absolutely love the clever simplicty


Leon

Comment is about You (blog)

Original item by Lou

Anyone who has owned a dog - or knows someone who has
- will surely find this resonating in their consciousness.
My sister Nicci has always kept dogs and one such - a
bearded collie called "Sue" - was a particularly memorable
example. When she passed, I tried to imagine how my
sister must have felt about her loss and my poem began...
"Sometimes, alone, I see her face,
I hear her on the stair;
I hold my arms out to embrace
My Sue -and she'll be there."
.................................................

Comment is about 'With him gone the house had begun to float out onto emptiness' (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

I can't say I'm a fan of the rap-crap type of song but I
still enjoyed this political "pop" (in both senses) at J.R-M.
I note he is a contender for the "Chair" of a Commons
Select Committe (is it "Treasury?) - and hope he gets it.
His demeanour and pragmatism would bring much needed
confidence to - and in - the responsibilities of such a
high profile in-house job.

Comment is about WHO LET REES-MOGG OUT? (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Congratulations Joy,

We`re so used to seeing you around the gigs, that seeing you on the tele seems normal.

A reward for dedication (and application)

Comment is about Spotting Joy! Poet becomes the 'face' of Nationwide (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

The opportunity of a new life and broader horizons in our
armed forces has its historical precedent and many have
found that opportunity to be their rescue package from
what went before. As for being shot at - some might
say that youth has always had a cavalier disregard for danger...even courting it for the thrill, so the risk factor
would be counted and considered accordingly against
the chance to be part of a "gang" (team!), all in it
together and able to see some of the world in the uniform
of this great old country when youth must have its day
- with every goose a swan.

Comment is about Army Recruits Poor Northerners (blog)

Original item by Stockport WoL

Well won John!

A poetic gem of prophetic uneasiness admirably suited to today`s mood.

It deserves a wider audience.

Comment is about 'When the Future Came' by John F Keane is Write Out Loud Poem of the Week (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Hi again Shirley - keep fighting the good fight when you
feel low. Gently setting aside any religious sentiments, I
always get a lift when listening to Always Look On The
Bright Side of Life (from the Monty Python film "Life of Brian"). Sometimes, the absurdities of living can help
deal with the reality! A smile or chuckle can often be a
wonderful addition to the feeling that you're not on your
own in times of personal stress. It may be something to
do with the endorphins but who cares when it can work?!
Laughter really can be the best medicine!
The American side of my family began when my eldest
sister June took the trip Stateside after WW2 to marry
Bill Blanchard (from Louisiana) who had preceded her on
his own return home, injured in the post D-Day ops.and
returned to the UK for medical attention, where they met. Both are now gone but their large family is now
spread as far as Washington in the east and California
in the West. June had her own share of family tragedy
- the hardest being the loss of her beloved son Mark in
an industrial accident after he had returned home - a
survivor of the horrors of war service in Vietnam.
Another child is a lifelong haemophiliac, whilst an elder
son collapsed and died while out jogging. Thankfully,
this last sadness happened after she had passed on.
Now the grandchildren are grown and time moves on,
bringing its joys and hardships to newer generations.
As someone once observed: "Life's a funny old game"!!
But it's all we have so we have to make the best of it,
I guess. Good luck to you and your daughter.
P.S. I've completed a tune which
I've called "Home Again Rag" to celebrate the return home of my
elder sister from hospital just prior
to her 84th birthday this month.
I'm thinking of uploading it to WOL
so keep an eye out for it. It will
help to get your feet tapping!

Comment is about Shirley Smothers (poet profile)

Original item by Shirley Smothers

Well done, Joy.

Comment is about Spotting Joy! Poet becomes the 'face' of Nationwide (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Old photographs bring
time stood still
but also these
lines held together
remember our own
night of poetry.

Comment is about July 2017 Collage Poem: Old Photographs (blog)

Original item by Stockport WoL

Well, you know how I feel about this poem, John ? Definitely one of your best; I prefer it to 'To A Fly In Amber' (another excellent poem).

Congratulations on a well-deserved second POTW!

Comment is about 'When the Future Came' by John F Keane is Write Out Loud Poem of the Week (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Thank you Cynthia.

Comment is about Light & Shade (blog)

Original item by Paul Booth

There's a rather good test for a funny poem and it's this - does anybody laugh?

Comment is about A funny thing happened on the way to the poetry workshop ... (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Cheers, David (woof, woof, woof!).

Comment is about WHO LET REES-MOGG OUT? (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Hello, Emer..thanks for reading..your voice is much valued, here.

elP

Comment is about ripple (limits of human perception) (blog)

Original item by nunya

Nice little ditty there Harry, and a lovely photo too!!

Suki

Comment is about N`Shya.....and me. (blog)

Original item by Harry O`N eill

Hi there Ray,

Really, I can't add too much to the previous commenters, but as always, I enjoyed your reading too.

Cheers,
Suki

Comment is about ON THE BRIDGE (blog)

Original item by ray pool

I'll let you into a little secret, David. I like R-M. But parody is parody. "A nessuno sfugge".

Comment is about WHO LET REES-MOGG OUT? (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Dear MC, thank you for the comment on my poem, Anxiety, My Companion (a daily struggle). I have done both therapy and medications. Sometimes it helps other times not so much. But I do try to keep a positive attitude and writing helps. Sorry to say but My Daughter suffers more than I do and has no insurance, and in the United States it is difficult to get help.

Comment is about M.C. Newberry (poet profile)

Original item by M.C. Newberry

although short,this very good poem Michaela carries a lot of food for thought.
Well done!

P&S xx

Comment is about The Continuous Nothing (blog)

Original item by Michaela Sheldon

I think I've been there and got the t-shirt too.

Comment is about The Continuous Nothing (blog)

Original item by Michaela Sheldon

Oh my gosh. Thank you all. So what I needed to hear. I will be visiting and enjoying your poems soon. I so miss doing that. Talented folk on here

Comment is about JUMP IN (blog)

Original item by lynn hahn

Hi Cynthia. Thank you for commenting on The Tallyman.
it was really appreciated.
Cheers Kevin

Comment is about Cynthia Buell Thomas (poet profile)

Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas

cheers LCP - the doomed mobius strips were based on the flight of the bats above my mum and dads house in france. never seemed to get anywhere but quite beautiful...

bit like poetry really

Comment is about the guns, they rain on everyone (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

Anger may choose not to qualify status of those who are victims - and justifiably look for answers to a tragedy,
but neither should it infer that those occupying high rise
apartments in a central (and costly) part of London
are actually poor or deprived without portraying a fuller
picture of their circumstances.

Comment is about 'A burnt matchbox in the sky': Ben Okri's angry poem about Grenfell Tower (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Thanks for your red alert LCPT! This is one of those things, I didn't want to say I created this, and it is interesting how thoughts can bounce around the old skull. I looked to see if your "ditty" was posted on WOL, and though not finding it I assume it was one of your own. It has a robust no nonsense air about it! It would be nice to pin this down before it gets too trodden underfoot as it were. I remember feeling chuffed in creating a line about a showbiz party where "no turn was unstoned." I mentioned this to Bob Monkhouse who I worked with on and off, and he disillusioned me ascribing it a comic scriptwriter! ah well, upwards and onwards.

Ray

Comment is about SHORT POEM (blog)

Original item by ray pool

The latest scare story (online 10.07.17) reports that Brexit
will increase the cost of a "full English" breakfast.
I kid you not!

Comment is about THE VIEW FROM HERE (2) (blog)

Original item by M.C. Newberry

The WW2 feel of flashback works well here. Not sure about the move
away from the rhythm of the first two stanzas but the final two lines
are just right, reflecting the sense
of what was "jerked back" to the peaceful reality of what is.
Towards the end of his life, I was
privileged to know the composer George Lloyd, a fellow Marylebone
resident. As a Royal Marine bandsman - along with his fellows - he performed gun-aiming duties in
the bowels of the Arctic Convoy cruiser HMS Trinidad.
He was the last of three to escape
through the hatch when his ship
was struck by a rogue torpedo...his
comrades drowning in the oil from
the ruptured tanks. His case was
given up and left with his wife who
nursed him back to health - to
pursue a cruelly interrupted career
as a pre-war classical music prodigy. Despite his wartime horrors. his music was never less than uplifting and optimistic, and
his personal personal stoicism in
the face of post-war suffering,
disappointment and neglect was
the stuff of heroics from my own
POV. He came to my mind when
reading this terse and tightly woven
poem about what never quite goes
away.

Comment is about ON THE BRIDGE (blog)

Original item by ray pool

Wendy somehow your poem tells me that I can bet you cook a really nice Sunday dinner.

If I give you my address could you put some in the post for me by any chance? ?

Comment is about British Meats (blog)

Original item by Wendy Higson

I send more apologies! I cannot make WOL this evening; arrived back from France yesterday, still catching up after 3 weeks away - as a result, shattered (but happy!)
Just to let you know, also, that my friend Christine is still quite poorly: unsure when she may be back at WOL with us...
Have a great evening - I really do hope to make the next session!
Love, Dorinda x

Comment is about Stockport WoL (group profile)

Original item by Stockport WoL

Fabulous. Full-on attack about big ideas, with real character. What's not to love!

Comment is about Maricopeia (blog)

Original item by Robert C Gaulke

Charming poem, lovely photo, both to treasure.

Comment is about N`Shya.....and me. (blog)

Original item by Harry O`N eill

Interesting how 'history' is essentially 'story' as opposed to 'records'. The account itself, or at least the slant of it, depends on the person/s reporting of the happening/s, personal interests and the effective result/s. Records are then hugely influenced.

Point of view must always be a cautionary background to 'history'.

Comment is about John E Marks (poet profile)

Original item by John E Marks

An excellent little poem, rich with far-reaching ideas, and well-crafted. The final stanza is outstanding, dropping all the historical inference into nursery rhyme format. Which is, after all, exactly what nursery rhymes are.

Comment is about ON THE BRIDGE (blog)

Original item by ray pool

Congratulations to John on When The Future Comes

Write Out Loud Poem of the Week

Hope you can read it out tonight for everyone to enjoy!

Comment is about Write Out Loud at Stockport art gallery tonight (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Both deep and delightful. Interesting that the final thought is still 'try' even with 'both feet'. But I commend the honesty.

Comment is about JUMP IN (blog)

Original item by lynn hahn

Loved it when I heard it the first time John

Please please please read it out tonight at Stockport W.O.L

I think this is going down as number two PotW.

Comment is about 'When the Future Came' by John F Keane is Write Out Loud Poem of the Week (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

T hanks Kevin. It just came into my head - often a little twist is waiting to be discovered. I might expand on this in another form - who knows!

Ray

Comment is about SHORT POEM (blog)

Original item by ray pool

Hi Hohn,

Agree completely with Julian and Martin. This is also an elegantly structured poem, flowing effortlessly.

Congratulations on winning PotW.

Suki

Comment is about 'When the Future Came' by John F Keane is Write Out Loud Poem of the Week (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

I think one has to have 'a personal history' to appreciate this poem. Few people under 30 will know what a 'record store' was, much less remember one...

Comment is about 'When the Future Came' by John F Keane is Write Out Loud Poem of the Week (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

I agree with David this has poem definitely has something which is quintessentially English about it. It also all the better for hearing you read it.
Nice one

Comment is about ON THE BRIDGE (blog)

Original item by ray pool

lovely poem Lyn
Love the line

But then the curiosity 
weights down my heart

wonderful stuff

Comment is about JUMP IN (blog)

Original item by lynn hahn

I love that line in the final stanza
the masses lurch from blame to blame.
great poem John.
I don't think any of us is ever ready fro the future. It seems to either sneak up on us or else it is never quite what we might have enthusiastically greeted.
A well deserved POTW

Comment is about 'When the Future Came' by John F Keane is Write Out Loud Poem of the Week (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Thanks I had some deep healing to do. I am officially single now. Big journey ahead right!

Comment is about DEEP SHADES OF YOU (blog)

Original item by lynn hahn

She's sooo cute Harry. I don't know about snaffling up your dinner, she's got an eye on your beer.
Lovely
Cheers Kevin

Comment is about N`Shya.....and me. (blog)

Original item by Harry O`N eill

love it.

Comment is about drugugly (blog)

Original item by Robert C Gaulke

These US posts are like a "hands across the sea" greeting,
and so very welcome.

Comment is about 'We flew through the waves, his hand guiding the tiller' (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

This evocation of another age and other growing pains is
immensely pleasing. The picture it paints in my mind is
likely to remain. You can only return in the memory but
the way back is a different journey for each of us...for
good or bad, but the consolation can be constant when
circumstances allow.

Comment is about 'Boys who knew when you were posing, waiting for someone to say, "smile" ' (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

You are welcome

Comment is about A Gift From the Universe to Emer (blog)

Original item by old shoes

A richly deserved accolade, John. Your oeuvre a flower born neither to blush unseen nor waste its sweetness on the desert air, thank goodness; and you.

Comment is about 'When the Future Came' by John F Keane is Write Out Loud Poem of the Week (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Thank you old shoes. It's not everyday that a song from the universe is sent to me. ?? I love the raw authenticity, I'm lost for words. Thanks again.

Comment is about A Gift From the Universe to Emer (blog)

Original item by old shoes