Hi Greg, and thanks for your sensible comment on Vortexing. (Maybe I should write a follow up called Artexing!) I think since my Arvon course I've been working harder at my stuff and have more of an idea as to developing and improving. And I've had some really nice comments, making me hope I am on the right track. The only thing is, my poems seem to all be getting a bit low key, down beat, depressing, lacking in the life that they used to have. Getting too serious in fact. Do you think that this happens when you try to become a "better" poet? I don't want to lose all the fun! Boo Hoo! I'm going to leave this comment on Graham Sherwoods profile too, as I've found his feedback very valuable as well. And yes, I am very lucky living where I do! xx

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Greg (Re Dave's recent blog) - its a great name Winston :-) Winston x

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Oh thank you Greg (London Journey) - this poem means a lot to me, but sometimes when that happens it doesn't work as a poem, and I did feel that this one had no structure to it. When I first typed it up from my notebook, it was looking more like prose. And it's a long one by may standards! Glad you liked the train - even though it smelt of farts! ;-)

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Oh dear! Back to the drawing board! I do see what you mean. Will have another go! x

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Thanks for your comment greg - it wasn't an obvious one - I've stuck an explanation on it as I like to be understood. I appreciate your comments on my choice of language. x

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Thanks GReg (Nineveh). I have removed the second appearance of the ghosts. Didn't replace with another word - think it's OK without? And . . . couldn't think of another word!! ;-)

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I like Philip Larkin, he is quite funny isn't he at times,I have just discovered Donald Justice, oh he is so good, would love to buy a book, but it's affording it all really, I quite like carol ann Duffy, and Armitage, but having read Adrienne Rich I do wonder if two of their poems were inspired by her, which I find so interesting. I think it really helps to read, my library doesn't stock much though. My drive poem is a bit about driving and more about when you meet someone, you have to be careful they don't take over your life ! :)

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Yep Greg, it's a shame Frank doesn't have the same confidence for England that he does for Chelsea. I fear the same process is happening to Mr Rooney...

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Hi Greg,
Thanks for reading and commenting on 'Bite the Bullet' - very much appreciated.
Cx

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Hi Greg... thanks for comments on my recent haiku, If I have done what you say then I have done a good job. Economy of words with maximum meaning could be a good haiku writters motto. Win

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Hi Greg, Thankyou for your comments as ever on Ghazal (Pakistan) The line "Footsteps dissolved in our wake, signatures erased" was supposed to suggest fleeing from the flood waters which disolve and erase traces of their owners. but then again I suspect your know that. Win x

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Why thank you Greg! (Visiting Connie.) I wondered if it was a bit simplistic - but maybe simplistic is OK!

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Yes one of my favourite birds they are so fast too :)

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Thanks Greg, yep, a cheery little number my last one wasn't it? I'm not sure it was wise to post it at all but when was I ever wise? :) I'm much more chipper now!
x

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Luved the Kingfisher; I remember seeing one on the stream behind my house or did I ? Well it flew so fast just a flash of blue and it was gone but such joy just to see it :)

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Yes Greg - should have been expedition! (Comet Tails poem.)Thanks! I see what you mean about the first bit. I was originally going to call the poem Mother/Father, contrasting the quiet warm comfort (mum) to the more exciting adventurous (dad). May re-do. Ta again!

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AS ever thanks for positive comms. It was one of those things I wanted to write something about for a while and then out of the blue it came.

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Greg, do I sometimes come across as insincere? I would bend over backward to avoid that. But sometimes a poem makes me want to jump up and shout, the connection with someone else's mind feels so good!

What nomination?

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Hi Greg, Nomination was well deserved. You're well overdue for recognition on the site. As for the pic, I hope it reveals the inner man. I was quite impressed with myself for 'uploading' it. Next hurdle is the MP3. Need one of the kids home to show me how to do that. Way too clever for me!

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Interesting to read that you went on an Arvon course. I really enjoyed the one I just went on but it threw me a bit, I know I need to improve by masses and I have an idea of part of what is bad about my stuff, but it is so hard to try and refine your work without losing your poetry voice. Keeping at it is the best idea I guess! I haven't really tried sending off anything to poetry magazines, but there are so many! And of course, the rejection slips will make me question myself even more! Sometimes it just seems the easiest option to just write tons and bung it all on WOL (my strategy so far!)but that won't maybe get me anywhere in the long term. HELP!! xx PS Just saw your comment on my Field Boundaries poem. Thanks! You have spotted the change in tone. This is all due to the Arvon experience. Even the place is Totleigh Barton. xx

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Hi Greg, This one is really impressive & very enjoyable: real lived experience, substantial, sustained, and technically adroit. I think you should put it in your showcase samples. Your stuff is getting better and better.

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Hi Greg - I was reminded of your meeting with Carol Ann Duffy yesterday. I was in St Ives and I saw Helen Dunmore - I was brave enough to say "Excuse me, are you Helen Dunmore?" and she said she was. I told her that I love her poetry (which I do). Then afterwards I thought "Oh dear, she might think I don't like her novels!" (I do!) But it was rather nice to say hello to her. Afterwards, I seemed to keep seeing her all around St Ives, but pretended not to have spotted her in case she thought I was stalking her!

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Hi Greg - yes, it was Daljit Nagra and another poet called Frances Leviston, both were wonderful tutors who gave their time really generously. But . . . I now find I can't write! And I know that if I work on my poems and make them more minimal and less wordy, no one on here will like them! May not be around so much on here in future, til I've sorted the conundrum out! xx

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Hi Greg I thought you had disappeared! Glad you like Chemo. It's about my father-in-law. He is a bit of a character. I showed him the poem yesterday and said I'd make him famous by putting it on the net. I'll have to get it taken somewhere so that he can have a properly printed copy. I'll look at your new posting when I get a minute to read it properly.

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Good evening to you Greg.I think your comment on my milarkey poem'Word for lost' is the first comment that I have had from you(?)nevertheless it shall be accepted with great gratitude-very kind of you Greg-hope you are well-thanks-Stefan.

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Thanks Greg, I have, on your suggestion tried doing what you said and liked the result lots...though I think I'll stick with negates (although I love the idea of sweetness tying in with the jammy theme)just because I like the shape of it in my mouth when I read it for some reason, the definite articles are definitely better gone!
Cheers
Rach
x

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Cheers Greg,
I felt a bit like Miss World (only fatter and older) and could quite easily have cried a bit!(cringe)
It's fab though, hell of a confidence boost,great for days like today when I have just this minute received a rejection email from a publisher who got my name wrong!:)

Rachel
x

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Hi Greg - re tinkering - yes you can tinker all you like, they're your poems. Lots of people use the blogs to gauge the reaction to a first draft, sometimes they take it down and re-post when they're happier with it, sometimes not ... it's entirely up to you - how much, how little, how often etc etc you post.
Cx

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Hi Greg The problem is he's booked well in advance. My plan is to bring it out early next year and that was the earliest he could fit me in. You think getting a book out is the big obstacle, but then it's very hard finding opportunities to promote it. I'll keep you informed. Be great to meet up at the Poet's Cafe. If you read something they knock a quid off the ticket!

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Hi Greg Sorry for slow response. I've been away for a few days. The book should be out at the beginning of next year. We could do it anytime really, but I'm giving it a a few months so that hopefully stuff coming out in magazines will have cleared. They always seem to take forever. I've managed to wangle a 'launch' at the Poet's Cafe in Reading next June which I'm chuffed about - especially as they will pay me!

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Thanks Greg. You're right, same subject, same person.

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Ohhh you flatterer! :)
To be completely honest I just wrote this in the gap between breaking my WOL fast and seeing I had comments and so signing back in....the corsetty bit came in a half asleep state last night so I texted it myself before going to sleep. Obviously you lot are the cure for the cure....
I will change rooves to roofs as soon as I've pressed send on this.
it's good to be back, I've missed you lot, lots!
xxx

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Greg, thanks for your comments on Stroke. Do you think resuscitated or regurgitated would be better?

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Hi Greg, it has been a while so I thought I would post something new. I recently went on an Arvon course, where I couldn't write anything all week until on the last day I strolled down to the old pump in the village. Funny you make a connection with Plath, I didn't actually give her a minute's thought! The poem is really just about the pump, but is also about the break up of communities. I think that's what the ending is about, although subconsciously it might also be about my difficulty writing that week and indeed for many periods extending over years.

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Loved your Lawrenson haiku, Lineker's the one I can't stand though.
Yes, I moved the goalposts a bit, not yet resorting to "Western Haiku" - seems to be jumpers for goalposts there.
all the best, Marvin

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Yes, Greg, folk-song like is a better description!WOL can certainly be an unforgiving forum.Often it's the ones you rate highly which get ignored! Is it the only place you post your poems? I am so excited about the World Cup!!!

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Hi Greg,

Thanks for visiting "Neil" and your generous comments. I'm glad his story moved you. It's something I've had in my mind since I was a child, and sharing it was, I suppose, a kind of minor therapy.

Regards,
A.E.

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Hi Greg - thanks for the nice comment on Women of the World. It was one of the first poems I wrote, last autumn. I've got a soft spot for it and somehow the Pandora stuff on WOL recently brought it to mind. I wonder if it would work better if I changed their "running order" though?

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Hello Greg. Ta for the comments. I'm a fan of Camus.That Claret and Blue poem I posted a while back was originally called All That I Know Most Surely.

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Hi I hope 'On The Front' makes some kind of sense. I didn't realise it was such hard going! I like 'A Time That Glowed' a lot. The title for a start is intriguing and it's full of telling detail. The final couplet is very strong. Yes, great about he book and the fact I can draw a line under stuff that's been knocking around so long.

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Ah, I see it now, Greg. I wonder if anyone else would spot that allusion without the explanation!It adds weight to the poem as well.

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Thanks for commenting Greg. The world has so many beautiful and/or characterful bridges. In just Britain, Clifton, Erskine, Severn, Ironbridge, Menai, Forth, Humber, Gateshead,Ribblehead, Tyne etc. plus practically any canal bridge and most small rural bridges. And that's just the UK. But the poem is about more than just stone/bricks. I really liked your St Leonards Church.

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Thanx for your comment on 'Playing Polo'. It started as rant against 'what have you got' kind of thing. Combined with my secret dream that I am really a prince who was deposited with a poor family to protect me from assassins and that one day I will be offered the kingship of Norfolk, or some such, and have flunkies, groupies and be in the Beatles and so on...
;)

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Yes. although I live in Grimsby, I regularly visit Reading where my mother still lives. They have a Poets' Cafe every third Friday of the month and quite an established community of good poets. I tend to make my visits coincide with it. I'll see if I can dig something ecclesiastical out for a blog!

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Hi Greg Old Churches are right up my street. I might post one of mine when I get a minute - all been very hectic this end. Anyway like this one a lot, especially the cadence of 'a thousand years of belief and hope sing across the city'. Also like the matter of fact ending. keep 'em coming.

out across the city.

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Hi Greg. Thanks for commenting on the woods poem. glad you liked. Maybe it could be a folkie type song? ! Win x

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Greg, thanks for your kind comments. People are telling me the first two verses are the best, which is a surprise as matters pastoral is not summat I'd usually write about. More angles opening up!

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Thanks Greg, though you're coming on a bit Bill Shankly there, mate. We managed to stay in contention until Easter rather than Christmas, so that's good!

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Glad you liked the poem, Greg. I wasn't entirely sure myself because it's not really like what I normally do. I think deep down it's also about the fact that I stopped writing poems for so long. I was pretty bereft when that dream just stopped too. It was great!

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Thank you very much for your kind words about the poetry. I write a piece of creative work every day at http://somethingeveryday.tumblr.comif you are at all interested in reading more of my stuff. Max

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