Drewton Tunnels
DREWTON TUNNELS
Fourteen was a magical summer, sun hotter than
Any summer since, grass more green and more intense,
Green in the nose, as well as in the eyes,
And the chalk brighter and more white, even, than the fluffy clouds
Piled like confectionery on the horizon,
The sky bluer, and your adolescent girlfriend
More achingly beautiful every day,
Breasts bu...
Sunday 31st July 2011 9:23 pm
Also by STEVE RUDD:
Matrimony Rap | An English Hairbag Foresees His Death | Scar Tissue |Think poem
THINK
Do you want to renounce violence against other people on a personal scale and on an international level, where countries are bombed and shelled? This isn't good, people are injured and die. Think what happens if I hit someone and kill him with one punch, this does happen. If a mortar falls and kills a dozen people in a busy market place.
What does it solve? Each person...
Sunday 31st July 2011 3:32 pm
Also by NICK ARMBRISTER:
poem on a sunken ship | pagan poem | poem on my ex and a decade on when we passed 1 another | poem i read live at blouse band gig opening for them | poems i read at Scribble Fest, Rochdale July 2011 |
THE REASON WHY
(a tele-ad love tale)
Why do you think I love you, sweet?
Do you think it`s the sway of your hips as you walk,
Or the toss of your hair?
Do you think it`s your far off forest-of autumn eyes that make me care,
Or the calm of your voice as you talk –
Do you think it`s your loveliness laid me at your feet?
Just what do you think love...
Sunday 31st July 2011 1:46 pm
silly housework poem (warning - contains the word bugger;)
I’ve lived here now three years and more
Bugger
Don’t look as good as it did before
Bugger
The skirting board has all gone fuzzy
Bugger
The colour’s dulled, the corners muzzy
Bugger
I’ve filled the place with loads of stuff
Bugger
Heaven knows I’ve got enough
Bugger
They say that after several years
Bugger
The dust bunnies get bigger...
Sunday 31st July 2011 11:30 am
Also by Ann Foxglove:
diamante ghost | diamante love | by your leave | no place like home | white knights | whitechapel ladies | wind in the chimney | carrion |9 months and counting.
Slightest touch ignites. Flames flourish within. Agonising. If I could I would skip to the next obscene moment and re-wind play re-wind play re-wind. I can feel it brewing. Not long now. The next one will make me flutter and not fall. The drought continues.
Sunday 31st July 2011 1:12 am
The Clyde Paddle Steamers
Memory as clear as a perfect summer;
two-funnelled steamship, day trip
to Inverary. Pier to pier under fug
of smoke; going below
to watch engine cranks turn mesmerically;
on the way back people on deck
singing to an accordion band.
Most of the Clyde paddle steamers
scattered or scrapped. One lay berthed
on the Thames, lost. Just
the cash-strapped Waverley,
sti...
Saturday 30th July 2011 11:39 am
Men and tears
Men
Macho Reluctant
Hiding Submerging Suppressing
Sadness Joy Failure Celebration
Feeling Crying Weeping
Liberated Emotional
Tears
Saturday 30th July 2011 8:06 am
Also by Dave Bradley:
LMF | A Walk with Asylum Seekers | The wee men and the bin man |confrontational history
`
if we looked at history
on a multi-plane spreadsheet
and compared the goings on
in each particular era
we shall find that at any given
period, no matter the advancement
there inevitably at a cost lay revealed
atrocities, genocides, discrimination
prejudices, and a lack of conscience
that marks the brute in humans
poets have also been present
ever a...
Saturday 30th July 2011 4:43 am
Know who i am.
come into me
fold yourself and feel me
sink yourself to my depths
and try to swim
swallow your own sickness
and try to breathe
come into me
see who i am and
still remain
be who i am and
try not to break
be what i need
and try to stay
come into me
and know me.
Saturday 30th July 2011 1:13 am
Also by Kath Hewitt:
Pea - COCK | Untitled | Hurt |Back home
Walked 'round the town where I was born and bred
Places changed, friends gone, some dead,
Fading ghosts of streets that were home to me
Where I'd played as a child, young and fancy-free
The glow of the smiles that used to be
On the faces of friends I knew.
Wraiths of ships built on the river there
Faint echoes of their horns on the misty air
Phant...
Friday 29th July 2011 11:35 am
Also by John Embley:
Memorial for EAW | Eye of the Beholder | I close my eyes | Blues for a Mog |Welcome back
The Prague spring is a well known thing, but its summer burns intensely and all is overheated.
The last time I was here was long ago, and I think it was October, I’m sure it was October.
I have no elaborate plan, but the plan is elaborate enough: I really need a holiday, really need to chill
and relax and drink coffee and go to the gym, but also wild adventures with the characters I...
Thursday 28th July 2011 7:42 pm
Also by Dermot Glennon:
The song of the existence of matter | Building the future |Minor Sin
(.......and now for something completely different.....)
The mission’s not impossible; it is not even hard;
I just enact the script for Him - a player, nothing more;
It’s happened in the future once it’s become His Word,
Which is to purge creation of the Babylonian Whore.
She worms her way through history, corrupted to the core;
In Adam’s fated fall fro...
Thursday 28th July 2011 6:42 pm
Also by John Coopey:
The Fairies in the Backs | The Ghost of White Hart Lane | Boots | No Better Ending | Costa Coffee | Senlac Hill |When I Let Go
A guiding light to illuminate the way
Wednesday 27th July 2011 8:40 pm
Jayne Fontaine
Jayne Fontaine was not to blame
It was surely Auntie Mable
That let the baby crack its head
Under the kitchen table
And as the screams filled up the house
And spilled on to the street
Jayne ran around to garden to
Be sure the first to meet
The neighbours and the gathering throng
So perplexed and concerned
And horrified and angry at
What each in...
Wednesday 27th July 2011 5:39 pm
Also by Christopher Dawson:
A price worth paying? | Style icon | A World away | Incucumbent | Engendered Resolution! | Behind many successful men... |Visitation (For The Ghost Theme)
It must have been
a suggestion of some
small quality
that attracted you.
Did I talk in my sleep,
ask for you,
ask for your company?
I cannot deny
here you are
beside me,
whether in dream
or day.
to your intensity.
You the appealing
carrier of legend.
underneath,
lives a dragg...
Wednesday 27th July 2011 1:07 am
Festival time
It's been such a very few short days
since our last intimate embrace,
Yet I can say with an urgent truth
the thing I've missed most is you.
The strain I've felt in that alien place,
How I've suffered for what I'd to do,
left with an ache I can hardly stomach,
and a pressure too great to tolerate.
The colourful pageantry delighted me,
the music, dancers and cl...
Tuesday 26th July 2011 8:05 pm
Today I didn’t change the world
Today I didn’t change the world at least not very much
I did not win the lottery nor save some other’s life
But on my way I tried to help the few that I did touch
By finding hope in poetry when hopelessness was rife.
Tuesday 26th July 2011 4:20 pm
Also by Mark Mr T Thompson:
Do you have to dress smart to make wise? | I only had one humbug | Poverty is a poor excuse for a paucity of poetry, |I Heard Her Sigh By The Fireplace
She set her glass
On the mantelpiece
And fixed her eyes on the flame.
The courage of the coal
As it flicked and sniggered.
The madness of its desperation
She percieved as genius.
But something was not right.
She gulped her wine
Too enthustiastically
Forced the cigarette
Into submission.
She had to walk away.
The heat was just...
Tuesday 26th July 2011 2:57 pm
Also by Kealan Coady:
Plasticopolis | Nothing Is Ugly In The Dark | Foreverless | Upas | Keeping You Warm | Nocturne | Excerpt from novel. | The Volunteer Creature | The Burning Of The Sting | The Slaves Are Happy | Fluke | Woman Of The Future | Palace Of The Palatal | Christians Are Funny When They Cry. |'So sad WAS I' by John Harrison
'So Sad WAS I'
I dialled a number
A soft voice spoke
And talked gently
I spoke tentatively at first
But then...
Not so hurried
This voice filled me with care
It comforted me
That I could be heard
Listening intently
Ever so gently
A voice of understanding
At last!...
A short time passed
As I gasped but...
The pain
The pain...
Tuesday 26th July 2011 8:59 am
'ThePoetry Spoke' wol member- Guest Poet- The Super Stella Jones! Open mic- £20 prize!
'ThePoetry Spoke'
Great poetry and acoustic music night-
Wednesday night- 8pm!
La Gondola
22a Liscard Crescent
Wallasey- The Wirral
CH44 1AE (a stones throw over the Mersey from Liverpool)
Our Guest Poet
‘Stella Jones’
WOL member, published in several anthologies and a major contributor to Different Ages, Different Walks- poetry collect...
Monday 25th July 2011 3:46 pm
Fostering
You've got attachment issues, kid,
and I can't take this hat off my head:
we're beginning to make eye contact.
Seven pairs of shoes you've worn today;
I'm breaking out of The First Aid Box
into the parallel play area.
Your hair stands up on the trampoline
like Harpo Marx in the kitchen clock;
I wonder if we're catching you in time.
Let's see...
Monday 25th July 2011 3:22 pm
Conservation
Conservation
Atmospheric pressure above the
Marsh-mellow clouds make spectacular wishes
Of the universe – and for a moment,
If we grab the tail and never let go,
We’d have chance upon escape.
We could snatch it,
Cling on – our dear life and play
Amongst the stars,
We could fly like fantasy
The greats; Capricorn, Virgo, Le...
Monday 25th July 2011 3:13 am
Also by Noetic-fret!:
Storm Theory | OPERATION | Win Win Win Till Money Kills All | The British Have Soured | 38 Degrees | Crimson Plains | I Am Woman | Lost Effort |Ocean's Edge
Standing on the edge of an ocean shore
on the sand shimmer surface of the swell;
my arms thrown out wide to the water’s roar,
I listened for the tolling of the bell.
Strange screeching birds were circling overhead;
“Into the water, if you dare!” they cry.
It felt as if my life hung on a thread;
“What if it’s cold or too rough?”, I reply.
Then a wind like a hammer hit my back
a...
Sunday 24th July 2011 8:58 am
Also by Alan Morrison:
The Love Police | Inevitable [a sonnet] | Facets of Friendship, Part 1: "Friends Lite" | Quivering Quill | Ghostword Graveyard | Les Mots qui Rient [a sonnet] | My Little Sieve | Independence Day Freedom Rap | Pearly Gates |Break
Smile,
like it's the last time
you'll ever hear me say
I love you.
And pretend that last summer
wasn't the nightmare you remember,
that all pretty girls grow up
in pretty dresses
and Daddy loves them a life time.
So smile.
Never remember this night,
or the shocking realization
that all little girls grow up
to be whores or worse...
Fools in love with fools.
Sunday 24th July 2011 3:44 am
New Gig This Sunday
Saturday 23rd July 2011 12:00 am
Girl in a Lake
on heavy eyes the full moon cast gilded shadows
swan path shafting seductive to the shore where
she dropped her clothes and entered liquid light
jewelled feet icy lustrous pale arms high uplifted
now wide eyes of unwavering clarity enraptured
dream-wooing dream-possessed she sank gleaming
to her knees in the bitter midnight water open palms
thrust upwar...
Friday 22nd July 2011 4:55 pm
Also by Cynthia Buell Thomas:
Ocean Thoughts | Cats |"Love You Millions" A Cut-Up Type Poem
I created this poem using a very rigid cut-up inspired technique of going through an article in a women's magazine and only deleting words. I kept all of the text in the same order as in the article and didn't add anything or change any tenses etc.
Love You Millions
I don’t know what was harder
Being told
Or having to explain it
“I’m poorly”
But you’re ...
Thursday 21st July 2011 10:59 pm
Also by Gemma Lees:
Quoting Mikey Wong: "Poetry Is Gay" |Ghosts of Rivington Moor
Ghosts of Rivington Moor
On a clear day from this windswept range
your eyes can see as far as the coast
and the mountains of North Wales
in heavy rain they can see little worth talking about
blindfolded by a dismal blanket of cloud
Centuries ago these hills were ablaze
warning of invasion from foreign lands
it’s pike still stands in solitary recogniti...
Thursday 21st July 2011 9:42 pm
Ticket to Ride (Blackpool Mystery)
Random moments
bring fragments of peace.
On dust covered dunes
lost in the drones of the sea,
or looking at you
looking aimslessly out of the window.
Watching Candy Floss
dance across the sea.
Listening to bus wheels
stutter like stray thoughts.
Looking for ...
Thursday 21st July 2011 9:01 pm
THE AWAKENING
I see the smoke is shifting I see the veil is lifting And there's an itching in the providence. Where love is missing. Them looks are menacing No longer dosed on bogus medicine Feel like a veteran I'm wartorn stuck in these malevolant ages. These awakening stages Giving way to these nations Showing evident rages. Ive been flipping them pages Ancient knowledge in traces Prophresisin...
Thursday 21st July 2011 11:35 am
Meadow Melody
Chewing the cud unperturbed by the world in the heat’s haze,
Up in the meadow tread red-polled, old, dun cows and brown cows,
Jerseys and Guernseys combining with Holsteins, all fine beasts.
All summer long in the strong, blinding sunshine, the kine graze,
Nibbling the timothy, fescue and rye grass, that high grass
Hiding the hollows, where tussocks of sedge deck the m...
Wednesday 20th July 2011 9:20 pm
Also by C Richard Miles:
Traffic Thoughts | Tewit Nesting |Death of a Thistle (part2)
As the sun subsides.
The cold wind rides the waves, across the sea.
Starved of light she fights to survive.
The harsh pains of overwhelming rains, and frosty dawns.
Winter scorns her.
She withers to stem, as her petals fall to soils too hard to nourish or flourish from.
Long gone are summer showers.
The warm rays of empowering long days.
She recalls when she would dance, in...
Wednesday 20th July 2011 8:00 pm
Also by Amy McCawley:
Birth of a Rose (part1) | Life's Rain | Waiting room |Political Statement - The Latest Decree
Those days are over when we ruled the seven seas
And when we wanted money we could rob the Portugese
'Cos now they're robbing us through the european coffers
And there isn't any fighting, they just come and take it off us
You buggers are too healthy and you're living far too long
Now that's all fine and dandy when economies are strong
Even for the reaper, times are hard and things l...
Wednesday 20th July 2011 7:47 pm
Also by Dave Carr:
Sockless in Scarisbrick |The School Play 2
Here we are, two years on
And still I hate the school play
In crammed airless hall
Two hours of my life stolen
only this time it’s worse…
I’ve grabbed the last two seats in the house,
embroiled myself in chit chat with a neighbour
before the waft of urine hits my senses
and I thought her husband switched places
to ease our conversation…
My 15yr old bemoan...
Wednesday 20th July 2011 5:59 pm
Also by Isobel:
The School Play (Re-post) | Tainted Wings | Shoes, Feet and all things Podiatric Competition Results |Proudly Idle
I’m a carefree lad,
A lazy git,
Whichever you prefer,
I don’t mind either,
Or anything,
Except having to do work
Of some,
Or any description
You know this life’s good,
That of the ne’er bored,
Taking each day,
Just as it comes,
To put on an act,
As if prepared for it,
Such effortless style, such élan!
The secret: Don’t care
We, the lazy are...
Tuesday 19th July 2011 3:34 pm
Also by Joshua Van-Cook:
Summer |silver lady midnight moon
When silver lady midnight moon
Caresses sand and sea
I can hear her gently calling
A calling out to me
She is pushing me and pulling me
And luring me along
For she wants me in the ocean
Where she says, that I belong.
She wants me in the ocean
She wants me in the sea
She wants me neath the foaming
Rage so the waters cover me.
She ...
Monday 18th July 2011 10:31 pm
the day of her leaving
the day of her leaving
it's a bit battered now
but I remember it when it was pristine
pages almost sticking together as they opened for the first time
faces inside
staring back
unaware of time passing
monochrome memories
family, relatives, confetti, suits, shiny shoes
daft hairstyles back-combed into oblivion
me as a small boy
...
Monday 18th July 2011 9:12 pm
Second haiku
Second haiku
Toxic like kisses
A path of broken wishes
The weak me misses
Monday 18th July 2011 7:48 pm
CAPTION THIS PIC!
Just for a bit of fun. Add your own caption to this blog entry - or post another pic . . .
Maybe one for the ladies . . .
and for the gents . . .
Sunday 17th July 2011 2:45 pm
Also by Anthony Emmerson:
(untitled) | Girl in a summer dress | Phoenix (re-posted by request) |Last Drop
Last Drop
by, Melissa R. Mendelson
You can talk politics
until blue in the face,
but are they listening?
The world
slices us like a knife,
bleeding us dry,
and we’re holding onto the threads,
trying to live our lives.
But are we living?
We’re talking,
but no more words are heard,
buried under the weight
that is crushing us down.
Yet, we try to walk.
We step fo...
Friday 15th July 2011 11:24 pm
Upward Soul/Downward System
You can try to fight me,
But you won't beat me,
I speak my truth openly,
Never discretely.
OpenMind
OpenHeart,
OpenSoul.
OpenYourEyes,
Regain control.
I will stand,
I won't fall.
For I can't take another day
against the wall.
And in my heart,
...Friday 15th July 2011 7:14 pm
First Readings
http://www.youtube.com/user/clawfishy Here three videos of my first readings would love feedback as i know they are not perfect by any means but i am now on a learning curve about projection and performance so let me know
Friday 15th July 2011 6:11 am
Also by Chris Lawrence:
Sparkles With Annie | Festival of Firsts |Jackie Hagan at Edinburgh Fringe Festival
Does anyone know someone who in Edinburgh who'd be willing to put up the much acclaimed poet and stand-up, Jackie Hagan, for a night or two anytime during 6th – 28th August, whilst she performs at Edinburgh Fringe?
email jaclynhagan@hotmail.com or facebook www.facebook.com/jackiehaganpoet
Thursday 14th July 2011 5:13 pm
Scarlet Ribbons
She said that I looked Irish, as we sat and warmed our hands
Beating djembe herding us to sway and stamp and clap
I looked across and through the flames
That sighed and licked up over logs
Into her eyes, in all their eyes
The light: not fading, changed
Scarlet ribbons curling around
Stripes of orange a...
Thursday 14th July 2011 9:46 am
Poe
Thursday 14th July 2011 3:13 am
Also by Marianne Daniels:
Juliet | Pilgrim |I lost two cities
I lost two cities,
lovely ones.
Both because of the men I loved when there.
I had to leave them, had no choice but to flee.
From Paris' grandeur and Londons greatness.
Away, away....
Was it the cities or the love I lost, or both,
Because of one another gone.
Maybe I will return to their vastness but not to the loves or the men
No they are long gone.
I los...
Wednesday 13th July 2011 4:01 pm
Strip Mining
Tuesday 12th July 2011 9:47 am
Dead of Night
Sunday 10th July 2011 8:50 pm
Svātantrya
No question of hesitation
you left the water,
and walked the planks
into town.
Changing language
with a flick of your tongue -
tasting the air,
as salted freedom
followed you on the breeze.
Knots untied themselves
as you passed.
Brown eyes
questioned your worth -
but within your presence
there existed no space
for limitations and
o...
Sunday 10th July 2011 6:02 pm
Read Out Loud, Monday 11th July
Just a reminder about our Read Out Loud event tomorrow at Stockport Art Gallery in the fine creative setting of the Open Contemporary Art Exhibition. Non-regular attendees have to book a place via the Gallery (0161 474 4453). The event starts at 7.15 PM but attendees should try to arrive by 7.00 PM.
A microphone, laptop and projector will be provided for those wishing to provide a multimedi...
Sunday 10th July 2011 10:33 am
Recent Comments
TobaniNataiella on She Says Goodbye
55 minutes ago
R A Porter on Sashaying to Byzantium
3 hours ago
Ray Miller on Dominoes
7 hours ago
Red Brick Keshner on Beneath the Armour: Reaching for True Strength
7 hours ago
Reggie's Ghost on Dominoes
7 hours ago
Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh on Early winter's day
7 hours ago
John Coopey on IT AIN'T ME, BABE
8 hours ago
John Marks on Early winter's day
8 hours ago
TobaniNataiella on She Says Goodbye
8 hours ago
Rick Varden on Sweet Memories
8 hours ago