great stuff. enjoyed reading Greg. something about the simple bit -

Dashing for the bus; overcoats,
shopping bags, windows steamed up,
conductor breathless.

maybe its the regular u in bus/us/up.

liked

win

Comment is about A time that glowed (blog)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Very passionate Alison,liked this...ironically with all these pasionate lines my fave was 'I lift the lids of my fearless blue eyes' not sure why. simple language and aneasily imagined image maybe? Win

Comment is about Lonely tonight (blog)

Original item by Alison Smiles

It snuck up on me
- Madness
Hemming my shadow
- Chunnering
A devil on my shoulder
- whispering

Together we ricochet


Hi Kathryn, love the economy and choice of words in this. Above is an alternative take, notbetterjust different and something to think about maybe? Win x

Comment is about We three (blog)

An interesting take to tame the hound of hell! Stapleton would not be pleased! Win

Comment is about phosphorous (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

Ta for your kind words, Ann. There was a pop song many moons ago that had a fade-out which included the lines "Keep on dreaming!" Wish I could remember who sang it.Maybe it'll come to me. * I prefer the romance of the north to the south. Mind you, I know there are plenty of windswept moors in the west country as well!

*Remembered it. Never Had a Dream Come True, Stevie Wonder

Comment is about Ann Foxglove (poet profile)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

As so often your poems have a dreaming wistful quality, but there's always a sort of backbone running through. Can't describe what I mean exactly - never waffly anyway! Full of a delicate truth. x

Comment is about A time that glowed (blog)

Original item by Greg Freeman

This is a seriously good poem Greg. The use of language creates an evocative mood and yearning for the north, and for the nostaglia of adolescence. There is a stoic quality to the poem, a kind of inevitablity that you would come south. yet your heart lies elsewhere. A restless quality, an unfinished element. the blackening geraniums indicating the inevitable frost - a good metaphor for life eh? There are many good analogies here, and the switchback ride of life is maybe the best! cool! xx

Comment is about A time that glowed (blog)

Original item by Greg Freeman

Photographss by Emma Spice

Comment is about Guest poet, Louise Fazackerley, at the Secret Writers Club Launch, Wigan April 2010 (photo)

Oh Adam - I think that is the pejorative form of 'clever'. And I would never dream of terming CBT 'sweetie'. Have you read her CV? 'Running to the bar'? Is that the only support you can find??

Comment is about BAD BRIEF ENCOUNTER (blog)

Original item by Barrie Singleton

and you call that an excuse?? you'll never make Poet Laureate at this rate :)

Comment is about Ann Foxglove (poet profile)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

This is really good - a strong sense of physicality which grounds the intense longing in the poem. I would lose the last four lines, though - I think 'needing reflection of unsanctioned passion' is a great line to end on.

Comment is about Lonely tonight (blog)

Original item by Alison Smiles

Durr - now I feels a proper ijit.
I'll go & stand in the corner of the class where I belong.
No - I never did read it, but it certainly makes sense & your poem even more vibrant. Well done ! Your next mission - if you decide to accept it - is to write a limerick about Seaborgium - and no, I've not just invented it ! B

Comment is about Ann Foxglove (poet profile)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

Cynthia - I think you're being a sweetheart when you describe the playing on words here as 'clever.' Sorry to be a big meanie, but this is the kind of poem that sends me running to the bar at poetry readings. 'Browned off?' Dear God... The swipe at CAD doesn't help either. God knows the laureate has written an awful lot of crap lately, but even she wouldn't go this far. And what's with 'written on a haggis wrapper'?

Comment is about BAD BRIEF ENCOUNTER (blog)

Original item by Barrie Singleton

I like this quite a bit - the song-like structure, returning to one word, would make it go down quite well in performance.

Comment is about phosphorous (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

On re-reading after a few days I totally take your point and may well re-visit. Thank you for your courage in feeding back, it is genuinely appreciated.

Comment is about Moral High Ground (blog)

Original item by Alison Smiles

Thanks for the comments and tolerance folks. This was a massive piece of silliness from me - I can never take Haiku seriously. You didn't even pick up on my deliberate clanger - you obviously know me too well! xx

Comment is about Bobbing Haiku (blog)

Original item by Isobel

Hi Ann - MORE INFO - great poem - & I'm not just saying that because.....
BTW - nothing wrong with a little "doggy style" anyway if you get my drift :) Also - phosphorus for a hound of the baskervilles might have a certain "logic" anyway, because (pardon me if you know already) phosphorus glows in the dark - hence the name - so that'd be decidedly spooky at night seeing just 2 eyes bounding across the moors towards you !! I think that would certainly get MY attention :0

Comment is about Ann Foxglove (poet profile)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

Hi Ann - great poem - & I'm not just saying that because.....
BTW - nothing wrong with a little "doggy style" if you get my drift :)

Comment is about phosphorous (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

Thanks for commenting on Phosphorous Cynthia. No, no sex with the dog!! I think the hound (dog indeed!) symbolises the man. And phosphorous a passion that can burn.

Comment is about Cynthia Buell Thomas (poet profile)

Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas

No, no sex with the dog!! I think the hound (dog indeed!) symbolises the man. And phosphorous a passion that can burn.

Comment is about phosphorous (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

This is good, all the way through, with idea, rhythm and cadence. It almost 'dances' in deliberate contradiction of its serious subject.

Comment is about The Marionette (blog)

Original item by Steven Kenny

Hi Cynthia It's starts off just being about a stroll along the sea front at Cleethorpes and walking past the corny illuminations, but it ends up being about my loss of religious faith. I was brought up as an Irish Catholic. I hope that makes some sense.

Comment is about Cynthia Buell Thomas (poet profile)

Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas

Brilliant. Real poets see and hear and feel and understand and share so much, so aptly. Let the world beware.

Comment is about The Birthday Comb (blog)

Original item by Marianne Daniels

Tommy, this is really good. I didn't say anything before until I had time to read it many times. For me, the tone is bleak, but not self-indulgent. 'marbled hurt' is quite unusual, offering many possibilities. 'wants of wishes sated' is also a twist of ideas, provoking thought. Separating 'her' and 'self' in the title is subtle yet strong.

Comment is about She held her self still (blog)

Original item by Tommy Carroll

Hiyacynth! Nobody told me parody was supposed to be deep. Not sure what you mean by 'How do you know this?'

Comment is about BAD BRIEF ENCOUNTER (blog)

Original item by Barrie Singleton

The play on words is clever only, not deep. 'gaffe' seems much too mild a word for the incident which, I think, will have major repercussions.
How do you know this? Was it in a newspaper?

Comment is about BAD BRIEF ENCOUNTER (blog)

Original item by Barrie Singleton

I like work based on literary characters; it's always very 'in'.
This is interesting. I presume the last verse is not sex with the dog, however 'in' that seems to be lately. You might enjoy Kosinski's "The Painted Bird".

Comment is about phosphorous (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

Well Banksy wrote a poem called calcium and . . . . .

Comment is about phosphorous (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

Thanks Cynthia

Comment is about just a couple of questions (blog)

Thanks for laughing-with. For your next imagining: 'Lunch with the man I never met'?

Comment is about Ann Foxglove (poet profile)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

Dad brought a tear to my eye. So tender and so true. It's tragic and hilarious and brilliant. Thank you.

Comment is about Rachel McGladdery (poet profile)

Original item by Rachel McGladdery

Teehee! Grumble pie! Jolly good!

Comment is about BAD BRIEF ENCOUNTER (blog)

Original item by Barrie Singleton

Welcome to WOL Martin. You'll get plenty of feedback here if you ask.

Comment is about Martin Miles (poet profile)

Original item by Martin Miles

Welcome to WOL Tim. Liked your samples and will keep an eye on your work.

Comment is about Tim King (poet profile)

Original item by Tim King

Hi Kealan Just catching up with your poem Modern Saviour. I enjoyed and found the last stanza particularly intriguing - maybe it's because I'm a lapsed Catholic with a Muslim daughter.

Comment is about Modern Saviour (blog)

Original item by Kealan Coady

Hi Cynthia Thanks again for your comments. I've enjoyed your last couple of poems too. I appreciate the 'objective' style.

Comment is about Cynthia Buell Thomas (poet profile)

Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas

Hi Ann - Edward - I dont think he's died. Calcium - I really dont know - it's just the feeel of the word - the shape of the word in your mouth. A bit like how some guys look really dapper in a bow tie & others just look a complete tw*t. And he does look like a chemistry teacher - dont you think? all the best. B

Comment is about Ann Foxglove (poet profile)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

Thanks for commenting recently on me poems John. Glad you like Shirley and Dolly. And Sandy Denny, "Who Knows Where The Time GOes" is one of the best songs ever. Re adding a bridge to Blackthorn - I would have added a bridge but I didn't manage to get planning permission! Tehe!

Comment is about John Coopey (poet profile)

Original item by John Coopey

I would've added a bridge but I didn't get planning permission!

Comment is about blackthorn (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

Oh, I get it! :-(

Comment is about Win a Trip of a Lifetime to Reykjavik (article)

“FROZEY TOESIES” (Kids' Poem)

So the TV gave a warning that the snowy clouds are forming

And they said it's global warming but it's feeling cold to me!


And the wind is really blowing and “Yippee! it's started snowing!”

So I think that we'll be going to the park, my Mum and me


We'll be turning off our tellies, putting warm food in our bellies

and then pulling on our wellies - we like sledging when it snows


And with so much lovely snowfall we can roll a giant snowball

'Til our snowman starts to grow tall with a carrot for his nose!


And we'll meet with my friend Billy, we can giggle and be silly

We'll get cold and wet and chilly and throw snowballs at our Mums!


And then when the big park closes we'll go home to blow our noses

And we'll warm our frozey toesies and we'll dry our soggy bums!

© Tony Walsh 2009

Comment is about Win a Trip of a Lifetime to Reykjavik (article)

Rachel - you are so clever - I never noticed! And they are both bits of music that I like too. I'd love to get some of my love poems printed and call the great tome "Two Steps On The Water", do you think Kate would mind? ;-)

Comment is about behind a dark moon (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

i like the way it starts with kate bush and ends with pink floyd. like my music tastes fro 1976-1985.
a nice read.

Comment is about behind a dark moon (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

Enjoyed the rhythm and rhymes, Ray, many of them unusual connections.

Comment is about Analgesia (blog)

A lovely reading - spooky yet seductive.

Comment is about behind a dark moon (blog)

Original item by Ann Foxglove

Thanks for nice comments on Dark Moon. x

Comment is about Dave Carr (poet profile)

Original item by Dave Carr

Ha ha 'Bored witless poet' AND 'saving Shithaiku' ; )


Tu es folle...
xxx

Comment is about Bobbing Haiku (blog)

Original item by Isobel

It's interesting to see this rueful take on this innocent piece of your childhood. Very pared down and wistful?

Comment is about Going home (blog)

Some lovely juicy (sorry) lines in this one Isobel. I love the thought of boy scouts jobbing or robbing and bald heads in damp beds and the sticky £5 note.
By the way is the last word a misspelt mushroom. Bravo!

Comment is about Bobbing Haiku (blog)

Original item by Isobel

Visceral images which are hard to consider, but necessary to remember. Well done.

Comment is about hiroshima (blog)

Original item by Daniel Hooks