very interesting paul and beautifully written as usual

Comment is about minds under arrest (blog)

Original item by Paul Waring

gerdd wych. yn bleser i ddarllen am y wlad brydferth

Comment is about Cariad (blog)

Original item by Chris Armstrong

great stuff rick, so much said in so few words. i feel emotions when i see my ex-wife as well, mainly relief.

Comment is about From Across The Street (blog)

Original item by Rick Gammon

great stuff. your work reminds me of bukowski a lot, but softer, more restrained and somehow lighter (not in terms of quality just in terms of tone). enjoyed this one a lot.

Comment is about Your Tune. (blog)

Original item by Alexandra K. Parapadakis

this is really good manya. so much great imagery and use of colour and space. brilliant stuff.

Comment is about Song of the Sky (blog)

Original item by Manya

Thank you Graham!

Comment is about He bleeds Autumn. (blog)

Original item by Alexandra K. Parapadakis

As writers with http://dissertationwriter.org/write-my-dissertation/ say 'Before one can write, one must have a thought to communicate. Modern Americans cannot write because they do not think, either originally or analytically. ' But that's definitely not about you. Great job. Keep it up!

Comment is about It's all practice (blog)

Original item by brandon sproule

Cheers, Colin! It's an excellent anthology, if anyone feels like parting with a tenner. Spencer was a fascinating character, embedded in his community, painting out of doors and happy to discuss his pictures with passers-by. I went along to the reading because I was sure that it would make an interesting piece - glad that you thought so, too.

Comment is about Bringing Stanley back to life: anthology of poets inspired by Spencer's art (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Your article Greg brought back memories of visiting Cookham and nearby Cliveden many years ago. I remember visiting the gallery but only very vaguely. My grandparents (as featured in a recent poem) had splashed out in their retirement on a static caravan and boat on the Thames near Marlow. For a few years we enjoyed pretending we had more money than we did but my enduring memories are of quaint villages, kingfishers and messing about on the river.

Spencer's figures often put me in mind of Beryl Cook's but maybe his fans wouldn't appreciate that comparison. We have had several examples of ekphrastic poetry on WoL in the recent past. I have to admit it wasn't a term I had previously come across although combining art and poetry seems such an obvious path of inspiration.

Thanks for this and all your other articles that you take so much time and trouble over. I hope you have some secret counter that lets you know how many people are reading them as they do deserve reading.

Col.

Comment is about Bringing Stanley back to life: anthology of poets inspired by Spencer's art (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Thanks Col, epic listening and viewing.

Paul

Comment is about minds under arrest (blog)

Original item by Paul Waring

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iKFn8dlxX8

Comment is about minds under arrest (blog)

Original item by Paul Waring

Hi MC Thanks for the comment.

Don't know about you but mine doesn't go online anymore. Wallowing in this modern affluent electrically driven appliance society I can also now afford to no longer have to use both sides of the toilet paper

Comment is about WOE IS ME TO WOW IS ME (blog)

Original item by ken eaton-dykes

Thanks Col, take care out there in the underworld today ?

Paul

Comment is about minds under arrest (blog)

Original item by Paul Waring

I'm last in the queue for this one Paul but no less impressed than everyone else and they all seem to have a handle or two on it's inner depths. Defo need me coat today it's chucking it down. Now where's that umbrella with the hidden poisoned dart?

Comment is about minds under arrest (blog)

Original item by Paul Waring

Thank you so much Rose, Ray, David and Rachel pleased it sparked your imaginations!

Paul

Comment is about minds under arrest (blog)

Original item by Paul Waring

I'd love for you to explain this Adam

Comment is about We All Agree (blog)

Original item by Adam Whitworth

Hi Neil, I think the second half of this poem is the strongest - I particularly like the dialogue verse. Cheers!
Col

Comment is about A Few Quiet Ones (blog)

Original item by Neil Robertson

I like the idea behind this Rebeca - a meeting of Larkin's 'They fuck you up, your mum and dad' and Bart Simpson writing on the school blackboard over and over:

I will not be stuck in a fixed mindset.
I will not be stuck in a fixed mindset.
I will not be stuck in a fixed mindset.
I will not be stuck in a fixed mindset.
I will not be stuck in a fixed mindset.
I will not be stuck in a fixed mindset.
I will not be stuck in a fixed mindset.
I will not be stuck in a fixed mindset.
I will not be stuck in a fixed mindset.
I will not be stuck in a fixed mindset.
I will not be stuck in a fixed mindset.
I will not be stuck in a fixed mindset.

However, I'm not sure it needs the motivational last line. Personally I would have been tempted to repeat the first three 'I will not be...' lines. But hey, that's just my opinion.

Thanks for posting, it's certainly different.
Colin

Comment is about Fixed Mindset - Genre Transformation (blog)

Original item by Rebeca Servantes

A great "I've got a bone to pick" attitude, Paul. And, your manner of expression says a quite a lot without writing a thesis on the matter.

Privacy is a contentious issue, especially in these days when personal information can turn so much profit and is so easily begotten and subverted. If they ever find a way to tune into your thoughts, be sure that they will find a way to make your mind "legally" public property.

Rachel

Comment is about minds under arrest (blog)

Original item by Paul Waring

Raj,this poem ROCKS! love "indefinite nods " faultless piece of work IMO.



Rose ?

Comment is about Pre-judge-ice (blog)

Original item by Chakraj

Thanks, Alan. Sorry to be a spoilsport but had to correct that typo!

Comment is about Enduring appeal of print: long-running poetry magazines set out their stalls (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Much appreciated, Stu and Colin...

Well, Colin, I wrestled a bit with the tense and verbiage there. But, in the end, I really feel that it works because it makes the "light" part of the predicate versus making it the object of an action by saying "was shown" or "is shown". Grammatically, I'm not sure if the phrasing is correct, but I decided that I would take a chance on being wrong and chalk it up to personal liberty. Thanks for mentioning it, though--I appreciate the opportunity to participate in a little dialogue.

Take care, yous two,

Rachel

Comment is about R.E.M. (blog)

Original item by nunya

Thank you Greg, both for the article and the quote. It was a very successful launch event and we all hope PBF can do it again next year. Loved the Rialto's 'print fun': in the end, if it isn't fun we won't do it.
A

Comment is about Enduring appeal of print: long-running poetry magazines set out their stalls (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

I agree with W.M. it does indeed beautifully tamper with one's vulnerability Ray,so to speak.



Rose?

Comment is about WHAT'S NEW PUSSYCAT? (blog)

Original item by ray pool

Ha! Some great lines, immediately recognisable to those
of a solo lifestyle! Not sure about the resurrection (is
that a variation of "the bum's rush?!) but there is always
room to move stuff around to improve the furniture -
domestic or physical - and life is about motion after all.
Is it buy or wash?
Will you take a bet
On me going online...
Or down the laundrette?? ?

Comment is about WOE IS ME TO WOW IS ME (blog)

Original item by ken eaton-dykes

Hi Paul, now you have fine tuned the thoughts behind this I can see absolute resolution as you intended ! Nice one ; in this light it strays onto science fiction territory perhaps. I'm still scared.

Cheers mate.

Comment is about minds under arrest (blog)

Original item by Paul Waring

beaut Paul! my mind became suddenly 'arrested' by the suggestings of....

walking upside down on the ceiling,looking for *dark webs* or looking in biscuit tins for unwanted *cookies*?

I'll also stand by to get my coat too!

Really looking forward to back tracking to your previous gems Paul,but at the moment,I'm having to spread myself a lot on the thin side somewhat.


Rose.?

Comment is about minds under arrest (blog)

Original item by Paul Waring

I wasn't setting out to mention all the exhibitors, but sorry for failing to include the two you mention, Charles. Thanks for putting the record straight.

Comment is about Enduring appeal of print: long-running poetry magazines set out their stalls (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Sadly, you've left out of your article two magazines who were at the Poetry Magazine Fair and who have also had a long-running presence in the UK poetry scene: The Interpreter's House, which has been around since 1995, edited by Martin Malone and myself, and The Frogmore Papers, now in its 34th year, founded and still strongly edited by Jeremy Page.

I mention this, because if you're going to highlight the vast majority of magazines that were there on Saturday, why not mention them all?

Comment is about Enduring appeal of print: long-running poetry magazines set out their stalls (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Thanks Keith for your kind comments. I hope this stands up to re-reading and big thanks for taking time to read it first time.

And Aythangyow too Mr Ray. I nearly called this Thought Police, hence that final line. I had the idea about a world where everything you do and say might be under surveillance and then imagined an even scarier scenario where everything we think might be a target for police investigation, the entering and searching of our minds! I know, I must be like those kids in the old Vauxhall advert, "over-tired" ?

Thanks, Paul

Comment is about minds under arrest (blog)

Original item by Paul Waring

Such a complex subject Keith that it would be unfair to pick the bones out of such a poem as yours, or risk a pointless ramble - but pose a question you certainly have. Animals of course deal with stress in the raw by increased blood pressure and fight or flight. How many of us choose these parallels in the human framework. I reckon less than we suppose, but are caught in the trap of proving ourselves.

Ray

Comment is about Stress (blog)

Original item by keith jeffries

Just to say this speaks of great sensitivity and I know some suffer from a high dosage of reaction to things perceived as a threat maybe unable to resolve such wounds. Only my take on it, but lovely description of a state of mind. x
Ray

Comment is about Cracks (blog)

Original item by Mia

HIghly intrusive and invasive material Paul. Choreography of lives is clever, and mechanism of moves, I never criticize your work, but I was intrigued by the end that it seemed to hang on a possibility of something more specific. "Questioning" seems so generalized . I'll get my coat!

Love it in any case. Aythangyow.

Ray

Comment is about minds under arrest (blog)

Original item by Paul Waring

Hello Paul, This poem has a fascinating quality of intrigue. I think it will be interpreted by many readers to suit their own circumstances and impression of what you have written. For me it resonates of 1984 and perhaps more. A clever piece of work which I am going to re read. Thank you for this. Keith

Comment is about minds under arrest (blog)

Original item by Paul Waring

Tell it Raj ?

For me it's like staring into the eyes of madness.

Paul

Comment is about EuroTrash -- Dix Points (blog)

Original item by Chakraj

Stu, disturbingly gritty real life and fantasy. Stirring, majestic writing.

Paul

Comment is about leaves of glass (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

Ray, a moving piece, your trademark clever construction and fine delivery very much in evidence.

Paul

Comment is about WHAT'S NEW PUSSYCAT? (blog)

Original item by ray pool

Like this very much Tommy. Crafted. And dead cool.

Paul

Comment is about The end of an affair (blog)

Original item by Tommy Carroll

Hi Chris, I don't think I'm at all acquainted with your work - have you recently started posting here again? Anyways, I like this although I have to say I struggled with the yers and y's etc. I found myself reading round them and wondering were they necessary and was there a particular intention for presenting the poem thus? Always curious, Colin.

Comment is about Son. (blog)

Original item by chris stevenson

great opening line on which to build Ian.
Colin

Comment is about A WORK OF ART (blog)

Original item by ian winter

quality as always Rachel but I'm stumbling on the third line. Should it read 'that's shown' or 'that shows' or am I reading it wrong? I reckon, like me, if it is wrong you'd like to see it put right ?
All the best to you.
Col

Comment is about R.E.M. (blog)

Original item by nunya

why oh why oh why oh why oh why oh why oh why oh....

Comment is about EuroTrash -- Dix Points (blog)

Original item by Chakraj

oh this is so sad Ray - it's kinda how I feel when life gets the better of me and I want to curl up in a ball somewhere quiet but maybe all along wanting to be discovered. I'm not going to think about it too much - as you say, 'but not depressed'. Thanks for posting - and for Dust to Dust too. Col.

Comment is about WHAT'S NEW PUSSYCAT? (blog)

Original item by ray pool

we often deal with stress by passing it on to others. Offloading I believe it's called. Can't help but think there's something not quite sustainable with that model. Not that I have an alternate remedy. Seems we are destined to suffer at our own hands for all eternity. I mean, just reading this poem made me stressed - only joking ? Col.

Comment is about Stress (blog)

Original item by keith jeffries

love it - touch of the French art house

Comment is about The end of an affair (blog)

Original item by Tommy Carroll

Hello Hazel, thank you so much for your recent comments on my poems and to my profile page. Honestly, words like that floor me in the nicest way possible and I am so very grateful. Big hug. Col.

Comment is about Hazel ettridge (poet profile)

Original item by Hazel ettridge

This hit very close to home, thank you for putting it in beautiful words

Comment is about Stress (blog)

Original item by keith jeffries

we all need good friends like these. not Facebook friends numbering in hundreds (even I've got thirtyodd). but real friends who we can rely on.
nice one

Cheers Kevin

Comment is about A Circle of Friends (blog)

Original item by keith jeffries

I love the insignificance of your fallen tears, and the lava on a cigarette.

Comment is about Tears (blog)

Original item by A P

I really felt I could relate to this, when I read it. Thanks for sharing.

Comment is about Seeing Blindly (blog)

Original item by Andres S.