Thank you Cynthia and David for your kind words, I am so grateful to you both.
Cynthia, I feel very encouraged by your praise.
David, I do hope I managed to capture something about those 'worst of all days' you mention, the days that every one of us has faced, or will face, in our lives.
Paul
Comment is about Days Like This (blog)
Original item by Paul Waring
Wonderfully atmospheric Stu, and you've got me intrigued.
Paul
Comment is about to sea at last (blog)
Original item by Stuart Buck
<Deleted User> (13762)
Tue 4th Apr 2017 20:17
I've been driving up and down motorways all day and my mind is befuddled. I'm still not sure I fully understand this poem but I wanted to stop by and revisit it again because it is definitely a worthy winner of POTW.
I have my own grasp on it and I very much like what I am grasping at. Whether or not it is fully correct is perhaps immaterial when a piece of writing inspires readers in varied ways. It's the kind of poem that makes one want to jump back in and swim around in. Well done Simon.
Colin
Comment is about 'Around the Cirrus and Nimbostratus' by Simon Widdop is Poem of the Week (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
<Deleted User> (13762)
Tue 4th Apr 2017 20:02
I was reminded of Elvis Costello's 'Watching the Detectives' - link below with lyrics. Your last line had me thinking of his: 'it only took my little fingers to blow you away'.
Both stories have a threatening feel and heady atmosphere and although not that similar in theme and content it is where my mind wandered. Perhaps a touch of the Gothic in yours Cynthia which I very much like. Good to hear that song again too. All the best, Colin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xO_sDtI2bYk
Comment is about Girl in a Lake (blog)
Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas
Oh Ray, you play-on-wordster, you. I love the cleverness of night errors / night terrors. And I really like the bonkersness of this very much.
And aythangyow,
Paul
Comment is about NIGHT ERRORS (blog)
Original item by ray pool
Cynthia re "Sin" the grating is in the mind of the beholder.
Comment is about Cynthia Buell Thomas (poet profile)
Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas
A profusion of illusion all a dream, is she a mermaid or not what she may seem? I find the sensuality of it very appealing and dare I say stimulating? It feels like an invasion of innocence by the "black mass". Not sure what that line represents but it seems pivotal to the poem!
Persuasive stuff Cynthia.
Comment is about Girl in a Lake (blog)
Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas
Enchanting Stu, and I like the use of Oh, open and over to give a sort of open - mouthed sense of wonder to the piece.
Highly effective. I wasn't sure if glass-like wings represents sails or not. Excellent stuff.
Ray
Comment is about to sea at last (blog)
Original item by Stuart Buck
Delightful, truthful and engagingly put.
Comment is about GREAT GRAND KIDS (blog)
Original item by ken eaton-dykes
Hi elP, real menace here, with revenge hanging heavy in the air....I really like 'pull the plug from his circuit box' -
could be the fate of a dalek (cue David...exterminate!).
Paul
Comment is about operation black sight (blog)
Original item by nunya
A very fine read, Ian, well thought, and well-crafted.
Would you consider, given the density and intensity of the subject, bringing some lines into closer association? I found it hard to keep a straight line of intent as I was constantly sliding downhill, so to speak. I realize it would look a bit 'prosy' but that's not a sin after all. Just a thought.
Comment is about This Book Is Bound In Leather And Writ In Blood (blog)
Original item by Ian Whiteley
Great piece,Tommy, beautifully crafted. It's my problem that 'sin' and 'sexuality' grate needlessly against each other.
Comment is about Sin (blog)
Original item by Tommy Carroll
Really catches the spirit of despair with fine imagery. The mood is pervasive, superbly ending with 'watching dust'.
Comment is about Days Like This (blog)
Original item by Paul Waring
I much like the thought in this, but I find the punctuation distracting. Would you consider dropping the word 'cup' to just 'aimlessly stirring a lukewarm coffee'? I'd actually like to see the other version, to be honest.
Comment is about Cold Coffee (Reworked) (blog)
Original item by Trevor Alexander
Just plain lovely, with a thrilling choice of words: 'agape, aghast, at sea at last' is fabulous, followed by 'glass' and 'solace' Real wordsmanship. (My computer doesn't like that word - tough!)
Comment is about to sea at last (blog)
Original item by Stuart Buck
Wrote this a zillion (almost) years ago. Not satisfied with it yet; but I still find it interesting to work on.
Comments of any tenor would be taken aboard and considered. Maybe I could throw all the words individually into a pot and select at random, or scatter them around with a leaf blower, and spear them erratically with a trash stick. Now that's a thought or two!
Comment is about Girl in a Lake (blog)
Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas
Frances, we must have been writing and posting at the same time, so you won't have seen my comment just now. Yes, I really wanted to capture extreme sadness.
Many thanks for commenting Frances.
Paul
Comment is about Days Like This (blog)
Original item by Paul Waring
Frances Macaulay Forde
Tue 4th Apr 2017 16:37
Thanks Stu, pleased you liked it. I'm now glad I took a chance with the rotten teeth line!
And thanks too, Ray. Glad you liked the 4th verse in particular. I must have re-written that 20 times until it seemed right! The poem is not autobiographical, it's my take on the how dreadful the experience of loss/grief and depression can be. I just wanted to play around with the notion of being stuck and how, on some days, it can seem like time is standing still and there is just you and your thoughts/memories.
Oops, getting a bit deep now, aren't I? ?
Paul
Comment is about Days Like This (blog)
Original item by Paul Waring
Nicely served on a bed of acceptance - I like the bathos implied in the Fuchsia offer.
Ray
Comment is about To Maria (blog)
Original item by Rick Gammon
This is the shadow that dogs us and sometimes reigns supreme. It needs letting into the light and vaporising!
A poem can help !
Ray
Comment is about operation black sight (blog)
Original item by nunya
I especially the fourth verse Paul - it reminds me of the rain on the lake in "Don't Look Now." Circles can be sad. Rather an unsettling poem for such as yourself.
Ray
Comment is about Days Like This (blog)
Original item by Paul Waring
good one this, i especially love 'the rotten teeth of the crowd'
Comment is about Days Like This (blog)
Original item by Paul Waring
elPintor
Tue 4th Apr 2017 11:57
this, for mercy's sake...I like it.
elP
Comment is about To ex-boyfriend (blog)
Original item by Honey
Really good one Tommy.
You say so much with so little. what poetry should say!
Good work
Comment is about Sin (blog)
Original item by Tommy Carroll
Frances Macaulay Forde
Tue 4th Apr 2017 05:52
Frances Macaulay Forde
Tue 4th Apr 2017 05:49
Sensual whilst restrained... but very effective.
Well done.
Comment is about Sin (blog)
Original item by Tommy Carroll
Comment is about Gopika_n (poet profile)
Original item by Gopika_n
elPintor
Mon 3rd Apr 2017 23:10
I'm so glad this was chosen, Simon. It really is a well-written piece of work--maybe showing how we attribute divine characteristics to those we admire. I liked it from the start.
elP
Comment is about 'Around the Cirrus and Nimbostratus' by Simon Widdop is Poem of the Week (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
love Zima Junction. one of my fav pieces growing up
Comment is about 'Babi Yar' poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko dies aged 84 (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
always enjoy doing this. My blog for this year is http://ghoststoryiv.blogspot.co.uk/
Comment is about Start today - prompts aplenty on the way during National Poetry Writing Month (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
If the rumours are true, MC, it would make a better story than anything JlC could write.
Comment is about "HAIL TO THE CHIEF" (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Hello Hazel, it was your comment on Kevin´s poem ´Sylvie´which drew my attention to your profile and some of your poetry. Your style is enticing and also enigmatic. I have enjoyed most, if not all, but particularly liked Í lived my life that way´and ´The End is Nigh´. Please write more. An aspiring fan. Thanks. Keith
Comment is about Hazel ettridge (poet profile)
Original item by Hazel ettridge
Thank you Graham for a lovely compliment.
I think you, David and I, the 'tree fellas', agree that in reality a tree cannot fall silently. And if anyone doubts this they should ask TIM BURR ?
Oh, how we laughed......
Paul
Comment is about Felling Us (blog)
Original item by Paul Waring
I recall a poem by Betjeman about a lady and her admirer
in the nook of a cafe (the title eludes me) and these
lines do an excellent job of maintaining the theme of a
secret liaison that Betjeman himself would recognise and
enjoy.
Comment is about The Art of Cheating (blog)
Original item by Wonderer
Courtly! This could only come from a certain stage in
life when a hot attachment has cooled...but not extinguished. To borrow from the immortal W.S. Gilbert:
"Modified rapture".
Comment is about To Maria (blog)
Original item by Rick Gammon
I certainly agree with the essence expressed in this blog.
Many's the time I've found my mind busy conjuring up
stuff not remotely connected with the job in (literally)
hand.
Comment is about The Mind Released (blog)
Original item by keith jeffries
Or as I sometimes think: beady-eyed Old Mother Nature's
replacements - humanity's consumer obsolescence in
winsome and delightfully deceitful action!
Comment is about GREAT GRAND KIDS (blog)
Original item by ken eaton-dykes
An absorbing literary analogy - the book of life itself.
All things age and in some - but not all - instances may
be preserved for consideration by future generations.
Comment is about This Book Is Bound In Leather And Writ In Blood (blog)
Original item by Ian Whiteley
thanks for commenting on 'returning home' MC - you have picked up the mood and feel very well in your summary - and, indeed, the references within the lines - thanks for commenting
Ian
Comment is about M.C. Newberry (poet profile)
Original item by M.C. Newberry
thanks for the kind comments on 'returning home' Ray - you have understood EXACTLY the meaning of this piece - thanks very much for taking the time to comment
Ian
Comment is about ray pool (poet profile)
Original item by ray pool
A great allegory Paul in so many ways.
On the matter of do trees fall silently, I do not subscribe to the notion that they do. We know they don't because we can witness the falling and hear the associated noise. So they obviously make the same noise whether we're there to hear it or not. Whoever dreamed that up is bonkers surely?
more to the point "In space, no-one can hear you scream"
Good work!
Comment is about Felling Us (blog)
Original item by Paul Waring
Thanks David and Hazel for your comments.
David, interesting perspectives, a tree does effectively fall in silence if no-one is around. The silence in this poem, of course, is the end/death of a relationship, characterised as a tree that is eventually felled by the one who is hell-bent on breaking up. And, how true, this 'falling in silence' could happen in what appear to us as perfect relationships.
Hazel, such lovely words, I really am grateful to you.
Thanks again to you both,
Paul
Comment is about Felling Us (blog)
Original item by Paul Waring
I always love your images. They bring me closer to the truth - peeling off the bark.
Comment is about Felling Us (blog)
Original item by Paul Waring
Your rhyming sequences in this piece are very effective Alexandra. One of your briefest offerings too, meaning every word is important and will be scrutinised.
It feels tightly written like a small parcel. I rather like it!
Comment is about He bleeds Autumn. (blog)
Original item by Alexandra K. Parapadakis
The woman has no idea of my devotion - I told her she'd inspired a poem - it's like a buried land mine - hope it doesn't blow my nuts off ?
Comment is about To Maria (blog)
Original item by Rick Gammon
<Deleted User> (13762)
Tue 4th Apr 2017 20:43
I loved this when I first read it and had to come back for another helping. According to the Almighty Google Font of All Knowledge 'spaghettification' is sometimes referred to as the noodle effect. Add to that Suki's 'respaghettify' and what more could we ask for? Terrific. Col.
Comment is about Spaghettification (blog)
Original item by Paul Waring