I guess that’s exactly how peculiar life really is, Thanks Uilleam

Comment is about Fairy Floss (blog)

Original item by Yanma Hidayah

Thanks for the likes Red Brick, Tom, Hugh, Black Rose, Larisa Holden, Helene and David !

I'm glad you identified with this Stephen, it's nice to get an actual comment of course so I say Aythangyow. Have a good new year..

Ray

Comment is about IT'S EASY TO GET ANNOYED (blog)

Original item by ray pool

The new coming year is in the sky.
God gave us wings and a wish to fly.
December meets his brother January,
Angels write their wishes in the diary.


On the New Year at the festive table
The kind angels wish us health.
The world will live in peace, be stable,
The poor will proclaim only wealth.


Like a bird, the angels knock on the door.
The door will open widely.
The gifts from Elvies will bring more
Happiness and joy to the souls nicely.


The elves see who's sad at night,
Who cries and hides the faces.
They wish them all to be a delight
With funny horses enjoying races.


The clock will strike 12 very fast,
We'll make our wishes silently.
The peace on Earth will always last,
The love appeared recently.


The smell of tangerines is everywhere,
Delicious pies were baked by Mum.
The angel's present will be fair,
For Dad, it will suit the Cuban rum.


God filled the snowflakes with happiness
He sent on Earth love, joy, and tenderness.
We poured the wine into the glasses,
And passed our wishes to the masses.


I trust that no one will stay alone,
All hearts will shine with delight.
The angels' kindness will be shown,
The only love is always right.


©Larisa Rzhepishevska

Comment is about New Upcoming Year Is In The Sky. (blog)

Original item by Larisa Rzhepishevska

Thanks Yanma.
Something of an irony that a dentist should be involved in the manufacture of candy floss😉.

Comment is about Fairy Floss (blog)

Original item by Yanma Hidayah

Thanks, Mike.
I seem to remember being taught in my youth about "detatchment" being a good thing....don't know if that's applicable here??

Comment is about Some Girls (blog)

Original item by Mike McPeek

I do agree with you on addiction in general, John. I too, see its harmful effects every day.

Comment is about COUNTY LINES (blog)

Original item by John E Marks

Thanks for the likes:
Red Brick Keshner
hugh
Stephen Gospage
Holden Moncrieff
K. Lynn

Comment is about Haiku For 2025 [Capall na beatha an grá] (blog)

Original item by Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh

💔😕

Comment is about Love Expired (blog)

Original item by JD Russell

Your title also reminds me of the story of the greedy monkey who wouldn't let go of the banana!

Comment is about The Gilded Fist of Greed (blog)

Original item by Rolph David

Sounds like good advice to me - silence is golden.

Comment is about Hills (blog)

Original item by MKMK

Andromeda was on the gin again last night; I predict a right old barney!

Comment is about stellarguable (blog)

Original item by Red Brick Keshner

I've tried following your advice JC.

haiku? this a Is
syllables here seventeen.
chop, chop, quickly write.
😐

Comment is about Why not welcome in the new year - with your own haiku for 2025! (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

As days grow longer
Cold wind blows, and the page turns
To billionaires

Comment is about Why not welcome in the new year - with your own haiku for 2025! (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Good morning Uilleam,
It's quite a compliment that you compare me to the great Percy B. Shelley, who I'm nowhere near!
I've gone back to it and read it again to discover similarities, just like you, especially as far as my last stanza is concerned.

The theme of uprising and resistance is indeed similar.
When I wrote: "Break their gilded fist!
Let freedom’s voice erupt, a storm begun."
I have to admit that these lines align with Shelley's call for people to rise against oppression, as in XXXVIII:
"Rise like Lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number—"

And as far as the imagery of the forces of nature is concerned, well, I use natural metaphors like the "storm" and "rising sun" to symbolise change and freedom and Shelley often uses similar imagery, too, such as:
"Ye are many—they are few."
Here, he draws on the idea of a multitude being as inevitable and vast as a natural phenomenon.

Shelley's language is slightly more intricate and symbolic, weaving philosophical undertones into his political messages whereas my poem opts for a more direct and straightforward tone, emphasising immediacy. (compare XXXII:
"And the prostrate multitude
Looked—and ankle-deep in blood
Hope, that maiden most serene,
Was walking with a quiet mien.")

Shelley often directly addresses the oppressed masses with imperatives, as in XXXVIII:
"Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you:"
My poem, while rousing, is slightly less personal and direct.

My reference to the "gilded fist" and "no tyrant survives" centers more on the imagery of tyranny itself rather than the broader metaphysical elements Shelley employs, like Hope, Justice, and Death, personified as abstract ideals.

But I'm really honoured that you noticed similarities. The last time I read this poem was as a student - over three decades ago!!! You made me read it again. Thank you for that too. To be compared with poets like Shelley tops the honour by far!

Kind regards,
Rolph

Comment is about The Gilded Fist of Greed (blog)

Original item by Rolph David

Thank you Kimberly, much appreciated

Comment is about Love Expired (blog)

Original item by JD Russell

Ha! 😃

Comment is about An eye-opener (blog)

Original item by hugh

A brilliantly captured piece, however bittersweet.

Comment is about Love Expired (blog)

Original item by JD Russell

The eyes have it!😊

Comment is about An eye-opener (blog)

Original item by hugh

Scientists, despite their vast knowledge, are reduced to using the most basic of language to describe some of the wonders of nature. ‘String theory, worm holes, black holes, big bang' ! etc.

Comment is about fluid mosaic (blog)

Original item by Red Brick Keshner

Thank you Stephen & thank you Uilleam. To be frank, I've no data that would allow me to definitively answer the two questions you pose Uilleam. I live in inner-city Salford and I witness the chaos and harm caused by addiction. I do not know if the addiction to legal drugs (alcohol, opiods etc) is worse than addiction to illegal drugs. I do know that all addiction is self-destructive and I know that addicts hurt not only themselves, but also the people they love.

Comment is about COUNTY LINES (blog)

Original item by John E Marks

High Coo for 2025

Cat and fiddle jump;
a high coo’s over the moon.
Och aye, she’s Scottish!

Comment is about Why not welcome in the new year - with your own haiku for 2025! (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Thanks WOL team, for your hard work. Not knowing much about computer tech, I was a bit paranoid at one point, thinking my PC had been hacked.
All the best for 2025.

Comment is about We're sorry that we have been experiencing delays (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Your last stanza reminds me very much of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s The Masque of Anarchy.

Comment is about The Gilded Fist of Greed (blog)

Original item by Rolph David

Haiku on an Irish seanfhocal (proverb) which I believe contains 7 syllables.
English equivalent is: "Love makes the world go round".

Love’s revolution,

Capall na beatha an grá,

Hope springs eternal.

Comment is about Why not welcome in the new year - with your own haiku for 2025! (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Thank you, Rolph.
Who though, amongst us, will have the courage to raise their hands in the air and admit: "yes, I voted for those who brought about such a state of affairs"?

Comment is about The Gilded Fist of Greed (blog)

Original item by Rolph David

Thanks to Hugh, Uilleam and Stephen for the recent likes and to Uilleam for his comment.

You're right Uilleam, we are all susceptable to the lure of advertising. They've had decades of practise.

David.

Comment is about The Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come (blog)

Original item by David RL Moore

Thank you, Stephen.
“Soon we could be up there,
On the cross, confessing.”

Your words resonate with me, a former practising Christian.
Sadly, we are already up there. We, who view ourselves as so-called "Christian", “civilised”, and “enlightened", whinge hypocritically about some fictional "War on the West".
It is with our taxes -willingly or not- that we continue to wage war on on our shared humanity, and on the innocent "others", conveniently out of sight and out of mind; each bomb and bullet a hammer blow nailing the corpse of our humanity to that cross.

Comment is about Pinpoint (blog)

Original item by Stephen Gospage

To write a haiku write 17 syllables and then chop them up.

Comment is about Why not welcome in the new year - with your own haiku for 2025! (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

If we lose hope we die Stephen. Thank you for your words this year. As you must now be aware you have become a stalwart here. My best wishes!

Comment is about Pinpoint (blog)

Original item by Stephen Gospage

My last poem of 2024. Not a very cheerful one, I'm afraid. But we must remain optimistic and hopeful, and maintain our resolve, in the face of violence and oppression.
See you all next year.

Comment is about Pinpoint (blog)

Original item by Stephen Gospage

Your poem brings out the tragedy and sadness of this whole business, John. Really impressive.

Comment is about COUNTY LINES (blog)

Original item by John E Marks

An excellent, if scary, poem, Ray - because it is so close to the truth! It captures somehing terribly real.
A thought-provoking read. Thanks.

Comment is about IT'S EASY TO GET ANNOYED (blog)

Original item by ray pool

Sad post-Christmas news indeed, Graham. Beautifully captured in these few lines.

Comment is about For Juliet (blog)

Original item by Graham Sherwood

Well ... Good Luck Guys ... You Rock @ Marla and @ Uilleam

Comment is about "Existential Reckoning" (blog)

Original item by Sourajit Nandi

Twenty Twenty Five


An unknown journey
As I walk toward the New Year
With fear... hope... and joy!

Comment is about Why not welcome in the new year - with your own haiku for 2025! (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

what are our chances
winter will be nuclear
cold trepidation

Comment is about Why not welcome in the new year - with your own haiku for 2025! (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Some of it went right over my head but very colorfully expressed. Marla

Comment is about These are the days (blog)

Original item by Red Brick Keshner

Much appreciated Marla, Thank you! Happy New Year😁

Comment is about Exphoria (blog)

Original item by Pinnochio

Thanks David.
I had to go to the computer store today, and following me around was that voice in my head saying "look at all that lovely shiny stuff, wouldn't you just love some of that"!
Pointless consumerism...the curse of capitalism?

Comment is about The Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come (blog)

Original item by David RL Moore

Sourajit, Thanks, I think I needed to read that today.

Uilleam - I like your humorous honesty.

Marla

Comment is about "Existential Reckoning" (blog)

Original item by Sourajit Nandi

This poem activates lots of senses. Nice work. Marla

Comment is about Exphoria (blog)

Original item by Pinnochio

I should qualify my comment, by adding that the sale and use of alcohol is literally controlled by legislation.

Comment is about COUNTY LINES (blog)

Original item by John E Marks

Thanks Sourajit. My goal is simply to be happy.

I can do without "...a maelstrom, of unrelenting passion and might,
A torrent of unbridled fury, that shatters the darkness of night."

Sounds too much like hard work and a recipe for a nervous breakdown if you ask me.😏

Comment is about "Existential Reckoning" (blog)

Original item by Sourajit Nandi

The truth about men with a beard.

Men who have a beard,
Are men who don't have a beard,
That have grown a beard.

Comment is about Why not welcome in the new year - with your own haiku for 2025! (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Thankyou, Uilleam. If The Black Shadow thought a death threat would keep me awake at night he didn’t reckon on me being a Tottenham fan.
And thanks for the Likes, Red Brick David, Naomi and Holden.

Comment is about THE BLACK SHADOW (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Touching and true.

Comment is about The Last Letter (Continued) (blog)

Original item by Rolph David

Those pesky Normans are at it again; comin' over here, takin' over our language...My English dictionary's like our high street...I don't recognise it any more....three words in one now. Legerdemain indeed😡

Comment is about Haiku for 2025 (blog)

Original item by Graham Sherwood

It's that dastardly Feathers McGraw....there's somebody egging him on.

Comment is about THE BLACK SHADOW (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Thank you, John for that insight. I’m a “user” of the legal and controlled drug, alcohol, and I have two questions to ask regarding the UK specifically:

are the social harms caused by “Drug” consumption (police corruption, strain on the judicial system, strain on the NHS, general criminality, etc) increased or decreased by their illegality?

are the social harms caused by consumption of alcohol, criminality etc, greater than the harms caused by illegal drugs?

My own feelings are that UK law enforcement agencies are on a hiding to nothing as regards "illegal" drugs.

Comment is about COUNTY LINES (blog)

Original item by John E Marks

Thank you Black_Rose for the like.

David

Comment is about The Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come (blog)

Original item by David RL Moore