Today I would like to feature Sharron Green’s wonderful and painfully true piece about us all as poets. It’s humorous and extremely observational.
From her inspirational Willing Words collection, full of similar profound pieces, this is really worth a read – but beware of uncomfortable truths!!! Ouch!
Many A True Word
Never trust a poet,
they are wearing a disguise,
you might think they are listening
but they are plotting lies.
Like magpies they are spying gems
that others haven’t spotted,
just watch and they will swipe them
and soon they’ll be re-potted.
You’ll think – where did that come from?
It sounds so fresh and new!
But someone else inspired it,
it could even be you!
So never trust a poet
they are at least two-faced,
though their work is eco friendly
as no word goes to waste.
rhymes n roses 2024
Wasn’t that such a revealing piece about us?! Thank you, Sharron. More please.
Do visit Sharron’s magical website for more poetry and books. Treat yourselves.
A lovely vibrant Italian poet who brought so much to the poetry community, Carla left us very quickly in 2023. A very prolific poet, she gave us a legacy of wonderful poetry.
I particularly loved her pieces on cooking which shared food and relationships in one delicious pot.
This is one of my favourites.
Parsley
The fringed leaves look like shredded shamrocks
packed in plastic bags from the supermarket,
its freshness fades in the fridge
better to let the stem drink in a glass of water
to last longer, give it a chance to survive
before you chop or tear it to pieces
to season fish, mushrooms or boil in ragu;
its flavour warms the evening light
when the shadows grow deep and we sit
our faces over the steaming soup
talking about the day
how did it go, any news?
C Scarano
What a lovely personal piece. There you are, just a little tribute. You’re gone but never forgotten, Carla.
Thanks for tuning in, PL’s. We’ll be back with more poetry action real soon
Well, we’re on the tip of Halloween and I’d like to feature Sharron Green’s very striking piece Dancing in Quicksand.
As well as its nightmarish tones, there are twists of other emotions too, making it a very clever poem. Do read on for this atmospheric piece
Dancing in Quicksand
Aeons ago we came to the ball, a nightmare from which there’s no leaving. Like a stuck record we spin in a groove, so dizzy now that we’re heaving.
The ballroom once splendid is tarnished, the crystal and gold have been scuffed, in our finest we stood, eating all that we could, and now it’s all gone we are stuffed.
The band plays a Titanic medley as chairs round the dance floor swap places, the ballgowns bob In the bubbling mud as we stare at the horrified faces.
What we need is a fairy godmother, to whisk us back with a gaze so adoring, to the days when our planet was healthy, and our politics simple and boring.
@rhymes _n_roses
Wasn’t that a wonderful and relevant piece?! Thank you so much, Sharron. More please…
Thanks for tuning in, Poetry Lovers. We’ll be back with more action real soon….
We were all so sorry to hear of Brian Patten’s passing. An incredibly vibrant and intelligent poet of that wonderful Merseybeat generation. A real voice from Liverpool.
It was Patten’s children’s collection Gargling with Jelly that I loved and knew best, and I have put two of his pieces from that book on here. They’re Halloween related so quite fitting.
Please read on
The Witch’s Pickle
Have you ever tried to tickle
A witch’s pickle in the dark,
And tried to make it giggle
And scream: ‘What a lark!’?
That’s exactly what I did
So I think you’d better not
‘Cause now I’m truly pickled
And in the witch’s pot!
B Patten
The Frogologist
I hate it when grown-ups say,
‘What do you want to be?’
I hate the way they stand up there
And talk down to me.
I say:
‘I want to be a frogologist
And study the lives of frogs,
I want to know their habitat
And crawl about in bogs,
I want to learn to croak and jump
And catch flies with my tongue
And will they please excuse me ‘cause
Frogologists start quite young.’
B Patten
Thank you for leaving us such a legacy, Mr Patten.
Thank you for tuning in, PL’s. We’ll be back with more Halloween action real soon….
Welcome back to the Poetry Talk Show Studio. (Ecstatic applause)
Yes, you should be excited! Because our special guest today is talented and prolific poet Dennis Tomlinson!
(Standing ovation as our tattooed and esteemed guest glides elegantly down the stairs)
Welcome to the show, Dennis.
Vibrant tattoos there! You’re looking good.
Why don’t you fill us in on your background?
Pleased to be here, Heather. Er – can you stop Dobby from growling at me?
As soon as I could write I produced little books of poems in childish imitation of Lewis Carroll and Hilaire Belloc.
I dabbled in poetry at school and university but I didn’t make up my mind to become a Poet until 2006. That’s when I joined the Poetry ID group in Letchworth, Hertfordshire, who hold weekly workshops where you’re encouraged to write on the spot.
Since then poetry has become an essential part of my life, both as a writer and as a reader. My principal motivation is still to record experiences and memories that would otherwise disappear into oblivion.
That may be a little hard to do, Dennis. The truth is she HATES tattoos!
Lewis Carroll’s hand drawn story books in the British Library inspired me to draw my Dobby cartoons! Incredibly clever man, wasn’t he.
That’s a great poetry background, who were your biggest influences?
My English teacher introduced me to Robert Frost, whose every poem tells a story, and Philip Larkin, who expressed harsh truths in lyrical verse. They’re still working away in my brain.
Reading and writing haiku has often helped me to pare language down to the essential in short lines. I quote the master Matsuo Basho from the 17th century, as translated by RH Blyth:
Ah! Summer grasses!
All that remains
Of the warriors’ dreams
I have also gained a lot from personal acquaintance; Yuko Minamikawa Adams (of Poetry ID) has influenced me with her startling, surreal combinations of images.
She sounded a great and wonderful find, Dennis. I will look out for her.
Yes, teachers can shape our lives, can’t they.
Are you working on anything at the moment?
No. In the spring I self-published The Alexandra, a collection with a running theme of pubs and bars and a tribute to my late father Tony Tomlinson, a talented poet himself.
I compose one or two poems every month but I have no big project at the moment.
Oh yes please! I’d love one. Wouldn’t You, Poetry Lovers?
(Audience cheer in agreement)
Now, what’s the best poetry gig you’ve ever done?
My best experience was maybe at the Grey Horse, Kingston upon Thames in March 2024. The young ladies who run the Homely Poetry night had invited me to read as the featured poet.
I presented a selection of my poems and showed the Nymph tattoo on my shoulder, taken from the cover image of my book Ornaments.
I got plenty of applause, laughter, a £15 fee and a sense of satisfaction. Be grateful for small mercies!
And the Worst ??
I’ve never had a really bad experience, just weak clapping or awkward silences.
But when I took part in a night with two Poetry Society groups (‘Stanza Bonanza’) at the Poetry Cafe a few years back, I included what I thought was a light-hearted reference to a contemporary Chinese poet. But a friend exploded with a passionate rant about ‘racism’ and ‘Western imperialism’. You have to be aware of people’s sensitivities!
Oh that sounded very explosive, Dennis. What a learning curve!
So where you off to tonight? Not another tattoo parlour, I hope!!
Actually, Heather, I might make a run for it while Dobby’s not around! She might want to remove my tattoos herself!
So wise, Dennis. I hope you make it home with tattoos intact!
Creep quietly up those stairs now
(Our enigmatic guest legs it up the stairs followed by screams of pain! )
Whoops! A brave attempt, Dennis but Dobby will always get you.
(Our host can’t bear to hear such agony and puts her hands over her ears.)
Wasn’t Dennis Tomlinson a fascinating and wonderful guest, PL’s?!
(Cheers of agreement and a standing ovation).
Please check out Dennis’ website above for a real poetry treat.
Thanks for attending the Talk Show Studio, PL’s. We’ll be back with more poetry action real soon…
I know! Autumn already! I thought I’d better feature October while it’s still here ! I mean, what happened to September?! Gone in 5 minutes!
Clever poet Trisha Broomfield has written a beautiful lament to this current month and how it can go by without notice. With stunning descriptions, this is a vivid and poignant piece. Do read on
October
October and the clocks fall back
leaves part from trees, grey skies turn black
pumpkins swell, late apples blush
gardeners take to rake and brush
colours, ruby, ochre, rust
explode before they turn to dust
a red glow is the hunter’s moon
we have forgotten about June
conkers tumble crushed by boots
acorns carpet, push down roots
half-term and schools are out for play
families rush to get away
Christmas craft fairs start to flourish
there should be time to slow and nourish
but life speeds on, the seasons blurred
autumn’s call not always heard.
Trisha Broomfield
Wasn’t that a lovely piece?! Thank you so much, Trisha. Please keep them coming.
Thanks for tuning in, PL’s. We’ll be back with more poetry action real soon…
Did I tell you about the Booming Lovelies’ gig at The Ageing Well Festival in Hove? Many times, I suspect.
Set in the beautiful venue community centre Hop 50 +, we were warmly greeted and had a lovely lunch. A kind of warming up exercise if you will. Chicken and Leek pie being good for the voice!
A very beautiful and intimate performing area. We knew it was going to be a good afternoon.
It was a terrific show with a fantastic audience. I finally got my Tiny Tears while Sharron lamented Sindy. And Trisha gave us the The Joy of Sex – so to speak.
The photographer Matthew Thomas next to me was very detailed. A very slick photographer.
Sharron and Sindy
And here’s me looking (vaguely) serious.
This is John’s aunt Von who made this all possible. Opening up to me the joys of the Ageing Well Festival.
And this is us at the end with our ‘sidekicks’. It was a great gig and thank you for having us, Ageing Well Festival.
Thank you, Matthew Thomas for taking many of these beautiful photographs. Matthew is a talented photographer and do click the link below for his website. He’s really worth knowing…
Well, it’s official. I’m going to marry Michael Rosen! It’s so secret even he doesn’t know about it yet! (How he’ll laugh!).
Mr Rosen captured my heart at Morecambe Poetry Festival recently, such a wonderful and intelligent man.
The following piece is quite old now but it is one of my favourites of his. It simply reflects the awfulness of people. How many people here have waited for that phone to ring?! And have known doomed romances?!
Come on, hands up! Yes, nearly all of you! Well, you will love this poignant piece. Read on
How He Didn’t Tell Her That He Was Seeing Someone Else
she rings and says: hi it’s me, you didn’t ring
no
so I’m ringing
right
Is there anywhere you wanted to go, tonight?
no not really
is that why you didn’t ring?
sort of
you mean you didn’t want to ring?
I wasn’t going to say that
you didn’t want to ring though, did you?
I dunno
so what am I supposed to do? hang around waiting for a call
I didn’t say that
what are you saying?
nothing much
is anything wrong?
no no no
I’ll ring you when you’re in a better mood.
right
shall I?
sure
don’t sound so pleased about it
right
bye ter-rah
M Rosen
Isn’t it a painfully relevant piece?! I hope she packed him in first!
I’d welcome any favourite Michael Rosen poems. Answers on a postcard please…..
Thanks for tuning in, PL’s. We’ll be back with more poetry action real soon….
Yes, you should be excited, PL’s because I’m thrilled to introduce our very special guest talented musician Martin Fitzgibbon!
(Standing ovation. Dobby scowls)
Our esteemed guest glides on elegantly
Welcome to the show, Martin. So pleased you agreed to appear. (Applause)
Please sit down and join me in a Stiffado and fill us in on your background
Thank you, num, don’t mind if I do!
It’s my pleasure to be here. Home was a council estate on the outskirts of London where I enjoyed a throughly happy childhood.
I left school at fifteen to pursue my musical ambitions and took a job in an engineering factory, whilst waiting for fame and fortune to arrive. Still waiting !
But what a musical career you have had!
By the way, don’t mind Dobby
She sees you as a rival, albeit a worthy one, as drums are usually her prerogative!
When did music become a part of your life ?
Well, she er – looks ready to pounce!
I can’t remember a time when music wasn’t in my life. My Mum had a fine singing voice and when I was thirty something, I discovered that she could also play the piano.
I’d booked a hotel as a wedding anniversary present for my parents and in the lounge was a grand piano. Unprompted, Mum sat down and started to play ! Who knew ? Certainly not me, it was astonishing.
Singing was something we did around the house and at family gatherings. I sang solo in church and school choirs, then later in bands, I still do.
Singing is joyous and I’d encourage anyone at any level of ability, to join a choir. My Dad (who couldn’t sing a note bless him) loved music and had been a semi professional dance band drummer just after the war. I never saw him play, but we had some old drums in the cupboard under the stairs. I would dig them out and most likely annoy the neighbours by making a horrendous noise.
I started having drum lessons from the age of eight, practised hard and gradually got better, although the improved quality of my playing was probably lost on my long suffering neighbours.
What a discovery! Yes, I grew up with music too. There was a piano in our house, and music was a given.
What a great upbringing. Who were your biggest influences?
I was at school in the sixties and like most kids of my age it was The Beatles in particular, who changed the landscape, not just of music but fashion and lifestyle too.
I was lucky to already be playing drums and consequently in a good place to take advantage of the musical explosion that followed.
Over the years I’ve been influenced by many people of excellence in different musical genres, but if I had to single out one band or artist it would have to be The Beatles.
To understand their impact you had to experience what had gone before and to know how monochrome that post war world was, not only in music, but in every aspect of teenage life.
Incredible, weren’t they. I loved Sergeant Pepper, so innovative. A great influence.
Now tell us about Behind The Curtain. My Life and Rocky Horror. A fantastic book.
I played drums in the original Rocky Horror Show at The Royal Court Theatre in Sloane Square in 1973 with Tim Curry, Richard O’Brien and some other amazing people.
I stayed with the show for eighteen months or so while it journeyed from an experimental production seating sixty three people, to the beginning of a worldwide phenomenon.
2023 was the fiftieth anniversary of the show which I thought worthy of noting in some form. Everybody in mainstream media told me it was a great idea, but typically nothing from them materialised, so before the deadline passed I decided it was down to me.
For years, close friends had tried to persuade me to write a memoir and finally I did, with Rocky Horror taking as it were, centre stage. It was a tight deadline and I wrote at every opportunity but managed to deliver a manuscript on time.
How wonderfully you captured that incredible era, Martin. A marvellous and detailed account of the early days of Rocky Horror. And that you were part of it! And those names you have mentioned there – swoon!
Plus Raynor Bourton, lovely man, and of course, Philip Sayer – my first Frank-N-Furter.
Now, I believe you’re working on a novel
I had no intention of writing a novel, but when I was publicising the memoir, people in the industry were very persuasive and I was encouraged to do it.
They all said I should get writing and thanks to events outside of my control I now have time to do that.
I’m not sure if I will ever play live again, but I’m still recording music and have a charity single released on September 21st to coincide with world Alzheimer’s day.
I’m trying to raise awareness and funds and have released “Everybody’s Hero” for World Alzheimer’s Day on September 21st. This is a very personal song about friendship. All money raised from downloads will go to The Alzheimer’s Society UK.
Dementia touches everyone’s lives in some form or other. We all know someone who’s been lost to this disease or is perhaps suffering at the moment.
Yes, we do. I’ve heard it and it’s a very moving song. A wonderful thing to do, Martin. I’ve put the link below
Hoping so hard that you do play live again.
Now let’s have some baklava for dessert!
But before that! Tell us your best gig and your Worst !!
Best is certainly not a question of size. Some of my all time favourite gigs have been in small venues. I guess it’s a two way thing, where the closeness to the stage has the band feeding off the audience and vice versa.
The flip side to that is I’ve been more nervous playing to a small indifferent crowd….you can see the whites of their eyes….than a large festival gig of fifty to eighty thousand people.
Luckily there have been so many fun times and places it’s impossible to narrow it down to just one.
The worst is also a tough question to answer, but it would have been early in my career when I took anything to earn money and try to get a foot in the door.
When I started out, testosterone fuelled fights were frequent and sometimes spilled over onto the stage which wasn’t fun.
I played a series of scary night clubs in London, where the clientele were mainly large besuited men with scars and very broken noses. I made sure not to knock over anyone’s drink, or stare at their young “daughters” for fear of my health.
There were others, but the winner has to be a brief residency I played at a strip club in Soho. It was just me and a guy on a keyboard.
As a young male it was interesting, but even so I was relieved when we were replaced by the cheaper option of a tape recording. The girls were generally great and looked after this baby faced kid, but musically it was beyond dire.
And you’ll be surprised to learn that nobody was there to listen to the music.
Fascinating, Martin. What a learning curve! I can visualise this young boy in a Soho club!
Talking of that, shall we hit Soho tonight? I can do some poetry while you jam in the Blue Posts
Our esteemed guest shuffles awkwardly over the baklava. Dobby is hovering by.
Well, actually, Heather. Dobby and I are going for a jam session and er ……
Oh I get it! Invitation only, I expect!
Well, you’d better not keep her waiting…..
Our esteemed guest legs it with Dobby. Fast.
Wasn’t Martin Fitzgibbon a wonderful and fascinating guest, PL’s?!
(Cheers and standing ovation)
Do treat yourselves to Martin’s excellent first hand account of that phenomenon The Rocky Horror Show. A marvellous absorbing book, and available on Amazon now!
Also look out for Martin’s single Everybody’s Hero. A beautifully put together song and for a wonderful cause. Released on Bandcamp, please click the link below
Heather Moulson 