Proposal to a logical woman

Have a heart he said. She wondered whose.
Was he offering his own, bound in scarlet ribbon or demanding hers.

Take your time he said, which sounded generous
but time was never his to give, she thought
and turned him down.

How did It Go?

It was really interesting to look at a common idiom and unpick it, try to undress it with a little logic. It made me really think about the hidden meanings of idioms.
I found it quite difficult to make this sound ‘poetic’. Perhaps it would be easier to write a prose poem on the subject of relentless logicality.

Lesley Curwen

Sticky Wicket

He was on a sticky wicket
the field was closing in
he’d dug in as much as he could do
with a straight bat he might win.
He didn’t want to hole out
down a fielder’s throat
you play each delivery as it comes
if you want to be the GOAT
Make sure you cover up the gate
to keep the googly out
watch the yorker in the blockhole
deny the “Howzat” shout.

He wasn’t playing cricket
politics was his game
he’d found that cricket metaphors
helped deflect the blame…

How did It Go?

I was inspired by another poem recently that used some football cliches / idioms. This is a cricket one, which may confuse some overseas readers! Several of these are in everyday use in England with a less literal meaning. “On a sticky wicket” means to be in a difficult situation, “playing with a straight bat” means to play safe, and/or correctly. These idioms are often used by posh politicians as a way of indicating their good breeding in playing our “summer game” at their elite school.

Tim Fellows

 A figgy pudding, pardi

They sit on the fence, mi-figue mi-raisin,
while the world goes west,

à l’ouest, where we send the mad ones,
away with the fairies and the illuminés,

because they see light at the end of the tunnel,
la sortie de l’auberge, where pigs fly,

and hens have teeth. There will be happiness
at the end of the day, that time entre chien et loup,

that place over the moon, where everything
is half-fig, half-grape, and all circles are squared.

Questions and nonsense

When the answer is,
how long is a piece of string,
what was the question?

And if ce n’est pas le Pérou,
nor la mer à boire,
what is it?

I would like to get out of this wood,
where all I can see are trees,
but the blind are leading the blind,

and though there might be short cuts
along the way, it will always be
a long long way to Tipperary.

How did it go?

Language and linguistics are endless subjects of fascination, taking us back to the origins of humanity. Every word has a history that has roots in different parts of the globe, the different elements are the pigments of any piece of writing. Idiom is a huge subset of language and much of it is national, regional or dialectic and unfamiliar to speakers of the same language in a different part of the world, unintelligible to non-native speakers. I had fun writing these poems (if they are poems). The vernacular is personal, often drawn from different sources. Mine is as mixed up as anyone’s.

Jane Dougherty

Bios and Links

Lesley Curwen

is a broadcaster, poet and sailor living within sight of Plymouth Sound. Her poems have been published by Nine Pens, Arachne Press, Broken Sleep and GreenInk, and later this yea

Jane Dougherty

lives and works in southwest France. A Pushcart Prize nominee, her poems and stories have been published in magazines and journals including Ogham Stone, the Ekphrastic Review, Black Bough Poetry, ink sweat and tears, Gleam, Nightingale & Sparrow, Green Ink and Brilliant Flash Fiction. She blogs at https://janedougherty.wordpress.com/ Her poetry chapbooks, thicker than water and birds and other feathers were published in October and November 2020.

Tm Fellows

is a writer from Chesterfield in Derbyshire whose ideas are heavily influenced by his background in the local coalfields, where industry and nature lived side by side. His first pamphlet “Heritage” was published in 2019. His poetic influences range from Blake to Owen, Causley to Cooper-Clarke and more recently the idea of imagistic poetry and the work of Spanish poet Miguel Hernandez.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Julie A. Dickson is a poet and author of several books including, Bullied into Silence [Piscataqua Press 2014] and Untumbled Gem [Goldfish Press 2016] Dickson holds a BPS in Behavioral Science, is a Push Cart nominee, has served on two poetry boards, has coordinated 100 Thousand Poets for Change and served as guest editor for Jitter Press and Inwood Indiana, co-editor for My Funny Bones are Humor-us by R.M. Staples and as editor/curator of Prey Tell: Poems about Birds of Prey. Her work appears in over 50 journals, including Misfit, MasticadoresUSA, Girl God, Tiger Moth and Ekphrastic Review. Dickson writes poetry from many prompts such as art, nature, literature and animals. She advocates for captive zoo and circus elephants, and shares her home with two rescued cats.

The Interview

1. When and why did you start writing poetry?

I began writing poetry as a young teen, although I had for several years prior to age 12 written stories. I was an early reader of books; my mother was a kindergarten teacher who walked me to the public library three times each week, where I was allowed to take out as many books as I could carry. I loved Dr.Suess, and many chapter books including Charlotte’s Web, Black Beauty and the Cricket in Times Square. As a teen I read novels, biographies and poetry. I took many creative writing classes in high school, entered contests and sent stories and poems into magazines. I was teen, whose mother did not drive, living in a rural area where babysitting and reading were my main past times. English, writing and history have always been my favorite subjects in both high school and college.

2. Who introduced you to poetry?

I suppose that between the public librarian, school librarians and my mother were all an influence on me being introduced to poetry.

3. How aware are and were you of the dominating presence of older poets traditional and contemporary?

By the time I entered high school, I had a 9^th grade English teacher who encouraged me to write more, and I became aware of Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Edgar Allan Poe, Yeats, Keats and others.

4. What is your daily writing routine?

I am an early riser and it is my routine to sit at my desk with tea or coffee and write each morning for a couple hours. I find that my mind is fresh this time of day, more so than later.

5. What subjects motivate you to write?

I often write to prompts, such as art, music, literature, nature, memories, teen issues and environment. I find myself able to write about most topics, have attended countless workshops and retreats, have been a member of several poetry groups, served on two volunteer poetry boards, coordinated 100 Thousand Poets for Change for 5 years in my community and have done readings at open mics, poetry meetings, bookstores, schools and libraries.

6. What is your work ethic?

I have always had a strong work ethic, whether I am in a paid position, a volunteer or simply writing and doing tasks on my own. Writing is not work to me, it’s what I do.

7. How do the writers you read when you were young influence your work today?

My taste in books changes periodically, from mysteries, modern fiction, to poetry, non-fiction and historical books. My poetry has evolved from strict form poems to free verse and I often explore new forms when I write poetry now.

8. Whom of today’s writers do you admire the most and why?

The contemporary poets I admire today include Maya Angelou, Billy Collins, Mary Oliver, Donald Hall, Richard Blanco, and Amanda Gorman. There are so many

I just admire their work, their writing talents. I once did a presentation on Maya Angelou at a Women Poets festival where I live. I took a workshop with Richard Blanco a couple years ago. Mostly I like their work.

The answer is different for each…in that Maya Angelou and Amanda Gorman’s work is more progressive, political, about world acceptance. Mary Oliver is a good model for people learning to write better. I like Billy Collins for the romance and humor.

9. Why do you write, as opposed to doing anything else?

I write because I have been writing for most of my life. I cannot imagine not writing poetry, creative non-fiction, YA fiction. I have also written children’s books. I write what I know, what I feel, and what I remember.

10. What would you say to someone who asked you “How do you become a writer?”

I’ve been asked this question a few times and my response has usually been, if you are a writer, you just write. I don’t know how to advise someone on how to become a writer. My suggestion is to do a journal or free-write each day, and take pieces that are meaningful from your words. They can become poems or stories about your life, your interests and the world.

11. Tell me about the writing projects you have on at the moment.

I have concentrated for the past 5 years primarily on writing poetry, creative non-fiction and stories for submission into journals and magazines. In 2022, I had over 100 poetry acceptances. My work appears in over 50 journals now, and I often locate new journals to submit to. I have been a guest editor at 3 publications and have also edited two poetry collections and a book of memoirs. I have 2-3 poetry and chapbooks in-progress, as well as a new YA fiction book and a children’s book on deck. There are never enough hours in a day for me to do all that I want to with my writing.

 

Language and Music

It’s no surprise that I recognise it
whenever I hear it spoken
like I did that Boxing Day
at M&S in Bath, though I hadn’t
heard it for years, and couldn’t
pick out a word – diolch, diawn,
and not at that time of day nostar.

My dad thought it was Polish
but I knew it to be Welsh,
for I used to listen to it spoken
every day in the shops, on the bus,
in Sospan Fach. But it’s a mystery to me
how just recently, whenever Monteverdi
comes on the radio unannounced

or I tune in half way through,
somehow I guess it is him
and guess right as I learn
when the music ends
or from the text on the screen
or by saying to my phone
What’s this song?

The only tune I know is Pur Ti Miro,
perhaps not in fact written by him.
He’s on none of my CDs
or old tapes. With other composers
I often guess wrong.
What does this reveal about me
except how long I’ve listened to Radio 3?

Peter Donnelly

Bio and Links 

Peter J Donnelly

lives in York where he works as a hospital secretary. He has a MA in Creative Writing and a degree in English Literature from the University of Wales Lampeter. Thanks are due to the Dreich magazine, Writer’s Egg, Southlight and South Bank, where some of these poems have previously appeared. His poetry has also been published in other magazines and anthologies including One Hand Clapping, Black Nore Review, Ink, Sweat and Tears, Obsessed with Pipework, High Window and The Beach Hut. The 22 won second prize in the Ripon Poetry Festival competition in 2021 and The Second of August was a joint runner up in the Buzzwords open poetry competition in 2020.