very good as well....

Comment is about Nightbird (blog)

Original item by Kealan Coady

very good....

Comment is about Odium (blog)

Original item by Kealan Coady

"were we all to choose that path"

if we were Dave
what a sorry state the world
would be in without doubt.

good poem Monsieur Dunn.

Stef.

Comment is about Munee, Munee, Munee... (blog)

Original item by Dave Dunn

Hi John,
Thanks for your comment on "Over by Christmas."
I've done 5 or 6 of these 10 worders; sometimes I need the challenge to spur me on, otherwise I lay dormant for months. These exercises are set by 10 members of our writing club. using a metaphorical pin and a dictionary. (Sadists all of them.) They never enter the competition.
I take it you won't mind if I do "The ghost of White Hart lane." at my club.
Cheers Mate.

Comment is about John Coopey (poet profile)

Original item by John Coopey

Thanks for all your wonderful comments :)

Comment is about Bum magnet (blog)

Coops, don't fear rejection, but wasted opportunity!

Thanks stella, maybe a 'grinning style' would have been more apt.

Cheers LR, appreciated.

Comment is about She passed a smile suggesting (blog)

Original item by Christopher Dawson

"all colours in all forms
can,t live separately"

...especially the colours
of human hearts.

nice poem.

thank you Lisa.

Stef.

Comment is about Color (blog)

Original item by Lisa Milligan

Thanks for the comment on The Ad and The Id, much appreciated.

Comment is about Isobel (poet profile)

Original item by Isobel

"my loss or yours?

-a very fair and understanding question
methinks.

good,short burst.

thanks.

Stef.

Comment is about Bum magnet (blog)

Hi Ann,
I listened in yesterday to you on the radio - as much as I could - internet issues... You sounded 'smashing'... And was that you singing?

Comment is about Ann Foxglove (poet profile)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

If you touch the sparrows they will leave freckles on your face. It was her grace. I really had freckles on my face.

Comment is about I KNOW WHERE THE SOUL IS (blog)

Original item by Larisa Rzhepishevska

This should work, Chris. We lesser mortals try flowers.

Comment is about She passed a smile suggesting (blog)

Original item by Christopher Dawson

i didn't know a sparrow was the same as a dunnock, i thought they were 2 different species..but yep..that does sound a painful and yukky thing for a dunnock to do...I'll never eat one of their caramel wafers again

Comment is about Join fellow poets for a walk in Ted Hughes' stamping ground (article)

Original item by Julian Jordon

well observed - we all "learn our lessons" from life's mistakes, but that in itself is generally a mistake IMHO as it closes too many doors. First & foremost, we're not girls & boys, men & women, black & white - we're people - all individuals. just my 2 cents. B

Comment is about Bum magnet (blog)

I remember my grandmother telling me: Don't touch the swallows otherwise you'll be cursed.

Comment is about I KNOW WHERE THE SOUL IS (blog)

Original item by Larisa Rzhepishevska

This is nice, Larisa - a really sweet allegorical picture -- the kind which people today seem to be almost embarrassed to paint.
I was watching swallows, the other day, flying around a romantic ruined castle in Scotland, and half-imagining that they were the ghosts of the people who once lived there ...

Comment is about I KNOW WHERE THE SOUL IS (blog)

Original item by Larisa Rzhepishevska

Some really beautiful sentiments expressed, Laura...
My favourite lines:

'In the day before today,
in the day after tomorrow,
in the core of all your sorrow,
my mind will walk with yours.'

Comment is about For a Friend (blog)

Original item by Laura Taylor

The title works well as a draw... hard not to want to know what the poem is about.

It's a very raw one but I kind of like the starkness - the baldness of what you are saying.

I think it is his loss and your loss only if you allow it to be. I would file him under 'tosser' and carry on having fun in life. Life is just too short to let one person ruin it for you. The love game is a cruel hard one. Develop a thick skin - allow someone in emotionally once you have known them long enough to develop trust. If it all goes pair shaped, start over...

That is my philosophy on life - it's taken a little time and life experience to develop it :)

Comment is about Bum magnet (blog)

Thank you all. This arose out of our discussion on the different words for gym shoes and the different meanings of the word pump...

Thanks for inspiring me Francine! Haiku is great for getting you going when you are totally rusty and untuned to poetry! xx

Comment is about Pumps (blog)

Original item by Isobel

Really sorry to hear about your mum in law, Steve - that must be a huge strain on the pair of you. I hope she makes a recovery and one that involves quality of life. Look forward to seeing you at some point. Give my regards to your wife.
Isobel xx

Comment is about Stephen Pass (poet profile)

Original item by Stephen Pass

Lol - that would be the large freckled free range chest variety...

Trust me to get it wrong! Just call me Mrs. Malaprop. For those who can't be bothered googling, when dunnocks have mated, other male dunnocks will peck at the female's privates to make her expel the seed... They will then supplant it with their own. It makes you quite glad to be human and not a dirty dunnock, dunnit?

Comment is about Join fellow poets for a walk in Ted Hughes' stamping ground (article)

Original item by Julian Jordon

Thank you, dear Stella!

Comment is about I KNOW WHERE THE SOUL IS (blog)

Original item by Larisa Rzhepishevska

still laughing at this John brill work :D

Comment is about Hic Haec Hoc Hunc Hanc Hoc (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

a corker Isobel..heh heh..neatly done

Comment is about Pumps (blog)

Original item by Isobel

I thoroughly enjoyed your write Harry...ahh the fraility of man..nice work sir.

Comment is about PRECIPICE (blog)

What a lovely concept Larisa..just imagine :)))

Comment is about I KNOW WHERE THE SOUL IS (blog)

Original item by Larisa Rzhepishevska

Gosh Chris..yes..

crossed a grinning meadow and traversed a winking style...Chris?..style works well for me but I wonder whether you meant stile?..to be honest I think I prefer style but was just wondering if this was word play coz if it was it was great.. :)

Comment is about She passed a smile suggesting (blog)

Original item by Christopher Dawson

i saw a dimmock once in a garden...a mass of copper feathers and a large chest...i think it was being courted by a titchmarsh.

Comment is about Join fellow poets for a walk in Ted Hughes' stamping ground (article)

Original item by Julian Jordon

My God! This poem is so beautiful!

Comment is about She passed a smile suggesting (blog)

Original item by Christopher Dawson

Thanks for your comments, Neil, Jules, everyone. I am always happy for my poetry to stimulate debate.

Jules - I'm not quite following your argument - I can be a bit dense at times. I very much regret your health problems. Are you attributing them to a violent type of parenting or to a society that hasn't done enough for you - or to both?

I happen to think that our country is far more generous with its people than many others. No child in our society is allowed to starve or go homeless. However, governments can't dicate how a parent spends its money. Out and about one sees a lot of money quite literally going up on smoke...
In what other country can you get your kids teeth straightened out for free? Not in Australia, where people dream of a better life. People have to take out large loans for teeth over there - or leave them crooked. Small wonder that people are having less and less children in such countries - they can't afford to provide for them and have the lifestyle they want.
The only society that can provide absolute financial equality would be a communist one, I guess - and that has already failed to work...

If your poor health is due to parenting, I very much regret that. As I said before, had I ever been beaten by a parent, I would be in the anti smacking camp. There are other ways of disciplining though, that don't involve physical punishment. What I am really saying is that children need to know that an adult is in charge - if they are forced to make everyday decisions for themselves without any authority it causes insecurity - leads to bad decisions.

Comment is about The Haves and The Have Nots (blog)

Original item by Isobel

This is clever language; but, I don't think that the overall thoughts hang together. IMO, this is a great idea that needs more cultivating, and culling. I find that great dexterity in word choices can sometimes actually become a weakness.

Comment is about Nightbird (blog)

Original item by Kealan Coady

..hello Isobel..thanks for your encouraging comment...cheers ..chris.

Comment is about Isobel (poet profile)

Original item by Isobel

Lots of comments and having read the poem, I can see why.

Here is my response -

Y

A ten inch scar on my head,
two on my arm, one on my hip.
Rheumatoid arthritis and two sticks,
wobbly knees, crinkly hands.
Crohn's disease makes me bleed.
Itchy feet, highs and lows.
A closed left eye.

The question is not why.
It is why not.....

Comment is about The Haves and The Have Nots (blog)

Original item by Isobel

The Old World - some great phrases used here - I like the world balm - the poems reminds me of a holiday in Majorca - love long gone and just a memory. I prefer to rmember the holiday and not her.....

Comment is about Elaine (poet profile)

Original item by Elaine

Breakfast Pots - very readable and I nice endnding - the pots or the wahing are always there to return to....

Comment is about Elaine (poet profile)

Original item by Elaine

very romantic and meaningful. I could read that one again....

Comment is about Ashes Blow Over All Things (blog)

Original item by Tom

So real and true......

Comment is about The Friend You Lost (blog)

Original item by Tom

Nice picture ... true as well

Comment is about Color (blog)

Original item by Lisa Milligan

"Amo!"

Regards,

A.E.

Comment is about Hic Haec Hoc Hunc Hanc Hoc (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Hi Isobel! Thanks for leaving a message and your kind invitation - it sounds like a really good day which I would have enjoyed. Sorry I won't be able to make it - my mother-in-law's in intensive care in hospital at the mo in a coma so we will be visiting her. I haven't been over to Wigan for a bit because I cycled from Land's End to John o'Groats earlier in the summer and was working loads and practising for it. I hope to get over again before the year is out - I really enjoy hearing you all and it's a top night out! - hopefully when she is better. Hope you have a great walk and the weather stays fine for you. Take care, love Stevexxxxxxxxx

Comment is about Isobel (poet profile)

Original item by Isobel

That's the dunnock, Izz. Strange habits indeed

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunnock

Comment is about Join fellow poets for a walk in Ted Hughes' stamping ground (article)

Original item by Julian Jordon

Heh heh - I'm so looking forward to it! Perhaps we could write something on route. I've never written a nature poem in my life - it would be a first. I keep meaning to write a poem about the mating habits of the dimmock (hedgesparrow) - a friend told me about them and challenged me to do something poetic with it.... It would make for a definite performance piece! See ya soon. xx

Comment is about Join fellow poets for a walk in Ted Hughes' stamping ground (article)

Original item by Julian Jordon

Hey John, Just to let you know I voted for
'The Ghosts of Bamiyam' in the Ghosts competition; the best poem for me.

My Best

Chris

Comment is about John Coopey (poet profile)

Original item by John Coopey

He might have gone away for a while Harry. But I think he'd probably say the same thing as Arnie.
"I'll be back"
Very moving.
(Now I've got another ten worder for you.)

Comment is about PRECIPICE (blog)

Hi Laura - thanks so much for taking the time to read and comment on "The Patient". Actually, I started last year but left for awhile. I'm adding a few of what I've written in the meantime. Let me know what you think of my older work (some is dark also, some isn't dark at all - like life, I guess!) if you are so inclined and I am looking forward to returning the kindness and take a look at your work too!

I'm so glad that people picked up on the progression from whisper to scream because that was how it evolved and I wanted to somehow get that progression down on paper. I also very much appreciate that you agree with the sentiments of the piece - I hope that anyone going through this now will get some comfort out of knowing that someone understands.

Thanks again,
Lisa

Comment is about Laura Taylor (poet profile)

Original item by Laura Taylor

Thank you Dave, for your comments on "The Patient". Your comments are more than any writer can ask for. It's such an accomplishment when you can strike a chord with someone. I remember last year you left a heartfelt comment on "My Father's Arm". "Quotations" and "Sugar Spice and Everything Nice" are similar in a way. Let me know what you think if you feel like reading them. Please don't feel obligated though.

I, however, will be sure to take a look at your work and return the consideration. Thanks again - it's as if you "felt" what I wrote about vs. just reading it. Very much appreciated.

Lisa

Comment is about Dave Bradley (poet profile)

Original item by Dave Bradley

Thank you so much for your kind comments on "The Patient". It is hard for people to understand addiction, and unfortunately there is a stigma that goes along with it also. People don't realize it is a disease, like diabetes, and often hereditary.

I'm trying to catch up on the comments people left on "The Patient". It was encouraging to get some responses.

Thanks for listening over the last week or so. I appreciate you taking the time. I also need to catch up on reading and commenting on others' work and I promise to read yours too!

Comment is about Isobel (poet profile)

Original item by Isobel

Hi - many thanks Cyn (the king and I)

Comment is about Cynthia Buell Thomas (poet profile)

Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas

This resonates with me as I just recently forgave someone. You've expressed it well.

It is not always easy to see it from the other's perspective when you feel you've been wronged... I always eventually do forgive because holding on to the pain and bitterness of anger erodes the soul.

Comment is about The Friend You Lost (blog)

Original item by Tom

You're right Isobel..I have no excuse I can muster thus far into proceedings so I'll find you and help you with both tasks,guiding and carrying booze, but I forsee at some point as the booze bag gets lighter that the guiding may be less helpful. I have walked halfway there this week, well ok quarter of the way but will have another go tomorrow.We could read limericks to the pigs who live in the wood partway along the track.I think they'd like that.See you Sunday : )

Comment is about Join fellow poets for a walk in Ted Hughes' stamping ground (article)

Original item by Julian Jordon