Morgen’s Email Critique Group

Hello. I know that writers, myself included, need – and appreciate – feedback on our work. By that I don’t mean “Oh yes, that’s great” – although that would be good too. We need to be told where we’re going wrong. I am a freelance editor so it’s my day job to do that but I thought I’d start this critique group so that you could also get feedback from other writers.

The idea is that you submit your writing (max. 5,000 words per submission*) – whenever you like – and I will collate them and send them on to others in the group for them to return to me within two weeks, although the sooner the better) so that I can return it to the original author.

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Post-weekend Poetry 136: Seat with my Name by Tim French

Welcome to Post-weekend Poetry and the one hundred and thirty-sixth poem in this series. This week’s piece sees the return of English poet, Tim French.

Seat with my Name

024 bench - 233693That seat over there it bears my name

Standing proudly, always, in sun and rain

A refuge where weary walkers take rest

To eat, drink and retrieve their zest

It’s cleaned and cared for by my folk

A place we’d often share a jaunty joke

Around it in summer cluster clumps of wort

About the bees buzz ’til they opt to abort

And flights of geese oft assemble this way

For their many take-offs out to Stone Barn Bay

From here you can adjust and focus your gaze

On sails, harbours and pretend castaways

And after a day packed full of frolics and fun

It’s the best spot to see the setting sun

So though I’ll not add to my four score

My shade shall truly sit here for evermore.

*

I asked Tim what inspired this poem and he said…

This and some of my other poems were inspired by walks around Brixworth village, Brixworth Country Park, Pitsford Water and The Brampton Valley Way, Northamptonshire.

Another great poem. I love the idea of pretend castaways and because I live in the same county, I can imagine where they might be. Thank you, Tim.

Born, living and working in Northampton, England, Tim has had a number of pieces published in the small press down the years.

If you’d like to submit your poem (60 lines max) for consideration for Post-weekend Poetry take a look here or a poem for critique on the Online Poetry Writing Group (link below).

Related articles:

*** Breaking news! My online creative writing courses are currently just £1 or $1-2 each! ***

You can subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app via Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com. Alternatively, you can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything (see right-hand vertical menu).

You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my books (including my debut novel The Serial Dater’s Shopping Listvarious short story collections and writer’s block workbooks) and If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating. Thank you.

Morgen Bailey Cover montage 2I now run online courses – details on Courses – and for anyone looking for an editor, do take a look at Editing and Critique.

If you would like to send me a book review of another author’s books or like your book reviewed (short stories, contemporary crime / women’s novels or writing guides), see book-reviews for the guidelines. Other options listed on opportunities-on-this-blog. And I post writing exercises every weekday on four online writing groups.

Post-weekend Poetry 135: Alone by JJ Williams

Welcome to Post-weekend Poetry and the one hundred and thirty-fifth poem in this series. This week’s piece is by JJ Williams.

Alone

alone 834935Alone

yes alone

I need to be alone

Alone, there I like to be

Alone, in peace

 

Alone

from you all

all you minions of corruption

all you tyrants of peace

I need to be clean

 

Alone

from she who cried for me

from her unceasing calls

her unending disturb

her morally dangerous weapon

 

Alone

I need to be Alone

from all you fake tutors,

pilots of education

who claim to be cornerstones

for childs’ upbringings

and yet in black and hideous places

reaping them of their little means of survival

 

Alone

from all you

who try to disturb in times of meditation

wasting the time I have left to use

making me forgo

my only means of peace and solitude

 

I need to be alone,

leave me alone

*

I asked JJ what prompted this piece and he said…

I felt sad.

It certainly comes across. Very atmospheric. Thank you, JJ.

*

If you’d like to submit your poem (60 lines max) for consideration for Post-weekend Poetry take a look here or a poem for critique on the Online Poetry Writing Group (link below).

Related articles:

*** Breaking news! My online creative writing courses are currently just £1 or $1-2 each! ***

You can subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app via Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com. Alternatively, you can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything (see right-hand vertical menu).

You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my books (including my debut novel The Serial Dater’s Shopping Listvarious short story collections and writer’s block workbooks) and If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating. Thank you.

Morgen Bailey Cover montage 2I now run online courses – details on Courses – and for anyone looking for an editor, do take a look at Editing and Critique.

If you would like to send me a book review of another author’s books or like your book reviewed (short stories, contemporary crime / women’s novels or writing guides), see book-reviews for the guidelines. Other options listed on opportunities-on-this-blog. And I post writing exercises every weekday on four online writing groups.

Post-weekend Poetry 134: A Country House by Tim French

Welcome to Post-weekend Poetry and the one hundred and thirty-fourth poem in this series. This week’s piece is by Tim French.

A Country House

Old mansion 182699No more fires shall crackle

in that grate

No more balls will roll

across the baize

No more ales might

our thirsts slake

Another country house

has closed to public gaze

 

No more skittles can topple

in the lounge

No more laughs should

our car-boot jokes raise

No more titbits may

old Lucky scrounge

Another country house

has closed to public gaze

*

I asked Tim what prompted this piece and he said…

The poem is an elegy for the demise of the licensed trade, particularly in rural areas, which has accelerated over recent years.

A sad reflection indeed. Thank you, Tim.

Born, living and working in Northampton, England, Tim has had a number of pieces published in the small press down the years.

If you’d like to submit your poem (60 lines max) for consideration for Post-weekend Poetry take a look here or a poem for critique on the Online Poetry Writing Group (link below).

Related articles:

*** Breaking news! My online creative writing courses are currently just £1 or $1-2 each! ***

You can subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app via Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com. Alternatively, you can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything (see right-hand vertical menu).

You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my books (including my debut novel The Serial Dater’s Shopping Listvarious short story collections and writer’s block workbooks) and If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating. Thank you.

Morgen Bailey Cover montage 2I now run online courses – details on Courses – and for anyone looking for an editor, do take a look at Editing and Critique.

If you would like to send me a book review of another author’s books or like your book reviewed (short stories, contemporary crime / women’s novels or writing guides), see book-reviews for the guidelines. Other options listed on opportunities-on-this-blog. And I post writing exercises every weekday on four online writing groups.

Post-weekend Poetry 133: Deepest Loss by Mirha Saleem

Welcome to Post-weekend Poetry and the one hundred and thirty-third poem in this series. This week’s piece is by seventh-grader Mirha Saleem.

Deepest Loss by Mirha Saleem

girls sledging 945650I knew when I first saw her she looked like another me,

But yet so jolly and so carefree,

Whereas I was quite serious and scholarly,

I don’t know how it started but our bond grew strong,

I knew this was the place where I belong,

Years passed by and our friendship reached to the extreme,

But now it looks like a lost daydream.

 

Someone came and interrupted my life,

The agony was fiercer than being stabbed by a knife,

Watching her gradually going away from me,

After that everything happened so quickly,

How would you feel losing a best friend?

 

Too late for the mistakes to amend,

Every time I see her, my heart breaks apart,

No words to explain the emotions of my heart,

Now that she’s away it brings tears to my eyes,

How long can I keep myself in disguise?

 

Seeing her with someone else the way we used to be,

From this discomfort will I ever be free,

After all our years together is that the reward I get,

This worry follows me everywhere like a threat,

I wish I had known what trust would lead to,

I wish someone had given me a clue,

I learned not to trust anyone entirely,

For the pain to resist cannot be conquered easily.

*

I asked Mirha what prompted this piece and she said…

I love poetry and the poem I am sending you is mainly about my own experience (as I believe that a best piece of writing is the one the author has experienced). This poem is actually about trust.

*

Mirha is in the seventh grade at school. Wasn’t her poem great! Thank you, Mirha.

If you’d like to submit your poem (60 lines max) for consideration for Post-weekend Poetry take a look here or a poem for critique on the Online Poetry Writing Group (link below).

Related articles:

*** Breaking news! My online creative writing courses are currently just £1 or $1-2 each! ***

You can subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app via Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com. Alternatively, you can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything (see right-hand vertical menu).

You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my books (including my debut novel The Serial Dater’s Shopping Listvarious short story collections and writer’s block workbooks) and If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating. Thank you.

Morgen Bailey Cover montage 2I now run online courses – details on Courses – and for anyone looking for an editor, do take a look at Editing and Critique.

If you would like to send me a book review of another author’s books or like your book reviewed (short stories, contemporary crime / women’s novels or writing guides), see book-reviews for the guidelines. Other options listed on opportunities-on-this-blog. And I post writing exercises every weekday on four online writing groups.

Post-weekend Poetry 132: Tinsel by Allyson Salmon

Welcome to Post-weekend Poetry and the one hundred and thirty-second poem in this series. This week’s piece is by Allyson Salmon.

Tinsel

tinsel 996522Tinsel now aglow

In light from fireplace warm

Stockings wait just so

Nature’s winter face

Sparkles and decorates trees

Bright with winter sun

Christmas shopping now

Time to run off both our feet

Bliss when all is done

Nearly home, coffee

Peace and quiet from shopping

Put my feet up now

Turkey pink and plump

Pop it in the oven soon

Peel sprouts, peas and spuds

That’s it, it’s done, just enjoy the fun

*

You can probably guess the inspiration, but I asked Allyson what prompted this piece and she said…

I was sorting out the decorations, drinking coffee and resting my feet after shopping. It was the bliss that inspired me!

Thank you, Allyson. It makes me feel far more festive than I was before now.

Allyson Salmon as had three poems published by United Press including one in their National Poetry Anthology 2015. She has also had a poem published in The People’s Friend. Allyson is married with one grown-up daughter.

*

If you’d like to submit your poem (60 lines max) for consideration for Post-weekend Poetry take a look here or a poem for critique on the Online Poetry Writing Group (link below).

Related articles:

*** Breaking news! My online creative writing courses are currently just £1 or $1-2 each! ***

You can subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app via Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com. Alternatively, you can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything (see right-hand vertical menu).

You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my books (including my debut novel The Serial Dater’s Shopping Listvarious short story collections and writer’s block workbooks) and If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating. Thank you.

Morgen Bailey Cover montage 2I now run online courses – details on Courses – and for anyone looking for an editor, do take a look at Editing and Critique.

If you would like to send me a book review of another author’s books or like your book reviewed (short stories, contemporary crime / women’s novels or writing guides), see book-reviews for the guidelines. Other options listed on opportunities-on-this-blog. And I post writing exercises every weekday on four online writing groups.

Post-weekend Poetry 131: Virtuous Circle by Allyson Salmon

Welcome to Post-weekend Poetry and the one hundred and thirty-first poem in this series. This week’s piece is by Allyson Salmon.

Virtuous Circle

earth 595379We come from the earth

We return to the earth

Earth is our body

Earth our soul

Earth sustains us

Earth supports us

Respect the earth

Support the earth

Nourish the earth

Cherish the earth

And

Earth will nourish

Earth will support

Us

*

I asked Allyson what prompted this piece and she said…

Continue reading

Post-weekend Poetry 130: Saudade by Samantha Connolly

Welcome to Post-weekend Poetry and the one hundred and thirtieth poem in this series. This week’s piece is by Samantha Connolly.

Saudade

library 654616The ground floor windows are reminiscent of the library

Where they met.

Should be a reason not to choose the place –

should be.

And yet…

 

The same dark stained wood and mosaic tile around the glass

‘Bela’, you used to say as you ran your finger along the grain.

 

The day outside is splashed with water,

crystal clear and cold and dripping.

Dew still on the grass and leaves

No breeze.

Bright, high sun.

It stirs something inside her.

A dull grey falls on the hush of the house.

She hears their laughter.

*

I asked Samantha what prompted this piece and she said…

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Post-weekend Poetry 129: Living by Gboyero Felix

Welcome to Post-weekend Poetry and the one hundred and twenty-ninth poem in this series. This week’s piece is by Gboyero Felix.

Living

fun 921534Uncertainty as it’s defined

Warlock in its dismay

Living seems odd all the day

Just as the beautiful lady experiences senescence

It’s started well at dawn

But flux on noon day

Waxed further to disdain night

All seems not worthy to live for

But living we shall live it

A question yet define is living….

Its authenticity gurps as a chameleon…

*

I asked Gboyero what prompted this piece and he said…

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Post-weekend Poetry 128: A Frozen Heart That Could Be Mine by Samantha Wilcox

Welcome to Post-weekend Poetry and the one hundred and twenty-eighth poem in this series. This week’s piece is by Samantha Wilcox.

A Frozen Heart That Could Be Mine

frozen heart 898289A frozen heart that could be mine

I don’t look

So I don’t find

Sodden trampled leaves beneath me

Slick brown glistening branches beat me

Fast of tread as wind whips chest

Seeking out what isn’t there to take

Buried deep amongst the tissues, vessels,

Bloody secrets twisted, nestled

A shout behind me in the dark

My name, his voice a question mark

I tried. Time and again, I tried

Slow as moments lost at sea

Fast as lifetimes unseen pass

The flow of warmth was chilled to ice

As broken arteries perhaps. I tried

I could not love you

I cannot love. Too tired to try again

A frozen heart that could be mine?

But nothing answers me this time around

And so the ground

Awaits me.

*

I asked Samantha what prompted this piece and she said…

Continue reading