Wake yourself up, Steve, and write 'em down! They may turn out to be rubbish in the morning, but sometimes they're worth keeping ... The birds often wake me at four in the morning in our Northumberland village, and sometimes I thank them for it!
Comment is about Masterpiece (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
You watch out! Gert’s about with a cold flannel!
Comment is about LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Mr G is back with a vengeance. Some great lines here Stephen by, V1 especially. Bravo!
Comment is about Revolution! (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
I agree, Ray, the final two lines say so much. A wonderful poem about childhood, and everything else, Steve.
Comment is about The Bright Blue Sky (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Hi Ray,
I think sometimes the agony of loss is best expressed unvolantarily in an agonised almost animalistic bark/howl.
This piece presents the reality of how we express grief in differing ways, some in solemnity and some in an outpouring of uncontained emotions.
It has always been of interest to me how different cultures publicly manifest loss, what is culturally expected and acceptable and what is not. Do these differing displays reflect our attitude's to the living and life itself in some way? well, it's a question if nothing else.
Thanks Ray,
David
Comment is about Eloquence (blog)
Original item by Ray
Thank you Graham for your reading and comment.
Thanks also to Greg for the like.
David RL Moore
Comment is about Triangular bandage (blog)
Original item by David RL Moore
Thanks for extra likes: Stephen W, Holden, Yanma Hidayah & Aisha. 👍
Comment is about Who Am I (blog)
Original item by Tom Doolan
Great opening couplet and I love this line -
For, this old town shall be your urn
Comment is about Amelia (blog)
Original item by Stephen W Atkinson
Enjoyed the read. The opening stanza creates an expectation of rhyme that's not pursued, but no matter. I like the end lines to each stanza, sharp, abrupt.
Comment is about Hidden (blog)
Original item by Tim Daly
A very clever and incisive analogy this one David. Well done!
Comment is about Triangular bandage (blog)
Original item by David RL Moore
Thanks for the flowers RBK and Aisha.
David
Comment is about Triangular bandage (blog)
Original item by David RL Moore
Thank you dear @Stephen Atkinson; makes all the work worthwhile to have you much valued feedback 🌷🕊️🙏🏻
Comment is about boulevard mirage (blog)
Original item by Red Brick Keshner
Great imagery. Nice one 👏
Comment is about boulevard mirage (blog)
Original item by Red Brick Keshner
I came across a piece of writing that made me feel the need to share something. It spoke about old wounds that were never truly healed. In psychology, this is referred to as unfinished business.
In Gestalt theory, unfinished business refers to feelings, experiences, or conflicts from the past that remain unresolved. These linger in the subconscious or even within the body, and tend to resurface in the present, especially through intense emotions that sometimes feel disproportionate to the current situation. For example: when you were sad but told to be quiet. When you needed a hug but were met with anger. When you wanted to be heard, but were told you were overreacting. Those experiences were never fully processed. They stayed, hidden in your body and your emotional memory.
So when today you speak to the people who once caused those wounds, even small interactions can awaken those buried feelings. It’s not just your present self who responds, but also the little version of you who was once hurt and never got the chance to speak.
Sometimes, our emotions are not triggered by what’s happening now, but by echoes of what once was. Anger doesn’t always mean you’re a bad person—often, it’s your defense mechanism trying to protect you from old pain.
And maybe, just maybe, the one you’re really angry at-isn’t the person in front of you today, but the one from long ago who never said, “I’m sorry.”
Comment is about The Little Me (blog)
Original item by Yanma Hidayah
Thanks for likes: Hafsah Siti, Red Brick Keshner & Nigel Astell. 👍
Comment is about Who Am I (blog)
Original item by Tom Doolan
Yes @Ray Miller, that was a reflection which made the poem too long and too unwieldy. A failed attempt it would seem. 🌷🕊🙏🏻
Comment is about boulevard mirage (blog)
Original item by Red Brick Keshner
Thanks Stephen, I'm pleased you think so. 😃
Thanks also to Red Brick Keshner, Tom, Kimberly, Aisha, Holden and Marla for reading and for liking.
Comment is about The Meeting Tree (blog)
Original item by Tom
I had decided that the word was redundant having used the similar word before, thank you for the advice, appreciated
Comment is about The Iceman Cometh. (blog)
Original item by JD Russell
Hi Ray thanks for the pointers and commenting, I carnt see the woods for the trees sometimes.
No I meant wretched., I have spelt incorrectly its retched. Balter -is to dance clumsily and ungamely...Who knew...not I until two weeks ago...and now you too... oh thank you for persevering with the work...its a bind to write but good to get it off my chest.
Comment is about This Imaginary Life-Part 3 (Nature) (blog)
Original item by Phils Words
I wouldn't disagree with any of it, though you're preaching to the converted here. The length of the lines put me off slightly, but that seems to be the style you've adopted for this series. A few more things I spotted -
wrenched, not wretched
fulfil, not fore fill
don't know what you mean by "balter"
Comment is about This Imaginary Life-Part 3 (Nature) (blog)
Original item by Phils Words
That's very good, imaginative, innovative. I wonder if you might try an alternative to "protesting", having already used protest. Rebellion, dissent?
Comment is about The Iceman Cometh. (blog)
Original item by JD Russell
Enjoyed, some funny lines. Do you mean fondling or foundling?
Comment is about Do You Remember The Worst Time? (blog)
Original item by branwell kent
Enjoyed the images. Just as you mention symmetry, the poem becomes unsymmetrical, or is it asymmetrical. Whatever, are the 4 additional stanzas your attempt to address that?
Comment is about boulevard mirage (blog)
Original item by Red Brick Keshner
Thanks for this, Greg. I seem to remember Monica Jones talking of Larkin's 'iron selfishness', which seems to be in evidence here. As you suggest, a love nest only takes you so far.
Comment is about A view of the bridge: the 'love-nest' cottage of Monica Jones and Philip Larkin (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
I love the scope and ambition of this, Ray. A great read.
Comment is about The Early Egyptians (blog)
Original item by Ray
A lovely poem, Clare. There is always a part of us which wants to break free and do the impossible. But 'life' is always there, I suppose. A marvellous read.
Comment is about The Final Goodbye. (blog)
Original item by Clare
Brilliantly funny, Branwell.
Comment is about Do You Remember The Worst Time? (blog)
Original item by branwell kent
Thank you, Ray. I'm pleased that you enjoyed the poem and am grateful for your kind comments.
And thanks to everyone who liked this poem.
Comment is about The Bright Blue Sky (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
That's out my system .
Comment is about This Imaginary Life-Part 3 (Nature) (blog)
Original item by Phils Words
Collage Timetable
Waiting poetic passengers
Stations we become
Respondent train collects
Lines of connection.
Comment is about June 2025 Collage Poem: I Watched the Trains Come, I Watched the Trains Go (blog)
Original item by Stockport WoL
Thanks for likes: Red Brick Keshner, Stephen G & Aisha. 👍
Comment is about Poetry Is Pain (blog)
Original item by Tom Doolan
Thanks Landi and Auracle,
When 9/11 happened I was deploying to Kosovo on a six month tour of duty, we were still cleaning up the mess General Wesley-Clark had managed to make. Still there is fall out from that.
After that I went straight to what we call the "Sand Pit" to engage in further misery the fallout for which we are still suffering...the endless war continues.
I had made a video recording of this reading in an attempt to try and untangle my thoughts on this. All I managed to do was manifest my own confusion, I deleted it to save further embarrassment.
Thanks also to all those who have taken time to read and send likes.
David RL Moore
PS, To @RayMiller the line you offered is better than my original, thanks for that, much appreciated.
Comment is about Too late too late (blog)
Original item by David RL Moore
"Be wild, be kind, be bold and just rejoice,
This life is yours!"
I couldn’t have put it better myself! Yet another truly beautiful poem from your quill.
Regards,
Rolph
Comment is about Love The Light, Embrace The Rain (blog)
Original item by Aisha Suleman
I’m no expert, but I’d put your experience down to the lateralisation of brain function, otherwise known as hemispheric dominance, in which cognitive processes are specialized to one side of the brain or other, the two cerebral hemispheres of the human brain being separated by the median longitudinal fissure - or something! Left, right, left, right....😕
Comment is about The roads taken (blog)
Original item by Marnanel Thurman
There was a digital glitch and the system posted a poem twice, this one and the one after which I have edited to contain another different poem. Thanks for your kind consideration. 🙏🏻🕊️
Comment is about still, the Earth breathes (blog)
Original item by Red Brick Keshner
Oh no no, it just hadn't reached either of them. 😃
Comment is about The roads taken (blog)
Original item by Marnanel Thurman
Pardon the glitch... posting a different poem on this blog instead: The Irish púca and the Australian bunyip share intriguing similarities despite originating from vastly different cultures; both being mythical creatures deeply embedded in folklore, often associated with mystery, transformation, and fear. While the púca leans toward mischief and unpredictability, the bunyip embodies fear and mystery, yet both creatures serve as cautionary figures in their respective mythologies.
Comment is about where shadows do not drown (blog)
Original item by Red Brick Keshner
Thank you Roph.
There is, to clumsily paraphrase Oscar Wilde:
“The triumph of bullshit over reality”.
Comment is about The Empty Streets of Ego’s March (blog)
Original item by Rolph David
I have a soft spot for coffee.
I'll tell you how much I am profee.
A big pain is in my heart,
Will you show a new start?
I go to town, I am not in a race.
The biggest smile is on my face.
If only we had that foolish peace!
How many plans I could release.
And the passersby take the picture,
As they are on the biggest adventure.
It's the biggest show to see the plan
How the policemen arrest the men.
But the peace is only in the dream.
If only I could be in one big team.
If only we could have real wings.
We could play on our own strings.
But if I put aside my mood,
The pie will taste so good.
The words I hear behind my back
Are those the words I really lack.
I step aside and want to know
If this was a fight or just a show.
I don't want anyone to be killed.
I want the bridges to be built.
I do not see the reason for this act,
I don't see the salvation of the pact.
It is better to eat the sweetest pie
As I don't see a new start to try.
©Larisa Rzhepishevska
Comment is about The Policemen Arrest The Men. (blog)
Original item by Larisa Rzhepishevska
Enjoyed the read.
A warning lost from decades past’s clear hour— bit of a mouthful that. I'm still trying to work it out!
Comment is about The Empty Streets of Ego’s March (blog)
Original item by Rolph David
Very good. You had both your ears in the final stanza then?
Comment is about The roads taken (blog)
Original item by Marnanel Thurman
Old snaps solidify our smiles - lovely line that, and the ending is excellent too.
Comment is about The Bright Blue Sky (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
I was born in the Eighties in the Amsterdam Suburbs.
We created a bubble for ourselves.
The adults/grownups said: 'Enjoy it while it lasts, for war will surely come again.'
Then 9/11 happened, the War on Terror(ism). And we forgot about 'The Inconvenient Truth' of Climate Change Crisis.
Until all the strawmen were burning (metaphorically)....
or aren't we?
Comment is about Too late too late (blog)
Original item by David RL Moore
Nicely done, Rolph. He probably dreams of organising a joint parade with his friend Putin next year (in Greenland, preferably).
I liked the couplet about 'the court who daily praise'.
Comment is about The Empty Streets of Ego’s March (blog)
Original item by Rolph David
Thank you, Rolph. Yes, who knows what becomes of these little pieces of inspiration which slip away? Are they stored somewhere, to reappear later? Or are they just gone? I wanted to maintain the melancholy by concluding with 'no apparent cost'.
Comment is about Masterpiece (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage
Just juxtaposing feelings of my own decrepitude with warzone testimonies. A trick stolen from Burroughs.
Comment is about Prayers Everywhere (blog)
Original item by Robert C Gaulke
Greg Freeman
Fri 20th Jun 2025 09:14
You distil so much in a few lines, Steve. There is so much humanity in those lines.
Comment is about The Fence (blog)
Original item by Stephen Gospage