www.theblisspages.com - poetry

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stories on this page: my poems :
contributed poems : a meeting at Samhain : a miscellany of kettle poems : anthem tears : Bom-Banes Rosi's tinted spectacles : boy : fireworks : flame : guising : how to make lots of runs : miming silence : mouth cabaret : Murray Lachlan Young : national poetry day : National Poetry Day 7 October 2004 : notes inegales : olympics 2008 : resolution : seeking sun spots : smoke signal : the child people : the Fuse is lit : the hurry exercise : the intruders : The Mad Laugh at Us : This OBE is Not for Me : winter :
creative resources : links : Maria's book launch : 'colours of your mind' workshop : All Hallows Eve 2006 : another 15 minutes of fame : bibliography : creative writing : creative writing workshop : eclipse : elemental, my dear watson : hove festival 2008: poets cornered : hove festival 2008: St Barnabas : interesting words : is it the medium, or is it the message? : is this a blog or a website? : new moon rising : playwright in residence scheme 2005 : poets corner fun day in Hove : poets cornered : poets cornered: olympian evening : promise or threat? : sanctuary january 2006 : sanctuary march 2006 : sanctuary november 2005 : sanctuary october 2008 : Science: Threat or promise? : slow time workshop : songwriting with Heidi Berry : stasis : the pen is mightier than the sword... : the web as a tool for poems and creative writing : time: real and imaginary : topical poetry workshop

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Why have I created a poetry page?

I've always had a love-hate relationship with poetry. I love words, and English was always my favourite subject at school.

I remember reading 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' by Alfred Tennyson during a competition at my grammar school, Sir George Monoux. The rolling, resonant tones of my memories were probably scratchy and timorous in my barely-broken adolescent voice, but I can still feel the words going through my mind:

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.

Other poetry had less impact, and seemed to veer from vacuous to pretentious.

But then, I discovered Dylan Thomas, and everything changed. See Under Milk Wood and A Child's Christmas in Wales.

what is this page for?

Firstly, it is a resource. Useful tools, useful sites, useful techniques - all are grist to my mill.

Secondly, a showcase and a place to share poetry and invite comments and contributions.

If you have an iPod or want to listen to my poetry, you can subscribe to my poetry feed. You need iTunes or another RSS Reader. If you just want to listen now, click on my RSS reader. I will post more information shortly.

showcase

my poems

See my poems in alphabetical order:

'tween Halloween and Christmas : (un)inspired by... : ...rooms : 1571 : 1984 : 4' 33" : a blur of red : a car is a car is a car : a grand day out : a new year : a rotting heap of leaves : a tale of two laptops : a... : acrostic poem : after Eden : after the fifteen minutes… : air : alternate : american haiku : animal farm : another day, another city : another new year... : another start : another upbeat poem : anti-social networking : aroma therapy : as devious as... : as the dust settles : autumn : autumnal morning : awakening : bad sign : bad taste : bad tuesday : bag lady : bangkok tuesday : bauble : beach huts : beachy head : bear market : bees : bell : bell-curve : black : black salamander : blackout : blue rinse : books : breathless in Burgess Hill : broken promises : bulb : burning crusade : busy tone : calories : can I call you back? : candle : card : careering : carnivore : carved carrots : catastrophe (cat-as-trophy) : CCTV : ceremony : change of pace : chaos theory : chardonnay : christmas cards : christmas memories : clearing : clip-clop : come in please, your time is up : contemplating the void : cotton wool : cotton-wool : count on me : couples : cross(ed) lines : cyclical thoughts : damaged goods : dancers : devil's dyke : Digital Dorothy : dinosaur : disenchantment : diwali : does my bum look big on this? : dollars spent on war, but no cents : don't cycle on the pavement : don't knock it : don't look now : dread : dumb blond? : eat me! : echoes : eclipse : ecosystem : edge of the tracks : election : election count : elegy to a friend : elemental : elliptical bodies : emporium : escargot : eternal love : existentialist rant plus support : extinction : fall : falling asleep : favourite restaurants : fears in solitude : festival poem : filled : finger nails on a blackboard : fire and ice : fire place : flickering flame : flight : flying high : found : free the mind : fresh fruit : fruit salad retro : fugue in F minor : genetic changes, changes change : genetic mutation : ghost : ghost bikes : ghost forest : girl mad : glass : global warming : global warming : graffiti party : grey : guy fawkes' revenge : halloween : happiness : happy endings : happy? : have a nice day : hazy days : HD life : headache : height : holiday : home alone : home alone 2 : hopeless : how do you fall out of love? : I am Genghis Khan : I am not stressed : I can hear voices : I hate Christmas : I love Christmas : I won't see her again : I wonder : I'm dreaming of... : I've started... : identity : if I were a superhero : If you go down to the tube today... : in my tangled mind : in the distance : intersections : intrusion : is it good - or is it bad? : is it good, or is it bad? : it's funny : just a small one : just one of the crowd : karma : karmic chameleon : knives : leaves : lent : life's a beach : lights and lungs : lists : LOLspeak : loneliness of the long-distance commuter : looking : loss : loss : lost and found : lost in the moment : love : lovely day : maasdam : man's best friend? : Marisa : meditation : metal rose : mirror : missed opportunities : mistletoe : moment of lust : moments : mono log : mousing : my brother : my cup of tea : my last fifty pence : my name is mike bliss : my recession : naked : network woes : new house - new beginning : new season : newton's apples : niarly there : nineteen years : not quite what I'd planned... : objects : ode to a chip : ode to www.theblisspages.com : olympic spirit : on the plane : one : one vote (true story) : one word : origami : outed : pandora's box : parasynthetic poetry : pebbles : performance : performance : perspective : peter : petrol : pleasure gardens : plinth proclamation : poetic Christmas : poetic moment : pointillism : pole position : political correctness and hypocrisy : post-valentine blues : pram : pre-xmas surprise : press gang : pro mise : procrastination - a triptych : profound poetry : quality : queen of spades : rainy evening : red lights from Victoria : redemption: broken dreams : redemption: choices : redemption: cocktail : redemption: emancipation : redemption: news : redemption: prison : redemption: tenebrous times : remember remember : resolution : retreat : revenge of the tooth fairy : ridge : ridgeway : Roll up! Roll up! : rom-con : routine Monday morning : rush : sad sonnet : saying the wrong thing : school for scandal : sea the dolphins : second chance : secret scene : see the leaves : senses : shadow : shattered : shine your shoes? : slow time : smoking may damage your health... : so here we are : so near and yet so far : solidarity : songs of innocence and of experience : speechless : spilt wine : spiralling down : St John's Wood : sticky mornings : strange days : street view : summer plumage : surreal voice recognition : table : tea cosy : that certain age : that sudden stab of desire : the arboretum : the audience : the ballad of the sea-bass : the beast with two backs : the bliss of being single : the code in my head : the communication byway : the critic : the dawning : the day the tide went out : the deathly lament : the downside of being single : the dripping tap : the everyone post : the final poem : the grate game : the great game : the hunt : the invention of the spare room : the key : the knife : the labyrinth : the last time I cried : the lie : the man in the moon : the naked cyclist : the naked poet : the office plant : the old, old, story : the overlooked : the paper : the perfect crime : The Poem Created For Salsa Holiday : the problem with religion : the quintessential Englishman : the reaping : the remedy was always the same : the rind of the ancient marinade : the romantic : the room : the second kiss : the song of the age : the spare room of invention : The squirrel inside : the stalker : the Thames whale : the thespian : the treatment : the vision : the weight of luck : the wind in my face : things that I miss : this is the way... : this time next week : this too will change : Thomas Edison killed me : three-quarters over : tick followed tock... : time of goodwill : time to get help : time to move on : tin : tin can : tock : towering infernal : train of Babel : tree : trick or treat? : turn the other cheek? : twas... : twitchers : two decrees of separation : two views : umbrella : upon my soul : valentine : vanishing world : view from the balcony : viral communication : waiting : waiting : waiting for godot : waiting for inspiration : wasted vote? : west pier : what I did at the weekend : what? : when : who am eye? a triptych : who said life is easy? : why are you looking at me? : wind : wine : yellow : you for coffee? : you say potato...

my poems follow in date order - most recent first.
Hint: to print an individual poem, it's better to summarise the page and click on a poem to see it on its own page:

I welcome comments, so please send them to me, or you can click on the 'give feedback' link on every poem.

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new season

an optimistic poem...