Glad you liked 'Dad's Justice' mate, thanks for the comment - 'Question 17' made me smile - it's a good take on the nosey nature of the Census

All the best

Dave

Comment is about Greg Freeman (poet profile)

Original item by Greg Freeman

So enjoyed this. I was imagining Mousehole harbour. You conjoured up the sea at night perfectly. X

Comment is about the sea by night (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

Great poem, Isobel. I am looking forward to being an irresponsible older person - hopefully fairly soon!

Also, love red and purple - what does that say about us? X

Comment is about Warning (blog)

Original item by Isobel

Really empathise with this, Kenny. Missed you last Tuesday.

Comment is about Whatever... (blog)

Original item by Steven Kenny

Such a pleasurable read, sensous and rich. It has certainly aroused readers! Without knowing anything at all about Louise LC: this poem has conveyed your passion about her and that's good enough for me - she must be amazing. X

Comment is about Louise (blog)

Dave, another great poem that delivers both humour and poetic sensibilities. Pity I missed it when you read it the other week.

Comment is about I took my chest of drawers to Mull (blog)

Original item by Dave Carr

This poem weaves some sort of magic that I really liked. Would like to re-read it again - and all these comments. Some essays here - nice to think you can inspire all this!

Comment is about Winter Romance (blog)

Original item by Alan Morrison

The distance and reserve in your poem gives greater weight and power to the experience expressed. Whether personal or not has nothing to do with the validity and success of what you have written. There is simple truth and conviction in your writing. X

Comment is about Daddys girl (blog)

Original item by Kath Hewitt

Great poem, Alison. Liked it a lot. X

Comment is about Optimism (blog)

Original item by Alison Smiles

Very fine poem, Laura. Fabulous detail and imagery. X

Comment is about Ring of Roses (blog)

Original item by Laura Taylor

Ray, what a tremendous poem. I am sure others will have commented something similar: very powerful, horribly true and deeply sad. What on earth have we done, in this society of ours. Thanks for verbalising it so vividly.

Comment is about The Care Pathway For The Dying Phase (blog)

Great haiku, Dave. x

Comment is about boko-maru haiku (blog)

Original item by Dave Bradley

Very delicate & sensitive with great detail which brings the whole to life. As Laura says, your performances really bring your poems to vivid life. Loved hearing this last Saturday. X

Comment is about Leaving Belfast (blog)

Original item by Andy N

Could you tag this with 'feet'John?

I remember commenting on this first time round - just love it! Do you have to practise that pervy voice or does it come naturally...

An asolute hoot and just up my street, so to speak - in fact I'm wearing just that shade on my piggies right now! x

Comment is about Piggies (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Such a lovely poem, gorgeous atmosphere. x

Comment is about Standing in the 'lost child light' (blog)

Original item by Shoeless Carole

Thanks guys - I've changed it a bit at the end. Inspired by being on St Ives harbour wall (Smeaton's Pier) last year in the dark with a rough sea at my feet.

Comment is about the sea by night (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

Why does everybody call you Houston? Now we have an Amy Houston on here it may get confusing!xx

Comment is about Laura Taylor (poet profile)

Original item by Laura Taylor

Thank You so much ladies, your comments made my day. I love the little verse Rachel. xx

Comment is about Rhymes (blog)

Original item by Amy McCawley

Wow! - we are in agreement Houston -
Paedos are bad, but the poem is great.

(I expect with subject matter like this we are bound to get heated comments)

Comment is about Laura Taylor (poet profile)

Original item by Laura Taylor

Like I said, her poem is great.
I was on about the comments like this
"Theres something to be said for castration".

[OK... so which bit do we cut off when the abuser is female, then?]
whatever next - are we all off out lynching niggers?

Comment is about Laura Taylor (poet profile)

Original item by Laura Taylor

Hi Ann lots of pleasing images here - agree withy Greg's comment about the last line etc. Interesting that you should refer to the sea as a beast I always think of it as awesome. Nice poem.

Comment is about the sea by night (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

Thanks for the comments folks. Glad you enjoyed my reworking of Jenny Joseph's classic.

My purple shoes are a much nicer shade and design than these Ann - a dark purple with lots of lustre - if that makes me a latent homosexual then I'll have something to look forward to, along with a free bus pass...

I like red cos it makes the statement 'Look at me!' From a shy no confidence kind of kid, I've morphed into a great big egoist in later life. It's a lorra fun though!

Comment is about Warning (blog)

Original item by Isobel

Thanks for directing me here. I only was able to read it now as my other computer would not load the blogs. I see there are so many poems still to read and enjoy, journeys to take on your page. I will when time permits go from poem to poem. Thanks for interacting with my poems. Cheers.

Comment is about Cry Freedom (blog)

Original item by Isobel

Hi Amy, Just discovered your posts, recommended by a friend. Like many on WOL I'm not that systematic about reading blogs. Glad you're with us - your stuff is good. I like this one best.

Comment is about Just us (blog)

Original item by Amy McCawley

Agreed with sentiments here, Steven. Put me in mind of The Games People Play by Eric Berne

Comment is about Whatever... (blog)

Original item by Steven Kenny

I have been discriminated against on the grounds of mental health and physical disaability. I have won a Disability Discrimination case. I have been arrested falsely by police. I have been treated like a piece of detritus by Consultant Psychiatrists. I have been treated badly by lowly mental health professionals. I have worked in the Health Service, I have been an advocate, and I have trained Social Workers. I am now a national poet. Guess which job I like best? I am the GP Practice lead for Mental Health. I have had a brain haemorrahge. We are setting up a Community Mental Health Centre in Willington soon. So to all those who discriminate against the less fortunate - stick that up your pipe and smoke it!!!!

Comment is about Petition launched for jailed Bahrain poet (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

sorry not just men. Women, packs of dogs, stampeding herds,....:)

Comment is about Louise (blog)

Hi - you are absolutely right about reclamation - and I hadn't thought of that.
Like I said to Kath, the poem is marvellous, but the comments (for me) were drifting off into maudlin-ness... so I just thought I'd wreak a little havoc :) [and make a point at the same time] xx

Comment is about Laura Taylor (poet profile)

Original item by Laura Taylor

Maybe they're mauve? (The shoes!) I always think of purple as being darker. I can't stand red - what does that say about me? (I'm not talking about the wine here btw!)

Comment is about Warning (blog)

Original item by Isobel

How strong? Haven't noticed anything yet.

Comment is about Warning (blog)

Original item by Isobel

Only lustful men? Ahem. ;p

You'd give yourself 2 black eyes if you got yours out whilst dancing anyhow :D

Comment is about Louise (blog)

As Dave says, nice pastiche!

Factoid for you - did you know that purple has a strong link to homosexuality? ;)

Ann - sod THAT! Blimey, if you can't get pissed on a school night when you're not even working, when CAN you? :D

Comment is about Warning (blog)

Original item by Isobel

Yup - another fab piece of writing Amy! Too many good lines to pick out a few, and I do love how you've emboldened certain lines in this. The flow is just lush

Comment is about Rhymes (blog)

Original item by Amy McCawley

Some great lines in this Ann, but not sure about those last two.

'suffocating granite barricades...oily, oleaginous'

lovely!

Comment is about the sea by night (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

Excellent, Isobel.. made me smile - need to dig up my piece for it (reminds me) x

Comment is about Warning (blog)

Original item by Isobel

I remember this too at Cadence Festival, Rach and thinking to myself - blimely - wish i could write at that speed and perform it - i would get it totally mixed up if i tried that..

this wanders away however from the fact it's top stuff and nicking Darren Thomas's words 'unlike my dancing' which applies to me also - lol x

Comment is about Louise (blog)

Hello Ann I'm pleased Wastelands worked for you and I look forward to seeing your own poem about the Lundy experience. Best regards.

Comment is about Ann Foxglove (poet profile)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

There are lots of great lines in this, Ann. Well-observed, like it a lot. You maybe don't need the last line at all. Unless you expanded it, and wrote a verse about the sea by day as well. "Half a poem ..." at the moment, as you say?

Comment is about the sea by night (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

Maybe only half a poem here - and the last line is a bit rubbish.

Comment is about the sea by night (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

Did you hear the latest doctors' advice - when you get to be over 65 if you're a woman you shouldn't drink more than 3 glasses of wine a WEEK!! Bloody hell! (Good job we're all so rebellious!) xx

Comment is about Warning (blog)

Original item by Isobel

i like your rhymes this scheme is a dream

'all these men of power set to devour
our melody
'we must spit back verses of power.'...beyond violence.

smashing!

sometimes a rhyme skips time
and in the lines that we write
we hide, love and fight
but keep secretly
the pragma of prose
and real-time decline of words
where youd meet me
and look in the eyes of my poetry
raw in accent
and stilted grammar
the rules of this worlds
school unified stammer
dictated.
spit finer ideas, lit with primer
we just make it up
and they cant fake it love
so keep it up
keep it loose
like a 5 star cruise liner...

thanks amy

Comment is about Rhymes (blog)

Original item by Amy McCawley

i dont think anyone knows who they really are. The older i got the more contrived the scenery and the players get and the farther the journey back to the soul gets. I used to think that with age i would discover great serenity and wisdom like a buddhist monk or at least become a wise old lady with silver hair and a spark in the eye...now i think ill be lucky if i get to 40 without killing anyone ;)

i helped you out of a bush once...does that count? :)

Comment is about Whatever... (blog)

Original item by Steven Kenny

Thanks for the good comment Amy - glad you like 'Hobson's Choice Words' - it probably stopped me killing my neighbour and it usually goes down well when I perform it...'Born to Greatness' has a great energy to it...make sure you use those bus journeys for material - I used to get a bus and a train to work and taking mental notes on the conversations and people's mannerisms made it less of a chore

All the best

Dave

Comment is about Amy McCawley (poet profile)

Original item by Amy McCawley

thanks anne, both those vids great. I like the slow motion in the 2nd and the way the traditional dance roles between male and female are broken with the equality of the choreography. i like that she holds the male and carries him.

laura - when i was first dancing I had a b cup and was 8 stone (christ!) but now with my heavyweight DD boobs i need some serious sports bra and couldnt possibly get them out on stage for fear of lustful men rioting ;)

Comment is about Louise (blog)

the poems technical sway gathers strength with each stanza, till at the end you find yourself marveling at the truth within it. Should be printed, but then, would you want too see it in a book?

Nice one Alan,

Much love

Mike

Comment is about Winter Romance (blog)

Original item by Alan Morrison

Hey, I can strongly recommend Gorecki, Sorrowful Songs. You can download it from amazon and its only 3.19 for the album.

I read your words. It was heartwarming to see such a response. In all honesty, I sit within a morbid state half the time. I cannot seem to fathom how life has become the affliction. I look back and it would seem that my existence, my being here was pre-empted a long way back, and in all essence, a lot of the good in my life has been tarnished in some way. I try crack on with a bad hand, a bad deck of cards, but there are days I long for it to be over. I am not in control you see. There are in many ways, factors outside of my control that see me reach the pits of despair sometimes. Maybe all who live with disability feel this way. The thing is, if your leg goes during service career, then you can try adjust with prosthetics, and often many men and women who lose limbs become a marvel to themselves and the community because in true grit spirit they crack on as best they can. But when your mind goes, there are no prosthetics, and each day is painful in so many ways. Still, i try crack on, but i interpret things a lot different nowadays. Once I was a young naive soldier, now, I am open to all manner of theories and dramas of life, and in the main I see a lot of negativity that I cannot comprehend. I also see how people are being duped from an early age, and I feel a sad sense of loss for many.

Your work by the way, I have cut and paste into my own collection. I was astounded when I read it. It spoke absolute volumes, and all the main poets I sometimes read, the famous ones from Spike Milligan - Ben Okri, from all the poetry I have read in volumes I give scant read too, I have never been so grasped like this before. I have read verse that makes me cry, but this one went beyond the tweaking of just emotions. Before I become to grandiose, it as if I have read something from someone who has looked into a light, a powerful one that cuts through the cacophany of noise. I have kept it, becasue I need to know why it has grasped me so much. I will come back to it, time and time again, because there is something profound about it that seems pure.

I have gone on a bit i know, and i may be running my crackling mind, but it struck me as writen by a man who speaks truth, not witticisms, not audciousness, not grandiosity, not deliberate intent to pull the heart strings. Just plain simple truth. And I was gobsmacked. Not one jot of contriviality.

That's why I kept it.

Hey, I even dare not listen to it, for i don't want my interpretation of it to be changed in any way.

I hope your life is good, and I hope you are fulfilled. God bless you Alan, I was touched.

rgds

Mike

Comment is about Winter Romance (blog)

Original item by Alan Morrison

Thanks guys.

My girlfriend was discrediting her aristic ability so I wrote her this. She's brilliant :)

Comment is about Heart Canvass (blog)

Original item by Ushiku Crisafulli

Dominic, this rocks socks mate. As an ex bar girl, really enjoyed it.

Comment is about Hero (blog)

Original item by Dominic Berry

A compelling piece of work. I do not know you Kath personally, but I take it from the weight and balance of the comments that it should be considered autobiographical. If so bravo for being able to expound it so well. It's really none of our businesses to comment on the reality, just the content, but I think that the almost chanting aspect of this (someone mentioned nursery rhymes) is the most haunting aspect of it.

Comment is about Daddys girl (blog)

Original item by Kath Hewitt