what a wonderful justification for our dismal climate albeit completely unfair that we should suffer for the Italians' viticulture industry. Did you watch that programme recently about the bunch of Brits hoping to make a go of it in Tuscany?

thanks for posting David - very much enjoyed. I think it deserves a title tho - suggest using the rather delicious quote from Galileo Galilei?

C?L

Comment is about A Fair Exchange (blog)

Original item by David Lindsay

What a beauty of a poem Tom - I love the way the swallows become the divers. I almost wanted them to become our own children in the third stanza - making the most of the last of the summer evenings to stay out late in the garden, swooping around with arms outstretched in imitation.

I totally adore swallows, house martins and swifts - swifts being my favourite because of their sickle shaped wings and the fact they spend most of their lives up in the air even sleeping on the wing. And they screech and scream too.

I'm wondering when you wrote this Tom and could you not have held it back till Late Summer? But I'm glad you did post it today - as I said before, it's a beauty.

Thanks,
C?L

Comment is about Late Summer (blog)

Original item by Tom Harding

oh gosh I love this I do - it has everything I need in a poem and having grown up in Sussex between the coast and South Downs my mind is instantly transported back to the childhood landscape that was my outdoor PlayStation or Xbox - before any of that stuff was invented.

beautiful - my kind of poetry Kim. Ta.

C?L

Comment is about Chalklands (blog)

Original item by Kim Whysall-Hammond

Our recent humidity was broken by a storm a couple of nights back and the air is now fresher and refreshed. Sultry nights make for a good theme in poetry and as Kevin said you painted the scene well. I wonder if 'fuel' instead of 'energy' would make the 'gecko' line a little less syllable heavy. All the best Keith.
C?L

Comment is about The Heat of the Night (blog)

Original item by keith jeffries

good to see you back posting Lynn. Hope all is well on your patch of the planet. Your poem mentions rain, well we had some fierce downpours here the night before last and with it the most amazing lightning that just went on and on. Everything now looks green and vibrant after its nitrogen rich energy boost. May the sun shine and your flowers grow tall and strong and beautiful.
C?L

Comment is about Time (blog)

Original item by lynn hahn

I often think writing poetry is one of the weirdest things we can choose to do in life and standing up reciting it is the second weirdest. But like all unfathomable needs it becomes almost obsessional and now that we don't have to obsess about hunting and gathering the whole day through we can give ourselves up to these daft obsessions - like cycling in lycra, twitching, train spotting, car booting, collecting ornaments of pigs. Nothing can stop us. Hang on, it's Sunday, best nip to the car boot and get me a chipped china piggy to put in my hermit's cave next to the railway tracks where the birds nest and there will I recline in vestments of the finest lycra as I pen an ode and pretend to be a poet. Did I mention my depression?
C?L

Comment is about O TO BE A POET (blog)

Original item by ray pool

I love this because it explains what poetry is and i love that
?

Comment is about O TO BE A POET (blog)

Original item by ray pool

Thank heavens for small mercies. At least with the dry spell we're spares from middle aged streakers.
Just kidding. I liked this one, it painted the scene well.

Cheers Kevin

Comment is about The Heat of the Night (blog)

Original item by keith jeffries

Another good poem and very topical. Well done. I enjoyed it. Thanks. Keith

Comment is about A little something to eat (blog)

Original item by Wonderer

On re-reading this piece in presenting it to friends I have made some minor refinements.

Comment is about The Horrible Forest (blog)

Original item by Roy Chetham

You've got it in a nutshell, Keith. And so say all of us (on WOL) !

Ray

Comment is about The Madding Crowd (blog)

Original item by keith jeffries

A fine poem, with a fine subject.

Comment is about The Demobbed (blog)

Original item by keith jeffries

A superb piece, Greg. Tony was a member of our first steering/working group and credited Write Out Loud with helping him get started. However, as much as this might do his career some good, knowing Tony, his sole motivation will have been to express his personal response and, as Jeannette Winterson says, to help others articulate theirs. He loves his home city, and Manchester loves him. Well done, Tony.
Ironically, the blast happened very close to where my mother was trapped in a bomb shelter that was hit during the Manchester Blitz, and she often recalled her pride at how everyone pulled together to help each other. Love overcoming hate.

Comment is about Tony Walsh reads 'This is The Place' at Ariana Grande concert for Manchester bombing victims (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Thanks Mark for your considered comments. My poem was mainly angled to the ladies who attach themselves to the demigods - as far as the programme revealed they were plucked from obscurity rather than having means of their own. Of course there is a thriving porn market coming from Russia but we can't possibly comment on that for safety reasons!

Ray

Comment is about MEET THE RUSSIANS (blog)

Original item by ray pool

That flourish of red lippies were so timely Rose. Curative actually. Especially after that unpleasant phone call just after I settled down to eat.

See there is a psychic side to you.

Comment is about Love, Freedom and Forgiveness in Concert (blog)

Original item by Chakraj

Hello MC. Well said my friend. I recall the words of R Kipling in his poem Tommy. Its Tommy this and Tommy that.....¨
As an ex serviceman of 10 years I can remember my Dad and his homecoming from Burma. We need to be reminded of their sacrifice and for many the supreme sacrifice for our country and its hard fought freedom. Thanks again Keith

Comment is about The Demobbed (blog)

Original item by keith jeffries

Beneath our desire to be seen as caring and humble lurks
the old human ambition to be "someone" in life - and
wealth is the most visible and influential sign of success,
at least on a surface level. We castigate bankers if they
play fast and unsuccessfully with money, yet slavishly
follow sports people for their brief but often hugely
rewarded forays in their chosen activity, barely rousing
ourselves to comment if they perform badly for their
weekly fortunes; likewise, film and other entertainment
figures.
The emergence of the UK Russian rich folk (probably
originating from the old peasant stock as often as not)
and their appreciation of opulence and privilege is as
good a contemporary example as any of the endless dance of social demarcation that exists in the western world.

Comment is about MEET THE RUSSIANS (blog)

Original item by ray pool

A timely and appreciated reminder of the sacrifices and the
hopes of our own people who played their part in the
fight for the freedom so often casually treated as a
"right" nowadays. They were "there" - and if they were
lucky they came home to a land less fit for heroes than
for the politicians, chancers and black-marketeers who profited more than they ever did from the self-serving safety of home shores.

Comment is about The Demobbed (blog)

Original item by keith jeffries

A call to arms, yet a platform for peace. Defiance, yet
reliance on the better aspects of the human condition.
Let all people of good will join hands and vow resistance.
Evil may assail
But it will not prevail!

Comment is about #RoomsForManchester (blog)

Original item by Jeffarama!

good afternoon Raj,before I log off my friend-have this with your lunch.......?



Rose (+?)

Comment is about Love, Freedom and Forgiveness in Concert (blog)

Original item by Chakraj

Yessssss I can't wait for that day my dear Rose.
Let's keep asking for an encore for love, freedom and forgiveness.

Thank you so much for your flattering feedback. xx

Comment is about Love, Freedom and Forgiveness in Concert (blog)

Original item by Chakraj

I might have picked up my mischievous mannerisms from you dear Rose. ?

Raj xx

Comment is about Are you out there? (blog)

Original item by Chakraj

?!!! ?!!! love your cheeky monkeyness Raj!




Rose ?

Comment is about Are you out there? (blog)

Original item by Chakraj

Dear Raj,if only the world couldgo on being populated by people like you.

maybe one day? touch wood,touch hearts.


Rose ??

Comment is about Love, Freedom and Forgiveness in Concert (blog)

Original item by Chakraj

the tags at the beginning and the end are very different for you, Jeff but the poem is from the heart as it is always with you, Jeff. it's a good un and wrote at the time for all of us who live in the area are still suffering.

proud of you buddy. loved it. one of your best. hope mine will follow next few weeks.

Comment is about #RoomsForManchester (blog)

Original item by Jeffarama!

Thanks for the comments. I was hoping to give a broad overview of where I come from so you can see what inspired my poetry. Maybe there's a pinch of social history in there too! (o;

Comment is about First Bytes in Computing (blog)

Original item by Peter Roe

Excellent Ray! As a Bolton supporter, I know how you feel, only been to Villa Park once, to see us draw, it is a fine stadium, worthy of better, but like us and a lot of other fine clubs before, nothing is guaranteed and, as someone who has seen BWFC up and down the league, I hope the same fate doesn't affect you. Really enjoyed your poem, see you next season, Jeffarama! ?

Comment is about 'Villa Nil' by Ray M is Write Out Loud's Poem of the Week (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Thank you so much..??

Comment is about OLD TREE (blog)

Original item by Jonalyn Cajefe

A delicious journey into a past redolent of conflicts and somehow romantic as well as spirited. Very enjoyable stuff.

Ray

Comment is about Burning (blog)

Original item by Kim Whysall-Hammond

Thanks Keith for your comment , appreciate it.

David, very entertaining observations, thanks! I like the way the old money mingles with the new - particularly noticeable in the big auction houses who are rubbing their hands in glee at the massive hikes in art prices. A novel Trump emerges.

Thanks Stu, the comparison came to me quite quickly; I could even have mentioned the red army - but that's another story.

Ray.

Comment is about MEET THE RUSSIANS (blog)

Original item by ray pool

Kim, thanks for your advice on Imagination. Much appreciated. Keith

Comment is about Kim Whysall-Hammond (poet profile)

Original item by Kim Whysall-Hammond

Yes, its a fine poem, but trips at farm/alarm.

Comment is about Imagination (blog)

Original item by keith jeffries

We just add more ruins I'm afraid

Comment is about To walk among ruins (blog)

Original item by Kim Whysall-Hammond

Good -- I wanted that shiver! ?

....and somehow I've never seen the video....that's a bit shivery too...

Comment is about Burning (blog)

Original item by Kim Whysall-Hammond

if this was panto season I'd be tempted to shout back 'oh no it isn't' but it's not so I'll shut up and just say fab poem instead.

Comment is about my pain and sadness is more sad and painful than yours (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

I love a poem that picks me up and drops me in someone else's back yard. I may have said something similar to you before but you've done it again and I am grateful ?

Comment is about OLD TREE (blog)

Original item by Jonalyn Cajefe

surf's up! I'm fascinated by the ancient fossilised remains of water. There is a stream which flows down the side of the hill just a field away from where I live where the rock strata is rippled - evidence I am told that this sloping bit of land was once a flat sub-tropical lagoon. Imprints of humans and dinosaurs and the remains of sunken woodlands exposed at low tide are also wonders to behold as are the petrified forests of baked Arizona. Your poem has me waffling Keith for all the right reasons. Ta, Col.

Comment is about Waves (blog)

Original item by keith jeffries

nicely imagined and written out Keith. It has a good flow but I do think the 'farm / alarm' lines trip the whole thing up a little. All the best, Col

ps: I only exist in my imagination ?

Comment is about Imagination (blog)

Original item by keith jeffries

Colin, your video has me awash with nostalgia. A revive forty five or a rave from the grave. Keith

Comment is about Burning (blog)

Original item by Kim Whysall-Hammond

Hello Kim, this beautifully written poem speaks of a distant time of emotion and intensity since forgotten. Many years ago I served on such an airfield and your poem caused me to gently shiver. Keith

Comment is about Burning (blog)

Original item by Kim Whysall-Hammond

I'm reminded of two things Kim - film burn from an old projector and this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vgcYBwyw28

Comment is about Burning (blog)

Original item by Kim Whysall-Hammond

Tony was always a great champion of Write Out Loud from the early days, and has emerged as the acknowledged cheerleader for his home city in recent years. It's remarkable and wonderful to see him demonstrate the power of poetry in such a way.

Comment is about Tony Walsh reads 'This is The Place' at Ariana Grande concert for Manchester bombing victims (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Thank you for your kind words, much appreciated.

The airfield I describe is Greenham Common, which has many stories to tell. I intended to tell the story of the crashed nuclear bomber (which the USAF claim is a folktale and not true!), but instead, it morphed to something WW2, based on ghost stories told me by my Godmother, who had been a Spitfire mechanic on active airfields in that war.

Comment is about Burning (blog)

Original item by Kim Whysall-Hammond

Hi Jeff & Laura - Thanks for feedback.

Comment is about Cry Muhammad Cry (blog)

Original item by Tom Doolan

Ooo yes, I forgot about the birds. We saw some actually bang into trees, confused!! And the silence was...eerie. When the light started to come back again, it was proper goosebump time. Literally - goosebumps. Cows started lowing, birds started singing, dogs began to bark. Intense! Also THE best excuse to drink lager for breakfast ?

There is definitely a poem waiting to be written, eh?

Comment is about Solar thoughts or To our mistress, the sun (blog)

Original item by Kim Whysall-Hammond

Oh dear, now I've got to check the last line before putting up the next poem! ?

We stayed at home and saw a partial eclipse --still great though. All the house martins returned to their nests thinking it was night, and the world went very quiet. I'm sure there's a poem in there somewhere.....

Comment is about Solar thoughts or To our mistress, the sun (blog)

Original item by Kim Whysall-Hammond

Thank you

Comment is about unmartyred (blog)

Original item by Laura Taylor

Technically, ISIS have their roots in Wahhabism, so it's a different Muhammad, and it's always worth noting this difference, so that the division is clear.

And sorry, no manners me. Great poem Tom.

Comment is about Cry Muhammad Cry (blog)

Original item by Tom Doolan

Ooo - TWO poems with killer last lines. I sense a pattern emerging ?

Seriously, do really like this poem. A light touch with verb and noun and adjective, about one of my favourite things to think about. Smashing.


ps - I took my small daughter to the solar eclipse in Cornwall years ago, while my Dad had kittens back home about her going blind by looking at it. My cruel sense of humour was BEGGING me to call him and tell him there was no point taking her to the cinema when we got home, cos she wouldn't be able to see the film ?

Comment is about Solar thoughts or To our mistress, the sun (blog)

Original item by Kim Whysall-Hammond

Aye, that last line makes it.

Comment is about To walk among ruins (blog)

Original item by Kim Whysall-Hammond