of course it is Mark - my apologies - a combination of old age and not fully concentrating on what I'm doing - it seems to happen more often these days. I've edited accordingly
Ian

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Hi Ian - apropos your response to my comment on End of Days -
it's "Mark", not "Mike" at this end.
Cheers.

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Ian - it was "conviction of purpose" that you misquoted
as a quote from me in your reply on my home page.
Cheers
MC

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"Conviction of purpose" is always evident in your blogs.
Keep 'em coming.
Cheers
Mark (MC)

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cheers Sal - and thanks for the great review - I genuinely do write everything as poems first - and then take a big pile of paper into the studio and think 'what the fuck am I going to do with this'
Ian

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Good to see you going strong with the music, and keeping up the vibe!

I always thought that was great how you transitioned the poems over to song format.

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Hi Ian - welcome back.
From a UK's point of view, fascism has never taken real
root in the public consciousness. The likes of Moseley and
William Joyce were more often viewed with derision and
a healthy distrust/distaste. The strutting was never likely
to be popular here with so many absolute power kings and
dictators to call upon, allied to a sense of humour that
can drive the uninitiated potty!
Far more insidious perhaps was the far left secretive POV
that saw traitors and their sympathisers consorting in
Cambridge and/or in unsuspecting trusting high society,
suddenly to come to wider public attention when their unexpected departure for "unfriendly shores" signalled something amiss...when not attending to the Queen's
collection of art works, of course. ?

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Hello Ian - apropos your note on my profile page - I accept
your point. It is my point that the extremism which often
features in ideologies is the real enemy, whether on the
left or right of the political spectrum - and it is this that
causes so much suffering. The lingering suspicion (for me)
is that prior to the knowledge of what was going on behind
the Iron Curtain - and has happened since in Cambodia
and elsewhere, this extremism was largely refuted or
ignored in the hurry to place fascism at the forefront of
the foes threatening humanity. Now, we are all that much
more aware - and a good thing too.
Cheers.

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Hi Ian, thanks for the explanation about 'Strange Fruit'. Glad to hear you had a relaxing internet free holiday. It's good to switch off every now and then but I have to admit I find it hard. All the best, Col.

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you might like to catch this tonight Ian - documentary about Hedd Wyn on BBC2 at 9pm.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0916cy4

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Thanx Ian and well done you for all your work and accomplishments within
the poetry scene

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Ian,
The Everyman (down in the bar) you`d like it...plenty of young folk there....I think it`s the second Monday of the month.

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Aye I remember that ?

Deffo - trilogy sounds perfect! It'll come!

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Hi Ian, Thanks for your poem above, some lines leapt into life there - a great read. All the best, Paul

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Re S#n right, correct and bloody hope so. Love in perpetuity Tommy (ahem)

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hi ian, reading it in a whole new 'light' now. very clever. a sad week indeed.

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Hi Ian - thanks for the response about "We are the Dead"
on my profile page. I didn't assume it was about you...
more an "Ode to Opportunities Missed When Alive" from
my own POV.
The sweep of those is such that most of us are content/
sentenced to settle for less, relishing simpler things.
When I mentioned "response" in my opening line, it was
meant that the extent of the comprehensive content
was something of a challenge in that wider context and
might obtain comment(s) accordingly...nothing more.
By the way - I like "Bard Company" as a title. It reminds
me of "Bad Company" - a Western from some years ago
about youth falling prey to the same.
Good to note your busy future performance schedule.
Cheers

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Hi Ian, back again for further comment . The poem you wrote certainly engendered a lot of discussion. You have pointed out a very good point about singer songwriters getting paid but not a poet. This is obviously a right liberty. I am a muso but choose not to sing - as I find the average offering full of bile and remorse and self pity and all the negatives of life. Why pay to hear that? I find also a lot of poetry hard to listen to back to back in open mike because of distractions - soda siphons, etc.
If there is money to be made, yes hand it out. Personally I don't expect to make money but that's not an opinion that's a fact. Cheers for now!!

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:) It's a great poem, I just read it through again.

Thanks for your note on Majority too - aye, had thought of a couple of the lines when I found out about the majority, and it bloody lashed it down all day. Then that 'blue collar' shit's all over the radio and they're banging on about job numbers being up when in reality it's just one job divvied up into 4 zero hours contract jobs. Spitting mad. Looking forward to the one that I can hear forming in your head ha :)

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Ha - cross posting :)

Thanks for y'note on me tree pome :) I was having a bit of a go at Wordsworth's idea that we lose our 'visionary gleam' when we get older. Remember I mentioned it in The Raven that time? Anyway, fuck Wordsworth :D

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Well, I have to say that the 'sitting on it' and the work you've put into it clearly show. It is really well crafted. More of this sort of thing! ;)

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Masks have a hard time getting past the eyes, or the knuckles: they speak clearly. I'm trying to find an old Christmas one of my own. I know it's tucked away somewhere. Pity I can't quote it from memory; I'm just plain terrible like that.

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Ah! you got me there Ian. I'm not as in the know about all these forms as yourself. It's a good tribute to somewhere I never knew but read a lot about.

I hope your new home does you all justice!

regards,

Graham

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Thank you Ian for commenting on all things green, my recent post.

My guess is you have been there yourself. Anyways, if you have not, then you have most certainly inspired me to keep writing.

Thank you

mike

x

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Good to hear you are so active with your war
poem project/recordings. You are in good
company. My brother recently gave me a double
CD by "Show of Hands" with music and poems of
"The Great War", the latter read by Jim Carter
and his wife Imelda Staunton. The Sunday Express gave it a big thumbs up!

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good stuff mate appreciated my music taste is very diverse and wide ranging (dance to dvorak or dependent on the day blues to buffalo) and currently listening on soundcloud ;-)given that im not too prolific in my offerings im not on here as often as i might be but i shall continue to frequent from time to time and have a read (and a listen) keep on keeping on :-)

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You most definitely do 'get your meaning across' without a 'dig'. Trust yourself.

Thank you for responding, because I know I have more crust than burnt toast and it can really get me into trouble.

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Hiya Ian I forgot to thank you earlier for ''I leant against the wall'' cheers mate. Tommy

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A peaceful world is the best aim - but it seems
that ever since Cain and Abel were at odds, Man
has been following their example. The strangest thing about war is that much progress
seems to follow its horrors - a sort of awful
"leaps and bounds" scenario. Maybe it is our
fate to be aware yet be captive of our tendency
towards taking advantage or taking a position and not budging. Is this some form of cosmic
joke at Mankind's expense? I sometimes wonder.

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Ian, I enjoyed seeing you again too. That evening I suddenly felt very weird, and decided to leave without ceremony. Walking home seemed to clear my head, so I'm not sure what happened. That first hour I was not able to hear very well, and was blaming a fuzzy microphone; but maybe not. Who knows.

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Hello Ian - following up on your post on my
profile page. I went to the audio link you
provided and enjoyed the tune...shades of Bob
Dyland meets Pete Seeger! However-and this is
a general complaint in today's music age:
the instrumental overwhelmed the lyric. I may
be a bit muttn'jeff these days but your words
seemed somewhere in another room, so to speak.
This is a common failing today when recordings
are done by those who are less receptive or
sympathetic to the vocal than to the instruments and tend to give the latter more
prominence than they should. This was not met
in recordings made when I was younger and
vocalists were the stars, and lyrics told a story where you could hear every word..."up
front".

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Ian. Thanks for taking the time to have a rummage at my work. I am made up with your kind encouragement.

I took the opportunity to check out your link to soundcloud earlier today. Superb stuff. I'm looking forward to getting a copy of your Great War (WW1) album when you finish recording and it comes out.

I have tried, and struggle, with haiku poetry but I must take my hat off to you with Passchendaele (Autumn 1917). Difficult and emotive subject yet captured magnificently.

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Hi m8 are you going to Cadence Friday night

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Hola! Cheers chuck - yeh, it is a bit innit, like Fire in that momentum thingydoodah :D

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I might text Ian I did the fest last year. Yea bit of a low profile of late. Have posted a new poem yesterday though. Catch you soon I heard you were on in Wigan and may get to Tudor soon

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Hey Ian how's it going

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hi Ian
interesting poetry choice for the Desert Island, I didn't know Heaney's The Forge. Reminded me of an old favourite of his that I might have included:

Whitby-sur-Moyala

Caedmon too I was lucky to have known,
Back in situ there with his full bucket
And armfuls of clean straw, the perfect yardman,
Unabsorbed in what he had to do
But doing it perfectly, and watching you.
He had worked his angel stint. He was hard as nails
And all that time he’d been poeting with the harp
His real gift was the big ignorant roar
He could still let out of him, just bogging in
As if the sacred subjects were a herd
That had broken out and needed rounding up.
I never saw him once with his hands joined
Unless it was a case of eyes to heaven
And the quick sniff and test of fingertips
After he’d passed them through a sick beast’s water.
Oh, Caedmon was the real thing all right.

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Ian, I'm so sorry to have missed your slot at Sale, Waterside. My allergies knocked me flat - tree pollen probably.

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Well, I hope it's nice for you. Trust me, when you've lived in Plymouth for a long time, Bristol does feel a lot closer to the action!

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Oh nice. Whereabouts? Last time I holidayed in Dorset was in a holiday park between Sandford and Wareham one February. It rained. A lot! :( Hope you have a fun time in better weather. I've actually recently moved to Bristol, slightly closer to the centre of things!

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Hi Ian
I liked you Norse poem, added to Laura's blog, the Bitter Skald. "Necrotic spots" directly touches branch and limb. We're barking up the same tree!

It is a fantastic world picture, the world tree, resilient but vulnerable: one can't help but think of Ash Die Back in global terms - though I hadn't realised yggdrasil is the Giant Ash until recently.

The idea of the 3 sisters at the well of destiny daubing the trunk with mud to protect the tree from disease somehow points at once to ancient knowledge, modern helplessness.

I better look through your poems...

All the best, Dom.

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Ian - no worries. I know a little of Tony Benn, but enough to know just how strong he was as a political personality - certainly someone not afraid to speak their mind. I can imagine him being a hero to many, not least to those of a poetic voice.

You are blatantly a rock star. One of the biggest on here, if I may be so bold. It's clear to see and shouting itself out loud :)

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Checked your stuff on Youtube, thanks for the link. Really quite impressive, actually! Especially 'The Westgate Run' on the Wakefield Word Walk.

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No worries Ian. You seem to be keeping busy at least! I've 'followed' you on Soundcloud recently. Some pretty decent stuff there!

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Ian,
Congratulations on last night`s guest spot.
Enjoyed it hugely, and your delivery was excellent (and the poems)

I wish you many more of them.

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Morning chuck

Glad to be of service.

I was hoping to come but have been stricken with lurgy and am having to come into work, which makes the whole thing drag on and makes me feel incredibly sorry for myself. I'm deaf, lacking all energy, my head feels swollen to buggery, and my nose is a tap. Also, I am hugely grumpy as I don't cope well with being ill at all. Attractive, eh? So - I'll have to see how I feel. I do love the band and your poetry.

Try and get someone to film it for you. Would be good to have something like that anyway, and then if I don't get to go, I can watch it :)

Have fun anyway mate :) xx

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Cheers Ian, re your note on Writing in Fire. Beltin night eh? See thee soon fella, take care x

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Ian,
Thanks for your comment on `Who`

(Just got back -dead beat- from holiday)

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cheers Ian for the info on 'Sporting Life'wow! but hey! what a fantastic film and what fantastic acting by Messrs Roberts and Harris!read the bio on Rachel Roberts,but stand by with the kleenex-tragic!take care matey and keep those great poems rolling off the production line(pretty please!)xx

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Hi Ian, a big thanks for comments on'Blackened berries'. :)

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