Good point, Uilleam. It won't be all plain sailing. In the end, I can't believe that America will vote for Trump a second time, but for Harris to win voters have to turn out, put aside scruples about issues like Gaza and not waste their vote on fringe parties (or the republicans!).

The title comes from a book about Bill Clinton, a sleazeball who wasn't a bad President. Unfortunately, Trump will be both.

Hugh, Stephen. K Lynn, Manish, Rudyard and Max for liking this.

Comment is about The President You Deserve (blog)

Original item by Stephen Gospage

Enjoyed this one, John. I remember watching test cricket there on my way home from school.
Some things never change, though.

Comment is about REDIFFUSION (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Hopefully words, we all deserve a new beginning

Comment is about Today I Turn Away (blog)

Original item by Noris Roberts

Hello Tadhg! Looking forward to reading your beautiful words 😃

Comment is about TK Kwes (poet profile)

Original item by TK Kwes

There’s no-one else to blame, Uilleam, except me (and you). We didn’t shop there.
And thanks for the Like, Holden.

Comment is about REDIFFUSION (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

We are all delightfully different Mouse!

Good to see you here on WOL

Comment is about Eyes on Me (blog)

Original item by mouseinmypocket

deadbeat doors - what was once our "High Street" is now a home for society's rejects.

Comment is about REDIFFUSION (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Hi Trevor,

Lovely poem.

I have memories of The River Lagan and The Lagan Valley from days when I lived close to Lisburn.

My reflections are tainted by the period of time I was there.

That said I recognised the beauty of the landscape of Ulster even amidst it's troubled times.

Indeed it contrasted with some irony the beauty and ferocity of passions generated by such a place.

I'm pleased your memories are uplifting.

David.

Comment is about Lagan (blog)

Original item by Trevor Alexander

I’ll keep my hand on my ha’peny, Graham.

Comment is about REDIFFUSION (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

This year JC, this year!

Comment is about REDIFFUSION (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Thank you, Stephen. Quite a depressing write, but the world seems broken at the minute. Let's hope things change for the better, sooner rather than later!
And thanks for the Likes Tom, Hugh, Aisha & Holden, always appreciated

Comment is about A Fault In The Architecture (blog)

Original item by Stephen W Atkinson

Thank YOU Stephen, Your comments are very kind.

“I?
I walk alone;
The midnight street
Spins itself from under my feet;
My eyes shut
These dreaming houses all snuff out;
Through a whim of mine
Over gables the moon's celestial onion
Hangs high.”
― Sylvia Plath

Comment is about Pagan (blog)

Original item by John E Marks

Thanks for looking in and liking Tom, Hugh, Aisha, Larisa and John.

Spread the word Graham - it can't just fade away you're right, and of course all the girls that are called Penny (short admittedly for Penelope!) Concise reasoning too.

Thanks Stephen for pointing out your liking those lines!

Ray

Comment is about PENNY WISE (blog)

Original item by ray pool

Thanks, MC. Personally, as a punishment I think some of these sentences for some of these crimes are excessive. But that’s not the point, is it? The point is not about punishment,; it’s about deterrence.

Comment is about I FOUGHT THE LAW (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Many thanks Stephen for your positive comments 🙂
Thanks for likes: hugh, Holden & Aisha 👍

Comment is about Gone But Not Forgotten (blog)

Original item by Tom Doolan

Thank you so much for the comment, Stephen!
With best wishes,
Larisa

Comment is about I Do Not Trust the One Who Kills the Swan (blog)

Original item by Larisa Rzhepishevska

I would normally be inclined to agree with the premise of your poem Stephen; these days however, I fear the prevalence on social media of outright lying may ensure the election of the president they least deserve.

Comment is about The President You Deserve (blog)

Original item by Stephen Gospage

"beware the Janus winking eye" indeed!
Are the plummetting numbers of English red squirrel and the Scottish Haggis anything to do with an increase in UK immigration and the failure of lefty judiciary to clamp down on unruly plebs? Let's not be afraid to have an honest conversation; just asking questions...nudge nudge, wink wink! 😉

Comment is about RIOT (blog)

Original item by M.C. Newberry

Always topical and always entertaining. I have been amazed,
not least from my own experience of judicial sloth, about how
speedily these various cases actually came to court. I think the
haste involved speaks for itself in the political sense whilst
those who have already obtained prior sentences of chokey
are being mooted for early release to free up cell space. With
that in mind think of the alternatives before imposing jail time: E.g. Absolute discharge; conditional discharge; fine; community
service order; probation; suspended sentence. Will we see an
annual legal "Judge Jeffreys" Award for sentencing. I wonder
following these assorted public disorders??? 😕

Comment is about I FOUGHT THE LAW (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

You always were one of my favourite poets 😉

Comment is about Black hole (blog)

Original item by Alexandra K. Parapadakis

Thank you for your comment.

Comment is about Canada (blog)

Original item by Kay Medway

An absolute marvel, John. Dripping with meaning and sadness but the words make it entertaining.

Comment is about Pagan (blog)

Original item by John E Marks

Marvellous, Trevor. It never misses a beat.

Comment is about Lagan (blog)

Original item by Trevor Alexander

Another fine, moving poem, Tom. The rhyme and rhythm are perfect, as is the conclusion. Sad, of course.

Comment is about Gone But Not Forgotten (blog)

Original item by Tom Doolan

A very tough, profound poem, Stephen. So well written.

Comment is about A Fault In The Architecture (blog)

Original item by Stephen W Atkinson

'My wealth is sunrise and the dawn' - such a lovely line, Larisa.

Comment is about I Do Not Trust the One Who Kills the Swan (blog)

Original item by Larisa Rzhepishevska

Thanks for the history lesson, MC. Yes, their real foes are unscrupulous agitators with their own agendas.

Comment is about RIOT (blog)

Original item by M.C. Newberry

I like the newcomer's wide-eyed element of this. And the sense of welcome.

Comment is about Canada (blog)

Original item by Kay Medway

taste testing 💕 milk-blooded 💕 i love the way this makes me feel. thank you for sharing!

Comment is about Max Sullivan (poet profile)

Original item by Max Sullivan

Thank you so much Larisa for your kind comments. 🙂

Comment is about Gone But Not Forgotten (blog)

Original item by Tom Doolan

Tom, I enjoyed reading and listening to your poem. With best wishes, Larisa

Comment is about Gone But Not Forgotten (blog)

Original item by Tom Doolan

Lovely Mike
You have a special bond with your granddaughters, and the love shines through in your words.

Comment is about Alba's Graduation Day (blog)

Original item by Mike Bartram

Very kind of you to say so, Ray. Me, i'm never certain i've said what i meant to say, so it's always a pleasure to read that i've nailed it. I've been rereading the 'Staying Alive' anthologies, wherein, at the start of every section there's a quote from a poet on the meaning of poetry, how it fits into our lives. I'd be very interested in hearing yours, if you have formulated one.

Comment is about I CAN'T PUT MY FINGER ON IT, BUT... (blog)

Original item by Martin Peacock

A puff of logic - now there is a real poetic line! One thing that intrigues me with poetry is how such dense matter can be contained so concisely to be unravelled. I think with your comment as well as the poem you have amply explained the unexplainable!

Ray

Comment is about I CAN'T PUT MY FINGER ON IT, BUT... (blog)

Original item by Martin Peacock

A lovely concluding couplet, Ray.

Comment is about PENNY WISE (blog)

Original item by ray pool

A fascinating poem, Max. The conclusion is sad but the content is beautifully phrased and thought out.

Comment is about Middling Sort (blog)

Original item by Max Sullivan

Ouch! Ray, you've got it, more or less. We're all prisoners of time, but some are trapped in different wings of the prison (or should that be 'prism'?), in the past or future (pessimists/optimists, analogously.) Everything really depends on something that doesn't exist; and in not-existing, it proves that we don't exist, either. Proof: the past doesn't exist - it has already happened, it is gone, vanished into history; the future doesn't exist either - it is merely potential, an ocean of possibilities waiting to resolve itself in the blinding light of Now; and yet the present doesn't exist either - try to put your finger on this exact instant and you're always too late: it has already become the past in the instant you conceived of the idea. Our brains perceive incoming information too rapidly to codify it straight away so it takes both subconscious and conscious minds appreciable amounts of time to register stimulae; therefore what our senses tell us is already old news by the time we've interpreted it. So, the past doesn't exist; the future doesn't exist; the present doesn't exist; and we being prisoners of time therefore cannot exist either. Ptooff! We vanish in a puff of logic. It's too late to get that coat, my friend: it doesn't exist either. We are all figments of our own imagination.

Comment is about I CAN'T PUT MY FINGER ON IT, BUT... (blog)

Original item by Martin Peacock

Penny Arrow toffee, Penny Lane, Penny for your thoughts! I'm sure it will endure Ray! The p had never eclipsed the d.

Comment is about PENNY WISE (blog)

Original item by ray pool

Thank you so much, Tim, I'm honoured and encouraged by your lovely comment; it genuinely means a lot! 😊

Comment is about Orphaned. (blog)

Original item by Holden Moncrieff

I am intrigued Martin. At the end of the poem, with some insight you have revealed the truth of your position I feel. It has a vast and important message that our minds (your representing it) are constantly at loggerheads especially psychologically, always reaching out for answers, and such thinking is like a storm untameable and excoriating . It is almost descending into insanity or at least the ingredients of it. A clever but unrestrained offering and well worth the study!
I'll get my coat......

Ray

Comment is about I CAN'T PUT MY FINGER ON IT, BUT... (blog)

Original item by Martin Peacock

Thanks for reading and liking: Uilleam, Stephen, Aisha, Holden, Helene and Auracle.

Thanks for the response and the personal tone David! All's well mate.

Comment is about HOMILLY (blog)

Original item by ray pool

Thanks, Ray, Stephen and Tim. It’s a saying my old boss used, Tim. And it’s always a mistake to read my stuff seriously, Ray.

Comment is about I FOUGHT THE LAW (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

I have seriously read this John, and it does represent an approach that will chime with many having a populist slant. I feel that as a serious assessment of the phenomenon it probably lacks depth, for example if aligning with nazi attitudes it would not criticize them as scum. Just picking but it is a polarized poem and possibly you intended that. "But the law won" is the message here that will cause the most deflation I think. Cheers, Ray

Comment is about I FOUGHT THE LAW (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Thanks, Tim for the poetic response. Yes, that is indeed the risk of digging. Sometimes things are better left off as a mystery!

Comment is about Bits and Pieces (blog)

Original item by kimberly

A real cracker, John.

Comment is about I FOUGHT THE LAW (blog)

Original item by John Coopey

Thanks, Greg. Yes, a noble if tragic history. It's slightly ironic (that word again) that Ukraine is now in there, but also very revealing, given that we are regularly told that Russia's SMO is going 'according to plan' It makes you wonder what the plan was.

Irony, John. It's so effortless the way these guys do it!

Comment is about Kursk (A provocation!) (blog)

Original item by Stephen Gospage

Thank you, Graham and Manish for your comments.
Thank you to the kind souls who liked this one.

Comment is about Mid-day Blues (blog)

Original item by Tim Higbee

I find your work interesting Holden. To me, your pieces seem to have been written eons ago by some sage. They have this depth that feels like you are imparting some hidden knowledge that has escaped mere observation.
Thank you.

Comment is about Orphaned. (blog)

Original item by Holden Moncrieff

Oh, the treasures you hope to find
While probing words from the mind
But be careful in your digging my dear
Of secrets hiding behind words so clear

What a beautiful poem about the mysteries within the words we read. Loved it, Kimberly!

Comment is about Bits and Pieces (blog)

Original item by kimberly

Quite lovely, Helene!

Comment is about Window in the Morning (blog)

Original item by Hélène