Thanks John.
Every single line excellent advice, which I find very moving.
Not only am I now a woman, I'm 150 yrs. old next Monday!
💐
Comment is about If Revisited (blog)
Original item by John E Marks
This is great! Inspiring, to be our better selves
Comment is about If Revisited (blog)
Original item by John E Marks
Thank you Uilleam, Stephen G, Stephen A, Hugh, Frederick and Chris.
YOU DO NOT NEED PERMISSION TO COMMENT ON THIS ENTRY
Comment is about funeral plans (blog)
Original item by John E Marks
Thanks for reading and the liking Frederick!
That's quite revealing Graham, thanks for the info. I constantly get them and sometimes it gets a bit much, but it only happens now that I don't do gigs. All my dreams(every night) are in colour . No wonder i'm bonkers. service stations can seem unreal in the middle of the night but hey, needs must! If you do get your coat make sure it's a warm one at the moment.
Thanks for the encouraging comment Greg. Every word true as it happened. What happened to glamour though? Lynn accuses me of only writing about the sordid side of the business. I have done good work but perhaps that's not so good for the poetic spirit.
Good point Stephen, I remember a Frank Zappa album about tinseltown, Hollywood or suchlike. An enduring image.
Ray
Comment is about PTSD put to music (blog)
Original item by ray pool
I was born in '48.
I remember as a child being worried by the "Cold War", and the Cuba missile crisis. A small comforting voice in my head told me "no-one could be crazy / evil enough to actually start a thermo-nuclear war"- the MAD (mutually assured destruction) deterrent?
Now I actually do fear for my grand children's lives.
Comment is about River's End (blog)
Original item by Tom
stinking bare-faced complacency
Says it all.
Comment is about funeral plans (blog)
Original item by John E Marks
"They steal more than they need,
it could fill the coffers of a nation;
it's not just money, they also take morale,
the future and hope, the food of the poor
and the children's education"
Thank you Noris,
in those words you reflect exactly what is happening here in the UK.
UK Railway safety checks being cut while £ billions shareholder's profits go to the Cayman Isles.
UK inland waterways and coastal waters are polluted with raw sewage, while executives make £ billions profit.
The NHS funding has been cut to the bone and at least 2 UK doctors have committed suicide, because of the pressure they are under,
while people lie in the street for hours waiting for an ambulance....(and that's nothing to do with the NHS strikes).
That's just a few examples.
Comment is about Vultures Fly (blog)
Original item by Noris Roberts
Stephen, thank you for your efforts in the cause of peace.
The moment the so-called "Christian" church took on the trappings of imperialists, and the Carolingian Empire onwards, Jesus's message of "love your neighbour" was perverted by state-sponsored murder, disguised as "fighting heresy"etc, etc.
The hypocrisy continues today. A few years ago, I heard a senior UK Cleric come on the daily morning radio "God Spot".
He tried to equate / justify the deaths of our UK military in some ongoing conflict with the death of Jesus, as if we should somehow be grateful for their "sacrifice". The cause of Jesus's death was political expediency...not God's love for me.
Upon which I recall Kipling's words:
“If any question why we died / Tell them because our fathers lied.”
No wonder our churches are empty.
Comment is about Prayer for Ukraine (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
We regularly eat at a café where the food is great, “not sling and ping”, and perhaps a little pricey.
The number of times I’ve seen huge plates left full of fresh crunchy salad, and meat, left by a family of say 2 parents and 2 teenagers.
Obscene waste - in a country where we literally celebrate morbid obesity – whilst others can’t feed their families properly!
😕
Comment is about Swiss Roll Family Robinson (blog)
Original item by JD Russell
Not really, Rudyard, but I can't believe that the church leaders who are cheering on the war think they are acting in God's name.
Thanks for the like and also to Greg, John B and Hugh.
Comment is about Prayer for Ukraine (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
The all time poets malaise. Headwords at bedtime!
Comment is about No Rest for the Wicked (Insomnia 2) (blog)
Original item by Rick Varden
I've just added a comment to the Discussion forum too
Comment is about National Emergency: Life or Death Fight for the NHS! (blog)
We don't have a list as such, but if we feel you have transgressed, you may get a light touch on the shoulder, or suchlike. I would also point out that although MC is a former police officer, he has no official policing function at Write Out Loud.
Comment is about National Emergency: Life or Death Fight for the NHS! (blog)
Agree with you John. Too much food porn going on! Good to see you getting involved Russell. Keep 'em coming!
G
Comment is about Swiss Roll Family Robinson (blog)
Original item by JD Russell
<Deleted User> (27399)
Tue 17th Jan 2023 12:34
Are you a believer stephen?
Comment is about Prayer for Ukraine (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Thank you for your comment MC.
Which of my words do you suggest I ought not to be allowed to use on Write Out Loud?
If you will kindly let me have a list, I will refrain from using them in future.
Comment is about National Emergency: Life or Death Fight for the NHS! (blog)
Powerful and surprising, Holden. It is good to remind ourselves of Nature's resilience! 😎
Comment is about Butterfly... (blog)
Original item by Holden Moncrieff
Am I the only one who felt ravenous after reading this poem? A feast for the senses, JD 😊
Comment is about Swiss Roll Family Robinson (blog)
Original item by JD Russell
Thanks Stephen. My memory cannot really be trusted, I'm afraid. My heroics are, more likely than not, nonsense haha.
Thanks for the likes Frederick and Chris 😊
Comment is about Winter, 1963 (blog)
Original item by John Botterill
A very convincing poem, Tom. It really draws you in. As you say, one of those dreams far too close to (possible) reality.
Comment is about River's End (blog)
Original item by Tom
Magnificent, JD. 'La Grande Bouffe' for our times!
Comment is about Swiss Roll Family Robinson (blog)
Original item by JD Russell
Thanks, John. I was going to say great memories but I suppose that they weren't for many people. I was a bit older, but like you I remember enjoying myself sometimes. Just the sight of that snow!
Comment is about Winter, 1963 (blog)
Original item by John Botterill
Tue 17th Jan 2023 02:13
A really powerful poem, Kristian! 🌷
Comment is about Angel Fish (blog)
Original item by Kristian Deidre Brown
Thank you so much for your feedback, great memories
Comment is about Lady Penelope (blog)
Original item by Rick Varden
Yes, MC, I see I wasn't imagining it . IThe snow really was that deep! What would Pepys have made of 1963?!? Thanks for your comment and for the history. I love it! 😀
Comment is about Winter, 1963 (blog)
Original item by John Botterill
Thanks for your thoughts, Stephen and MC.
I regret painting such a negative picture of the nurse. The staff at the hospitals my mother-in-law has been in have all been rushed off their feet but marvellous.
And thanks for the Like, Helene and Hugh.
Comment is about ROSIE (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Ah yes...the great freeze this18 year old found himself facing
just before taking up full time employment in The Smoke. As
the song goes on...I remember it well. When I see and hear
climate reports today, I just think back a further 300 years to a
very different winter reported by Samuel Pepys in his diary for
1661: "It is strange what weather we have had all this winter; no
cold at all; but the ways are dusty, and the flyes (sic) fly up and
down, and the rose bushes are full of leaves; such a time of the
year as.was never known in this world before here."
Our Samuel should be around now to compare notes.😏
Comment is about Winter, 1963 (blog)
Original item by John Botterill
Reminds me of a lady I recall visiting a pub I used who was
once a "Gaiety Girl" in C.B. Cochran's Music Hall Revues.
With a twinkle in her eye, she'd hold out her glass for a refill of
G and T, still immaculately coiffured and attired in her 80s.
She was mugged for her handbag in a nearby street and never
properly recovered.
Comment is about ROSIE (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
I recall writing much gentler lines of a "political" nature and getting cancelled on WOL.
Comment is about National Emergency: Life or Death Fight for the NHS! (blog)
A brilliant piece of verse, John. It's extraordinary how we can create wonder of out personal sadness. Through my tears, it takes me back a few years to seeing my mum in the same state. Thanks a lot for this one.
Comment is about ROSIE (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Superb, Rick. I was always intrigued by Parker, who looked a bit of a repressed thug. Nowadays, he would be sorting them out at the Queen Vic.
Comment is about Lady Penelope (blog)
Original item by Rick Varden
Thank you so much, Hélène and John. I will always be a voice for piece. I recognize that Ukraine has no choice but to defend itself but war and violence are always abhorrent. The 'zero sum' element of the poem is the way that war is sanitised and justified by illusory gains which involve front line troops being used as cannon fodder for a maintaining a deadlock, while towns and infrastructure are gradually destroyed. So sad.
Comment is about Zero Sum (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
For me, Rick, it was the beautiful, enigmatic Marla at the HQ of Space Patrol, my favourite puppet show. Her catchphrase? 'A Venusian has the facility never to forget.'
Comment is about Lady Penelope (blog)
Original item by Rick Varden
No-one does, Graham. Until they get there. And then we all want another 5 minutes.
And thanks for the Likes, Frederick and Helene.
Comment is about ROSIE (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
A poem for our time John. I don't want to get that old.
Comment is about ROSIE (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
A fine analysis of love, Keith, accomplished with skill and feeling.
Comment is about The Bonds of Love (blog)
Original item by keith jeffries
Exceptional poem. I love the interweaving of personal experience with a wider philosophy and the way it ends as it began. Bravo, Helene.
Comment is about Dawning (blog)
Original item by Hélène
Reggie's Ghost
Tue 17th Jan 2023 22:18
Thanks Pam, you've still got it luv!
Comment is about I'M PAM AYRES (blog)
Original item by ray pool