Joshua Van-Cook

Hi Joshua Glad you liked the tree poem!

Hey Josh, nice to hear from a fellow Mancs. Thanks for having a read of 'Richard Burton'. It wasn't totally serious though part of me is a proud northerner, another part wishes for a voice like Burton . .
Best Wishes, Steve

BTW, thanks for reading 'The Bath'. You were spot on. I felt a bit terrified as I wrote it - with the suicide inference, of course, but also with the realization of a society and/or a personal schedule/angst that allows a person to become that emptied. When do we take control?

Hi Joshua, it was very remiss of me not to have thanked you earlier for your kind words about Malcolm's Memorial Walk. All the best, Greg

Many thanks for your comments on World Leaders. I think I will edit this poem. Take care, Tony

Thanks for your comments Josh, you are always so generous with them and they are much appreciated.
I haven't had chance to comment yet but I've been reading your new work with interest - they seem to be quite different from things you've posted before - a new self-assurance and maturity about them which is very appealing. Bit bogged down with stuff at then moment but I'll give them a proper read in the next couple of weeks.
Hope all is well with you?
Cx

Re: 'why' - great response, Josh, well argued.

hi there josh we met at poetica poetry night in manchester it was good to meet you should post up the poem you read there about humanities Dark psyhe I thought that was a really good poem

Hi there, thanks so much for your comments on my 'War is ..' poem - glad you liked it.
Cx

Hi Joshua,
Thanks for your comments on 'Scar', glad you liked it.
How are you doing? Studying hard?
Cx

Oh - I touch type so I'm very fast. Next time you would be best to send a quick message like Hi just so the other person knows you;ve connected. Best get on now - need to entertain the cavalry (the kids). Bye for now.
Isobel x

Not sure what went wrong with chat Joshua - it doesn't work sometimes. Not sure if you read what I wrote - nothing you wrote came across - unless you went off to open a beer or something....LOL
Take care. x

Hello Joshua - I don't think we have met before. Thank you for your comments on my latest. Your analysis is correct. It is rather a sad one, doubting the existence of 'true love' - the evidence is so scant...
I see from your poetry that you are a very deep thinker for one so young - that is so good to see. I wish you every success with your songwriting and poetry.
Isobel x

hi there joshua thanks for taking the time to read "what is love" poem i see it has intrigued you. the answer to your question about what type of love is entirely upto the person reading it has i'd written it so that it gave the reader an option of how they would interpret it and to make you think about it :-) (i hope that clears it up) :)
i enjoyed reading your samples of poems :)

Thank you Josh for taking the time to read and comment on my poem
'Out of the darkness...'
I am glad it works well for you, because I never really know how people
are going to interpret...

'brave new world' has become a generic expression - anything done on a grand scale - discovering the America's - landing on the moon - having a baby - and so on. Ideas and understanding must expand to meet really new challenges - like language and the Internet.

Hi there,
Thanks for the comments on Growing Up - I think actually Palate Cleanser might be a better title!
Glad you're still listening to Phil Ochs - have a listen to some Leonard Cohen, 'The Future' is very interesting, he's an amazing poet.
Cynthia - I love the story about F.U.C.K, in the version I heard it was written over the stocks when adulterous women (never men) were put in, but sadly, I think, it is apocryphal, though its etymology is very vague.
Cx

Joshua, since you enjoy scholarship in its most magnificent sense, take care with spelling and grammar as you go on. I know song-writing sets its own rules, as does, sometimes, poetry too. But you are so talented, go for the highest ideals possible and be a future poet laureate, if the honour still exists some years down the line. At any rate, go for FAMOUS.

By the way, 'fuck' should be FUCK, an acronym for the legal term: ' For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge'. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I happened to read Christine's earlier comment.

Parrs Wood in Didsbury?

Well - I did point out that maybe there was a reason for it being undiscovered! ;-)
Glad your exams went well, which uni are you off to? and what will you be doing when you get there?
Cx

Hi there,
How are you? How did the exams go? Thanks for reading, and commenting on, 'Important' - glad you liked it.
I've not been writing much lately - spent a bit of time doing some silly (but fun) fx on a friend's video - the link is on my profile page - please feel free to leave comments (on youtube I mean - no point in leaving them here - not my film) - and of course, encourage everyone you know to watch it. It's an undiscovered work of genius - possibly, rightly so!
Take care,
Cx

I like the poem "A Lack of Colour"

Hi Joshua,

thanks for taking the time to read and make and make comment on 'where rivers flow'

steve

thanks for your comment Joshua spelling and grammar are not my strong point!

Hi again - reading your work it occurs to me that you might like the work of some 60s folk/protest singers - and in particular, Phil Ochs.
Ochs was one of the people that inspired other songwriters (most notably Dylan), as well as his listeners. He had a very journalistic style, and wrote with wit and intelligence - I think you'd appreciate his work.
Cx

Hi there,
Not seen you on here for a while - been busy?
Thanks for your comments on 'Muse...', glad you liked it.
Cx

Gratuitous - being without apparent reason, cause, or justification - the use of the worked 'fucked' in this context strikes you as gratuitous? - I think the reason I used that word is very apparent, and easily justifiable - if only on the basis that I'm reporting speech here. I'd be interested to hear what word you'd replace 'fucked' with that would have the same impact?
Under what set of circumstances would you deem it permissable to use fucked?
It's a good, old, Anglo-Saxon word - don't be afraid of it!
Cx

Thank-you for your comments about 'Confetti' - I think weddings, in general, have a tendency to be cliché-ed - but, perhaps, those that are imagined in particular!
Your work is interesting - people are on here for all sorts of different reasons, and I don't know whether you're on here hoping to be told that your work is wonderful, or for serious feedback, so I hope you don't mind if I offer a criticism or two?
You say you have a predisposition to grandiloquence - I would say try and keep it out of your writing, nothing is more alienating than pomposity, and without a reader you're not a writer, you're a diarist. I also wouldn't bother mentioning that you write crap poems that you don't post - we all do. People (in every walk of life) have a tendency to believe what they're told - often despite evidence to the contrary. Go around saying 'I'm really fick, I am' and they'll believe you - even with your degree firmly tucked under your belt: so tell them positives, or better yet - let them judge for themselves by showing them your best, accessible, work.
And if you want a serious critique - post to Write Club! - they will certainly let you know what you are doing right or where you are going wrong, though I must admit I haven't had the nerve to do so myself - yet!
Good luck,
Cx

welcome to write out loud!