<Deleted User> (35860)
Sun 5th May 2024 12:35
Yes indeed Helene, we don't know how lucky we really are, compared to so many other suffering people, God help them.
Lovely, lovely poem. Thank you.
Bethany
Comment is about Thoughts on Water Heaters, Cars, and People (blog)
Original item by Hélène
Definitely Nigel. Aren't true warriors suppose to do the same? It's the tests of life that shows the true mettle and worth.
Thank you so much for another profound footprint 👣
Comment is about Synchronicities of life (blog)
Original item by Sunshine
Well captured Steve! it's a shitshow for sure.
Comment is about UK Local Elections 2024 (blog)
Original item by Steve White
rob1967able
Sat 4th May 2024 21:06
Thank you guys, holden you are very special to me. Love.
Comment is about im asking you. (blog)
Original item by RudyardK
Thank you for the like on Ant Traps. Just trying something new.
Comment is about hugh (poet profile)
Original item by hugh
A fine poem, Keith. I am usually quite sceptical about student protests but you put the case very well here.
Comment is about A Moral Hub (blog)
Original item by keith jeffries
Thank you for all your comments, David, Graham, Keith and RG.
The background to this poem is the tendency for 'strongmen' to use nominally free elections for their own legitimacy, having skewed the playing field in their favour in advance by, for example, censoring the media, banning NGOs and excluding opposition candidates.
Personally, I feel that, for all its problems, democracy is still fairly robust in most of Europe. Different electoral systems (PR, first past the post) can still produce good government. In the end, it depends upon the quality of the people who are involved in politics and in this regard the rise in physical threats and abuse towards elected representatives is a serious problem.
So I hope that the bullets in line 3 will remain metaphorical, Graham!
Thank you for all your comments and thanks for the likes, Bethany, Holden and Manish.
Comment is about Ballot Box (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
having met and read of veterans with PTSD this poem is the epitome of what i believe the trauma represents, well written my friend I was there with you on the battlefront and in the bar. Im glad to see you wrote your glass was half full indicating a subconscious that is optimistic for the future, great words, thank you for sharing
Comment is about Post Traumatic Civilian (blog)
Original item by Mike Horsfall
The comment about ejecting half-wits supports what I always say, that we don't vote people in, we vote them out.
Comment is about Ballot Box (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Fri 3rd May 2024 14:16
Thank you so much, Bethany, for your kind comment! 😊
Comment is about Earnest. (blog)
Original item by Holden Moncrieff
Fri 3rd May 2024 13:52
Thanks for the likes and the comment Stephen.
https://youtu.be/dzTnGyJCF_Y?si=rElXCvBDjd5xC7FQ
David
Comment is about Resting Place (blog)
Original item by David RL Moore
<Deleted User> (35860)
Fri 3rd May 2024 12:45
I would prefer an enlightened despot to PR, the problem would be longevity and a complete lack of stability.
Years ago I railed against PR, back in the day before our political masters and parties sold out to the Corporates who now have them in their pockets. If anyone feels that we live in a country where things that need to be done are getting done then they are probably aligned to the ruling party or disinterested in fair representation for those living less comfortably than themselves.
Anyway I'll be off to the very wilds of escotia as soon as economically viable.
Congrats on promoting converse Stephen, oh and your poem.
David.
Comment is about Ballot Box (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
I wonder just how far away line 3 is here in the UK.
I am always intrigued how people in general place themselves in a 'tribe' of one colour or the other and more intrigued how quickly they change suit when things do not go the way they believe they should. I suppose democracy was always thus. But god forbid proportional representation ever happens. nothing will ever be agreed then! 2025 will be a good year for the Unions, and of course strikes!
Comment is about Ballot Box (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
This reminded me of reportage Keith.
A line by line what happened next.
I think you have it all here.
I was listening to an old protester from 1964 in USA
Kent State University vis-a-vis the Viet Nam draft issues.
Amazing how these things develop
The secret is identifying the place where the agitators become involved.
It's all downhill after that!
Comment is about A Moral Hub (blog)
Original item by keith jeffries
rob1967able
Fri 3rd May 2024 10:28
Stephen,
I voted in local council elections yesterday here in England and am happy to say I was succesful in ejecting a few halfwits from their too warm seats.
In the absence of an enlightened despot or proportional representation our current structure of democracy is the best we can hope for. That said, it is not entirely the mechanism that is to blame these days, rather the calibre of the candidate.
Your poem is apt and timely. Here in the UK we are in a terrible mess, it remains to be seen if change can rectify anything enough to improve the lot of many.
David
Comment is about Ballot Box (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Stephen,
Very well said. It is a time, quite unlike any previous election, as people are either confused or entrenched. Thank you for this.
Keith
Comment is about Ballot Box (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
A beautiful, moving poem, David.
Comment is about Resting Place (blog)
Original item by David RL Moore
The repetition of the last line helps this poem make a big impact, Trevor. A fine piece of work.
Comment is about Who Cares (blog)
Original item by Trevor Alexander
Very nice poem! I know what the war is.
Comment is about Who Cares (blog)
Original item by Trevor Alexander
<Deleted User> (56953)
Thu 2nd May 2024 15:09
Good afternoon MC,
Whilst I am always grateful for any reading of my contributions and any subsequent comment I'm not entirely sure of the point you are attempting to make in specific regard to what I wrote.
I am 100% behind accountability, training and high operational standards with regard to firearms as that is the arena I hail from. I am especially keen on this with regard to our modern day Police Forces of which I have some knowledge in regard to training practices.
I was particulary familiar with the operational practices of an RUC unit known as E4A and some sub-units lesser known or spoken of.
With regard to discipline in such units working in murky territory it is often practices not associated with weapon use and handling that are questionable. That is in no way to deride the honourable and brave work of many members of that and similar units. I have witnessed good men and women become corrupted by the feeling of power a position can give them, couple that with the provision of firearms and things can sometimes (and did) get messy.
What I will add is that during periods of prolonged deployment in hostile areas, possibly working without much support or contact with friendly forces the environment can become extremely suffocating. Feelings of anxiety can and do lead to states of paranoia and suspicions of betrayal. Sometimes in these isolated theatres of operations lines become blurred and things can go awry. Short deployments in such areas often became impossible due to operational necessity and dare I say political pressures. These factors weighed heavily on the individuals who were at the spearhead, they often paid a high price for their commitment..if not immediately then in later life.
Anyway, I too have now deviated from my scribble...which is not unheard of 😀
Comment is about Gun in the fridge (blog)
Original item by David RL Moore
Firearms are an ongoing source of unease for many folk. Their use is (and should be) vigorously checked. As a one-time 'authorised shot' with a major police firearms unit, I recall all too clearly the discipline and respect that was instilled by committed training in their use and the penalties, both personal and legally that awaited improper use, not least the possibility of standing in the dock.
Comment is about Gun in the fridge (blog)
Original item by David RL Moore
Thank you Stephen G, Hugh, Jon, Stephen A and Holden. "Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honours God."— Proverbs 14:31, NIV
Comment is about Radix malorum est cupiditas (blog)
Original item by John E Marks
Hi Prakhar,
Firstly thank you for the likes and comments you have recently posted on my contributions.
I'm quite frugal when it comes to dishing out comments and likes but when I do I try to be thorough in them and offer something constructive. I also take the liberty (often) of offering opinions on the subject matter of the poem as well as the writing itself. I'm probably better qualified to offer thoughts on life as opposed to poetry in which I have zero qualification.
Anyway, to your poem. The title is aptly described in the text, an awakening as to how the world actually is as opposed to what we imagine...a slow (not always) realisation and evolution, it is both terrifying and joyous, often humourous.
I note you are now 21 from your bio on WoL. I am 61 now and still evolving, jaded and sometimes cynical I have maintained a sense of humour and a little appetite for continuance (just)
It seems to me that your last line highlights how we often view ourselves as lost in the retrospective chapters of our lives. Is this true? can we judge ourselves in the present when we are so close to everything? could it be that we are forever lost (somehow) seeking something unattainable. Occasionally convincing ourselves we have arrived, merely at some future point to reassess ourselves as lost again?
I mean obviously I have no answers.
I very much enjoyed the sense of hope and aspiration that was conveyed in your poem.
David
Comment is about The Evolution Within (blog)
Original item by prakhar dhama
Well written and thought-provoking, John. Thank you.
Comment is about Radix malorum est cupiditas (blog)
Original item by John E Marks
Thu 2nd May 2024 07:43
Thanks for the likes and reading folks.
Landi, thanks for your comments.
I feel I should explain for some who might be confused by your comment Landi. I suspect you are referring to something I say in the video attached to the poem as opposed to the direct text of the poem (I can't be sure) Specifically I mention that the first verse of the piece is a recollection of an intrusive memory regarding my gun in the fridge.
One day I opened my fridge to reach for the Vodka and saw my 9mm Browning on the shelf where the Vodka should be, that memory was the basis for the first verse and the access point of the other memories. It was not a disturbing memory but it was the opening of a rabbit hole from which the rest of the piece spiralled.
Ending with the words "take the past with you wherever you go" rounds it off nicely I think. I open the fridge and the past is there, everywhere and anywhere it is possible that it will reach out and grab you, pulling you back in. That journey may lead you all the way to your end... as in taking it with you everywhere.
The tag on the toe does not refer specifically to me although it could do. I saw many corpses in NI and beyond, I take them with me everywhere also.
Thanks Landi, for opening up that opportunity for clarification..poems are sometimes just words, more often they are memories with a much deeper rooted foundation. Even if they are simply defined in plain language there is something lurking beneath if one chooses to look carefully.
David
PS. Another point of clarification, I am not soused when I write, neither am I staggering my way through the days from one bottle to the next. My drinking and my references to it are a prop I utilise for personal reasons..take it as you will.
The reference to 9mm Browning in the video dates that memory and the era of that particular conflict. By the end of my service my sidearm was a Sig Sauer, much nicer...if that can be a term one uses for an instrument of death.
Comment is about Gun in the fridge (blog)
Original item by David RL Moore
Wed 1st May 2024 21:11
Thank you Manish for appreciating my work and I am glad that you resonated with this poem. 😁🤝
Comment is about The Evolution Within (blog)
Original item by prakhar dhama
Hi David )
Memories are such elusive yet intrusive artifacts.
I find when looking in retrospect on many moments in my life, that my situation might have been improved by retrieval of something specific which I held and which could have shed light on the present. However, it just wasn’t available. I suspect that that is a product of being observant of the moment and thereby not able to access the complete compendium of reasoning at my disposal. Disappointing, in retrospect, but disappointing nonetheless. Because we can’t go back to those moments of dissonance and append, we’re just left to move forward.
Then again, some of those same memories seem to color everything--many of the sharpest memories seem to get muted to grey until they flash into the present at moments when we feel unable to openly express them or else when it seems futile to make them an open matter.
I loathe the grey. Maybe it’s necessary to blend and emulsify into these common moments where we can all share and all seems sane, but maybe it doesn’t really serve the greater good to sublimate our individual realities to the collective. Really, thank heaven for the printed word and for a hint of madness in the face of futility, if only momentary…
🌷
Comment is about Gun in the fridge (blog)
Original item by David RL Moore
A reflective poem, Hugh. (!)
Comment is about I could see myself doing this job. (blog)
Original item by hugh
Wed 1st May 2024 14:48
Congratulations, Stephen, on being included in this. It is for a very worthy cause.
Comment is about Save the children (blog)
Original item by Stephen W Atkinson
My thanks to David, Graham, RG and MC for their comments.
This poem was written against the background of the widening of conscription in Ukraine and of attempts to bring back men of fighting age from abroad. A number of conscientious objectors have also been imprisoned in Ukraine.
I don't disagree with any of the comments. They all make valid points. I struggle with this subject because, while I detest war and the idea of fighting my fellow man, there is plainly a contradiction in pacifism i.e. how do you deal with an invader who is hell-bent on killing you to conquer your country? (Or, as Graham points out, wants to harm your family). When does a refuse to take part in self-defence become unreasonable? And should one not be required (and allowed) to serve in a non-combattant capacity? I think that the comments bring out these contradictions very clearly.
One thing, concerning David's comments. By the 'ranks of hate', I did not mean to imply that all soldiers at the front were infused with hate. It was simply a poetic description of the 'war machine' from a pacifist's viewpoint.
This discussion brings to mind an episode from World War 2. When Benjamin Britten applied to be a conscientious objector, Ralph Vaughan Williams (who was not at all a pacifist) spoke up for him, saying that, while he disagreed with Britten's views, he believed that we were fighting for a way of life which allowed people to hold such views.
And my thanks to John C, Tom D, Stephen A, Holden, K Lynn, Hélène, Manish, Bethany, Auracle, Keletso and Prakhar for liking this one.
Comment is about Draft Dodger (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
<Deleted User> (56953)
Wed 1st May 2024 14:26
Your bittersweet,vivid pen is moving.
Keep up the writing.
7eVen.x
Comment is about Melancholy. (blog)
Original item by Kay D. Gould
Thank you very much for reading and for your insightful comments...much appreciated.
Comment is about Kim Phúc The Napalm Girl (blog)
Original item by Mike Bartram
Wed 1st May 2024 12:15
Thanks for the Like, RAP.
The ladies did enjoy it, Helene. I gave it to them framed and it’s going on the wall.
I got a freebie coffee out of it. Time was they might have thanked me differently!
Comment is about SPRING CAFE (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
<Deleted User> (35860)
Wed 1st May 2024 10:12
Wed 1st May 2024 09:53
Thanks for all the recent likes on this.
David
Comment is about The indefinite sentence (blog)
Original item by David RL Moore
The old greeks did it and it was sort of taboo. And it still is. I don't care, I love men, women, humans. I romance men, women humans. I sex men, women, humans.
Just not anybody
Comment is about Queering the Landscape (blog)
Original item by Lee Campbell
Very much enjoyed this Keira.
Comment is about Uncalculated Coitus (blog)
Original item by Keira Anne
Many thanks for the comments and likes.
I'd held on to this for a while wondering if it would appeal to anyone.
I'm pleased I put it up now.
David.
Comment is about The indefinite sentence (blog)
Original item by David RL Moore
Hélène
Sun 5th May 2024 15:53
A call to humankind to pay attention to its use of its amazing intelligence. May we learn to be wise. Thank you Ghazala!
Comment is about Human intervention in weather conditions of today. (blog)
Original item by Ghazala lari