Nice poem, Ann. You've no need to repeat "sweet" though and fingerwork is fine sounds snappier.

Comment is about An Ingres Back (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

Love your profile picture. My husband plays Santa at Christmas time.

Shirley

Comment is about Dave Dunn (poet profile)

Original item by Dave Dunn

Wot, no audio?

Comment is about Your Horse Ate My Pyjamas (blog)

Original item by Lynn Dye

Very good, Shirley.
I just wonder if it would be stronger still without the last 4 lines. (English understatement, and all that!)

Comment is about He Didn't Care (blog)

Original item by Shirley Smothers

Very good, Bill.
I worked at Lennoxtown for some months in 2005. The locals enjoyed a Sassenach's pronunciation of Milngavie.

Comment is about Luimneach 22/12/11 (blog)

Many thanks for your exuberant comments my friends - much appreciated! I will pop along to your page to leave xmas greetings shortly...

Hugs

Dave

Comment is about The Future Is So Near (blog)

Original item by Dave Dunn

So wonderfully written.
even more wonderfully read!

well done that man!

best regards for Xmas
and New Year Dave.

P&S.xx

Comment is about The Future Is So Near (blog)

Original item by Dave Dunn

excellent! I say-
unmasked!

Comment is about Masks (blog)

Thanks for comments Isobel. I grew up under the constant threat of the mushroom cloud if the Cold War had turned Hot. We schoolchildren were told by the Jesuits during the Cuban crisis, that at no time were we to be more than four minutes away from the chapel as that was all the warning we would get before we got incinerated. Four Minutes was written to try and convey this to a generation brought up to think warfare is just a computer game. Our student protests were anti-war – todays protests are about cash.
References: to Journey’s End is to the play by R.C. Sherriff.
Runnymede, this was our school playing field.
JFK, President Kennedy, visited Runnymede Magna Carta memorial.
“irregular motions “etc from Catholic Catechism, meant ‘wanking’ to us of course.
And yes, boarding school was brutal then.

Comment is about Isobel (poet profile)

Original item by Isobel

I think this is lovely Rachel. Lovely images - the aeroplanes I especially like.

Comment is about past kiss (blog)

fuckin hell this is class, some rhythm in it and the half rhymes work really well, overall this is great, read it a few times.

Comment is about past kiss (blog)

I really like this Rachel. It speaks to me of the fragility of having something special with someone else, but could 'mean' many more things.

Comment is about past kiss (blog)

Poetry nights
Of Write Out Loud

Come together
Inside this collage poem

When each
Growing verse you read

Living, loving
Makes it come alive.

Comment is about December II - Stockport WoL Collage Poem (blog)

Original item by J F Keane

Hi Gary. Was great fun to see you at Poetry Unplugged (ages ago), and equally nice to bump into you online. Hope all is going well.

Comment is about Gary From Leeds (poet profile)

Original item by Gary From Leeds

Thanks!

Comment is about Masks (blog)

thanks francine, a little more abstract, we both need the romance x x

marianne your pure poetry always reminds me not to be come too literal, always inspiring x

Comment is about past kiss (blog)

Thanks for your view Isobel.I am sick of the stereotype of so-called "Real Men" in the media-especially that on TV-which potrays men as foul mouthed, loud mouthed boors and bores(like those who joke about killing cyclists or shooting trade-unionists).
Real men,just like real women, can be weak and stupid, but they can also be sensitive,vulnerable,and emotionally intimidated and damaged by aggressive verbal and physical behaviour from women.

Comment is about Isobel (poet profile)

Original item by Isobel

Really love the beginning and ending of this!
It has such a feeling of innocence about it.

'past kiss
moments tell
its not time
and then it seems
that rhyme fleeting fell from lips
poised in doubt
though hot
would tear
through skins
so wrapped in paper envelopes'

'a promise
kept
another time
when skins crinkled over lines
your palm
in red
your hand
holds
mine.'

Comment is about past kiss (blog)

I like hanging around this site at this time as I find the best gems - "written with spider silks and indian ink".
Feathery and disappearing - the longing comes across with every line...but earnest too.
I like. x

Comment is about past kiss (blog)

I am frightened of
the left places in my head,
the sounds of empty arms.
Throw, they say, throw everything
into others,
they will be there - in the show
of your asylum later,

so true, so true, so brilliant x

Comment is about Infant (blog)

Original item by Marianne Daniels

A fascinating story Shirley. The outside world doesn't really know what goes on behind closed doors, does it? That reminds me of a poem I need to write when I get round to it.

I'm left wondering if the deceased wife knew she was loved. That is the important part of the story for me.

Comment is about He Didn't Care (blog)

Original item by Shirley Smothers

How does anyone comment on a poem such as this?

Heart wrenchingly powerful and more so because I just wasn't expecting it. x

Comment is about Masks (blog)

Lovely Andy. I'm a lover of Christmas too. Yes, I know that we should all be like this all year - but it just isn't possible to sustain this level of good will, is it - or the energy that is needed to make it all happen.

I love the picture you have chosen to go with it too. Have a good one. xx

Comment is about Christmas Acrostic (blog)

Original item by Andy N

excellent stuff, dave.. like the last stanza in particular although the full thing is impressive.. xx

Comment is about Hills in Winter (blog)

Original item by Dave Bradley

clever stuff, Shirley.. this style suits you really well i think.. keep em coming xx

Comment is about He Didn't Care (blog)

Original item by Shirley Smothers

too long for my personal tastes, Marianne if i am honest but it is an excellently wrote piece.. i particularly like the first two stanzas.. top stuff xx

Comment is about Infant (blog)

Original item by Marianne Daniels

hello marianne, thanks...she posed for T.Lautrec..I was intrigued by this photo of her...of course we'll never know.

Comment is about Marianne Daniels (poet profile)

Original item by Marianne Daniels

I think I connect better with the poetry you write about maternal feelings - though I realise that infant imagery can also apply to the neediness of our own souls.

This is quite an epic piece. I liked the 'inky octopus' of the dark heart. I am also intrigued by the idea of being afraid of the left side of the brain. I think the left side of mine has shrivelled up and died - nothing much to be afraid of anymore :)

Comment is about Infant (blog)

Original item by Marianne Daniels

Thank you everyone for your comments. :o)

Anthony, I was working on something else for the WOL competition, but since you mention it, I could tag this too.

Stef, yes of course I hadn't forgotten, just surprised you remember it that well! Lol. xx

Comment is about Your Horse Ate My Pyjamas (blog)

Original item by Lynn Dye

psst! Lynn
did you forget
about 'the angel on horseback?
that horse of course-haha.

P&S.xx

Comment is about Your Horse Ate My Pyjamas (blog)

Original item by Lynn Dye

DECEMBER 2011 (Christmas Special):

Well despite the snow, we still had 21 wonderful poets come to the Christmas special including the rather brilliant Seamus who provided us with a great 15 minute showcase and the rather fantastic Ken who was voted by 11 votes out of 21 the Middleton WOL Poet of The Year 2001 and very well deserved it was!

FEEDBACK BOOK:

Good Points:

Food, poems, peeps, everything, party blowers, excellent showcase by Seamus, fantastic buffet thanks for the hard work Gem, very enjoyable especially Seamus and buffet, delicious buffet, great showcase by Seamus, great food thanks Gemma, interesting night, enjoyable evening, great Gemma rocks, good fun, Seamus was great, well done with the buffet, had a great time, excellent Xmas special buffet and poems, brilliant as usual, lovely buffet, nice party with poetry and sing song.

Areas For Improvement:

None, my party blower broke, f**k all, as usual get rid of the opposition, Faye actually reading something out, none, downstairs noise, microphone.

Review is about Write Out Loud - Middleton on 18 Dec 2011 (event)

I like this a lot Neil. It faces the reader with a question many of us try to wriggle round and does it in a fluent and passionate way. The world would be a lot better place with more generosity, and, as the poem says, the more generous-spirited you are, the more human.

Comment is about Tough Love (blog)

Original item by Neil West

Good. Some hide their emotions too well, and others don't try to see past the wall. And love your illustrations

Comment is about He Didn't Care (blog)

Original item by Shirley Smothers

Hi Marrianne, this is an absolutely awesome poem. So powerful. The imagery and metaphor and depth of this poem really touched me. The last five lines are epic and for me, this poem is one of your best. I don't know how you're going to top this one.

Keep posting. Going to read it again now.

Best wishes.

Mike

x

Comment is about Infant (blog)

Original item by Marianne Daniels

<Cheer-up it may never happen- then again it probably will.>
Tommy, it already has, over 60 and still not got over being brought up by brutal abusive Jesuits (already half my year dead from drugs an alcohol says summat)hic

Comment is about Tommy Carroll (poet profile)

Original item by Tommy Carroll

Thank you Shirley, I really appreciate your kind comments about 'Couldn't Care Less' (I do really of course). It encouraged me to share some of your work which I very much enjoyed. I agree with your sentiments in 'Homeless', it is much easier to want to do something than to actually do something. I have dug out a poem I wrote on a similar theme called 'Tough Love' and posted it as a blog entry if you get the chance to have a look. It was your poem 'He Didn't Care' that really caught my interest as it seems to parallel 'Couldn't Care Less' in some ways. I like your illustrations too, do you do them yourself? As a matter of interest I found 'Couldn't Care Less' scribbled on a scrap of paper tidying a cupboard where it had lain forgotten for I don't know how long.

Comment is about Shirley Smothers (poet profile)

Original item by Shirley Smothers

Brilliant. Reminds me of the Christmas I delivered a child's pony into the front room of a town house. Tinsel but no turds

Comment is about Your Horse Ate My Pyjamas (blog)

Original item by Lynn Dye

Hi Lynn,

Are you entering this for the WOL comp?

http://www.writeoutloud.net/public/blogentry.php?blogentryid=25994

http://www.writeoutloud.net/public/blogentry.php?blogentryid=26238



Regards,

A.E.

Comment is about Your Horse Ate My Pyjamas (blog)

Original item by Lynn Dye

Why don't you tag it with WOL Comp for Anthony's thing? It has a light hearted touch to it and there isn't an I to be seen...

I think we should challenge ourselves to write an objective poem about our own sex - it would be interesting to see what we think of each other.

Comment is about An Ingres Back (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

O.H. M.Y. G.O.D...is this the objectification of women I see?

Comment is about An Ingres Back (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

Thanks for commenting Ann (and for previous comment/advice!). I heard this story on the radio and it really made me laugh... The thought of wool next to skin...not very nice!! :)

Comment is about Ann Foxglove (poet profile)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

Well said.
Even though we all claim to care, in the end we just want what is the next thing.
I posted a poem called "Homeless".
But in truth when one approaches me I feel guilty but mostly worried that he or she will do harm to me.
Good writing.

Shirley

Comment is about I Couldn't Care Less (blog)

Original item by Neil West

i fink i seen dat

Comment is about Luimneach to New Brighton (blog)

I enjoyed listening to these - can't think why I missed them first time round.

I found Liz Lochead quite scary reading My Rival's House. I bet she is one mother in law you wouldn't want to piss off. It kind of brought back bad memories. I was the untidy daughter in law with a mother in law who never sat down for doing housework. How do sons manage to get it so wrong? I remember making our engagement announcement and my mother in law quite nearly fainting. We had to sit her down and get her a glass of cold water. It was really unnerving - not at all what I'd been expecting...

I loved Imtiaz's 'Honour Killing' - loved her performance of it also - the anger inside her is palpable. If only we could spread her spirit to everyone living in that kind of hell.

Enjoyed Simon's story also. I think maybe his accommodation sharing is a symbolic thing but can imagine it becoming a reality for many, as couples can't afford to split up. Very sad - with great visual imagery.

Thank you to Greg? for bringing this to us.

Comment is about Click on this? WOL's links compendium (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

haha great poem. love it

pesky horses :)

Comment is about Your Horse Ate My Pyjamas (blog)

Original item by Lynn Dye

Hi Andy, thanks for the comment, sorry it's taken me so long to reply. There is some fantastic imagery in your writing.

Comment is about Andy N (poet profile)

Original item by Andy N

Thanks Ann will do.

Comment is about WOL Competition (blog)

Original item by Valerie Cook

Lovely thoughts expressed here Val - you always sound such a positive person! (You haven't actually tagged this poem for inclusion in the WOL competition though. So make sure you do ;))

Comment is about WOL Competition (blog)

Original item by Valerie Cook

How hilariously lovely! And an irrisistable title too.(I expect the poor horse was just a bit hungry though)

Comment is about Your Horse Ate My Pyjamas (blog)

Original item by Lynn Dye

Nothing Angel-like about him, Stef - must be a different horse!
Thanks for comment xx

Comment is about Your Horse Ate My Pyjamas (blog)

Original item by Lynn Dye