Biography
To access my free online poetry magazine.............. During the CoronaVirus lockdowns, I published a free electronic poetry magazine called "Poetry Plus - The Magazine" and if you are interested then you may like to read those magazines, which are still available to view online (although I don't know for how long they will be accessible). The poetry is not all mine and you'll find a great variety - some of it very good indeed - by a wide cross section of poets from this country and from abroad. There are also some interesting articles to be read within the pages of the magazines. The magazines can be found here: https://www.flipsnack.com/poetryplus/ If you do look them up, then I would start at the first edition (May 2020) and move forward from that date as there are some articles that run across more than one edition. I live in East Anglia and I'm delighted to say that I am now married! After far too many years of singledom, I finally met my soul-mate and we married in 2021. We met. We clicked. We married! Suddenly, my life has a purpose and some of my earlier poems now seem so irrelevant - so I'm trying to write some new poems, to reflact my new life! Best wishes!
Samples
To Dance Amongst The Stars ------------------------------- No cars passed on the nearby road The rain – once so heavy and so loud – Had stopped and fell no more. The wind – no longer wild and strong – Had calmed itself and did not blow. Inside, the room was dark and still. No light came through the heavy drapes. No sound disturbed the gentle silence Except for your breathing and the placid Murmur of your heart As we lay beneath the covers. Your breath on my neck was warm And gave me such comfort as we lay, Spoon-like, with you wrapped Around my back. Your left arm draped across my flank To rest upon my side and gently – in your sleep – To stroke and tease my chest. In your sleep you gave so much: So much calm and so much peace. So much love flowed from your soul That I caught your feeling As I lay Peaceful and at ease. Until, as I fast descended into sleep Our hearts emeshed Our hands entwined And we set forth To dance amongst the stars. ©Richard Hartley 22/11/22
Publications
I am delighted to say that my first book of poems "An Early Spring Day" has now been published and is available to purchase from the Amazon bookstore: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1081316624 I would like to thank those many kind people who have encouraged me to scribble away over the last three years. Nothing would have been completed without your support. Thankyou!
All poems are copyright of the originating author. Permission must be obtained before using or performing others' poems.
Blog entries by Richard Hartley
Memorial Day in Moscow (02/09/2017)
When I Die (26/08/2017)
Fishing for Poets (17/08/2017)
The Hearse (27/07/2017)
The Rose (27/07/2017)
The Last Train (27/07/2017)
Deo Gratias (27/07/2017)
Embers (27/07/2017)
Blog link: https://www.writeoutloud.net/blogs/richardhartley
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Comments
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.
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
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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Cynthia Buell Thomas
Sat 2nd Sep 2017 11:43
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.