Thanks for posting Mark. It got the nostalgia juices flowing yet again. The magic of steam.... In 1963 I took a trip from Waterloo via Bath and went down the Somerset and Dorset to Bournemouth, thence back to W'loo. You must know Bradford on Avon on the canal. Few tourists around in those days.
Steam at night was fantastic - the anticipation . I could go on.

Ray

Comment is about A TRIP TO LOOE (blog)

Original item by ray pool

An evocative reminder of my own youthful experiences
on GWR territory: trainspotting on the UP platform at Bath Spa, and living in a nearby village that had an
archtypal goods station with a cosy waiting room fire,
a frequent evening destination for this lad, eager for
the distant whistle that would announce the approach
of a "down" express soon emerging from the short
intervening tunnel between the station and the famous Box Tunnel just beyond the village.
With another shriek and with a flash of twin lamps and illuminated carriages, it would lean in towards me as
I stood on the otherwise deserted dark platform and thunder past in a heady blur of steam and light.
No obsessing about health and safety in those days.
The solitary porter on duty would have a few words
and leave me to my own devices until I was ready to
make my happy way home in my own time.
That station is long gone now but the memories - and
WHAT memories! - stay with me.

Comment is about A TRIP TO LOOE (blog)

Original item by ray pool

Colin, thank you for the comment and for sharing such a lovely song with me. I actually have never heard it before.

As to the cynics, I agree with them that the dual meaning songs are a marketing ploy to capture a market that would not listen to music labelled explicitly gospel. However, contrary to cynics I don't look down on the practice - artists have to sell or else they'll come to ruins and even though the Christian message is latent I believe the subliminal message plants good seeds in the minds of the listeners. One of my favorite books is the Chronicles of Narnia and the gospel is masked by a tale of fantasy through out the entire story.
I am really glad you enjoyed the poem.

Comment is about I vowed to you (blog)

Original item by Juan Pablo Lynch

Thanks Martin. Enjoyed writing the full series here must admit, and there is others on the way too.

Comment is about From Friendship to Love (IV) (blog)

Original item by Andy N

It is all in that hint of a smile.
I don't think it would be half as popular without it.
Rather like the idea of the "muse strikes back".
I wonder what our muses would say if we let them talk?

Comment is about Mona Lisa Musing (blog)

Original item by Paul Waring

Ta Col, maybe being so independent (and a bit formidable?!) stands you in good stead in terms of longeivity? I do love reading these snippets, anecdotes, stories, etc you share with us ?

Thanks,

Paul

Comment is about Mona Lisa Musing (blog)

Original item by Paul Waring

Hello Marc,
reference your comments about a blocked profile, did you delete the offending one? I can only find this current one. Or was it under a different name/title etc?

regards,

Graham

Comment is about Marc Lovett (poet profile)

Original item by Marc Lovett

I'm reckoning this is not about pins but it brought back painful childhood memories for this reader. You see my mum was very active in her local WI when I was a kid and would regularly hold crafty meetings in our house. To cut a long story short I was forever stepping on their lost pins!

Comment is about Pin (blog)

Original item by Matt

hello Juan, this is rather lovely. Whilst I am not a religious person I understand where your writing comes from and it goes from strength to strength. Although not a true comparison, this did remind me of a lot of Van Morrison's song lyrics where he writes about his personal relationship with God - yet those same lyrics could be interpreted as simply being about a person that you love.

This way of writing with a dual meaning I find fascinating. Much of his Avalon Sunset album is like this (with the exception of the opening track which I confess to always skipping). Cynics might say it's also a clever marketing ploy - to capture the attention of different listeners knowing some will interpret without finding the real truth behind the lyrics. But nonetheless it is probably the only album with strong religious overtones in my collection. What do you think? I reckon you could pen something along these lines.

You have probably heard this track many times but here is the link to the one I had in mind. All the best my friend. Col

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFF1wJN75Z0

Comment is about I vowed to you (blog)

Original item by Juan Pablo Lynch

Hazel you have managed that rare thing of making us care about the person in the poem. We being by sharing your pleasure at discovering this city and then feel anxious as you feel slightly threatened by the more subversive elements that you discover.

I liked this from the moment you posted it. Well done on making POTW.

Comment is about 'In Budapest' by Hazel Ettridge is Write Out Loud Poem of the Week (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Yes, well done Hazel. I've had such a busy weekend I feel I am still catching up. I've been enjoying your contributions since you joined WoL and look forward to reading many more. All the very best, Colin

Comment is about 'In Budapest' by Hazel Ettridge is Write Out Loud Poem of the Week (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

I had a great aunt called Mona who was a spinster and lived into her nineties. Her independent nature by some might have been construed as somewhat formidable but I'm sure she had a heart of gold under the corsets and croaky voice. Still, it was hard as a teenager not to be cheeky and think Mona by name, moaner by nature. I think that's why I made a connection with this piece Paul.

Comment is about Mona Lisa Musing (blog)

Original item by Paul Waring

Thanks Colin, so glad you liked this. Not one of my Da Vinci favourites either but I couldn't resist writing this when the idea of portraying her literally as a moaner came to mind.

Paul

Comment is about Mona Lisa Musing (blog)

Original item by Paul Waring

Well done Hazel on being picked as the winner of POTW.
Truly deserved. That piece was exceptional.

Raj

Comment is about 'In Budapest' by Hazel Ettridge is Write Out Loud Poem of the Week (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Love the imagery...just hoping that the picnic was not as short as the poem, haha..lovely chill poem

Comment is about Picnic (blog)

Original item by John Garbutt

interesting perspective Paul and well written. I've never really been much of a fan of the old moaner - as you say, she's always looked on the frumpy side to me but you know those eyes do follow you about the room. He was quite talented that Leonardo chap.

Comment is about Mona Lisa Musing (blog)

Original item by Paul Waring

Glad you took this trip down memory lane with me gentlemen. Thanks Dave for catching up, always nice to have a fresh mind on board - yes this was a lightweight poem, just a refresher as it were!

Graham, i'm jealous - no health or safety restrictions then. I never made that mpw - I think it might have been a roundhouse like the one at Camden. I managed Nine Elms in 67, a sad place then. Proper memories!

Greg, glad you picked up on this - a little beauty of a trip. Apparently it also at one time served a quarry I believe. There was a view of a viaduct too.

John, I'm sure your perambulations were equally satisfying being as it were in the industrial heartlands . God knows there was so much pulled down since then.
You must have seen the coronation scot and the jubilees on the move. Hankies please.

Thanks all, and also for the likes too!

Comment is about A TRIP TO LOOE (blog)

Original item by ray pool

It was wrote for my daughter who passed away in October 2016..

Comment is about The River of Silence (blog)

Original item by Hazel Connelly

Our House was always like this..

Comment is about Our House (blog)

Original item by Hazel Connelly

Nice to meet somebody else with a passion for haiku! A couple of years ago I decided to try to write 108 haiku over 108 days. I don't think I quite made it in the end. Perhaps I ought to try again!

Comment is about Melissa Gentile (poet profile)

Original item by Melissa Gentile

Because they were so far away Western and Southern Region spots were rarities in my part of the world (LMS). I was always envious.

Comment is about A TRIP TO LOOE (blog)

Original item by ray pool

I can't see UKIP overcoming its problem that it's achieved its sole objective.
I see it unfolding like this. Tory landslide at the next General Election. And probable victory in the one after that. Labour ditching Corbyn. (He'll resign - his numpty followers don't have the sense to deselect him). Gradual realignment towards the centre Left. UKIP nowhere.

Comment is about NOBODY WANTS YOU WHEN YOU'RE DOWN AND OUT (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

thanks paul and david, really glad you liked it.

david - devotchka was used purely due to its similarity to devotion, however i see your point re: a soviet feel.

in soviet russia, poems write you!

Comment is about like skin upon my bones (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

thanks very much david, glad you enjoyed it. all my poems could be classed as hastily scribbled, i rarely spend over fifteen/twenty minutes on a piece. i think this is what allows the pieces to flow.

Comment is about i am lost and you are lost so maybe we are not lost (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

Lovely stuff, Ray. And the quirky, one-coach Looe Valley branch line escaped Beeching; I discovered it a couple of years ago. That separate station at Liskeard for the branch line is a beaut.

Comment is about A TRIP TO LOOE (blog)

Original item by ray pool

I couldn't agree more. I think that if the established church
was a business, or an organisation not affiliated to a religious body, then they would be outlawed for their bigoted views.
when hoteliers refuse access to LGBT people on religious grounds and the law does nothing my blood boils.

elP --- I can't think of anything in the "new" testament either, but the old testament is full of bigotry


Kevin.

Comment is about THAT OL' TIME RELIGION (blog)

Original item by M.C. Newberry

Thanks elP, for your kind words and for the link to a very interesting article. I taught about the psychological aspects of sleep for years but have as much fascination for the physical/biological aspects, too. I think it is an area that we may still know relatively little about.

Thanks, too, David, for a lovely compliment, very much appreciated.

Paul

Comment is about Insomnia (blog)

Original item by Paul Waring

Congratulations Hazel, your delightful poem is a worthy winner of POTW.

Paul

Comment is about 'In Budapest' by Hazel Ettridge is Write Out Loud Poem of the Week (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

JC - I certainly agree with your point about Ukip's original aim - and its success. However, with the virtual disintegration of the Lib-Dems - whose obsequious
genuflection towards the EU brought about their demise,
and the rapidly reducing faith in Corbyn's Labour Party,
it is likely the newest party sees a role for itself as an
alternative voice for the man on the Clapham Omnibus...
as more and more lose faith in the old three party system
here in a UK that is now forging a future free of the
ties to Brussels. If only they can get their collective act
together and offer something less haphazard from their
leadership platform. Fair do's though, as it is easy to
forget how long the other parties have held sway and
just how new Ukip is to "the game".

Comment is about NOBODY WANTS YOU WHEN YOU'RE DOWN AND OUT (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

A powerful extended metaphor, Paul. Brilliant, resonant short poem. This is great work

Dave R

Comment is about Insomnia (blog)

Original item by Paul Waring

Thanks Stu for the kind comments re the two bird pieces.

Very best
Dave R

Comment is about Stuart Buck (poet profile)

Original item by Stuart Buck

Love the fluidity of this Stu.
It manages to balance the moment as it is experienced with language that indicates the moment reflected upon: "pristine and beauteous", "melancholic gloss", etc. Not easy to pull off. The apparent absurdity of the thought process is thoroughly human and beautifully humane.

If this is "hastily scribbled" I'm mighty impressed

Cheers

Dave R

Comment is about i am lost and you are lost so maybe we are not lost (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

Thanks Harry for the kind words on the bird poems. They actually are two pieces written several years apart. I simply posted them together as an obvious pairing!

Best wishes
Dave R

Comment is about Harry O`N eill (poet profile)

Original item by Harry O`N eill

Thanks for the advice Colin. I really appreciate your alteration to my poem.

Comment is about Unfinished conversations (blog)

Original item by Juan Pablo Lynch

Hi Hazel

I have never been to Budapest but from what I have seen and heard it sounds a great place to visit. Your poem certainly brings the place alive. I love your enthusiasm, particularly with your repeated line of
'oh the thrill of running down the street' which works well and certainly gives it something of a pace.
congrat's on POTW

Nice one

Comment is about 'In Budapest' by Hazel Ettridge is Write Out Loud Poem of the Week (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Just don't watch adverts. I have little to no opinion on this. Agree mostly with what Trevor Alexander said.

Comment is about 'It's depressing': Luke Wright's 'old-fashioned rant' about spoken word on TV ads (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

A stimulating contrast to the view of my brother-in-law -
recently returned from a stay in that city and says he
wouldn't go again.

Comment is about 'In Budapest' by Hazel Ettridge is Write Out Loud Poem of the Week (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

PW/elP - thanks for your comments. If we must have
religion then let it be the inclusive kind that unashamedly
puts love and caring first - not the selective humbug
that bolsters prejudice to suit an agenda of ascendancy.
Wolfgar - I checked the reference supplied - thanks.
The Hitchens brothers (Christopher and Peter) have
never been backward in coming forward and we need
their kind to challenge cruel and credulous complacency.

Comment is about THAT OL' TIME RELIGION (blog)

Original item by M.C. Newberry

Hi Hazel,

First of all, congratulations on winning POTW. I must have missed this one. I also enjoyed "I'm Ready if You Are" - another fine poem. I'll check out your other ones.

Nice one!

Suki

Comment is about 'In Budapest' by Hazel Ettridge is Write Out Loud Poem of the Week (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Can't agree with you more Graham. There is already evidence of many of our sons and daughters quitting uni and opting for early entrepreneurship. I see CEOs in their twenties!

They certainly have a voice and time for us to listen.
Yes, anything could happen.

Glad you like it.
Raj

Comment is about The Infinite Kingdom (blog)

Original item by Chakraj

They just might be the generation to achieve it Chakraj.
In our day it wasn't possible to launch a blog/vlog/website/social network etc all from one's bedroom.
It is now possible to talk to the world and not just your mates down the pub!

Who the hell knows what is going to happen next?

Well done for writing this!

Comment is about The Infinite Kingdom (blog)

Original item by Chakraj

I remember skittling around Old Oak Common sheds before we got chucked out as a schoolboy!

This brings back many memories of bus trip train spotting jaunts. Well observed Ray.

Comment is about A TRIP TO LOOE (blog)

Original item by ray pool

this was beautiful. I tried to imagine your voice reading it, as I don't think it would suit my gruff Yorkshire twang.

is someone leaving, or have they passed away? or is that for the reader to decide?

cheers kevin.

Comment is about The River of Silence (blog)

Original item by Hazel Connelly

I'm with MC on the last line - making 'heart' plural to match 'charts'. Good stuff John.

Comment is about A Three-chord Song (blog)

Original item by John Garbutt

as this is an unfinished conversation you could also maybe write the last line

knowing full well it doesn't end in Z

Comment is about Unfinished conversations (blog)

Original item by Juan Pablo Lynch

Beautiful evocation Ray. A little lighter than some of your other posts which I have just read through. They're disturbing in a good way. Proper poetry in my book.

Comment is about A TRIP TO LOOE (blog)

Original item by ray pool

Who needs a bunch sanctimonious nags at the theater, anyway? I don't claim the christian faith and I'm sure that there's much about it that I don't know, but I don't recall any single instance in their "new" testament when their christ goes out amongst the gentiles to criticize their morality...am I wrong?

elP

Comment is about THAT OL' TIME RELIGION (blog)

Original item by M.C. Newberry

Insomnia is a real monster. I agree with John about the quality of the metaphors..like a terrible fruitless wrestling.

You might find this interesting to go along with the idea that sleep is required for renewal...

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-24567412

elP

Comment is about Insomnia (blog)

Original item by Paul Waring

Thank you so much John, for your kind and generous praise of this short poem. I can relate to the horrors of lying awake and how the brain can torment us with dark thoughts.

Thank you, too, Ray, lovely words, much appreciated, and so glad that you 'dug' this ?

Paul

Comment is about Insomnia (blog)

Original item by Paul Waring

M.C., well written and well said, you have drawn our attention to an extremely important issue and I agree 100%.

What a dark age we still live in with such intolerance of difference. It is, in my view, disgusting and, (while I'm up here on my soapbox), I hope in future it becomes a criminal offence.

Thank you for posting this.

Paul

Comment is about THAT OL' TIME RELIGION (blog)

Original item by M.C. Newberry