comment is about FADED GENES (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
M.C. Newberry
Thu 26th Aug 2021 12:18
The individual tragedy amounts to a national tragedy.
Question - how did Afghanistan fail itself when given two
decades to stand together shoulder to shoulder against "the
usual suspects"? Where was their "Churchill" or "De Gaulle" to lead the way in a fractured tribal-tribute society? Or is the
place itself merely a sandpit of shifting dreams and aspirations?
Comment is about Betrayal on a Massive Scale (blog)
Original item by Nigel Astell