The Impossible Dream

Morning all!

Another weekend rolling into view and I hope you've all got some amazing plans for it.

I came across this quote today and felt I had to share it as I really feel it sums up the essence of what "poetry" is without resorting to the usual romantic or over the top sentiments-

"Poetry is the journal of a sea animal living on land, wanting to fly in the air"

To me that really covers everything from the hope and positivity of bright and happy poetry right through to pain and despair of darker and deeper poetry.

Anyway- hope you all have a fantastic weekend, whatever you get up to!

Great Poetry

Morning all!
Hope the weekend is treating you well- thought I'd quickly share this little quote I came across this morning:
"A great poem can move you, shake you, and remind you what it is to be human."
Sums it all up pretty well, I thought

Poetry Is...

Mornin' All!

I came across this quote today and thought I'd open the floor and ask you what poetry is/means to you.

Aristotle is quoted as saying that "poetry is finer and more philosophical than history; for poetry expresses the universal, and history only the particular."

For me, writing poetry has la...rgely been a form of personal therapy, a way of analysing and dealing with my darkest thoughts and deepest feelings. Likewise, reading poetry has given me an insight into the thoughts and feelings of others in a way that conversing in normal terms never could.

Would be interested to get your thoughts- what is poetry to you, and what does it mean in your life?

Anyway- hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Flumen Uitae

Life is but a river- ever flowing on its course, 
Surging ever forward further from its humble source.
Hope is our great vessel- the best ship that we can sail, 
Taking us along our quest to find our holy grail.
Faith is the horizon- ever just beyond our reach,
Promising a new world full of answers we beseech. 
Luck is simply tidal- ever changing with the flow, 
Rising up and falling back much sooner than we'd know.
Love is our last lifeboat- ever there when times are rough, 
Saving us from drowning when at last we've fought enough.

Poetry Bling

Morning Everyone!
Today I thought I'd share a photo of an amazing anniversary gift that my beloved gave me earlier this month; a stunning bracelet with an engraving of a quote I wrote back in 2010:
"The pencil of the mind must meet the paper of the soul to reveal the words of the heart"
I thought it was a remarkable gift and it got me thinking that I should maybe look into more jewellery and other such merchandise with my verses and quotes on. Would be good to get your thoughts on this!
Anyway- hope you're all having a fantastic weekend!!

Be Unique

Morning All!  

Today I thought I'd share a quote that I came across:

"Don’t resort to imitation but rather look for inspiration to further your own creation in pursuit of innovation."

To me this really says to just be yourself and not a clone of someone else or something that someone else wants you to be, find inspiration in the world around you, and build something uniquely "you" in this life.

Brilliant message captured perfectly in the associated artwork by Sean McCabe (https://seanwes.com/); well worth checking out his other works.

Hope you all enjoy the weekend!

Novem Corde

 In all that we have been through,
And with all that's come to be,
Your heart has always been true,
As you've walked this road with me.
The journey may have been long,
And we've many miles to go,
Your soul has ever been strong,
As we've learned all we now know.
Through all the pain we've endured,
And each dark day that we share,
Your kiss has kept me assured,
As you've shown how much you care.
Though life has brought us laughter,
And more than our share of tears,
Our love shines ever brighter,
As we go on through the years.

Word Clouds

Morning everyone!

  Woke up this morning with a jumble of words and ideas in my head, which brought to mind "word clouds" and got me wondering what my most commonly used words in Poetry are and how they would look if displayed in a word cloud.

  I did some digging and came across Wordle (www.wordle.net), a site that creates word clouds based on text that you supply. So I pulled together my 200 most commonly used words (HelloPoetry.com have a nice feature for this) and then put them into Wordle.

  The picture below is what Wordle came back with- and I think it's pretty awesome and quite fun. Why not try it for yourself?

  Hope the weekend is treating you well!

Hail and Well Met!

Morning all!

Today I thought I'd post up a picture of the outfit I wore to Kentwell Hall earlier this week for one of their "Tudor Days", if you're in the UK and into Tudor history then I'd highly recommend visiting Kentwell as it's about as authentic an experience as you're going to get in this day and age.

Find out more about Kentwell here: http://www.kentwell.co.uk/

One thing I found amusing about the day was that Kentwell's current focus is the year 1559; which coincidentally was a year of focus for a poem I wrote a few years back (and posted up earlier this week).

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1559 (written 21/11/2008)
To live in this immoral time,  

Uncouth and plagued by wretched crime,  

Despised by all with vicious scorn,  

Our monarch blind with love forlorn,  

Restrained for faith and for belief,  

Suspicious minds imposing grief.

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The more eagle-eyed readers out there will notice that there is more to this poem than meets the eye as it's also one of my acrostic works.

Anyway- if you're looking for something interesting and unique to do then why not visit Kentwell?

Thanks again for all the support and have a great weekend!