hi cynthia. these words just fell from my brain after reading rays poem/finishing the book 'on the road'. it took about 2 minutes to type it down and it was structured nicely because i was creating it as i was typing so i just made up the words in my head and pressed enter every time i felt a 'beat'.(does that make sense?).
one of my quick ones this. glad you enjoyed it!

ray - mr pirsig! i read it a long time ago but have a copy on my bookshelf. i may revisit!

Comment is about whisper (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

I like the strength of your ruthlessness. For me, it seems like falling upon the sword before the sword is wielded against you, a death wish either way. It is very compelling, and always wrapped in fluent, evocative imagery. Keep writing.

Comment is about If we (blog)

I also enjoyed this work. Did these lines actually fall so evenly on the page the first time round, or did they require some jockeying about? Isn't it marvellous how reading another poet's works can be stimulating, a if a button has been pressed.

Comment is about whisper (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

There is no other way to self discovery, otherwise we are governed by shadows! Unfortunately, guilt is often the ruin of us. Although it can a killer, it can also tricked into submission. Ray

Comment is about Shut Up and Write (blog)

Original item by harry

I'll check out the book at some near date Stu. Talking of "road" books, one of my favourites was "Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance" a classic of the 70s. Can't remember the author.
I'm putting a long long poem on tonight and that uses a similar idea to the "rolling" style ( I think). ! Ray

Comment is about whisper (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

Ray, I'm very ambivalent about what constitutes 'intelligence'; there are so many varieties. I have always thought that IQ tests were an inflated EGO trip for the test-makers, and woefully inadequate as a definitive measurement of intellectual ability. IMO, the most they accomplished was to test the quality and extent of the material which had been taught up to the 'time of the testing point', ie. education, a game of chance.

For me, intelligence is often confused with ostentatiously 'clever' - those verbal quips and word play scenarios suitable to fourteen-year-old schoolboys, spewed out by newspapers and TV presenters.

So I totally agree with the premise that the truly intelligent person knows that he/she knows nothing. But the drive to learn from the widest possible spectrum is insatiable.

Ray, you did ask. So I'm trying to be honest. Not necessarily right, just honest.

Comment is about ray pool (poet profile)

Original item by ray pool

Thanks for reading more than one too, Daniel. I really am quite chuffed that people have re-read. :)

Comment is about If I Were A Word (blog)

Thanks so much all for your comments on PAP and for reading.

It does contain all the elements mentioned but is ultimately about survival.

You have also given me food for thought David Moore!

Comment is about Polyvinyl Acetate Pig (blog)

Bonfire Night

He sits
up high
that guy
straw hat
charity clothes.

Fire burns
crackling wood
fireworks blast
screaming heard
maybe not.

Could be
Dancing flames
youngsters messing
old pensioner
just complaining.

Misty morning
smoldering ash
shredded remains
smoking hot
brittle bones.

A tramp
warm bed
fell asleep
for him
too late.

The theme for Monday is smoke.

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

Original item by Greg Freeman

I think I've blown your cover Harry.
I think you're referring to the preacher. He who knows how the world works - in his favour.

Ray .

Comment is about Shut Up and Write (blog)

Original item by harry

thanks ray! i am favouring the style at the moment. gives the whole thing a tumbling effect which then gives real power to the final lines. i have just finished reading 'on the road' by jack kerouac which i can recommend whole heartedly as a fine piece of work and one i feel i should have read earlier. its full of wonderful, tumbling prose about love, life and jazz sandwiched between a riveting travel document. brilliant stuff.

Comment is about whisper (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

Thanks Ledger . It's an ugly prospect we all face.

Ray

Comment is about WE'RE MAKING REAL PROGRESS (blog)

Original item by ray pool

A fine piece of work, Stu. More poetic than mine and a corruption of beauty to reveal the dark underbelly - I can't help seeing the burning torch often carried by the religiously inspired in here. I like the rolling motion of the lines with no punctuation; lots of momentum.
and thanks for the compliment - what more can anyone ask ? Ray.

Comment is about whisper (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

love this ray. inspired me to write my own doom and gloom poem which i have just posted. inspiration is the best gift a poet can give so thanks.

Comment is about WE'RE MAKING REAL PROGRESS (blog)

Original item by ray pool

Bang! Straight to the point, no waste of words-good one Ray.

Comment is about WE'RE MAKING REAL PROGRESS (blog)

Original item by ray pool

Thank you for taking the time to read it everyone. A x

Comment is about Field of Youth (blog)

Original item by Anna Ghislena

Thank you Harry for you kind comments on this and the other poems. I am glad you enjoyed the recording.

Comment is about Secondhand Merchandise (blog)

Original item by Anna Ghislena

Thank you David, it does not deserve your graciousness however I appreciate the sentiment
Pat :-)

Comment is about I write coz (blog)

Original item by PatricioLG

Thankyou Lynn...I am now shutting up and writing, no more talking to myself in rooms full of people ignoring each other.
A man actually read his poem to me privately and after doing so said "Its good isn't it" well what can I say.

Comment is about Shut Up and Write (blog)

Original item by harry

Morning Harry. I like your words. This piece led me to have a gander at your others which I enjoyed too. Lynn

Comment is about Shut Up and Write (blog)

Original item by harry

I married a French girl...

Comment is about Anything they can do we can do.....? (blog)

Original item by Harry O`N eill

Yes, yes, absolutely. Great Britain, the only country I know to have an adjective in it's name. I am currently writing a poem about this (without it sounding too negative) about how GB is so many other thins than it promotes to be, but so far having fun with my older verse first after a long absence from poetry.

I will read more of your work. I loved reading your bio too.

Comment is about Anything they can do we can do.....? (blog)

Original item by Harry O`N eill

Hi Dave,
Glad to see you back and hope you are well.

I`ve not been to any open mic nights for months now but I`m perking up a bit. I may get to Chester later on so If you are there (and me?) I`ll see you..

Comment is about Dave Bradley (poet profile)

Original item by Dave Bradley

thanks dave, glad you enjoyed it! i try to steer clear of heartbreak, both in life and in poetry, but last night i dreamed of les bulot again so felt the need to delve the depths.

Comment is about Les Bulot (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

There are so many heartbreak poems. But this is one of the better ones. Vivid - found myself re-reading it, always a good sign.

Comment is about Les Bulot (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

Thank you, Anita and John.
I like to think the future will surprise in the best way but
it will probably be beyond my own lifetime.

Comment is about THE LAST OF THE PAST (blog)

Original item by M.C. Newberry

A most touching dedication to those - still standing to attention in the ranks on view - who gave all they could
ever give.
A young uncle I was never to know is among them "over
there".

Comment is about Field of Youth (blog)

Original item by Anna Ghislena

peasant food, yeah thats another one!! currently being served by grown men dressed as french sailors in vintage swim suits in manchester's 'northern quarter'...twats

Comment is about Hey Hipster (blog)

Original item by dazzer

not indigestion! rather the stark fire of loneliness. i love how you got indigestion though. words are funny things!

Comment is about Les Bulot (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

Anna,
Word-wise, I couldn`t decide whether this one was ambiguous...or ambivalent.

But the soundcloud reading clears it up...no problem.

(not to mention lines fifteen, sixteen and seventeen)

Girl, you read beautifully.

Comment is about Secondhand Merchandise (blog)

Original item by Anna Ghislena

'Jim' by Hilaire Belloc.

Comment is about What are your favourite 'desert island' poems? Poetry group launches public poll (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

I refer my honourable friend to the answer the others gave earlier . Wonderfully descriptive and evocative, and rather sensuous and depraved. owzat!!
A fine piece of work.

Comment is about Polyvinyl Acetate Pig (blog)

Hi Stu. Sophisticated gourmet exploration come to grief, such a shame and with such humour. Not sure where the ending led me - is the stark fire to do with indigestion? surely not!! Answers on a postcard please.

Comment is about Les Bulot (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

This one is all (all) in the mind.

Comment is about The Cucumber Plot (blog)

Original item by Anna Ghislena

Anna,
From your bio I take this to be `about` work.

Believe it or not but (fast forwarding a bit) this could have been the pensioner do I was at last night...The mic even broke down.

Regarding that technical-savvy middle section:...It cries out for some more rough rhyming (it`s the masculinity of it)

A tiny, tiny quibble...does glaze flash?

Comment is about Always Down The Front (blog)

Original item by Anna Ghislena

thanks graham, glad you liked it. les bulot exists, and i did indeed get sand in my fish soup.

Comment is about Les Bulot (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

i have! its a block on facebook and a wispy trail on WOL!

glad you enjoyed it anyway!

Comment is about Les Bulot (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

Blog it in both formats! Everybody happy then :) x

Comment is about Les Bulot (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

argh. i cant decide wether to have it petering out or not? i really liked it but then i was aware it looked a bit silly. but then i changed it and people like it. im just going to change it back damnitt!

Comment is about Les Bulot (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

Anna,
By chance I read this without seeing the picture on the blog section. It wasn`t until lines eight and nine that I got the message and remembered the date (It`s the age).

Congratulations on the quiet and humble delicacy of this.

(and also that `in thirty rows of harvested youth`)

Comment is about Field of Youth (blog)

Original item by Anna Ghislena

Brilliant Stu. My mind started to go into slow motion as the characters and words diminished. Brilliant. xx

Noooo you've changed it! Why? xx

Comment is about Les Bulot (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

Hi Ray

I agree with Stu and really enjoyed reading this. xx

Comment is about THE FOG (blog)

Original item by ray pool

You had it for me on "trawling" in a fish soup. Brilliant stuff. It's when it looks back at you that you need to worry Stu!

Comment is about Les Bulot (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

It is men,the handiworks of God, that created all gods,though by logic all gods are created by God or subject to God.

When it comes to religion the original one is the right one,says the bible!

God is God we must not tamper with that.Even a god mocks one for taking him God.

Comment is about Devil could not be God (blog)

Original item by Alem Hailu G/Kristos

Concise and clever indeed. Nice one. (... and I have read this more than once as well) ;)

Comment is about If I Were A Word (blog)

Very significant and nice words Wendy.
WOL can be a great safety valve whether you care or you share.

May your next verse come into your head sooner rather than later. :)

Comment is about Thankyou (blog)

Original item by Wendy Higson

no acid! just a diet of early norwegian thrash metal and multivitamins.

i admit to being a fan of early, scandinavian black metal (the title of the poem itself is taken from a burzum album) not so much for the music but for the history. they routinely burnt churches, murdered other band members (really) and just have a really interesting past.

i guess i was just in the place and the time and wanted to get something down. im glad you like it, i enjoyed writing this a lot.

overall i think its about a church burning followed by a sacrifice. neither of which i have ever directly been involved in!

Comment is about Hvis Lyset Tar Oss (blog)

Original item by Stuart Buck

Haha - spot on, lad! See also my other bugbear, 'peasant food'. This means cheap food that we used to eat BECAUSE it was cheap being written about in a Guardian article by some fat-mouthed tv chef, and then the cost of it all rocketing.

Comment is about Hey Hipster (blog)

Original item by dazzer

What a lovely piece Wendy :)

I'm glad you find WOL to be a little oasis. That's how it should be. We various poets arrive here, mostly with something huge in our histories, and we write our lives. It takes guts to put it out there in public, but I truly believe that creative output is the best therapy there is.

Great to see Stu's comment there too :)

Comment is about Thankyou (blog)

Original item by Wendy Higson

Seconded!

Comment is about Breakthrough (blog)

Original item by Katie Seymour (KT)