Thanks for your comments on 'Fresh' which just seemed to run off the end of the pen

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Hi Greg,
Thanks for your generous comment on Synechdoche.
Dave

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I hope your mum is managing ok Greg - hopefully the neighbours will all rally. This snow is something else. I would have to bloody work at the only school in Wigan that stays open...

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Greg - thanks for commenting on the poem Plagiarism. I will contact you separately re: JJJ who like Johnny Walker is still going strong at 94 - who knows their paths may have crossed in bamboo glades - amazing the things you learn from talking to the regulars at Wetherspoons where he still pitches up for a daily pint or maybe two despite still driving to and from home

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Thank you so much for your comments on my Primroses and Tadpoles poem. I always appreciate your kind and considered comments! Stay well, and if I don't get the chance to pass this way again, as it were (your profile page!), have a good christmas! ;-)

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Thank you for the comment on 'Timewise' Greg much appreciated and hope you're coping with all this snow where you are

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Hi there Greg, Glad you liked my last blog, Ghazal (There). I think thats my fav sher also, Win

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Tut and I thought no one would ever suss the place - a rich source of cameo material though I might add - and since I have a latte there most days round noon -just say the word and we can meet up for a chat

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Thanks, Greg. A win over the Baggies doesn't quite compensate losing to the Blues, though.Good to be back.

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I think you may be right I'm veering towards 'white fellas' without italics. The trouble is I write about a lot of foreign stuff and use a lot of foreign terms. It is often hard to know where to draw the line between words that are still foreign or have actually become naturalized. I also seem to be doing a lot of stuff these days that could be termed 'reportage' - which I have no problem with (I'm a big Auden fan) although some people don't seem to keen. In that context 'fellas' might be better and not so melodramatic. Its slightly dismissive tone is also a wry comment on white supremacy.

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Hi Greg - the feedback much appreciated and I hope the festivities go well for you and family this Christmas

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Hi Greg Thanks for insightful comments. I do sometimes wonder if I overdo italics and in fact I'm toying with the idea of changing it to 'white devils' - It might seem OTT at first glance, but the aboriginals did think the colonists were devils when they first came across them (as late as 1964! according to an article I've read recently.) I was thinking also it might be quite a powerful twist on the 'white is beautiful' theme that comes across in the first stanza. What you reckon?

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I loved the down to earth Ozzie humour - it is in keeping my own. I can remember a huge bill board encouraging people not to litter. It said 'Don't be a tosser, take your rubbish with ya!' Could you imagine our goverment allowing anything like that to go up in this country?

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My clever wife won it all as a prize promoted by Mr and Mrs Hotels in conjunction with Waterstones. So it was boutique hotels all the way. Great! In Byron Bay - a fantastic place - we were in this big 'Tuscan' villa with never more than one other couple there. Just us and the 'housekeeper' looking after our every need! I've just done this poem about the Byron Bay Lighthouse. I'll bung it on and see what you make of it. Might still need a bit of tinkering.

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Hi Greg Oz was brilliant in every way: People, Scenery, food and as for the weather - what a pain to go from 36 degrees in Brisbane to the 'big freeze' here! Managed to get one poem, too, and working on another one.

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Thanks for your thoughts on One Anglaland. A few specialist references, but my favourite is "blood-eagling" - an old Viking party game.

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hi Greg-glad me and old navvy gave you a laugh.thanks re comments.

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Wow Greg - you are so kind! I am glad you liked my ghazal. I aim to write some more. Have you any interest in trying one? xx

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sommerwear! haha-now theres my brand of humour-ta Greg for a brill poem and good laugh-Mr.W.

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We absolutely loved OZ - both the cities and the countryside. A bit pricey, though, given the strength of the Ozzie dollar against poor pathetic sterling! Still, I'd rather bask in 30+ degrees of heat in Brisbane than be snowbound here in Grimsby. Maybe that's why they all seem pretty cheerful over there, whereas here it's all moans and groans and feeling sorry for ourselves!

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Hi Greg
Many thanks for your comments on Rocket Man - I agree about 'is' and 'are' - appreciated. P

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When I find the strength of journey to read between the lines of others portrals, yours,then momentary I can escape my present day shell,and escape to another,past tense,but real enough to become enlightened.Thankyou.

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Thx for the comment on the memory poem Greg, and thx for the welcome back.

My best

Chris

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Hi, just wanted to say, i did sense your 'snow on the pass' has a personal element and story to it.
I chose to comment on what it meant for me as opposed to the sentiments within it because i wasn't sure how recent your friends demise is/was :-)
I really enjoyed the story too and your sensitive write.x

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Thanks for your thoughts on Tale from the North Country. I think Public Service Information like this ought to be more widely broadcast on the BBC.

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Thank you Greg. Its what we write for, isn't it? To have someone say 'this gave me pleasure'. Lovely of you to tell me so.

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Thanks for comments on Fitting In, Greg.ECT is very much alive and kicking, though it's a bit of a postcode lottery. One of the buzzwords in mental health at present is evidence-based practice - except when it comes to ECT when intuitive knowledge is allowed to hold sway.

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Greg, many thanks for the encouraging words - will read your work when I have the time - best regards - Philipos

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Hi Greg - I have found out from Win that the painting is of HB which is a great coincidence. Many thanks for your kind comments on Stratigraphy too! xx

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How did you guess! Do you think the painting is HB? I found the image ages ago and copied it onto my computer, but I never took a note of where it was or who the artist was. But now I've been there, it does look just like it. xx

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Greg
Thanks for your kind thoughts on Sleep Easy. I've always thought that the entire Polish nation must have felt shafted by Yalta, although with Russian tanks sprawled across half of Europe I don't suppose Churchill and Roosevelt had much bargaining power.

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Hey Greg, saw the citrine and sapphire yesterday morning in a really brief birst of sunshine between downpours! magic. really excited by it. Win ;-)

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Hi Greg, Thankyou for leaving a comment on TO THE MEMORY OF THE MEN. Much appreciated. I have replied in detail on the blog itself. Win x

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I somehow can't imagine CAD writing anything too commercial but I guess you never know!
I loved the picture too - it was worth taking part just to get that. It is a pity they didn't get a shot of me at the end of my second poem. I go into the sign of the cross - it would have looked awesome with all that angelic glow!

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Hi Greg Thanks for the comment on Bookshop.

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Thanks I'm pleased as punch :)and ha ha! I tried really hard to reply in lyrics too but I failed! x

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Thanks for your comments, Greg. It must have been the wild wind and rain that led me to put that one up last night. Watching the tide turn on the Lune at Lancaster inspired it. I am very impressed by the quality of your entries. Hope to see you at Hebden again soon. or why not venture to Sowerby Bridge on the first Monday of the month. Don't think you have joined us yet?

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I'm delighted that you connected totally with the feelings of isolation that I felt Greg. My poem 'Coming Home' that I posted yonks back was about coming back from Australia. I also wrote one about Sydney Opera House on the same theme. Could you imagine how those people who were stuck there for life must have felt back in the days when they got a one way ticket?
Thanks for the good wishes re slam. Both my pieces are definitely performance - one needs to be watched as well as listened to. I will post them though - once I've had chance to record them. Wish I could quell the rising nerves!
Isobel xx

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Hello Greg
Thanks for your thoughts on Borders. I spend a lot of time working away from home (well, not at the minute!) and I'd regularly go into a Borders after work and spend the evening reading a book, note where I'd got to, and continue the next night. I reckon I owe them a few hundred quid in lost sales.

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Ha - flattery will get you everywhere my dear! When you see your kids turn into adults it starts to make you feel old. There is a rebellious side to me that will stay forever young though - I'm making up for a wasted youth...
Thanks for your lovely comments. Yesterday was one of those days that you just have to write out of yourself - a time for reflection.
x

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And now to yours! I think your poems are getting really strong. Having read again the sestina I find it more and more impressive. I also really like Treading Water. The descriptive details are brilliantly controlled. I love the sickly air from the beet factory and the surprise of the abbey.

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Hi Greg Your comments are greatly appreciated. I wasn't sure that these two would have much appeal to anyone else. The first one is very formal and the second one probably presumes a bit too much background knowledge about the weird conjuction of Islam and Ireland in my family background!

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Thanks for the comments on Tom Pudding, Greg. As you probably guess I still live in Selby and had 20 years in mining, so these are well remembered amongst us older lot.
Don't query the accuracy of it all though - there's a fair bit of poetic licence in there. For instance, Prince of Wales Colliery isn't on the canal.

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Sincere thanks Greg.
x

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thanks for the comment over tunnel 3, greg.. not sure yet what i am going to do for the final edit (they will be a re-edit) as i wanted to get this out asap, but i am grateful for your comments x

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Hi Greg - Trying to catch up with poems on the site. I've just read and enjoyed Tomboy and the Paperbacks poem. AS usual lively and very skilful. As for the sestina - Wow, but I'll have to have a few reads before I get to the bottom of that one! It's a real tour de force.

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Greg
I don't remember seeing him play myself, but probably did as I used to catch them playing at the Sheffields and Forest from 62 onwards.
67 might hold bad memories for you but (2008 excepted) I think you've certainly had the upper hand for the past 15 years.

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Hi Greg, thanks for reading the train one :-).I have made some more comments on the blog page. With all the cuttings and tunnels it really did feel like burrowing!

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Thanks Greg for commenting on 'Tribute for John' - the only consolation for John not being around is the wealth of his music, art and iconic campaigning is being highlighted again. Best wishes, Dave

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Hi Greg as ever thanks for your perceptive comment. This was one where I didn't really know if others would 'get' what was going on. I thought it might be a bit too abstract. I've been really busy for a while now (earning a living!) and I thought I had better bung something on. It's been a while since I logged on. I'll try to catch up with any of your own recent offerings, too.

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