Hi Dean, how are you buddy ?? Thank you for the comments on The Old Bastards Will. I was aiming for a serious by the death, but funny by the old man having the last laugh, as he knew his family were only ever interested in his millions. Very happy to read that you enjoyed it, and, thank you again.

Comment is about Dean Carroll (poet profile)

Original item by Dean Carroll

Absolutely love the way you have worded this Ian, its very graceful, although its written about the rough and tumble of the game of rugby.

Comment is about Full Contact (blog)

Original item by Ian Whiteley

That is excellent Starfish. I was seeing every action in my mind as I was reading, so much detail with little written detail. I loved every word of every line.

Comment is about Forbidden Love (blog)

Original item by Starfish

Hi Tom, I love this. It is so strait to the point about falling in and out of love, very real and heartfelt.

Comment is about Loveontheline (blog)

Original item by Tom Doolan

Thank-you 'Asteroidea', for I know that to be your real name. No point in hiding, the truth's out, you've been here for months under an assumed name. .... mikhail.

Comment is about Starfish (poet profile)

Original item by Starfish

This isn't great poetry as such but who cares. It does its job as versifying to get across an extraordinary experience/day/reality. I will remember it long after I've forgotten stuff which ticks more technical boxes

Comment is about Schizophrenic on a Mission (blog)

Original item by Dean Carroll

Thank you. :-)

Comment is about Lampedusa (blog)

Original item by steve pottinger

hey Laura,
Thanks for your words of wisdom. If you've gone from written nothing and performed nothing three years ago to the current list of publishing and performance highlights on your profile page - I can only say I am well impressed. Your story is really a life changing one!
Best wishes, Steve

Comment is about Laura Taylor (poet profile)

Original item by Laura Taylor

Well potrayed. I've witnessed it myself of a death of a family member or friend. The families are like vultures on carrion not content until they've stripped the carcass clean. As I could put subtley put it.

Well written

Dean

Comment is about The Old Bastards Will (blog)

Original item by Tj Steele

When my daughter had to do presentations at University she had to be told to "remember to breathe", which always tickles me.

Comment is about How to tell a joke -Advice given to a Lady- (blog)

Original item by Tommy Carroll

Was going to mention what a pleasure this was to read and the feeling of nostalgia it induces only to find that I am plagiarising Cynthia's comment. Sorry. Vividly descriptive too.
Starfish

Comment is about Remembered Hallowe’ens of Childhood (blog)

Original item by C Richard Miles

Brilliant stuff! Beautiful description and a pleasure to read. I've said it before and I'll say it again - clever man!

Comment is about All Hallows Eve (blog)

Original item by Ian Whiteley

I love this poem - brilliant stuff!

Comment is about Nature`s `revenge` (blog)

Original item by Harry O`N eill

I think this is really beautiful. Love it.
Best Wishes Starfish

Comment is about Loveontheline (blog)

Original item by Tom Doolan

I love this too - very atmospheric, draws you in.
Best wishes Starfish
And now I shall google Thomas Hardy's first wife and find said poem.

Comment is about ".. beyond the gate ?" (blog)

Original item by Mikhail Smith

Hey Mike!Rant on,rant on Sir!We have swallowed every line of this poem as would drinkers of the finest of wines,letting every drop,purposely not only go to our heads,but to our hearts as well.xx

Comment is about On Isolated Ground (blog)

Original item by Noetic-fret!

thanks be,to be able to back pedal,and find brilliant work such as this.Wow!xx

Comment is about Lampedusa (blog)

Original item by steve pottinger

who gave you permission to describe us...
'pumpkins begin their toothless snarl?'..AND!
who gave you permission to use a pikky of our 'oliday 'ome,where,there are 'no mirrors'
-thankfully!
clever stuff Mr Slimdowned Whiteley.xx

Comment is about All Hallows Eve (blog)

Original item by Ian Whiteley

Hi MC, thank you for the comments on Inner Demon, they are very much appreciated.

Comment is about M.C. Newberry (poet profile)

Original item by M.C. Newberry

I possess a weighty anthology, The Poetry of Birds, which also fails to mention the chaffinch. There's one by John Clare about the chiffchaff, but that's as far as it goes. Bullfinches, greenfinches, goldfinches are all represented, but no chaffinches, as far as I can see. What is it about the chaffinch? What's going on here?

Comment is about Selling spoken word: reasons to be cheerful at Burning Eye (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Hello Greg .. I'm really pleased about your Thomas Hardy comment because all I knew of him was The Woodlanders from school,so I searched his wife's death and found the poems. Curiously I see Woodlanders was written 1887 the year my gr. gr. gr'mother Ellen died in Oldham .. it took me months to find her grave because there was a mistake on the death cert'.I 'googled' 'beyond the gate' and the first thing is a place who help alcoholics ! .. it's all very odd.

Comment is about Greg Freeman (poet profile)

Original item by Greg Freeman

My wife is a Zulu woman,
You could say we're enslaved to each -
but in essence,
we are king and queen,
And our kingdom?

The smiles of our two, adoring, children!

I like the poem. Nice one Harry!

Comment is about Nature`s `revenge` (blog)

Original item by Harry O`N eill

Love the ghostly feel of this, Mikhail. Reminds me of Thomas Hardy's poem about his dead first wife.

Comment is about ".. beyond the gate ?" (blog)

Original item by Mikhail Smith

Personally, I put a picture of Michael Gove on the front door to keep the kids away.

Comment is about All Hallows Eve (blog)

Original item by Ian Whiteley

Aaahh, I think I get the "revenge" now. A romantic twist on black/white slavery relationships?

Comment is about Nature`s `revenge` (blog)

Original item by Harry O`N eill

Still got it, haven't you Harry? I bet you were deadly when you were younger.
Very pictorial, H. MC's right about the structure keeping us on our toes.

Comment is about Nature`s `revenge` (blog)

Original item by Harry O`N eill

The chap looking into my mirror is an athletic, good-looking twenty-something.
The chap looking out is a white-haired old man.
(But the older I get, the better I was!)

Comment is about Another Two Line Horror Story (blog)

Original item by Shirley Smothers

Footballer: "If I called you a tw*t, ref, you'd send me off wouldn't you?"
Ref: "Of course I would".
Footballer: "But if I just thought it you wouldn't, would you?"
Ref: "Of course I wouldn't"
Footballer: "Then I think you're a tw*t".

Comment is about KEEP THIS IN MIND (blog)

Original item by M.C. Newberry

Harry,
Au contraire, mon repos. It came to me as a revelation after I'd OD'd on Pontefract cakes.

Comment is about A World Turned Upside-Down (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Now you`re just tryin` to get us all muxed ip.

Comment is about A World Turned Upside-Down (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

good, aptly worded four-beat blank.

Comment is about All Hallows Eve (blog)

Original item by Ian Whiteley

Neatly put.

But as I get older I sometimes discover it was
me that was shackling my own mind all along.

Comment is about KEEP THIS IN MIND (blog)

Original item by M.C. Newberry

We are closer to agreement than you think, JH. I am suggesting the world could turn turtle.

Comment is about A World Turned Upside-Down (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Thankyou, Cynthia. In the words of the legendary bard Ron Atkinsonn "I've been thinkingn Brian...".
MC - If you flipped a coin in space you'd never see it again!

Comment is about A World Turned Upside-Down (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Poetry may not "make anything happen" but who will
ever know its underlying influence on any given
mindset and the decisions it makes?
It was said General Wolfe - victor of Quebec -
stated he would rather have written Gray's "Elegy"
than accomplished his own famous deed.

Comment is about Poet Tim Wells to stand as Class War candidate at general election (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

If you stood on your head and flipped a coin - would that determine whether it landed "Heads" or "Tails"?
Just asking.
:-))

Comment is about A World Turned Upside-Down (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Intriguing changes of line/rhyme...with rewarding
content and a neat ending.

Comment is about Nature`s `revenge` (blog)

Original item by Harry O`N eill

Poetry waves

Lightly skip
ripple slight
pebble landing
not drowning
or burning
but staying
rich smooth
and polished.

Comment is about Crest (blog)

Original item by Katy Megan

I might not have twigged that it was a satire of all Man's ignorance and arrogance. But I sure enjoyed it, even just applying it to the actual theme given, inclusive of anyone in any position requiring public performance.

Comment is about How to tell a joke -Advice given to a Lady- (blog)

Original item by Tommy Carroll

Hello Dean ... thanks very much for the comment, from the immediate response it seems plenty of other people understand these situations ... I logged in and wrote it so it has the feel which others seem to have recognised .. thank-you .. chris.

Comment is about Dean Carroll (poet profile)

Original item by Dean Carroll

Michael, this is a very powerful poem, that carries the reader right on the crest of your high wave of clear observation and helpless anger. It is keenly written, and makes a strong judgement upon current affairs.

Comment is about They're Blaming Themselves (blog)

Original item by Noetic-fret!

Hi Cynthia I'm glad you liked the sniper poem. It's been a real struggle to write. Maybe becaue I don't usually respond to something as immediate as a news item. Still. it really is hard to get inside the heads of such people. How on earth do they reach such a pitch of callousness and contempt?

Comment is about Cynthia Buell Thomas (poet profile)

Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas

Hello Mike ... thanks very much for the comment which obviously contains some of your personal understanding ...I logged in and wrote it so it has the immediate feel of a situation which others seem to have recognised .. thank-you .. chris.

Comment is about Noetic-fret! (poet profile)

Original item by Noetic-fret!

Hello Jane .. thanks very much for the comment, I logged in and wrote it so it has the immediate feel of a situation which others seem to have recognised .. thanks .. chris.

Comment is about jane wilcock (poet profile)

Original item by jane wilcock

Love it Love it Love it! I've often thought about such a 'poem' but never executed it. No wonder the ancients and near-ancients found the concept of a globe that is conceptually 'flat' so mind-boggling; because it still is. It really is.

Comment is about A World Turned Upside-Down (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Howdy Steve :)

Good - I am delighted that WOL has inspired you! Oh, and I only joined this site 3 years ago, had written ONE piece before that, and never ever really paid any mind to poetry. Never read it, wasn't into it.

When I first joined, my profile simply said 'Performed nowhere, published nowhere'.

I wouldn't say I was an expert, no, but what I HAVE done is just simply wanted to keep writing, to see what I could do, to keep trying different things. Some of my earlier poems were quite good, but most were pants :D

It is only ever YOU that makes the difference between continuing and improving, both writing AND performing, and not being arsed about it enough to do that.

Keep writing, and keep trying! I've enjoyed a few of your pieces, as you know. You've more to come, I'm certain of it.

Performing is terrifying. There's no two ways about it. I still SHIT myself beforehand, and convince myself no one will want to hear my 'pathetic crap'. Practice x 10000000 - it may be terrifying, but if you can touch people, and you hear that applause, the buzz is HUGE :D

Very best of wishes to you Steve and I look forward to reading more by you :)

Comment is about Steve Higgins (poet profile)

Original item by Steve Higgins

Good descriptive stuff, reading in heartbeat rhythm, just as it should to keep the fear factor strong. And a open ending to titillate.

Comment is about All Hallows Eve (blog)

Original item by Ian Whiteley

I love Callum's developing vocabulary, his rhyming ability and sense of rhythm. I started when I was really young, and my grandson also has an innate imagination that works in metaphor. I do wonder if genes count a lot, or is it example? How delighted you must be. That last line is so typical of a very young writer - the POW factor like ten exclamation marks, a very good poetical strategy. And so what if an adult had a finger in the pie.

Comment is about The Autumn Season (blog)

Original item by Dave Bradley

Dave, don't be offput by lack of comments; this is really topical and typical, charming and well-written. Maybe the current readers are all in childless environments - their loss. How does anyone forget childlikeness? All my life I have been influenced by the Biblical story of 'Jesus and the little children' because the story expresses pure wisdom from whatever level, or angle, you approach it.

Comment is about The manikin and the mannequin (blog)

Original item by Dave Bradley