Rock on with lock-ons

fighting heart-black frack backers. 

The glue is super. 

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We don’t know how our food is made,

We don’t know how the eggs are laid.

We try to learn but get brain fade,

We don’t know how our food is made.

We don’t know how our food is cooked,

We meant to learn but never looked.

We don’t know how our tickets are booked,

We don’t know how the goose is cooked.

Who knows how money moves around?

Value disappears, the cr...

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Set the paper boat

afloat upon the river

to find divine hands

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The rich are cursed

always first

in queues, they never feel thirst, 

their chests burst

with pride, while lackeys durst

not cross them, opponents are coerced,

and they are so versed, so very well versed

in the avoidance of tax and all other such vexations, and so

morality is reversed

in the looking glass world in which they are immersed. 

If ill, in luxury they're nur...

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Life is brief

but lasts a long time. 

I like short poems

and it helps if they rhyme. 

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Facts.
So very many of them,
far beyond, far far beyond,
way beyond
any one individual's ability, 
beyond the capacity of any person
to read, to absorb, to grasp,
to know,
to understand.
Too much, too much
by a mind-boggling margin
as billions of new facts
are created every day.
Fresh mountains are added, whole ranges,
and you and I can manage
to take on board just six or seven
or ...

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Why is anything the way it is

Made like that and not like this?

Why are there eyes and lead and bees?

How unlikely are stars and trees?

Is the word real content-free?

I want to see, properly see, really see.

I can't see radio waves or infra-red

And can't keep that out of my head.

What is the DNA of the universe,

This crazy scheme that could be worse?

The dis...

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frightening, baffling

those are people,
people people
faces
scarey faces.
What is behind?
What is inside?
Masks, masks and movements, 
movements and words. 
Fear, being afraid
of people.
Nerves jangling
more than nerves
very much anxious. 
Words and movements!!
What do they mean?
What does that mean? 
and this mean?
and that mean? 
and the touches which are bad-worst of a...

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The messaging boy rode his bike hands-free
past the house where the man slew his parents.
Oblivious, the boy was hungry for life.
The man was hungry for death.

It's a risky business having children.
They do dangerous things,
cycling helmet-less along busy roads
both hands and both eyes
on the fascinating phone. 
They do dangerous things
like knifing you
repeatedly.

Those children.
...

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You brush past a bush, 
it ambushes, scratches you, you
hardly notice it, it
gets septic,
death follows.
The sniper picks out you, you
are the unlucky one, one
of the others could easily have been, been
shot, shot dead, but no,
death follows.
Life is boobytrapped. 
It's a minefield, any minute, minute
germs, viruses, bacteria can invade, invade
through the tiniest crack, crack
t...

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When the sale fell through,
Carl Side put his yoke and pike up for auction
At the place with the green gable
on the longside of the High Street. 
"Let's start on ten," said the auctioneer, a little man. 
"Five", said the grey friar.
"Too low, pike alone is worth eight," said the auctioneer. 
"I'll raise you twenty," said an old man. 
That's a high raise thought Carl.
"I'll raise another...

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When the falling corpse

Extinguishes the flame,

The Moth or the Candle,

Which is to blame?

And who is to blame

When both have been used,

When each trusting heart

Is mangled and bruised?

It cannot be helped.

Each Siren must sing.

The needle points North

And Hope must take wing.

Those made of iron

May skirt round the fact,

But you can't ...

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I hear and I forget

I see and I remember

I do and I understand

Na

I hear and I do not listen

I see and I forget

I do and I just might remember

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There must be lonelier graves

than Betty's

but few

and none lonelier on lonely Hoy.

Up there in the heather,

miles above the sound of sea.

Betty Corrigall.

Walked into the waves with no wedding ring.

No sacred vows,

just a sacred foetus,

but was rescued,

Saved.

For what? In a community that talked of salvation

but shunned her.

Finished the job a little lat...

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Do you know where Hoy is?
Heard of the Old Man
(back to him in a minute)
But do you know where it is?
The Orkneys.
God's backyard.
A golden place for our silver wedding holiday.
Caught the ferry to Hoy,
Wanting to see the Old Man,
As you do.
No sign of the hand of man, 
old or young,
in the wild windswept centre,
just the road and the heather. 
And then some cheery, elderly ramb...

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Whisper music in the orient wind.

Dress vision in a gown of purple.

Smell needs in the shadows.

Let pink urges sing honey,

Hot language sweat black diamonds. 

Play the sweet moment. 

Eternity is raining raw gifts.

White time is a mad mist

Above the lake of moonlight,

The ache of swimming in skin.

Whisper sweet music in the orient wind. 

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Ah

Hmmm

Yes

Ah well

Hey ho

Whoops

Damn

Tut tut

One day

Hard work

Never again

At least

A bit rough

Details

Nearly

Could have been

Almost

Close

On second thoughts

Just a bit

Oh dear

Darn it

Never mind

It doesn’t notice

You can’t tell

Not really

So that’s how

You don’t say

Of course

Well well

Next time

Plod o...

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If life is a slalom,

I've hit some sticks.

If life is a puzzle,

I've missed some tricks

If life is a maze,

Found some dead ends. 

If life's about pleasing,

I sometimes offend.

If life is the peaks,

I've found a few valleys.

If life is a race,

Oh dear I've dallied.

If life is a dance,

I'm clumsy and static.

If life is a song,

I belong in t...

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...out there, outhinking, outwitting

Outstanding, outshining,

Outspokenly outrageous.

Outclassing, outplaying, outperforming.  

Out of jobs they ought to have

Outrunning, outmanoeuvring, outsmarting.

Out shopping for outfits.

Out of their minds.

Out on the town.

Out of sight gorgeous. 

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~~incontestably, inexpressibly incomparable.
Intractably inscrutable.
Indiscreetly in on each others' intimate secrets.
Intrepid, independent, individual.
Infinitely ingenious interior designers.
Indisputably, inexhaustibly, indecisively infuriating.
Insanely indulgent, incorrigibly inquisitive.
Incalculably inconsistent, inalterably intransigent.
Infernally incommunicative, indubitably in...

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If you have to ride a bus

then you aren't one of us.

You're a loser

If you are on benefits

in our world, you don't fit.

You're a loser

If you've lost your crap pay job,

don't expect us to sob.

You're a loser.

If you're not rich or Brit

then we'll treat you just like shit

'cos you're a loser.

The losers are a problem,

the losers are a pain.

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He went to the returns counter

in the Shop of Days

and asked to bring back Tuesday.

It hadn't worked well.

He thought it had been oversold,

overpriced and over too soon. 

If they wouldn't take it back,

he would see

if days were obtainable elsewhere.

A place with a good returns policy

for the disappointed.

She went to the returns counter

in the Shop of Days 

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God the extrovert

builds Saturn.

What a show.

What a show-off.

God the introvert

hides, slips away.

Slopes off.

God the extrovert

builds marvels, peacocks, eyes of flies, crystals

maybe because he/she can – they look great

but then

she stays holed up

still hiding.

God the ultimate extrovert

builds the whole fucking amazing universe

then

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Chasing patterns around the ceiling

candle flickering

in the half-light

Chasing patterns around the mind

with myself dickering

hunting for the right

Chasing patterns around you

so little bickering

you’re a delight

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Climbing in a rare window

of good weather,

good meaning merely hostile not lethal,

through a window

into the Death Zone;

through a window

into an insane dream-world

where nothing is normal,

the mind cannot think or remember,

the brain cannot function.

There is only the divine obsession, the Satanic compulsion.

Base Camp. On a hot day, the Gilkey memorial is od...

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All the entries received votes and favourable comments, especially Lady Ha Ha's, but the top places go to two entries which were both typically naughty.

1. Harry O'Neill - Touching...and Going http://www.writeoutloud.net/public/blogentry.php?blogentryid=39693

2. Isobel - Touch and Go http://www.writeoutloud.net/public/blogentry.php?blogentryid=39416

Well done Harry, you certainly brought ...

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Last day to cast a vote and so far the voting is 'interesting', There have been six entries in the competition, so not too many to read -

Lady Ha Ha - Touch and Go http://www.writeoutloud.net/public/blogentry.php?blogentryid=39651

Harry O'Neill - Touching...and Going http://www.writeoutloud.net/public/blogentry.php?blogentryid=39693

Graham Sherwood - Event http://www.writeo...

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It's time to vote!

There have been six entries in the competition -

Lady Ha Ha - Touch and Go http://www.writeoutloud.net/public/blogentry.php?blogentryid=39651

Harry O'Neill - Touching...and Going http://www.writeoutloud.net/public/blogentry.php?blogentryid=39693

Graham Sherwood - Event http://www.writeoutloud.net/public/blogentry.php?blogentryid=39686

Cynt...

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This is a reminder about the current informal competition. Only Izz and Barrie have had a go so far - it does need a few more of you to make it viable so why not have a go?

The theme is 'Touch and go'. Given the time of year, if someone wants to vary that along the lines of 'Light blue touchpaper and retire', feel free. The poem, or poems, have to have something, however tenuous, t...

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Four years old, 

meandering Marksies with mum,

following the fancy of his feet, 

the manikin sees the mannequin.

Is drawn, fascinated.

Stands before the bikini-clad female figure

as if in worship.

Reaches out and touches.

Touches the cloth,

touches the naughty bits,

the .....would you call it skin?

His mother, my daughter-in-law,

is splitting her ...

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This is a poem by my 7 year old grandson Callum Bradley

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Many of us have enjoyed the informal competitions which have run on WOL from time to time. The last one (Izz's 52 Hertz) was won by Cate, who has given the green light for another, so here goes. 

The theme is 'Touch and go'. Given the time of year, if someone wants to vary that along the lines of 'Light blue touchpaper and retire', feel free. The poem, or poems, have to have someth...

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I'd never noticed she was left-handed

or how clean were her fingernails

or the repairs on her threadbare, faded robe.

Never noticed her luminous eyes.

Never saw their desperate tears.

Never looked at her properly at all.

Non-person.

The woman with the flow,

made unclean by blood,

now touching the robe of the man

who makes us clean with blood,

some sa...

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It's Thursday morning in Asylum Link.

The English class has a visitor,

Community policeman Phil.

Kindly, friendly Phil.

His honest face has our attention.

He smiles, they smile, we all smile.

Roads – safety – cars – safety -

licences and rules – safety – bikes – safety.

How to be safe, in a nice warm voice

in a nice, warm country.

Good old Phil.

Ra...

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He put into words What cannot be put in words. What a poet he was.

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Highly plastic

undifferentiated

capable of becoming

ready for transformation

for self-renewal without rejection.

Multipotent, pluripotent, totipotent.

Potent.

Straining with potential.

Quivering with power

for endless differentiation

for blessed regeneration.

What would it be

to be a stem cell?

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Grim mouth on sweating grim face

all concentration,

he crouched above the tandem's handlebars,

a hero

pedaling for England.

Grim mouth on grim face,

all concentration,

she sat absurdly upright behind him

with her phone

keying for England

The bike? Thousands.

Hundreds for the lycra, super-helmets and super-shoes,

so impressiv...

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Speaking with the quiet voice of death,

each August, mum would say

those wasps

I'll get a jam jar out.

The top would be pierced

with the round, grey knife sharpener.

I liked doing that,

it was satisfying

to make the hole,

the hole of death.

It would work.

The wasps would enter entranced,

tempted, bewitched, seduced

by the sweetness wi...

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It's a lark, it's a hoot.

Wonder Woman is a wonder.

Superman is super.

Batman is bats.

The Hulk is colourful

(but so is everyone).

Noise and bubbles and costumes and smiles.

Drums, cameras, banners and signs.

"Some Chistians are gay, get over it".

"Jesus had two dads and he turned out fine".

We plodded along.

God plods.

Let's plod like God.

Pl...

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A little pebble

Dropt into so small a pool.

Such enormous waves.

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Death – boundlessly voracious.

Removing players

from this vast, unlikely, untidy theatre.

Life – boundlessly fertile.

Creating players

for this tidy, astronomically surreal stage-set.

Me. I am alive, and therefore

curious.

Curious about you, death.

What lies backstage?

If life is to be trusted, then so is death.

This womb-Earth, Heav...

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Liechtenstein, Jersey,

Delaware, Guernsey,

Campione d'Italia, Monaco,

Netherlands Antilles, Curacao,

British Virgin Islands

and US Virgin Islands.

Sark and Switzerland,

Labuan and Netherlands,

Bermuda, Panama,

Seychelles, Bahamas,

Jebel Ali, Isle of Man,

San Marino, Grand Cayman,

Turks and Caicos, Gibraltar,

Luxembourg, Andorra,

even Irel...

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I keep arriving in the present moment

but whoops there it goes again.

Arriving doesn't stay put.

Is it impossible to really arrive in now?

As to that

I've not arrived at a conclusion

I am here.

It's somewhere I've arrived at

but orbits and galaxies and all space are moving.

Relatively. Relativity-ly.

So here is gone.

Whoops there it go...

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You weaklings,

who are not proper men at all,

are you proud of the black eyes?

Are you pleased when she cowers?

Cowards.

Little men with big fists

and no hearts.

Little boys

with your tantrums

and your egos to protect.

No-one's interested in your whining excuses.

Argument losers, hopeless boozers -

pathetic.

Or using God as a reason for brutal...

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The party

tests everything.

Everything you've been and done and thought and lived

since the last one.

And again

you fail.

And discomfort creates another space for truth.

Extrovert friends become enemy.

Life accelerates for them,

an oasis of delicious chaos.

Their eyes and bodies and spirits dance.

You are pleased for them.

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It's not the days

it's the minutes.

The days can be managed

to have shape, content

interest

emotion.

But the minutes can be hell.

The wolf howls at the moon

circled by Command Module pilots

so far from humanity.

Six lonely men, enduring their forty seven dark minutes.

But even they were loved.

Their lives had flavour,

they knew the intimacy...

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Street pastor Polly

guides a wobbling passenger

onto his bus.

The girl fumbles for her purse

which will not be found.

And he frowns -

He has a daughter that age.

Polly takes the fare

from the plastic bag of donations

given by the respectable concerned.

The girl is crying.

Somehow she found a seat.

He sees her weeping in his mirror.

Into fi...

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One swan is worth fifty sparrows

Three eagles for thirty blackbirds

and one jackdaw's worth five robins

For swan, read Brit

for sparrow, Syrian

for eagle, read Yank.

Blackbirds are Iraqis

The jackdaw's an Israeli

and the robins Palestinians.

Dead good isn't it.

Dead simple

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Jostling egos demand a hearing.

Who is listening?

or enjoying?

Scribblers desperate to win, to be read.

Who reads?

or appreciates?

Here is my book it's only three pounds

to buy, I wrote some at

workshops, more on a weekend course, and

did you hear

I won a competition, and

I was second in a slam, and

I had two guest spots last month, and

...

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