Saturday 28 July 2007

24th July Writing Burst!

Thanks to everyone who turned up for the Writing Burst last week. I think it's safe to say that it was a lot of fun, though producing something half decent under that sort of time pressure is a bit of a challenge! A warm welcome to Heather Richardson who joined us for the first time, and who has also successfully posted to the blog already!

We did some interesting exercises, I particularly enjoyed the 'object' exercise, where we had to write something inspired by the various objects brought in. We had an interesting array of inspirational devices including a dalek wine stopper, a home-made bookmark, a very funky mini-tool kit, a pocket compass, a card from sorrento, lip gloss, amongst other things. I have a poem I'm polishing up thanks to that exercise, which I'll hopefully share with you later in the week.

We followed up with an exercise from a fantastic book that Heather brought in, which involved filling in the blank in the following sentence:

"Seven days ago -------- now nobody will talk to me!"

Which generated some interesting responses!

The final exercise involved taking a piece of paper and folding it in two. On one side of the paper one person wrote 10 nouns in a row down the page. The paper was then passed over to another person, folded so you couldn't see the original list, and the second person wrote another set of 10 nouns in a row down the page. The paper was then opened out so the word combinations could be seen. The exercise then requires that you attempt to write something using the word combinations. So, we thought it'd be a great idea to throw some of these combinations out to the group and see what you do with them! There were five of us there, so I've picked one from each sheet, with a few bonus one's thrown in, because we really liked them! See what you can do with the following, and post the results on the site!

axe lips
door vomit
war stick
pan party
city hair
banana lace
basket vampire
shelf buttock
zip book
nest beauty (specially for Carol!)

Have fun, and I look forward to seeing the results!

Next meeting is on 28th August.

Wednesday 25 July 2007

First Effort from a Blogging Virgin

Being a bit of a technophobe I'm too sure if I doing this properly ..... but hey ho !!!
Here's my first contribution to the blog !

Beetle

There’s a beetle on the window.
He’s lying on his back.
All six legs pointing skywards
Are looking rather slack.

And in the gentle draft
His shell rocks fro and to.
The creature isn’t breathing
Like living beetles do.

Monday 23 July 2007

Meeting tomorrow

Just a reminder to everyone that the next meeting is tomorrow evening at 7:30pm. Don't forget it's a writing burst so please come prepared to write!
See you all then.

Thursday 19 July 2007

Where Is The River Chor?

I come from Chorley, a place of renown
For very little, it’s a sleepy old town
It has a street market and a couple of gas tanks
And quite a few pubs and one or two banks
Now I’ve searched ev’rywhere both here and around
In back-streets and parkland, even underground
It’s named from a river that no-one has found
Where is the river in old Chorley town?

It’s quite a conundrum when you’re in Astley Park
There’s fields and there’s trees but of water no mark
I’ve gone up the hills and I’ve come down the valleys
Marched up the high roads and crept down the alleys
I’ve stopped and asked questions till I have to be muzzled
But even when silent I’m still really puzzled
I’ve sat there in silence with my throat really sore
From asking in Chorley where is the River Chor?

They tell the town’s name comes from where it stands
In meadows by a stream with its own river strands
Now I’ve wandered and searched and I’ve given my best
To find the answer to my humble quest
Even in Székesfehérvár, our Hungarian twin town
Till repeating myself is just getting me down
So will someone please tell me, I’m getting a bore
Where the flippin’ ‘eck in Chorley is the flippin’ River Chor?

The place had some factories but they’ve all closed down
Replaced by brick boxes of a dormitory town
(If you want somewhere to burn, loot and pillage
You couldn’t do much better than that damn Buckshaw Village!)
And in the far past there were pits underground
But never will you hear a brook’s babbling sound
Can someone please tell me as the point’s pressing sorely
Where’s there a river flowing through township Chorley?

Now I’m getting weary and I want me some peace
But it seems that my query, it never will cease
I think of the Amazon, the Thames and the Nile
But mention the Chor and I just wryly smile
I’ve searched and I’ve searched till my time’s nearly done
But if I go to heaven I’ll ask the Great One
As I am going through St Peter’s great door
Where in God’s name in Chorley is God’s River Chor?

The Bridge On The River Chor

Monday 16 July 2007

Some more success!

Hi all, again! Just to let you know I've had my first publishing success - I've had a poem accepted for publication in Decanto magazine. It won't be published until June 2008 but it's officially my first proper success. The poem is called 'When he was gone' - watch out for it.

Champagne corks will be popping tonight in my house!

Monday 9 July 2007

Poems Online

Just to let you know that Sam Smith has selected some of my poems for his Select Six page. To view them go to the address below:

http://www.bewrite.net/select_six.htm

Chemical Dreams

I recently entered an online competition in which you had to produce a poem to a set form. The form was a varient on the sestina, abridged to make it more manageable for the competition, and I guess you'll have to trust that I managed to stick to the form. Anyway I found out this morning that I won! Granted, I think there were only about 7 entries but all the same.....

Feeling happy and the need to inflict my very minor success on you all - hope you like it!

Chemical Dreams

I fall awake from chemical dreams
absorbing the sleepy light of day;
knowing that all is not as it seems,
wondering whether I’m here to stay.

I have a strange feeling about this day
the light is heavier than it seems.
The gathering clouds are here to stay;
billowing darkly around my dreams.

Time passes slowly, or so it seems,
a wandering moment is here to stay;
settling softly within my dreams,
breathing the warmth of a summers day.

So deep in this moment I will stay
buried within my chemical dreams.
No more to seek the cold light of day,
wishing that life was more than it seems.