Free Verse Collection
Viewing comments for Chapter 1 "Going Home"A collection of free verse poems
48 total reviews
Comment from enitsalemap
"I see the lithesome hips of rose" is my favorite line in this excellent poem
A visit to the graveyard in mid winter can be very different in our climate in North America but I see from your bio that South Australia is your home so that makes more sense with the floral references. It is a lovely poem. I read it aloud twice. I like the sound of it. It is smooth.
reply by the author on 09-May-2020
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"I see the lithesome hips of rose" is my favorite line in this excellent poem
A visit to the graveyard in mid winter can be very different in our climate in North America but I see from your bio that South Australia is your home so that makes more sense with the floral references. It is a lovely poem. I read it aloud twice. I like the sound of it. It is smooth.
Comment Written 09-May-2020
reply by the author on 09-May-2020
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Thanks, enitsalemap. The setting for this poem was actually in the south of England, where the weather is probably a little milder in December than it is in parts of North America. The really cold weather doesn't usually hit until January/February.
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:)
Comment from Debbie Pope
Tony, I am trying to catch up on some reviewing today, and I have no six-star ratings left. I am sure this exquisite piece has several already. Your prose is excellent, but your poetry moves me. It breaks my heart to think of myself walking all alone through my childhood memories. No one is left to help me remember, but even if they were living, it's a solitary journey.
Sunny settings do no move me like leaf mould damp and watered sun. Thank you for letting us peep through your steepled fingers to see a bit of your personal journey. Your images are lovely.
reply by the author on 09-May-2020
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Tony, I am trying to catch up on some reviewing today, and I have no six-star ratings left. I am sure this exquisite piece has several already. Your prose is excellent, but your poetry moves me. It breaks my heart to think of myself walking all alone through my childhood memories. No one is left to help me remember, but even if they were living, it's a solitary journey.
Sunny settings do no move me like leaf mould damp and watered sun. Thank you for letting us peep through your steepled fingers to see a bit of your personal journey. Your images are lovely.
Comment Written 09-May-2020
reply by the author on 09-May-2020
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What a very lovely review, Debbie. I sometimes yearn for those damp, misty days of November/December but I'd soon be cured of it if I returned to England again at that time of the year! I grew up in Bucks, not far from Aylesbury.
Comment from A. Louise Robertson
I love reading your poetry as it is so reminiscent of the poets of old, and has that "feeling" of romance and beauty rarely captured today - this is beautiful and artistic. Simply beautiful.
reply by the author on 09-May-2020
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I love reading your poetry as it is so reminiscent of the poets of old, and has that "feeling" of romance and beauty rarely captured today - this is beautiful and artistic. Simply beautiful.
Comment Written 09-May-2020
reply by the author on 09-May-2020
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What a lovely thing to say, Louise. So much appreciated. Best wishes, Tony
Comment from Pearl Edwards
This is a lovely spiritual free verse Tony, and as I was reading it I felt it was a personal poem, well used alliteration always adds to the descriptions. Nicely done, cheers Valda
reply by the author on 09-May-2020
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This is a lovely spiritual free verse Tony, and as I was reading it I felt it was a personal poem, well used alliteration always adds to the descriptions. Nicely done, cheers Valda
Comment Written 09-May-2020
reply by the author on 09-May-2020
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Thank you so much for your kind words, Valda. Appreciated, as always. Best wishes, Tony
Comment from Minglement
This is a very poignant, almost haunting poem of reminiscence and history. You have led a much diffferent life owing to your locale, and its always interesting to get a glimpse of that. Good luck in the contest.
reply by the author on 09-May-2020
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This is a very poignant, almost haunting poem of reminiscence and history. You have led a much diffferent life owing to your locale, and its always interesting to get a glimpse of that. Good luck in the contest.
Comment Written 08-May-2020
reply by the author on 09-May-2020
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Thank you very much, Marcia. I value your comments about the atmosphere created in my poem. I appreciate your good luck wishes, too. All good wishes, Tony
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My pleasure. Well done. Take care :) Marcia
Comment from catch22
Hi Tony,
this is a somber and beautiful free verse offering for the contest. It was a pleasure to read a work of this caliber that is both reflective and personal. I've been away from the site for awhile, but it's good to come back to something familiar and lovely like this poem. I wish you very well in the contest.
reply by the author on 09-May-2020
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Hi Tony,
this is a somber and beautiful free verse offering for the contest. It was a pleasure to read a work of this caliber that is both reflective and personal. I've been away from the site for awhile, but it's good to come back to something familiar and lovely like this poem. I wish you very well in the contest.
Comment Written 08-May-2020
reply by the author on 09-May-2020
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So good to see you back, Pam. Thank you very much for your supportive comments and good luck wishes. I shall hold off reviewing your fascinating poem Natural History until tomorrow, so that I can award it the six stars it so richly deserves.
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Hi Tony, thank you for the warm welcome back. I look forward to your comments on my writing. It is a pleasure to read your work.
Comment from Pam (respa)
-Very nice image and
presentation, Tony.
-I appreciate your notes.
-This is a beautiful poem
with such vivid imagery
that allows us to picture each scene
"as you walk through time."
-I like the verse as you kneel
"at sandstone arches."
-The conclusion speaks for
itself and comes from your heart.
-Thanks for sharing this and the
memory of your grandfather.
-Well done, my friend.
reply by the author on 09-May-2020
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-Very nice image and
presentation, Tony.
-I appreciate your notes.
-This is a beautiful poem
with such vivid imagery
that allows us to picture each scene
"as you walk through time."
-I like the verse as you kneel
"at sandstone arches."
-The conclusion speaks for
itself and comes from your heart.
-Thanks for sharing this and the
memory of your grandfather.
-Well done, my friend.
Comment Written 08-May-2020
reply by the author on 09-May-2020
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Lovely comments, Pam. Most affirming. Thank you so much for this supportive review. All good wishes, Tony
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You are very welcome, Tony.
Comment from Treischel
You write in Free Verse so well, using symbolic metaphors like a master painter colors in hues. A homecoming reverie descriptively melancholy. The churchyard and candles are compelling sentinels.
reply by the author on 09-May-2020
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You write in Free Verse so well, using symbolic metaphors like a master painter colors in hues. A homecoming reverie descriptively melancholy. The churchyard and candles are compelling sentinels.
Comment Written 08-May-2020
reply by the author on 09-May-2020
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Thank you so much for this supportive review, Tom. Most affirming. All good wishes, Tony
Comment from Bichon
This was a unique poem, and a great entry into the free verse contest. Your descriptions were very vivid and really created a mental image in the readers mind. Great work!
reply by the author on 09-May-2020
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This was a unique poem, and a great entry into the free verse contest. Your descriptions were very vivid and really created a mental image in the readers mind. Great work!
Comment Written 08-May-2020
reply by the author on 09-May-2020
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Thank you so much for your kind words, Bichon. Appreciated, as always. Best wishes, Tony
Comment from Pantygynt
This is a lovely, soft reminiscence that bore me along with it, not that I had any relatives in holy orders but even my preparatory school had a dedicated chapel and Marlborough's was almost like a cathedral, especially the rearados at what Larkin describes as 'the holy end', so I was in tune with this poem all the way.
reply by the author on 09-May-2020
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This is a lovely, soft reminiscence that bore me along with it, not that I had any relatives in holy orders but even my preparatory school had a dedicated chapel and Marlborough's was almost like a cathedral, especially the rearados at what Larkin describes as 'the holy end', so I was in tune with this poem all the way.
Comment Written 08-May-2020
reply by the author on 09-May-2020
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I like Larkin's description! I used to be despatched to the village church with my brother on the Sundays when my grandfather came out of retirement to stand in for the local vicar. He made the most of the opportunity and we had strict instructions to drum our heels on the pew if he went on too long. My mother's view of religion was confined to the kitchen. Letting the Sunday roast spoil was a sacrilege not to be endured.
Thanks for your empathy with this one and for the sixth star.
All the best, Tony
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You grandfather it seems could have been a runner in Wodehouse's 'Great Sermon Handicap'. How times have changed over a century and yet much the same. My father said that if a clergyman couldn't get his message across in ten minutes he wasnt worth listening to. They had Spanish Flu and weve got Covid.
The slump came next and then Adolf!
Plus ca change...
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I only remember one sermon in the school chapel. It was delivered by a Franciscan monk. Not actually the content, but the opening words which, together with his brown robes and white rope belt, caught everyone's attention. "I'm going to talk about God, and about five minutes." By my watch, he came in at 4 min 25 sec. A good egg.