Thu 24th Jul 2025 07:38
Dear Hélène,
Your poem touched me — it feels like a gentle voice reminding us not to drown in worry, but to return to the lightness we so often forget. The repetition of “Resilience resilience resilience” really stayed with me — it’s both poetic and powerful. Thank you for this hopeful and heart-lifting piece. It will make me breathe a little easier today and enable me "to play in the garden of life".
Regards,
Rolph
Comment is about Playing in the Garden (blog)
Original item by Hélène
Thu 24th Jul 2025 07:32
Thank you, Graham — I appreciate your thoughtful take. You’re absolutely right: his legacy on climate may leave damage even more far-reaching than what the poem touches on. A sobering point indeed.
Thank you, Stephen — I’m glad that line resonated with you. Sometimes it really does feel like we’ve slipped into a surreal parallel universe… Your comment made me smile (and wince) in equal measure!
Thank you, Uilleam — I really liked your linguistic twist. If “to Trump” ever does become a verb, I can only hope it’ll serve as a cautionary tale in more than just political science textbooks. I truly appreciate your generous comment.
Regards,
Rolph
And again, a HUGE "Thank You" to: Naomi, Yanma, Hélène, K. Lynn, Aisha, Stephen W. Atkinson, Stephen Gospage, Uilleam, hugh and Red.
Regards,
Rolph
Comment is about A Prize Miscast: A Warning to Oslo (blog)
Original item by Rolph David
Thu 24th Jul 2025 07:20
I want to thank you Leon, Hélène and Red for their "thumbs up".
Regards,
Rolph
Comment is about The Boy from Taktser ལྷ་མོ་དོན་གྲུབ་ (blog)
Original item by Rolph David
Thu 24th Jul 2025 07:18
A BIG "THANK YOU" to
Heverson, K. Lynn, Holden, Aisha, hugh and Red!
Regards,
Rolph
Comment is about Resting With What Hurts (blog)
Original item by Rolph David
Thu 24th Jul 2025 07:16
My "thank you" comes a little late, but it's no less heartfelt. Many thanks for your "thumbs up"! Thank you Holden, Aisha, Stephen, Red and Nigel.
Regards,
Rolph
Comment is about The Roads I Did Not Take (blog)
Original item by Rolph David
Thanks to all who read, Liked and commented on this one.
David RL Moore
Comment is about The Angelus Prayer (The Holy Family Church, Gaza 17 Jul 25) (blog)
Original item by David RL Moore
Oh, that is lovely.
David
Comment is about evening at the tide (blog)
Original item by Red Brick Keshner
Thanks @Hélène 🌷🙏🏻🕊much appreciated 🪶
Comment is about evening at the tide (blog)
Original item by Red Brick Keshner
Exactly Helene! Thank you.
Comment is about Notes on Ornithology (blog)
Original item by Mike McPeek
This is a poem of few words that packs a punch. Its meaning could be discussed in a class of curious poetry students. To me, it says: in the world of politics, stop blaming and start fixing.
Comment is about Notes on Ornithology (blog)
Original item by Mike McPeek
Another gorgeous poem RBK. Wow.
Comment is about evening at the tide (blog)
Original item by Red Brick Keshner
It was never far from us,
always the enemy within;
look over there, those foreign folk
have come to steal your homes and jobs,
forget they flee the wars we've waged,
forget we've wrecked all you held dear,
your NHS that's on its knees,
your mental health that's in the bin,
look over there, at that failed state,
those terrorists we've armed for years,
the enemy is them, not us;
but you loved us so, forgot our sins,
and now you are the enemy within.
Comment is about The Grip (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
'Where is the care of thought toward the vulnerable young people'
I am a certified chess coach. I've coached my team to the Nationals (in the Netherlands).But one of the parents was...... aggressive. Also, there were rascist&discriminatory incidents among the kids. As well as violence, which I really tried to handle properly.
The board committee struggled with accommodation, financial accountabilities and most importantly: healthy communications.
I'd sit in the train back home late at night thinking: 'is it really worth it, working like this?'
That's my testimony, hope it's okay like this.
Comment is about Nutter School (blog)
Original item by Rich Brewer
Your first two lines are the key lines here Stephen. It’s the implied threat that is more insidious than the actual outcomes.
Comment is about The Grip (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty, Stephen; as some of us are finding out too late.
Comment is about The Grip (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Although I’ve never had so much as an A4 of my writing published, I have to admit to moments when I’ve imagined myself as some kind of alco-pickled Dylan Thomas, scribbling away in his hermit’s den.
A couple of glasses of the old Uisce Beatha - Irish Whiskey only get me as far as Fantasy Island, after that, the “law of diminishing returns” always comes into force!
Sláinte, agus go scríobha tú, Tim!😉
Cheers and may you keep on writing.
(I think I got that right?)
Comment is about My Heavy Head is Drunk Again (blog)
Original item by Tim Daly
The creative process comes at a cost, Tim. Like all good poetry, this enables us to enter a world that most of us can only imagine. Enjoyed it very much.
Comment is about My Heavy Head is Drunk Again (blog)
Original item by Tim Daly
Thanks for the like, K. Lynn.
Comment is about Haiku for 2025 [No. 27. Christians Awake!] (blog)
Original item by Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh
This horror is being enabled by the UK government!
..........................................NOT IN MY NAME!.....................................
https://youtu.be/oXD5Oh2iHoE
The British Prime Minister is as guilty as hell.
............................................I AM PALESTINE ACTION.........................
Have me arrested, you scumbag!
Comment is about Haiku for 2025 [No. 27. Christians Awake!] (blog)
Original item by Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh
Thanks for the like, Trevor.
Comment is about Haiku for 2025 [No. 27. Christians Awake!] (blog)
Original item by Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh
Thanks for your likes:
hugh
Tim Daly
K. Lynn
Yanma Hidayah
LEON STOLGARD
and
💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗
to you, dear Hind Rajab.
Comment is about Haiku for 2025 [No. 25. My Jihad] (blog)
Original item by Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh
The sudden flurry of consternation, concern and condemnation tells me "Holy Mother Church" has had a
"....then they came for us" moment.
So, come on, Charlie III, "Fidei Defensor", speak up laddie! what are you scared of? Lead by example, and all that...if my grandad had been as gutless as thee, we'd 've all been speaking German by now! 😉
Comment is about The Angelus Prayer (The Holy Family Church, Gaza 17 Jul 25) (blog)
Original item by David RL Moore
I think my question was even more sarcastic as we congratulate ourselves for the forest and woodland management, and yet trees have been around for 400 million years, most of the time without us, and once we have eradicated ourselves in greenhouse gases, they will continue, then all that beauty will be lost to us as we will all be dead.😏
Comment is about Like a night in the forest. (blog)
Original item by JD Russell
I’ve just been looking through some of my past stuff; apologies for failure to acknowledge likes:
Nigel Astell
Red Brick Keshner
Phils Words
Tom Doolan
hugh
Stephen Gospage
Aisha Suleman
Holden Moncrieff
K. Lynn
Hélène
Yanma Hidayah
Thanks for your comments, Graham and RBK.
Graham: Netanyahu does not want peace, end of.
Moving “forward”, as you put it, just ain’t going to happen... not if Netanyahu and his fascist lobbies in the UK, USA and elsewhere have anything to do with it.
The Zionist landgrab (eg. illegal occupation of Palestine) needs “Forever Wars”.
Blair’s Iraq was on Netanyahu's behalf, as was the West Bank, etc etc…: now Iran’s the target, hence Priti Patel’s demonising campaign in UK parliament, (remember her mysterious Israel visit?) despite USA intelligence proving they’re no threat.
Comment is about Saoirse don Phalaistín! (blog)
Original item by Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh
Thank you for sharing. I have had a deep affinity for the United States since I was young.
Even though the Internet creates this 'illusion of closebyness', it's still very dear to me.
All the good!
Comment is about Ode to a Poet (blog)
Original item by Hélène
Hello there poetry friends. After I wrote this poem and posted it on WOL & in an email to a few fans of my poetry (family & close friends), my sisters (one who is gay & the other who has a transwoman adult child), pointed out that I didn't use the honored poet's preferred pronoun "they" when referring to this poet. Whoops! I edited the poem with poet Andrea's preferred pronouns & sent it off to my email poetry group. I am leaving the original version here on WOL for readers (like me!) not yet fully accustomed to the cultural word shifts in LGBTQ+ communities, but I wanted to post this comment to show my fullest respect for beautiful Andrea's pronoun choice (any future writings about a person will use their preferred pronoun; why not? I support anything that makes a person feel loved and respected). For those who may want to dive deeper into Andrea Gibson's gifts to the world, here are a couple of links.
Andrea reciting her poem "MAGA Hat in the Chemo Room":
https://youtu.be/WCX-0zJTEbk?feature=shared
Interview with Andrea:
https://youtu.be/rtSq0tILlII?feature=shared
Comment is about Ode to a Poet (blog)
Original item by Hélène
Tue 22nd Jul 2025 11:39
Thank you, Graham and Uilleam, I appreciate your comments! 😊
Comment is about Balloons (blog)
Original item by Holden Moncrieff
Thank you, JD.
The question posed in your last line is a most important one and is the subject one of my pet hates.
I am frequently preached at – rather, gaslit - by my local authority and various entities, about being “environmentally responsible”.
Yet the very same so and-sos encourage my missus to to put the so-called “waste”, produced by weeding and thinning out flowers, into a special green bin, which is then transported by road to a processing centre, where, yes, you’ve guessed it, someone will will make a tidy profit out of selling it back to…members of the public!
....................to be continued.😐
Comment is about Like a night in the forest. (blog)
Original item by JD Russell
Alfie said “I fucking like that!”
Comment is about ALFIE'S TOURETTES (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
As far as politics is concerned, Miike, the difference between Right and Wrong is more important.😏
Comment is about Notes on Ornithology (blog)
Original item by Mike McPeek
There’s no effin’ princess,
And none in broken leg,
There’s no effin’ operation
That’ll cure my effin’ Tourettes,
But there’s four effin’ effs
in effin’ daffodils,
so I’ll write about them effers instead:
I fuckin’ wandered lonely as a fuckin’ cloud…
tut tut, a bit clumpy that; I must pay more attention to my editing.
I wandered fuckin' lonely, as a fuckin' cloud...
flows a lot effin' better!
Comment is about ALFIE'S TOURETTES (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Sorry Rolph. I must endure...and cannot look away.
Comment is about My Mind Won’t Dim (blog)
Original item by Rolph David
I've been called a balloon before...but that's rather a nice image, me drifting and bouncing nonchalantly through life😊
Comment is about Balloons (blog)
Original item by Holden Moncrieff
A beautiful poem RBK.
You write:
"Salt water heals old fractures in the stones,"
I blink through my tears as I write this, having just watched videos about children and babies being shot and starved to death in Gaza, with the complicity of my government.
If only the salt in my tears could heal those poor babies.💗
Comment is about evening at the tide (blog)
Original item by Red Brick Keshner
migration of imagination, nice words!
Comment is about Balloons (blog)
Original item by Holden Moncrieff
Mon 21st Jul 2025 15:45
If only the chinless wonders in the UK Parliament had half the cojones of this man:
https://youtu.be/z4M_usg8GMg?list=PL9n8fNFZ2frSmBVFrhaCwOoXb9qQUvPJe
Comment is about Like Father-like Son? (blog)
Original item by LEON STOLGARD
Seventy three? Could be worse, I suppose!
Trouble is, those pesky folk just refuse to settle down.
besides, "there's always two sides to every story";
"it's a very complicated situation";
they're not "God's Chosen People",
****and most important of all, they're "less than human".***
they're "snakes", "insects" etc.
Concerning that last excuse, I'll try to find the link to a video of proceedings in the Irish Parliament, some years ago, in which about five Israeli Government officials are quoted, effectively justifying Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing.
Basically statements of INTENT to carry out what's happening right now.
Comment is about Like Father-like Son? (blog)
Original item by LEON STOLGARD
I recommend the can of petrol, David, more hygienic...the pitchfork's far too messy!
Every value I was brought up from childhood to believe in, respect for authority, for the law, for the 10 commandments [in a "Christian" country?], respect for the memory of the fallen, all currently being pissed on by willy - waving wankers.
Comment is about Handala, Speed with our Love on the Wing! (blog)
Original item by Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh
Thank you for your comment, Uilleam. This poem is specifically about the suffering and bravery of the Ukrainian people.
Comment is about Smiles (For the People of Ukraine) (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Thanks for your comment and the info, John.
No, my intention was to play with the grammatical definition of a verb, and that of a noun.
The UK government, whilst protesting its "love" [the noun] of freedom, and of democracy, plainly demonstrates through its suppression of dissent in the UK, enacted on behalf of a foreign fascist regime, that it in reality, does not "love" [the verb] freedom.
Comment is about Haiku for 2025 [No. 26. Palestine Inaction] (blog)
Original item by Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh
I like the way "love's a doing word" is a quote from Massive Attack, who recently founded a body with Fontaines D. C. and with Kneecap and someone else too to protect the artist's right to speak out against war atrocities in the middle east... is this what you were getting at or is it by chance? 😎
Comment is about Haiku for 2025 [No. 26. Palestine Inaction] (blog)
Original item by Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh
Thank you Yanma and Aisha.
David.
PS. If the leaders of Earths great religious institutes are serious about defending the weak, the poor, the outcast's, the down-trodden, they should sail a Ship onto the Gaza shoreline and stand with their various GODS against and in defiance of the greatest evil I have seen in my days. Where the frig are they?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJlN9jdQFSc
Comment is about The Angelus Prayer (The Holy Family Church, Gaza 17 Jul 25) (blog)
Original item by David RL Moore
I am teetering on the cusp of voluntary incaceration at this point in time.
To think I gave years of service to this country, to now be ruled by spineless one cell beings makes me want to vomit in my barefoot trainers.
Those in charge, who suck up to misogynist's and child murderers...and we are supposed to pay their wages.
It literally makes me sick to my stomach to recall the sacrifices I have seen made by honorable collegues, that our so called leaders now vacate their bladders on their memory.
I'm reaching for my pitchfork and a can of petrol!
David RL Moore (Veteran)
Comment is about Handala, Speed with our Love on the Wing! (blog)
Original item by Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh
As ever, positive and upliifting, Aisha. Thank you.
Comment is about Unmasked (blog)
Original item by Aisha Suleman
Wikipedia site on the origins of Handala
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handala
Comment is about Handala, Speed with our Love on the Wing! (blog)
Original item by Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh
Thank you for your likes:
Tom Doolan
hugh
Stephen Gospage
Aisha Suleman
Holden Moncrieff
Auracle
Yanma Hidayah
LEON STOLGARD
and your comments, Graham and Stephen G.
Comment is about Handala, Speed with our Love on the Wing! (blog)
Original item by Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh
Rolph David
Thu 24th Jul 2025 07:45
Good morning Tom,
Your poem Lost Soul really spoke to me. The feelings expressed by the lyrical voice — the longing, the confusion, the deep emotional fatigue — are all things I deeply relate to. It felt as if someone had put into words what I’ve often felt myself but struggled to express.
You’ve given that lost, searching voice a shape and rhythm that’s both honest and haunting. Thank you for sharing something so moving and real. It reminded me that others wrestle with these same questions — and that, in itself, is a kind of connection.
Kind regards,
Rolph
Comment is about Lost Soul (blog)
Original item by Tom Doolan