Griffonner

2025-11-23
.... in such circumstances one could reflect that in another time she might have 'eaten you alive' as the saying goes. I say that not to detract from your poem which illustrates your fine skill as usual. Blessings, Allen

2025-11-23
IMHO an excellent write is this, my friend. You tell the story in such a matter of fact way it belies the poetic crafting that lies behind the work. I feel these eye contacts with out brother creatures on the earth can sometimes impart in depth understanding that words - were they possible - would ever do. Blessings, Allen

2025-11-23
I have to say Mr. Moody has just about said what I am sure most of us on PoetBay want to say to you. May your present viewpoint prove to be wrong and be replaced by goodness. Blessings and brotherly love, Allen

2025-11-22
Oh that last stanza! Such a fitting conclusion to your conversational styled poem that IMHO describes a newcomer student's gradual assimilation into a social group of a scholarly nature.
(I'm being more analytical than usual because you seek to have a more in depth feedback.)
Your use of free verse to my mind is thoroughly suitable in this work.
You use some pretty effective metaphors in such phrases as "stick out like a sore thumb" and "a fish out of water" serving for your initial feelings of being out of place.
I liked the imagery, such as "favourite bathroom stall" and "bunk class and get biryani," which somehow make your story more relatable.
Overall it was an interesting read the first time - which resulted in my opening expression/sentence - and then as a second analytical scan I came to appreciate the poetic construct that I have mentioned.
Blessings, Allen

2025-11-22
Absolutely! May your evening be long, enjoyable, and rewarding.
Blessings, Allen

2025-11-21
There's some weird weather this side of the pond. I hear it is -1C near the Czech border, and we here in the Dordogne of all places actually had snow this morning! I wouldn't risk journeying all that way to Barcelona. It is all so unsettling in truth. Now give me Barbados or Grenada anytime! Blessings, Allen

2025-11-21
I wish you all the best my friend. You know I am very empathetic to your situation. Positive thoughts and blessings to you. Allen

2025-11-20
I liked the twist. It leaves the reader wondering, like all good writing. Blessings, Allen PS: Nice to see you writing again.

2025-11-20
So nice to see you posting on PoetBay again, Janne.
Blessings, Allen

2025-11-18
A lover who is loved needs not wear a masque to receive that love, they just need to be who they are. Blessings, Allen

2025-11-17
Should have been 'front paged' originally, I think. Very nice work.
Blessings, Allen

2025-11-17
Woah! At first I thought it was first person Dracula, so the twist at the end was a relief(?) erm... not the right word but you'll get my drift. :o)
Blessings, Allen

2025-11-17
this is no game,
it's all the same

I think there is an element of truth here, but, in all honesty, I don't think my saying that reflects of your thinking. What I'm thinking about is '42' (Douglas Adams). Reading your poem made me think in that direction. Ahem, I digress... about the poem: So often with poems like this you can detect that the rhyming word is forced but not in this poem. Bravo! Blessings, Allen

2025-11-14
Another poem for me to enjoy@ Thank you for sharing. Your poem reminded me of a conversation my wife and I had the other day when we were driving home. She said to me, "Do you remember the time when you couldn't see any rubbish around?" She had spotted a white carrier bag fluttering from a high branch of a tree. It was true. You never used to see rubbish in our countryside. Times are a changing. Blessings, Allen

2025-11-14
It isn't even equalateral you realise. It's a sine though. :o)
Blessings, Allen

2025-11-14
It is like the recent demonstration of a Russian robot... second step forward and it falls on its backside and can't get back up. AI cannot actually understand the nuance of anything, and what it hasn't been fed with as 'knowledge' it can't even imagine. Blessings, Allen

2025-11-14
'Tis the nature of Man it seems. Never learn, and if you do then conveniently forget and do it again (especially if there's something to be gained from it... like oil in Venezuela.) Blessings, Allen

2025-11-14
You want cynical? You want excuses? I'm busy at the moment, call me back. Blessings, Allen

2025-11-14
Art is in the eye of the beholder. One man sees the pile of rope as being something of beauty and the other a pile of... well, let's be polite, manure. I know what camp I'm in. Blessings, Allen

2025-11-14
Never a truer word said. The past was a strange beast, the future might be even stranger now the beast has been let out of the bag! Blessings, Allen

2025-11-14
Sounds as if you swallowed a dictionary... or... as friend Moody said, it is so apt for what can sometimes be filled with higgledy-piggledy thinking? Blessings, Allen

2025-11-14
This poem seems very whimsical, yet on second reading perhaps even sinister - especially after the threat in the penultimate stanza... who'd want to be left for dead in the 'placental dark' by a barefoot fiend!!! Blessings, Allen

2025-11-14
One of a series of really heartfelt meditations on the writer's emotions whilst 'in love'. The reader soon realises that you are so fortunate to be in that 'condition' - a state of being that not everyone has the good fortune to experience so deeply.
Blessings, Allen

2025-11-14
What a fine poem, anonface. Thanks for sharing this clever interpretation of a promise made that perhaps was just a gesture... or not... ;o) Thank you for sharing. Blessings, Allen

2025-11-14
From personal experience I know how debilitating this disease is to family and friends. What I don't know, of course, is what it is like for the sufferer, Your poem is a brave attempt at giving us an insight to your thoughts about it.
Alan, I pray you will always be able to do that.
Blessings, Allen

2025-11-12
I loved reading this poem. Apart from telling the story of Christmas trees in your lifetime, it did, of course, cause me to think back to those in mine. I discovered it was a similar story. Sad but true. Blessings, Allen

2025-11-11
... or a nonsense poem. :o)
Enjoyed the play of words in this.
Blessings, Allen

2025-11-11
You pose a good question in this poem: What is good and bad? They exist only in the societal paradigm perhaps. Though I think that chap 'on our shoulder' gives us an idea. Blessings, Allen

2025-11-11
Yes! A super meditation on the cycle of life and death using the metaphor of the Willow tree's 'hangers-on'. That it has no end, is prophetic to say the least. Blessings, Allen

2025-11-11
Though morose, an thought provoking piece, this. Both my parents, comatose, passed into the hereafter in hospital beds; my dad alone in the night (after we were told to go home and rest) and my Mother, alone with me trying to bring comfort to her. For them it may have been the desired passing in their sleep which so many people want. How it affected them I obviously can't say, but for me it was traumatic. I concur with your thoughts in this honest poem, Lawrence, but you know? We just don't get to choose - dammit!
Blessings, Allen

2025-11-11
The wisest man keeps schtum they say. I think that is very true if you don't have anything of value to add to a conversation. [Shuts mouth and exits stage right.....] Blessings, Allen

2025-11-11
Their loss, Ken.
Blessings, Allen

2025-11-11
Self-awareness and understanding often found during moments of personal reflection? Meditation, I guess. Aided by the sound of the water perhaps. It works for me. Blessings, Allen

2025-11-11
Brought a smile to me this afternoon. Thank you. The use of oldie English enhanced the interest in reading, and kind of added charm to an otherwise tale of sometimes irrational fear of dentists. In that respect I guess it depends on the dentist. It is about seventy years since I had Nitrous Oxide... and when I had it I could hear everything that was being said and done whilst 'asleep'! Blessings, Allen

2025-11-11
I like the repetition in this poem, it cements the core message very well. Blessings, Allen
PS: I pray your house does not fall down.

2025-11-10
A word play/mind-stream that started and ended with Yamaguchi, so I'm guessing there is a special significance to the in-between. I know you have visited Japan. If nothing else it is a real corker of a write such that it encourages research, and I ended up at Iwakuni Castle. :o)
Blessings, Allen

2025-11-10
I couldn't agree more. I thought it was a 'thing' about getting old, this looking back and wondering about former playmates, friends, lovers et cetera.
Once, returning to a town in the UK in which I spent many of my years, I was looking at the faces of passers-by on a busy shopping street, anticipating that I might recognise someone.... BUT then it suddenly came to me that they would have aged like me, and I would have no idea what they actually looked like after all those years!

So, no, it isn't just you, but I do think it is an occupation that we do more frequently as we get older.
Blessings, Allen

2025-11-10
Bravo, Jim!

2025-11-09
I personally find this to be an extremely brave and honest write. Blessings, Allen

2025-11-07
Melinda, i just love the message, and in consequence the poem. Unfortunately - certainly in Western people - the desire for more stuff gets implanted in their psyche from the very beginning of life. Just think, the whole basis of government, commerce and personal progression is 'growth'. Of course it is flawed, hence the economic crashes for example. But Mankind is, if nothing else it seems, stupid. Blessings, Allen PS: There is nothing wrong in desiring change!

2025-11-06
Twice tonight, after reading poetry on PoetBay, I have come up with the word, 'honor'. I sense that you are an honorable man, Lawrence, there's nothing wrong with stalling when the task ahead may not be one that is welcomed. Blessings, Allen

2025-11-06
That is not only a fine poem, but is told so earnestly and reverently. From reading your words clearly 'honor' needs adding as an adjective for your family. Blessings, Allen
PS: and as an honor I have spelled that word the American way. :o)

2025-11-06
A very interesting poem. It certainly is a thought! Blessings, Allen

2025-11-04
Full of good descrptions. I especially liked:

And up above,
There’s gilded wires shined warm and bright.
Bestowing day-time glow though night.

Blessings, Allen

2025-11-04
It has all the feelings the situation would create I feel, Mirza. The silence in THAT room! Blessings, Allen

2025-11-04
Woah! That would frighten me to death! Blessings, Allen
PS: Nice to see you writing.

2025-11-03
Very enigmatic poem. I like poems that are about moments in life, and this one has descriptions that allow me to see the scene in my mind's eye, but I am left seeking for the 'background' in my imagination, and I fail to conjure something solid. Blessings, Allen

2025-11-03
You always seem to portray yourself is 'dark', and do again in this poem which has easy flow and some satisfying rhymes. I am left intrigued after the read. Blessings, Allen

2025-11-02
I found this poem to be really emotive, and I feel that were she able, she would be so proud that you have learned from her. Often only when we have lost something do we see the value of them. Blessings, Allen

2025-11-01
Then have a great night! Dullard? NEVER. Blessings, Allen