Thanks for your comments, Greg and John. In a way, it's surprising that in 2022 there are still so many print versions of newspapers out there. I find the prospect of only on-line newspapers, mostly behind paywalls, very sad. I suppose we have to admit that the Mail knows its readership - it's just worrying that there are so many of them out there. (OK, I admit that Guardian readers can also be a bit odd at times).

Thanks to Nigel, Frederick, Holden, Graham and K Lynn for liking this.

Comment is about Heyday (blog)

Original item by Stephen Gospage

Thankyou for your further thoughts, Massoud and MC.

Comment is about SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT - OLD SPIES (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

brilliant! loved this, Candice. Thank you.

Comment is about Air to Austin (blog)

Original item by Candice Reineke

All in all Mike, a very nice poetical package. Thank you.

Comment is about Toll Collector (blog)

Original item by Mike McPeek

Massoud - claiming to be an idiot seems to make you even more
likely to fit in on today's benches in Parliament. You could even
go straight to the House of Lords!! 😌

Comment is about SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT - OLD SPIES (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Love it, great story telling, I was engrossed and keen to know whether there was a happy ending, 😮

Comment is about Reunited (blog)

Original item by Etchy Mary

A great read, lots of involved content, love and angst! Well done!

Comment is about Reunited (blog)

Original item by Etchy Mary

Indeed, Stephen. In the 70’s The Mirror sold more copies than all newspapers are sold today. I suspect the biggest driver of their decline is what I am using now - personalised technology, the iPad, smart phone etc. It is still good to see The Daily Mail averting its gaze from news it doesn’t like.

Comment is about Heyday (blog)

Original item by Stephen Gospage

Thank you Frederik and Graham. I appreciate your support of frontline workers. People often think that Nurses and healthcare workers get burnt out by the stress of the clinical work. However the statistics show that it's the love that Nurses and healthcare workers have for patients and the clinical work that keeps them there, and it's how they are treated by the managerial system which forces them to leave. I have always adored my patient work-even while working in a crisis mental health work, which is very full on. My love to be able to help and support others will never change.

Comment is about It's Time to Leave (blog)

Original item by Rasa Kabaila

Arguably the excesses of the tabloids, the phone-tapping and all the latest allegations, have hastened their decline. They say young people don't really read newspapers any more. I like the way your poem conjures up the language of those times, Steve. There are certain words that you only see in newspaper headlines, that were never, ever part of everyday language.

Comment is about Heyday (blog)

Original item by Stephen Gospage

The mere desire to stand for election should dismiss the candidate automatically.

Definitely not for me thanks, also I'm an idiot.

Comment is about SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT - OLD SPIES (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

I just made that up, Stephen. It could never happen.
The solution is obvious, Massoud. You must Stand for Parliament yourself.

Comment is about SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT - OLD SPIES (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

I see your point, although dementia destroys knowledge. Far more worrying are those allegedly of sound mind who still hold the reins of power.

Comment is about SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT - OLD SPIES (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

So much in this poem, John. A fascinating read.

Comment is about Bonfire Night (blog)

Original item by John E Marks

Hard to believe, John, but who knows?

Comment is about SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT - OLD SPIES (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Strange that the 'plonker' Guy Fawkes is remembered and the Scot, King James, totally forgot.

Comment is about Bonfire Night (blog)

Original item by John E Marks

Thank you Frederick and Holden for coming through on this.

Hi Stephen. An interesting and correct observation, purely unintended though!

I'm glad you liked this Greg. I tried to keep to the idea of the thrill I felt as a lad doing the trip - all of it impossible today of course! I look forward to hearing the zoom event.

Ray

Comment is about BY BACK DOOR ACROSS THE MOOR (blog)

Original item by ray pool

Surely not involving oral sex with a pig, Stephen? The Russians would never fall for that!

Comment is about SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT - OLD SPIES (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Thank you for your kind comments, Jock and Julie. It's difficult for us to imagine the sheer horror of what is happening in parts of Ukraine.

Thanks to Nigel, Frederick, Hugh, Holden, Keith and K Lynn for liking this.

Comment is about Here and There (blog)

Original item by Stephen Gospage

Thanks Nigel. With friends that appears to be an intuitive default 😬 agreement, well until it runs afoul. 😅

Comment is about to be agreed (blog)

Original item by Red Brick Keshner

Fascinating thought, John, although the condition often means that you reach back into very early memories. So maybe they will let something slip about the Bullingdon Club or some other strange ritual.

Comment is about SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT - OLD SPIES (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

That is dark, I like dark

Comment is about Brown Skinned Boy (blog)

Original item by Avna Day

Technically he wasn't hung, He fell off the scaffold and broke his neck, what a plonker

Comment is about Bonfire Night (blog)

Original item by John E Marks

It is hope and the casual disregard for our eventual demise that
makes existence bearable...We are gifted time and it's down to
us how we value it and what we do with it.
We start life's journey with a breath
And end it breathless with a death.

Comment is about The Greatest Sadness (blog)

Original item by Doug Berry

Hopefully, MC! And, to clarify, this is not an observation about Old Spice!

Comment is about SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT - OLD SPIES (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Recalling "Rowan and Martin;s Laugh-In" - very interesting!!
Truly, the mind moves in wondrous ways. But knowing how
dismissive people can be about "old folk", they'd just put it down
to senility. So...no worries there.

Comment is about SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT - OLD SPIES (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

And the resurrection of The Arse.
And thanks for the Like, Frederick.

Comment is about SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT - OLD SPIES (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Let me think about it
Asks his friend
Half a riddle
Who says
Not a clue
What to do.

Comment is about to be agreed (blog)

Original item by Red Brick Keshner

John John there are far more important things to worry about. Harry Kane on CBBC for one!

Comment is about SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT - OLD SPIES (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Good one Hugh 😁

Comment is about Disruption on a flight from Heathrow to Madrid (blog)

Original item by hugh

Frontliners put at the end of the line isn't a go. The service and welfare should go both ways. Where sanity leads is usually the next go to. This sounds like the voice of one who will not be Stockholmed.

Comment is about It's Time to Leave (blog)

Original item by Rasa Kabaila

"Hope becomes a blanket
To grow the warming of your heart
A strength you never knew you had"

Lines that would stand up on their own under so many different circumstances.

Comment is about The Doors are Always Open (blog)

Original item by New Shoes

Sometimes doing what you care about (albeit unpaid) can be more rewarding than when it is a career or occupation. I have a feeling you will still be a caring person no matter what.

All my best wishes as you decide.

G

Comment is about It's Time to Leave (blog)

Original item by Rasa Kabaila

What a wonderful tribute, Ray, with this marvellous poem of love and nostalgia, of which Sir John himself would surely have been proud. Thank you. We will be reading a poem by David, and another dedicated to him, at the online launch of our anthology on Zoom tomorrow night.

Comment is about BY BACK DOOR ACROSS THE MOOR (blog)

Original item by ray pool

Don’t think you are in your own with this Stephen. I think this write sums up how a lot of people are feeling right now. Well done.

Comment is about Here and There (blog)

Original item by Stephen Gospage

Thank you for your comments and insights, Uilleam and Stephen. DV stands for 'domestic violence' I thought it was a wider known acronym in the community, but perhaps not.

Wishing you both a lovely day.

Kind regards,
Rasa

Comment is about It's Time to Leave (blog)

Original item by Rasa Kabaila

I confess I have ambivalent views on this, Graham. How would it look, for instance, to have MOWO Awards? I rather hope this positive discrimination is a necessary temporary aberration until integration has progressed further.

Comment is about IT PLEASES ME (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

ditto-bigtime!

Comment is about The Greatest Sadness (blog)

Original item by Doug Berry

Stephen, if we are not witnessing pure evil in its most raw form what else can one call it-

grim but a very well crafted piece of work my friend!

to think, millions of Russian people must surely know by now what is going on in Ukraine and supposedly in their name.
When are they going to wake up?

Comment is about Here and There (blog)

Original item by Stephen Gospage

You do David proud, Ray. The repetition of the last verses seems to speed the poem up.

Comment is about BY BACK DOOR ACROSS THE MOOR (blog)

Original item by ray pool

Not a big fan of TH as a person or indeed his work but it seems sensible to commemorate his existence in his birthplace.

Comment is about Widow of Ted Hughes objects to fox sculpture planned for poet's birthplace in Mytholmroyd (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman

A very moving, thoughtful piece, Doug.

Comment is about The Greatest Sadness (blog)

Original item by Doug Berry

Obviously I would agree with all of the above and it is heartening to see my grandchildren in very mixed race/multicultural classrooms.

What however I cannot understand is why there are still some organisations who entertain 'Black Member' sections for example within their structures. Surely this does nothing but further segregate them? The Police Federation is one that I have had some dealings with in the past in a small capacity. Bizarre considering the constant allegations of racism within the force (sorry I mean service).

Comment is about IT PLEASES ME (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Thankyou, Russell. You’re so right . It must be unnerving at best to be the only black person in a room. Roll on the day that it isn’t.

Comment is about IT PLEASES ME (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

I would like to dedicate this poem to David Andrew who was a founder member of Write out Loud and a regular reader at events where I had the interesting experience of his company and unique style. He lived in West Drayton which gave us a window of nostalgia to explore, hence my poem. Sadly as Greg Freeman mentions in his article about the currently published anthology on the site David passed away this year.

Comment is about BY BACK DOOR ACROSS THE MOOR (blog)

Original item by ray pool

I worked in Zambia for a while and on one occasion went to a bar with over 200 black men present, I was the only white, the level of respect these guys gave me was immense, they were interested in my background and why I was there, They were happy when they found I was training some of their fellow citizens in electro mechanics so that Zambia could trade for higher spec equipment in the future, I could have got 200 drinks bought for me that night if I wasn't careful,
I'm interested in the reaction to a white male filled bar in England that a sole black man walks into, and the reaction to him, I don't think the two would be comprable
I hope we are doing enough to eradicate racism at all levels in society, and yes John we are the generation that notices but hopefully the last, I do see that in my grandchildren.
Great words

Comment is about IT PLEASES ME (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

I'm pleased that the conclusion is hopeful, Rasa. Very interesting, although sad, to read. Best wishes whatever you decide to do next. I could also do with some clarification on 'DV'.

Comment is about It's Time to Leave (blog)

Original item by Rasa Kabaila

Thanks kindly, Stephen (Atkinson) for the like! It was hoped that this little poem would not only make the rounds but would mean something for others as well. Cheers! Freds.

Comment is about Strindberg's Principle (blog)

Original item by Red Brick Keshner

This is really funny, Hugh! 😂

Comment is about An expensive mistake by a shepherd (blog)

Original item by hugh

I love the Thought Fox poem

Comment is about Widow of Ted Hughes objects to fox sculpture planned for poet's birthplace in Mytholmroyd (article)

Original item by Greg Freeman