Just a comment, Richard. In no way a rebuke however gentle or delicious. The word 'orbit' came up in a comment of your own, on another poet's work, or Bio page. And it gave me pause for thought. Partly because I've been a bit sensitive to exactly your point, mulling it over a bit on my own.

I realize interchange between poets can be, or not be, totally private. Yours wasn't. So I didn't feel intrusive; I like to see what other writers have to say about certain poems, or about anything at all.

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Original item by Richard Hartley

Richard, do we have an 'orbit' here on WOL. Maybe we do - but it certainly isn't geographic, deliberately. For awhile it wasn't just the UK. Poets came from the US and Canada and Australia and India and Africa and Europe. And were well received too. Sometimes, English was their second/third/fourth language.

Then, again, maybe 'like' does take to 'like'. And the stalwarts are just that - stalwart. Responsive and regular in their written input, with both poetry and comments. Without a doubt, poetry 'friendships' have developed. And there seems to be an inexorable lean to the North of England writers, with their famous 'one foot in romance and the other in necessity' which pervades the whole society. I have come to greatly appreciate this duality - the essence of 'Northern-ness', a very sharing and brutally honest outlook on life.

Just a thought.

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Hello Richard, Just to say that I enjoyed The Last Train and Deo Gratias. Unfortunately I do not live in Essex but Spain so I am unable to be present at any of your recitations. Thank you. Keith

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Welcome to WOL. Great to see that you are 'running' a poetry night in your area. Good luck on the enterprise; I'm sure you're highly valued.

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Original item by Richard Hartley