Babbling like a brook

In response to:From Schoolyard Rhymes to Poetry Professorships...

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:45:11 +0200

Yes, I think playground games, involving singing or chanting, for example when skipping or dancing in a circle, have a great influence on young children's lives.

Does it still happen today? It encourages interaction and socialising.

My interest in literature, particularly Shakespeare, was encouraged by a teacher at high school.

It is only since I retired, almost 11 years ago, that I became interested in, and passionate about, poetry.

I would encourage people to take a look at my blog:

poemsandprose.blog.co.uk (no www necessary)

In response to:From Schoolyard Rhymes to Poetry Professorships...

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 20:16:49 +0200

Have a great evening, Duke...:) GBHs...XXX

In response to:From Schoolyard Rhymes to Poetry Professorships...

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 20:06:52 +0200

I'm very slowly going through my previous contacts on here, and I'm glad I picked you first, Jen.

I'm being called away to a birthday drink so I shall say Au Revoir for now (or TTFN, if you prefer).

In response to:From Schoolyard Rhymes to Poetry Professorships...

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 19:48:35 +0200

If you count, music, books and going around art galleries whenever we get the chance and going to museums, then, yes, the Arts play a very large part in my hubby's and my life...LOL...GBHs...XXX

In response to:Babbling like a brook

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:28:06 +0200

Sure you are when you put your mind "tuit".

In response to:Babbling like a brook

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:06:41 +0200

Words are always good things to have and to use... I just wish I was clever enough to always make sense of them.

In response to:Babbling like a brook

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 10:28:07 +0200

Thank you for enjoying Babbling... and saying so.

Until SeasideMan raised it, I had not got a Ginsberg "feel".

Just glad you enjoy words as much as me.

In response to:Babbling like a brook

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 21:05:47 +0200

I didn't get an Alan Ginsberg feel from your poem, but I did enjoy it... does that make me an ignoramus or just someone who enjoys words. ;*

In response to:Babbling like a brook

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:45:21 +0200

Glad you picked up on the Jack/Ralph/conch allusions.

The intention was to intimate that there was something necessarily "savage" in the sense of primitively fundamental to a sexual relationship which in this case was never unleashed despite the physical proximity.

Nadia (the "real" girl) said at the time that neither could ever really be sure whether they should have or not. She suspected that from the outset the relationship was empty, hence the close of the poem.

In response to:Babbling like a brook

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:19:43 +0200

Lord Of The Flies struck me more

In response to:Babbling like a brook

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:28:27 +0200

Very kind, Doralene, but Babbling... in its current form has taken about forty years to "brew".

It relates to an New York girl (NG) who was a friend of mine in London all that time ago.

I do not regard writing poems that you would feel happy to share with others as at all "easy".

Just persevere.

If a poem chooses you, it will eventually emerge in the right wording and cadences.

In response to:Babbling like a brook

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 08:19:23 +0200

If only I could write poetry with such ease. Lovely piece Duke

In response to:Babbling like a brook

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 13:31:32 +0200

Lots of towns seem to go through that. Manchester was like that 10 years ago (building site) and Birmingham was 5 years ago. They both look great now, and I'm sure Blackpool will be good when they get round to finishing it.

Tom.

In response to:Babbling like a brook

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 13:26:32 +0200

I don't know too much about the "nice" at the moment.

Like Liverpool and several of our neighbouring Northwestern towns, Blackpool appears to be a major building site at the moment.

We are assured it will all be worthwhile when we see the shiny new town.

Problem is it seems to be taking forever, and I may well pop my clogs before it is all unveiled.

As it has hardly changed much over the past forty years or so, I should not moan too much as people are endlessly yelling for a "clean up" which does not come cheap nowadays.

In response to:Babbling like a brook

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 13:19:32 +0200

I didn't know Blackpool FC called themselves Seasiders, thanks for that. Nice place, Blackpool. I lived in Blackburn for 10 years and it's only a short hop down the motorway away.

Tom.

In response to:Babbling like a brook

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 11:09:38 +0200

Thank you v. much. After a good night's sleep, I am in the mood again.

You are right about Hemingway. It seems to take me forever to compose something with which I am satisfied.

At least for you it has become "easy to read". My wife thinks it is "too complicated".

Did you realise that your moniker, Seaside Man (or Seasider) has been adopted by the supporters of Blackpool Football Club?

The more traditional term much argued over for people born & bred in Blackpool (such as me) is Sandgrown'un. But that doesn't fit as easily into a fans' chant as Sea-sea-seasiders!

In response to:Babbling like a brook

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 23:09:54 +0200

It was very visual and tactile, and the years of effort show in the quality of writing and the apparent ease with which the images show themselves. In true Hemingway style, that was "hard to write but easy to read".

Tom.

In response to:Babbling like a brook

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 22:59:19 +0200

How kind.

Ginsberg was an early hero of mine along with Jack Kerouac and Holden Caulfield (aka J.D. Salinger).

The original tale was related to me in dribs & drabs by a New Yorker, Nadia Greenbaum, in the late 1960s.

The poem has been brewing for that long.

Glad you "got" the US accent.

Thank you for bothering to comment.

I am knackered now, but will check out your blog(s) on Sunday 22nd. June.

In response to:Babbling like a brook

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 20:54:02 +0200

I got an Alan Ginsberg feel from that...

Tom.