jemmcc83
Mar 01
Capturing the true heart of Valentine!
4 Likes
martinmccarthy1956
Mar 01
Replying to
jemmcc83
It certainly captured something many readers liked and reacted to – possibly the idea that ‘What will survive us is love’ – to quote Philip Larkin. Thanks for adding your comment.
1 Like
john.masella6695
Feb 26
A beautiful, moving, affective, and emotion-laden work with the precision, economy, and tact characteristic of Martin. This poem is wrought with both a pulling urgency and a soothing patience, and the interplay between personified nature and nature-cradled humanity demonstrates a keen sense of our interconnectedness both to each other, through love and passion, and to the world in its ubiquitous ebbs and flows. Terrific as always!
2 Likes
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 26
Replying to
john.masella6695
My dear friend, welcome back to the world of online poetry, and thank you so much for your kind and insightful comments. They are much appreciated.
Now let me say how wonderful it would be to see some of your unique and closely-observed studies of the hollowness of urban life and the elusive magic of human relationships in print again, sometime soon.
2 Likes
stewart.burke
Feb 16
I adore how the poem relates how love’s light dawns and dims, and fingers twitch and clutch however tenuously the sands of space and time and matter. The sheer tactility comes through in every stanza. Brilliant, Martin, brilliant!
4 Likes
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 16
Replying to
stewart.burke
You have written quite a few very striking poems yourself, Stewart, so I really appreciate the compliment coming from one who knows what it takes to craft good work and to balance that craft with human emotions and a timeless sense of the transcendent. Thank you so much.
2 Likes
billyredster
Feb 14
This is stunning, and not only for the day that’s in it. At this point, I am absolutely convinced that Martin McCarthy is a rare poet, inspired and driven, vivid in his certainty of the things that matter. There is so much feeling in this work, anticipation, anxiety, love, lust and wonder, the very purest and most precise feelings – usually nearly impossible to identify, much less analyse – of a moment that has somehow broached the numinous. This is beautifully crafted, a gift to readers from a high talent.
4 Likes
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 14
Replying to
billyredster
Hello, Billy. Thanks so much for your kind comments. They are much appreciated. For a prolific writer of novels and short stories, you really have a very eloquent and poetic turn of phrase! Perhaps some of the pupils you are now mentoring might consider sending their best short stories to David if you deem them to be good enough. They will find the submission guidelines if they click ‘Short Story’ in the menu above. Thanks again, Martin.
2 Likes
winestone.poet
Feb 14
On a side note, I would like to thank David for agreeing to publish “Ebb Tide” on such an appropriate day. I can’t help but wonder why most editors today have an allergy to love poems and get so squeamish about publishing them? After all, poetry evolved from songwriting, and Heaven knows moving love songs are still hugely popular today. Why do so many people appreciate songs for their emotional power, yet turn up their snotty, indoctrinated noses at poetry possessing that same power?
I also think the enduring popularity of poets like Sappho point to the timelessness of love poetry. Innumerable things have changed throughout the course of history, but one thing that hasn’t changed (and never will) is human nature. That is why people can read the work of an ancient poet like Sappho and relate to it. It still seems fresh and relevant today.
-Shannon
4 Likes
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 14
Replying to
winestone.poet
That’s a fine question, Shannon, and David and other commenters may join in and offer their thoughts and insights on it in due course, but I’ll give you my take on it and it’s this:
Love poems are totally out of fashion now, and most journals don’t want them – especially if they are anyway realistic or erotic. But love is not a fashion. Love is the most beautiful and timeless story there is. It’s at the very centre of the teachings of Jesus. That’s why so many love poems have a religious tone to them, or use religious symbolism. Love is a very sacred thing, and we must embrace it before the ebb tide carries it away from us, and our chance to love is gone forever.
3 Likes
Michael R. Burch
Feb 15
Replying to
winestone.poet
Shannon, it’s not just an aversion to love poems. I began writing poetry seriously around age 14 and have been fighting the poetry wars for over 50 years, along the lines of my ars poetica, “Poetry.” In my half-century as a poet, I have noticed strong aversions in literary circles against love, praise, honest human sentiments, abstract language, personification, poems about mothers (the most intimate human relationship), and even adjectives and exclamation marks, etc. I think Martin is one of the best contemporary writers of love poems. My wife Beth thinks I’m another (although she may be biased). But most modern journals would not publish Martin’s “Ebb Tide” and I had a hard time getting my “Ebb Tide” published, even though I consider it one of my best poems. All the biases make it difficult for poets to stay true to themselves and get published. Thankfully, David Gosselin is the rare exception with The Chained Muse and New Lyre. It is important to note that the strange biases do not infect most readers. Some of my love poems are among my most popular poems on the Internet, according to Google. If anyone has an interest, I have published a page of my poems with their Google rankings here:
http://www.thehypertexts.com/Michael%20R.%20Burch%20Best%20Poems.htm
3 Likes
winestone.poet
Feb 16
Replying to
martinmccarthy1956
Thank you for offering your insightful perspective on this topic, Martin. I think you are are right. Your thoughts on the subject are very profound and edifying. I found your mention of religious overtones in love poems very interesting. On that note, I would like to point out that one of the oldest extant poems dealing with love and eroticism, the Song of Solomon, can actually be found in the Bible. As Solomon himself said, there is nothing new under the sun. Lastly, I especially love how you wrote the following:
Love is a very sacred thing, and we must embrace it before the ebb tide carries it away from us, and our chance to love is gone forever.
Well said! Your prose is often as exquisite as your poetry.
– Shannon
3 Likes
winestone.poet
Feb 16
Replying to
Michael R. Burch
Thank you for composing such a fascinating and informative comment on this subject, Mike. I agree that love poems are far from being the only things most literary circles suffer a strong aversion to. I will say, however, that I had no idea that even adjectives and exclamation marks are considered problematic in such circles. It’s asinine beyond belief. I must make a mental note to feel very aghast next time I see an exclamation mark in a contemporary poem. 🙄
I couldn’t agree more with your wife; you truly are one of the best contemporary writers of love poetry. I agree with you on Martin as well. Sadly, I also agree that most modern journals wouldn’t touch Martin’s “Ebb with a ten foot pole—their loss and David’s gain! Same goes for your own poem “Ebb Tide”, which is a magnificent poem by the way. So is your poem “Poetry”. It’s absolutely mind blowing that you wrote it as a teenager.
Thank you for attaching a link to your page of Google rankings for your poems. I’ll definitely have to check that out.
– Shannon
2 Likes
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 16
Replying to
Michael R. Burch
I clicked on that link over an hour ago expecting to have a quick look before a busy day starts for me. Then I began reading and I soon realised that I had entered a whole Aladdin’s cave of wonders and the door had closed behind me and I couldn’t remember the password to get out – nor did I want to.
2 Likes
Michael R. Burch
Feb 16
Replying to
winestone.poet
Shannon, there is an axiom that poets are only allowed one exclamation mark, or two or three, per lifetime. And yet we raise the pitch of our voices constantly in everyday speech. Imagine Shakespeare trying to write plays in which no one could raise the pitch of their voices. How absurd. A poet once told me that I shouldn’t use the term “green grass” because it had been used before. I have seen various prohibitions and warnings against the use of adjectives and adverbs in poetry. Shakespeare might beg to differ, since he coined so many adjectives and adverbs. Poetry circles are full of nonsense these days. I would be interested to hear what you think about Google’s ratings of my poems, if you have the time.
2 Likes
Michael R. Burch
Feb 16
Replying to
martinmccarthy1956
If you found something you like, that makes me happy. I like to see what Google thinks of my poems, because that tells me what readers think.
3 Likes
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 16
Replying to
winestone.poet
Someday, when I’m a little wiser, I may endeavour to write my own ‘Song of Solomon’. That’s a challenge I wouldn’t entirely rule out because I have already ventured into the poetic territory where one tries to combine the erotic with the sacred. I don’t yet have a ‘Song of Solomon’, but I do have a poem titled ‘Song at Nightfall’. Here’s a stanza from it:
Night falls
and I ache to lie beside you
in that synagogue
of silence and softness
before the machines wake.
Perhaps David might publish it on Valentine’s Day 2025, if I’m still here. In any case I’ll send it to him and see what happens.
2 Likes
Martinmccarthy1956
Feb 16
Replying to
Michael R. Burch
I love Tom Jones’s song ‘Green Green Grass of Home. If we were to take ‘green’ and ‘grass’ out of that, it would be more difficult to sing, and how could it possibly be good?
2 Likes
winestone.poet
Feb 16
Replying to
martinmccarthy1956
Martin, I definitely think you are up to the challenge of writing your own Song of Solomon. I would love to see you do that. I can only imagine how unbelievable it would be!
Thank you so much for bringing up “Song at Nightfall”. I LOVE that one, and ironically, the particular stanza you quoted has been coming into my head lately. I couldn’t remember the actual name of the poem, however, and I’ve been meaning to look for it on your website. You’ve just made that easier for me. 😉
I definitely think you should send it to David, and I hope he publishes it on Valentine’s Day 2025. That would be very fitting. I personally think every Valentine’s Day going forward should feature one of your poems.
– Shannon
2 Likes
Michael R. Burch
Feb 17
Replying to
martinmccarthy1956
The prohibition against “green grass” is silly, like so many nonsensical “rules” about poetry composition. I ignore them all and trust my ear to keep me out of trouble.
3 Likes
Michael R. Burch
Feb 17
Replying to
winestone.poet
I think it’s fine to publish good love poems year ’round. I do that frequently at The HyperTexts and no one has complained so far. 😉
3 Likes
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 17
Replying to
Michael R. Burch
I always find something I like, some little gem I haven’t seen before, when I click on any new link to your poems. The question I have is: ‘How many poems have you’ve written?’ Then there’s the matter of translations. ‘How many translations have you done?’ I’ve read hundreds and there seems to be no end to it. One look always uncovers another new gem.
2 Likes
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 17
Replying to
winestone.poet
Wouldn’t that be a beautiful thing? A little gift each year for all the lovers searching websites for a meaningful love poem. Great idea!
2 Likes
winestone.poet
Feb 18
Replying to
martinmccarthy1956
Thanks, Martin! I’m glad you like it.
– Shannon
2 Likes
winestone.poet
Feb 18
Replying to
Michael R. Burch
I’m sorry to say that I once bought into the nonsense of seeing familiar terms such as “green grass” as problematic. It all started with me reading some articles on the do’s and don’ts of writing poetry. Because of this idiocy, I even grappled with using the term “virgin snow” in “Hideous” because other people had used it before. 🙄 Thankfully, I’ve realized what a nonsensical rule that is for a long while now.
I’ve gone through the Google rankings of your poems, and I’m currently in the middle of going through your own grouping of what you consider your best poems. It’s all been a very fascinating and enjoyable read, to say the least. There were some of Google’s that I agreed with, such as those for “Something”, “Will There Be Starlight”, and “Infinity”. However, there were other rankings that made me raise my eyebrows. For instance, I thought poems such as “Enigma” and “Passionate One” should have ranked much higher. I also think some other poems—such as “Breakings”—were ranked too high. I do think “To Have Loved” should have made it onto the list as well. There were also poems in the ranking that I hadn’t read before that I was delighted to discover, such as “Step Into Starlight”, “Myth”, and “Floating”. I never cease to be amazed at the size and quality of your poetic output over the years, as well as all the amazing poems you wrote in your teens and early twenties. Thank you for sharing a link to that!
– Shannon
2 Likes
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 18
Replying to
winestone.poet
I’ve read about six or seven hundred poems by Mike – all poems I love and have printed out. So he has my tremendous admiration as a poet, but he’s equally good at being a real person.
2 Likes
winestone.poet
Feb 18
Replying to
martinmccarthy1956
I agree, Martin.
– Shannon
2 Likes
Michael R. Burch
Feb 19
Replying to
martinmccarthy1956
The last time I checked my database, I had 9,000 publications including poems and translations that have gone viral. But many poems have been published more than once. I have slightly over 2,000 individual poems that have been published. But the number keeps going up because I never seem to suffer from writer’s block.
2 Likes
Michael R. Burch
Feb 19
Replying to
winestone.poet
Shannon, I’m glad you chose not to buy into the nonsense. There are stale phrases that I wouldn’t use in a serious poem, such as “Be the best you can be,” but there’s nothing wrong with basic building block phrases like “green grass” and “virgin snow” if they are used appropriately. Bad poets may use them badly, but good poets can use them appropriately. I think Google has done a reasonably good job ranking my poems, which means readers are pretty good at sorting out which poems are among my best. With over 2,000 published poems it’s not easy for me to rank them, so I don’t expect perfection from Google. But all-in-all, not bad at all. Perhaps if you ever have the time, you can give me your top ten.
3 Likes
Michael R. Burch
Feb 19
Replying to
martinmccarthy1956
Martin, I am very honored that you have read that many of my poems and translations.
3 Likes
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 19
Replying to
Michael R. Burch
It’s a real pleasure. And your latest Rilke translation (‘You who never arrived’) is outstanding. I can only urge any commenter reading this to check it out.
2 Likes
Michael R. Burch
Feb 20
Replying to
martinmccarthy1956
I will post it here, in case anyone cares to read it: Du im Voraus (“You who never arrived”)
by Rainer Maria Rilke
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
You who never arrived in my arms, my Belovéd,
lost before we began…
How can I possibly know which songs might please you?
I have given up trying to envision you
in portentous moments before the next wave impacts…
when all the vastness and immenseness within me,
all the far-off undiscovered lands and landscapes,
all the cities, towers and bridges,
all the unanticipated twists and turns in the road,
and all those terrible terrains once traversed by strange gods—
engender new meaning in me:
your meaning, my enigmatic darling…
You, who continually elude me.
You, my Belovéd,
who are every garden I ever gazed upon,
longingly, through some country manor’s open window,
so that you almost stepped out, pensively, to meet me;
who are every sidestreet I ever chanced upon,
even though you’d just traipsed tantalizingly away, and vanished,
while the disconcerted shopkeepers’ mirrors
still dizzily reflected your image, flashing you back at me,
startled by my unwarranted image!
Who knows, but perhaps the same songbird’s cry
echoed through us both,
yesterday, separate as we were, that evening?
3 Likes
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 20
Replying to
Michael R. Burch
Wasn’t Rilke an amazing poet – right up there with the very best? And you’ve done justice to him here. This is very is beautiful.
It strikes me now that all of these comments inspired by ‘Ebb Tide’ and the idea of ‘timeless poetry’ have created their own little Aladdin’s cave of poetic treasures and wisdom. One feels enriched by entering it.
2 Likes
winestone.poet
Feb 21
Replying to
martinmccarthy1956
I couldn’t agree more, Martin!
-Shannon
1 Like
winestone.poet
Feb 21
Replying to
Michael R. Burch
At some point if I can remember, I’ll try to give you my top ten. Narrowing your poems down to a top ten list and ranking them will be no easy task. For the time being, I will say that my top ten would include “Something”, “Will There Be Starlight”, “Daredevil”, and “To Have Loved”.
– Shannon
1 Like
winestone.poet
Feb 21
Replying to
Michael R. Burch
Oh my word, thank you for posting this, Mike! I absolutely love this piece, and it is beyond phenomenal—one of your best, I believe. Martin is right: it is indeed outstanding and beautiful. Bravo!
– Shannon
1 Like
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 21
Replying to
winestone.poet
I really have to second that comment. Bravo for the maestro of translations!
2 Likes
winestone.poet
Feb 14
I have fallen very behind on leaving comments here, but without further ado, I must make some remarks on this sublime masterpiece by Martin Mc Carthy, whom I consider one of the greatest poets of our time. Many of Martin’s poems—including “Ebb Tide—possess an emotional power that most published poems lack today. Many editors actually have an aversion to poetry that is even remotely moving, but that is a different discussion altogether.
“Ebb Tide” is simply marvelous for so many reasons, one of which being the transcendent quality it possesses, eclipsing time itself. I love how each stanza begins with simply the word “here”, except with the minor addition of “for” at the beginning of the last stanza. That sort of structure seems very different to me, and I think it adds to the poem’s amazing rhythmic quality. Another thing that jumps out at me is how the first and last stanzas are very similar, yet subtly different, which enhances the musicality of the piece and also adds a nuanced layer of meaning. As for the stanzas in their entirety, Martin’s ability to write such stunningly exquisite lines never ceases to amaze me. In my own personal opinion, few can write lines that are as succinct, yet pregnant with beauty and meaning as these are. It’s so difficult to select a favorite passage, but for me, I think it has to be this one:
here,
where the ebb tide leaves
its mark on the breathless
face of passion,
and the day lays bare
the trembling world before us;
I think Martin’s immense skill in expressing love and eroticism in his work would make Sappho proud. Who knows? Perhaps the Tenth Muse has decided to speak through him now and again. Bravo, Martin! I am in awe!
– Shannon
2 Likes
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 14
Replying to
winestone.poet
Shannon , thank you for commenting on ‘Ebb Tide’ and for all the kind and very insightful things you said about it. You really are a great reader of poetry because you actually read word by word what is there on the page and see clearly what so many so-called experts miss completely because they aren’t open enough to be there with you, instead of being paralysed by poetic theories. Anyway, enough about ‘Ebb Tide’. I want to take this opportunity to say that I saw your most recent poems in the HyperTexts, and I was pleasantly surprised by how good they were – especially ‘Hideous’, which I thought was utterly remarkable for a poet so young. You have a marvellous future ahead of you. I have no doubt about that.
2 Likes
winestone.poet
Feb 15
Replying to
martinmccarthy1956
You are very welcome for the well-deserved comments on “Ebb Tide”, Martin! I am always happy to give a fine poem the attention it deserves.
Thank you so, so much for all your kind words regarding my skills as both a writer and a reader of poetry! That means a great deal coming from you, and I appreciate it more than you know. It is such an incredible honor to have been published by Mike Burch and to see my poems alongside those written by yourself, Mike, Kevin Roberts, Adam Sedia, and so many others. I still have to pinch myself sometimes, just to make sure it is actually real. 😂
Lastly, I am so glad you enjoyed my poems, and I’m especially glad that you think “Hideous” in particular stands out. Truth be told, it is my personal favorite of my own poems. I am very moved that you consider it “utterly remarkable for a poet so young”. I was actually still a teenager when I wrote it; I wrote the first few stanzas when I was eighteen and wrote the rest when I was nineteen. At any rate, thank you so much again for taking the time to publicly comment on my poetry and to give me encouragement regarding my future as a poet. It is a great honor to be so well thought of, especially by poets such as yourself and Mike.
– Shannon
2 Likes
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 15
Replying to
winestone.poet
My wish, Shannon, is to see more of your poems in print as soon as possible, and that you will grow and develop into an extraordinary poet – perhaps with all the sound ideals and insights that we’ve been discussing here among people like ourselves. Isn’t it kind of fortuitous and wonderful to be part of this?
2 Likes
winestone.poet
Feb 16
Replying to
martinmccarthy1956
Thank you so much, Martin! You are a kind soul. Those are my wishes as well. It is indeed fortuitous and wonderful to be a part of this, which is why I will always be thankful to David for many reasons, one of which is the comments section here. If it wasn’t for him and his work, it is highly unlikely that I would have become a part of this at all. I mean, how else would I have gotten in touch with you and Mike?
– Shannon
2 Likes
Michael R. Burch
Feb 16
Replying to
winestone.poet
Shannon, I think “Hideous” shows real talent, and it was my honor to be able to publish it.
2 Likes
Michael R. Burch
Feb 16
Replying to
winestone.poet
Yes, thanks to David for the platforms he’s created.
2 Likes
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 16
Replying to
Michael R. Burch
I agree, and I whole-heartedly endorse the merits of Shannon’ poems – especially ‘Hideous’ which, as I have said already, is a remarkable poem for one so young.
2 Likes
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 16
Replying to
Michael R. Burch
Yes, indeed. If only the poetry world had a few more Davids!
2 Likes
winestone.poet
Feb 16
Replying to
Michael R. Burch
Thank you so much, Mike! I appreciate it more than you know. I am honored that you examined “Hideous” word by word and line by line and deemed it worthy of publication in The HyperTexts. Thank you! 🙏🏻
– Shannon
2 Likes
winestone.poet
Feb 16
Replying to
martinmccarthy1956
Thank you so much, Martin! That means the world to me.
– Shannon
3 Likes
winestone.poet
Feb 16
Replying to
martinmccarthy1956
I agree. What David is doing in invaluable. He is doing a great service to the arts.
– Shannon
2 Likes
Michael R. Burch
Feb 17
Replying to
winestone.poet
Yes, and I didn’t see the need for extensive revisions, even though “Hideous” was on the longer side, compared to the poems THT usually publishes. If I remember things correctly, I only suggested one revision. I didn’t have to go “Ezra Pound” and that’s a compliment to your writing ability.
3 Likes
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 17
Replying to
Michael R. Burch
I agree with you about ‘Hideous’. To maintain that much control and to make so few mistakes over such a long piece is indeed quite an achievement.
2 Likes
winestone.poet
Feb 18
Replying to
Michael R. Burch
There was only one somewhat substantial revision, as well as some slight suggestions about alternative wording here and there, most of which I accepted. I remember going through your suggestions and being stunned (in a pleasant way) that you didn’t suggest any changes whatsoever to the vast majority of the piece. Your revisions have only improved the piece, with it still being 110% my own poem—something you are especially skilled at achieving. It’s a real honor, especially since “Hideous” is indeed much longer than most poems that you have published in THT.
– Shannon
2 Likes
winestone.poet
Feb 18
Replying to
martinmccarthy1956
Thank you so much, Martin! I’m glad you think so. When I was composing “Hideous”, I put the same kind of work into each stanza that I would for an individual poem. It looks like my approach proved successful.
– Shannon
2 Likes
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 18
Replying to
winestone.poet
It will be interesting to see your next poem. Will it be long or short? You probably don’t know yourself at this stage. Most days I don’t consciously set out to write anything. Then, as the day goes by, I find myself writing on anything that’s handy – scraps of paper, tissues, paper towels etc. Strangely, though, never actually typing anything until later on. Maybe some writing guru might explain that to me.
2 Likes
Michael R. Burch
Feb 19
Replying to
martinmccarthy1956
Yes, longer poems are harder to write and I usually write shorter to medium-length poems myself. Shannon has every right to be proud of “Hideous.”
3 Likes
Michael R. Burch
Feb 20
Replying to
winestone.poet
Almost any long poem can be improved here and there, hence Pound’s extensive editing of “The Waste Land.” But with one brilliant poem, you are well ahead of me when it comes to writing long poems. When I edited some of my longer poems, they became epigrams! For instance, I whittled “Styx” down to a couplet:
Styx
by Michael R. Burch
Black waters—deep and dark and still.
All men have passed this way, or will.
I reduced “Infinity” to two stanzas and “Observance” to three. “Poetry” was once an enormous poem, but I reduced it to 40 lines to have it published by The Lyric.” My longest poem, “Jessamyn’s Song,” written at age 14, was reduced to the few lines of “Leave Taking.” Perhaps the best of my teenage poems.
Leave Taking
by Michael R. Burch
Brilliant leaves abandon battered limbs
to waltz upon ecstatic winds
until they die.
But the barren and embittered trees
lament the frolic of the leaves
and curse the bleak November sky.
Now, as I watch the leaves’ high flight
before the fading autumn light,
I think that, perhaps, at last I may
have learned what it means to say
goodbye.
My other longest poem, “Sea Dreams,” remains unpublished.
4 Likes
Michael R. Burch
Feb 20
Replying to
martinmccarthy1956
Robert Frost had such a good memory for his poems that he didn’t have to write them down at all. Then he pretended to “not be able to read” his poem for JFK’s inauguration, and recited “The Gift Outright” instead, which I’m sure he did on purpose, not wanting to over-praise a nation that still had so far to go.
3 Likes
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 20
Replying to
Michael R. Burch
‘The Gift Outright’ is quite a gift to any nation, and to poetry lovers everywhere. I’m glad Frost chose that one.
1 Like
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 20
Replying to
Michael R. Burch
These poems are excellent. And wonderful examples of how to write very striking shorter poems. Thank you for adding them.
1 Like
winestone.poet
Feb 21
Replying to
martinmccarthy1956
Well, I personally want to concentrate on writing shorter poems for a while. I greatly admire the ability that you and Mike have to write such short, compact poems that are so dense with beauty and meaning. There’s many benefits to writing shorter poems. For instance, it is far easier to find editors willing to publish shorter poems. When I was trying to get “Hideous” published, I had to cross so many journals off of my list because my poem exceeded their line limits.
I find your writing process fascinating. I myself always type everything right from the get go.
– Shannon
1 Like
winestone.poet
Feb 21
Replying to
Michael R. Burch
Wow, Mike, thank you! That’s a huge compliment coming from you. I think all the short poems you mentioned are incredible and are fine examples of how one can obtain a perfectly good short poem by heavily editing a long poem that contains both strong and weak lines. It just goes to show the importance of being open to revising our work. Thank you for pasting “Styx” and “Leave Taking” by the way. I love them both, especially “Leave Taking”. There’s nothing like a sublimely melancholy poem.
– Shannon
1 Like
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 21
Replying to
winestone.poet
My writing process isn’t necessarily a matter of choice. I’m always busy and I’m always going someplace in a hurry doing things (ironically enough) that might enable me to find time to write a poem or two. But the Muse doesn’t wait for the perfect moment to visit you. The Muse accepts your life as it is and runs along with offering you transcendent flashes about some significant part of your day, or your life, and you just have to pause sometimes and write them down, or they will be gone. I often have a whole pocketful of paper notes and lines that are eventually crafted into a poem. Now that I think about it, my little poem ‘Ostara’ is possibly about that process – I mean emerging from an underground pocket of my thoughts into a sudden burst of light.
1 Like
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 21
Replying to
winestone.poet
I agree with you, and I too love the ‘melancholy’ of ‘Leave Taking’. But in another interesting synchronicity I have my own poem titled ‘Leave Taking’. So, not only do Mike and I have two ‘Ebb Tides’, but we have two ‘Leave Takings’ also. This is my poem:
Leave Taking
You asked me with your eyes
to hold you, as no one else
has ever held you,
so I did exactly that;
and you were startled
by the sudden surge
of something unsettling.
You asked me with your smile
to tell you this moment is
the holiest ever,
so I did exactly that;
and now an awed silence
clings
to your breath …
as if you know
finally and forever,
what it means to love a day
enough to let it go.
1 Like
winestone.poet
Feb 22
Replying to
martinmccarthy1956
I can’t even believe you have a “Leave Taking” as well! What are the odds of two “Ebb Tides” and two “Leave Takings”? The synchronicities are fascinating. I absolutely love your “Leave Taking”; it’s simply exquisite, as are so many of your poems. Absolutely fabulous, Martin! Thank you so much for sharing it.
– Shannon
1 Like
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 22
Replying to
winestone.poet
I’m so happy you like my ‘Leave Taking’ also. It seems to me at this stage that these comment boxes – or perhaps the Muses – have created their own little anthology of poetry. Thank you for being such a great and avid reader.
1 Like
winestone.poet
Feb 25
Replying to
martinmccarthy1956
You’re most welcome, Martin! I’m glad you think I’m such a good reader; I appreciate it! I agree that a great little poetry anthology has been created in the comment boxes. I will add to it by including the first poem I ever wrote, “The Desolate City”.
THE DESOLATE CITY
for the children of Gaza
My spirit drifts into a desolate city
That is broken, having no walls.
No children play in its streets.
There is no one left to pity
And nothing more to feel.
The agora’s immersed in gloom,
The homes draped in solitude.
Dust and cobwebs adorn their rooms
That no more resound with laughter’s peals
Or the sweet notes of a song.
Alas, all joy is gone!
It has sunk into an abyss of sorrow
And into it my soul has fallen.
5 Likes
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 25
Replying to
winestone.poet
Thank you so much for sharing your poem. It is very moving and atmospheric, and evokes the present state of an extinguished city very well by not only noting specific details about it, such as the gloom, the solitude, and the rooms full of ‘dust and cobwebs’, but also the very noticeable absence of happy human sounds, like song and laughter, and how those sounds have been replaced by ‘an abyss of sorrow’.
How appropriate for the children of Gaza, and other such places, right now! And what a wonderful last line! You, at least, have not forgotten how to feel.
1 Like
winestone.poet
Feb 27
Replying to
martinmccarthy1956
Thank you so much, Martin! I am very moved that something I wrote as a clueless sixteen-year-old could prompt such an eloquent, profound, and insightful comment from a poet such as yourself. I’m glad you find it atmospheric because I find poetry containing atmospheric elements to be particularly powerful, and I try to achieve that in my own work. I’m also glad you find it moving, as I am very interested in the emotional power of individual lines and the overall effect a poem has on one’s consciousness.
Lastly, I would like to thank you for suggesting that I dedicate “The Desolate City” to the children of Gaza. It was an absolutely brilliant idea, and it provides a whole new layer of meaning to the poem that it did not have when I wrote it. It is almost eerily well-suited to the present situation, and I would have never thought of that if you had’t mentioned it. And I’m so pleased that you think the last line was a good way to end the poem. I put a great deal of effort into coming up with a line that gives a poem the right sense of closure, if you know what I mean. Thank you, my friend! You are a great reader of poetry.
– Shannon
1 Like
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 27
Replying to
winestone.poet
I had no idea you were only sixteen when you wrote “The Desolate City”, and it’s interesting to learn this now. Age doesn’t concern me much when I’m reading. What concerns me is the poem itself and whether it has the key elements I regard as essential in any poem of real merit, and these are: craft, emotional power, and an astute sense of being connected to some force or area of experience that seems bigger than yourself – be it joyous or tragic. And your poem has these qualities. So of course I like it. I like it on merit.
1 Like
winestone.poet
Mar 04
Replying to
martinmccarthy1956
Wow, thank you for such an insightful comment, Martin! I am so honored that my poem meets your excellent criteria. In reading your comment, I can honestly say that I have the same set of criteria for assessing other people’s poems. I’m greatly encouraged that you see such great merit in my work.
– Shannon
1 Like
winestone.poet
Mar 04
Replying to
winestone.poet
I would just like to take a moment to thank everyone—seeing David Gosselin here was an especially pleasant shock—who hit the “like” icon after reading my poem. I never remotely anticipated that happening, especially given what a long thread this is. To me, one of the best parts about writing poetry is the possibility of something I wrote speaking to another person’s soul. Thank you, everybody!
– Shannon
1 Like
martinmccarthy1956
Mar 04
Replying to
winestone.poet
It’s always good to be assessed by standards that are similar to our own – especially if those standards have produced poems of great merit and continue to do so.
1 Like
martinmccarthy1956
Mar 05
Replying to
martinmccarthy1956
I forgot to add earlier that the final part of your comment implies that poetry is, among other things, one soul speaking to another. What a lovely definition!
1 Like
winestone.poet
6 days ago
Replying to
martinmccarthy1956
Thank you, Martin! I’m glad you think so. I would tend to think that is the definition of all truly great art. It just speaks to us on a deeper level.
– Shannon
1 Like
martinmccarthy1956
5 days ago
Replying to
winestone.poet
Shannon,
I’m going to turn an old phrase on its head, I’m going to say, ‘You are young and very wise.’
1 Like
winestone.poet
5 days ago
Replying to
martinmccarthy1956
Thank you so much, Martin! I truly appreciate that.
– Shannon
1 Like
Michael R. Burch
Feb 14
I have served as an editor to hundreds of poets over the last 35 years, or so, and in my opinion Martin Mc Carthy is one of the very best contemporary writers of love poetry and erotic poetry. In fact, I admired his poetry so much that I asked him to become a contributing editor to The HyperTexts, a position he accepted. Martin’s poem “Ebb Tide” confirms that he has the rare ability to write affective, moving poetry. There are “big name” poets who lacked this ability, thinking of John Dryden, Alexander Pope, et al. Dryden and Pope were accomplished writers and impressive wits, but they never moved me like a Keats, a Shelley, a Kevin N. Roberts or a Martin Mc Carthy. In our modern era where everyone knows so much about poetry — “Rhyme is passe! Meter is old-fashioned! No ideas but in things! Fear abstractions!” — the love poem has become the red-headed stepchild of poetry. And yet some of the most magnificent poems ever written were love poems: They Flee from Me and Whoso List to Hunt by Sir Thomas Wyatt Song For The Last Actby Louise Bogan Bread and Music by Conrad Aiken The epigrams of the immortal Sappho of Lesbos Sweet Rose of Virtue by William Dunbar Music When Soft Voices Die (To —) by Percy Bysshe Shelley To Earthward by Robert Frost Voyages by Hart Crane Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold Lullabyby W. H. Auden Wild Nights and Come Slowly, Eden by Emily Dickinson Cynara by Ernest Dowson La Figlia Che Piange (The Weeping Girl) by T. S. Eliot Bright Star by John Keats Go, Lovely Rose by Edmund Waller When You Are Oldby William Butler Yeats The Song of Solomon and the best love sonnets of Edna St. Vincent Millay, e.e. cummings and William Shakespeare.
It would be interesting, I think, to explore the question of why love poems, along with poems about poets’ mothers, are so out of favor. Martin asked me to publish my “Ebb Tide” as part of this discussion, so here it is:
Ebb Tide
by Michael R. Burch
Massive, gray, these leaden waves
bear their unchanging burden—
the sameness of each day to day
while the wind seems to struggle to say
something half-submerged planks at the mouth of the bay
might nuzzle limp seaweed to understand.
Now collapsing dull waves drain away
from the unenticing land;
shrieking gulls shadow fish through salt spray—
whitish streaks on a fogged silver mirror.
Sizzling lightning impresses its brand.
Unseen fingers scribble something in the wet sand.
Published by Southwest Review, The Chained Muse, New Lyre and Better Than Starbucks
5 Likes
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 14
Replying to
Michael R. Burch
That’s a stunning compliment, Mike. Thank you so much for saying that – especially on Valentine’s Day when readers are looking for love poems and indeed erotic poems, of which I have written quite a few of in my time!
For me, being published here today clearly shows how important The Chained Muse is getting real poetry out there to readers with high standards and a sense of what a real poem is, rather than the prosy, rhymeless nonsense now favoured by most of the mainstream poetry journals.
Actually, it would be nice to hear David’s thoughts on all of this, if he can spare a minute or two from ‘the poetry war’ to articulate them once again.
4 Likes
Michael R. Burch
Feb 14
Replying to
martinmccarthy1956
Yes, I’d like to hear David’s thoughts. Hopefully he’ll chime in.
3 Likes
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 14
Replying to
martinmccarthy1956
I have just re-read your ‘Ebb Tide’, and it’s remarkable for its descriptiveness and its engagement with language. I just love that last line: ‘Unseen fingers scribble something in the wet sand.’ I can clearly visualise that, and it’s a sublime image for a poem to end with – exactly like a long handwritten line an ebb tide might leave behind.
1 Like
David Gosselin
Feb 15
Replying to
Michael R. Burch
There are many fine and strikingly original variations in this traditional poem on a timeless theme.
Good show!
1 Like
Michael R. Burch
Feb 15
Replying to
martinmccarthy1956
That was a line I was happy to come up with. And I like the mystery: What on earth are the unseen fingers writing? In any case, it’s nice to have our two “Ebb Tides” linked here.
1 Like
Michael R. Burch
Feb 15
Replying to
David Gosselin
David, if you have the time, I and Martin would both like to hear to views on love poems and why they are so out of favor today.
2 Likes
David Gosselin
Feb 15
Replying to
Michael R. Burch
I personally feel that one reason is that when most people think or compose love poems, we tend to get a lot of Romantic sentiments of adolescent love, such that these can are often overdone. Exploring the more mature or nuanced sentiments of love have almost become a cliche, while the rarer kinds of mature love poems by say a Shakespeare or Pushkin are simply rare today because they require a kind of mature and cultivated quality of love which arguably has been supplanted by Taylor Swift-style adolescent love, or merely erotic love. But modern classical love poems which strive for something more do still exist and we’re happy to publish them.
In fact, we even published a fine love sonnet which does even manage to treat a somewhat adolescent love in an original classical manner, such as Gleb Zalanov’s “Cause You’d Be Here.”
https://www.thechainedmuse.com/post/2020/06/08/cause-youd-be-here
A sequence of sentimental love sonnets by Daniel Platt are another refreshing treatment of the classic love poem.
https://www.thechainedmuse.com/post/radiance
https://www.thechainedmuse.com/post/to-the-distant-beloved
And we’ve published some fine modern love sonnets by very talented young poetesses like these:
https://www.thechainedmuse.com/post/stars
https://www.thechainedmuse.com/post/chicago
3 Likes
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 15
Replying to
Michael R. Burch
David has just written to me privately about all of this, and it strikes me now that the poets contributing to The Chained Muse and to The HyperTexts are battling together against the current gods of prosy mediocrity for something of a higher standard. By that I mean, to give rhythmic poetry back its true place in the world as the voice of a divine power, or else as the vessel through which the Muses speak to us once again about what truly matters and is worth preserving when we are here no more.
Love, of course, falls into that category if it is done properly with a balance of good craft, a sense of timelessness, and true emotion.
2 Likes
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 15
Replying to
Michael R. Burch
‘What on earth are the unseen fingers writing?’ That, indeed, is a profound question. And, to be honest, I hadn’t thought of it. I must read the poem again while asking myself just that.
2 Likes
Michael R. Burch
Feb 15
Replying to
David Gosselin
David, thanks for the links. I will check them out. I think the cliche aspect has been over-thought and overdone. There have been a zillion poems written about the passage of time, about autumn as a metaphor for old age, about winter as a metaphor for death, etc. As the Bible’s wisest man, Solomon, observed, there is nothing new under the sun. Such things had been written about extensively before Shakespeare wrote his sonnets. What really matters, in my opinion, is not “originality” which is so over-prized today, as if some new form of weird music is better than “Danny Boy,” but quality and the ability to please and/or move readers. In fact, I touched on this in a poem I dedicated to you,
“What Works”: What Works
by Michael R. Burch
for David Gosselin
What works—
hewn stone;
the blush the iris shows the sun;
the lilac’s pale-remembered bloom.
The frenzied fly: mad-lively, gay,
as seconds tick his time away,
his sentence—one brief day in May,
a period. And then decay.
A frenzied rhyme’s mad tip-toed time,
a ballad’s languid as the sea,
seek, striving—immortality.
When gloss peels off, what works will shine.
When polish fades, what works will gleam.
When intellectual prattle pales,
the dying buzzing in the hive
of tedious incessant bees,
what works will soar and wheel and dive
and milk all honey, leap and thrive,
and teach the pallid poem to seethe.
Published by The Chained Muse
3 Likes
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 15
Replying to
Michael R. Burch
I like that poem. It works for me.
1 Like
winestone.poet
Feb 15
Replying to
David Gosselin
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this very relevant question, David. It’s fascinating to read different people’s perspectives on it. I will have to check those links out later.
– Shannon
2 Likes
winestone.poet
Feb 15
Replying to
Michael R. Burch
I agree wholeheartedly with everything you wrote here, Mike. I especially like how you mentioned that what really matters is “quality and the ability to please and/or move readers”. Others are welcome to disagree, but to me, these things are what make a poem timeless. “What Works” is a fine poem by the way.
– Shannon
2 Likes
Michael R. Burch
Feb 15
Replying to
martinmccarthy1956
I think the better poets can write about whatever they want, in whatever forms and styles they prefer, as long as they can “find the right word at the right time.” That’s how I write poetry myself, trying to find the right word at the right time.
Michael R. Burch
Feb 15
Replying to
martinmccarthy1956
I like to think its an eerie, mysterious line. I don’t know the answer myself. I think the poem is saying that we’re in the same situation as the half-submerged planks nuzzling seaweed and trying to understand what the hell is going on. But I wasn’t thinking that when I wrote the poem.
3 Likes
Michael R. Burch
Feb 15
Replying to
martinmccarthy1956
Martin, that is more or less my approach to writing poetry. Forget rules and formulas. Find what works, find the right word at the right time.
3 Likes
Michael R. Burch
Feb 15
Replying to
winestone.poet
Thanks Shannon. I to the KISS principle in poetry. Toss out the rules and formulas. Find what works. Find the right word at the right time. I have 13- and 15-line sonnets, 2- and 4-line haiku, etc.
I summed up my approach in an epigram:
“I will never grok picking a picky rule over a Poem.” – Michael R. Burch
3 Likes
David Gosselin
Feb 15
Replying to
Michael R. Burch
Bad artists (which is a bit of an oxymoron—I prefer to call them imitators) will always lack originality. However, true originality should be distinguished from novelty.
I would also agree with you when you say “As the Bible’s wisest man, Solomon, observed, there is nothing new under the sun” in respect to the question of love poetry.
There is nothing new under the sun per se. But because of that, what matters is the how, the treatment we choose and how we go about it. That will determine the quality of artistry, originality and if anything authentic is being captured.
For instance, the Classical Greek myths have been revisited time and time again, and in many forms, and they’ll never go away. Same with love poems. Where the change or development happens, even if that means simply rediscovering a lost tradition, is how a particular artist chooses to treat or revisit a particular theme.
Originality per se is not the issue, in my opinion. But naturally, any ageless or timeless theme is going to be treated by a particular artist living in a particular age, and they should be able to bring their own personal experience and insights in respect to how they treat a particular theme or wrestle with a particular conceit, such that the poem doesn’t feel like some mere imitation, whether of formal rules, styles or ages.
Hence, originality.
3 Likes
winestone.poet
Feb 16
Replying to
David Gosselin
This is a fine piece of writing, David—very insightful and illuminating.
– Shannon
2 Likes
winestone.poet
Feb 16
Replying to
Michael R. Burch
I like your principle a great deal, Mike, and I for one will try to write poetry with that in mind in the future. It sounds very liberating. There are so many formalist poems being written today that don’t flow well and rhyme awkwardly, despite being in keeping with all the “rules” of this or that poetic form.
– Shannon
2 Likes
Michael R. Burch
Feb 16
Replying to
David Gosselin
David, I agree. The best poets can write about what has been endlessly written about before, and yet make us want to keep reading. The real problem is not a lack of originality, but the inability of most wannabe poets to interest us in anything they write. Most poetry in every era is average, mediocre, bad or terrible. The poets who matter, in the long run, are the poets who raise the bar, who write well enough to keep us reading. When I write poems, I don’t think about originality, novelty, meter, rhyme, form, etc. What I’m always after is something that seems good enough to read more than once. I never tire of reading the best poems of the great poets. What I hope to write are not poems that are “novel” but ones that can be read many times without readers growing tired of them. That I take to be an important element of what you call “timeless” poetry. I know a great poem or a great song when I can hear it over and over, yet not grow tired of it.
4 Likes
Michael R. Burch
Feb 16
Replying to
winestone.poet
Shannon, I think good poets can and should trust their ears. The best formal poems please our ears. How they do so is ultimately mysterious. I don’t believe in scansion, preset rhyme schemes, rigid forms, etc. When I find a line that doesn’t read well, I never scan it, never ask if this or that metric foot will improve it. Honestly, other than the iamb, I can’t remember the definitions. Instead, my very simple advice is: (1) Throw out the rules. (2) Try to find the right word at the right time. (3) Rely on your ear to tell you when something works, or doesn’t. If you have a good ear and a line pleases you, it should please other readers. Poets who lack good ears are probably fighting losing battles, or really do need to write free verse. How did John Lennon and Joni Mitchell write such good songs? I suspect it was because they had good ears for music. None of the Beatles could write music, so they had to be relying on their ears rather than on formal metrics, I suspect.
3 Likes
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 16
Replying to
David Gosselin
I agree with you, David, about the ‘how’. How you do it, how you say it, in a new way, in your own authentic voice, is what matters in poetry. But, in my view, it must also have music and rhythm in it, or it’s not poetry.
2 Likes
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 16
Replying to
winestone.poet
I agree.
2 Likes
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 16
Replying to
Michael R. Burch
That’s excellent advice. I recite my words aloud, and I listen to them all the time while I’m writing a poem. I think poetry began that way back in ancient times when people passed things on orally because they were unable to write them down. So poetry is primarily a memorable language of sounds.
2 Likes
David Gosselin
Feb 16
Replying to
Michael R. Burch
Amen!
3 Likes
winestone.poet
Feb 17
Replying to
Michael R. Burch
This is awesome, thank you! I’m going to have to copy and paste this somewhere for future reference.
– Shannon
2 Likes
winestone.poet
Feb 17
Replying to
David Gosselin
I second your “Amen!”, David.
– Shannon
2 Likes
Michael R. Burch
Feb 17
Replying to
martinmccarthy1956
Martin, I think there are exceptions. For example, the best haiku of Basho, Issa, Seishi, et al:
Grasses wilt:
the braking locomotive
grinds to a halt.
―Yamaguchi Seishi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Come, investigate loneliness:
a solitary leaf
clings to the Kiri tree
―Matsuo Basho, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
As autumn draws near,
so too our hearts
in this small tea room.
―Matsuo Basho, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Petals I amass
with such tenderness
prick me to the quick.
―Kobayashi Issa, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Picking autumn plums
my wrinkled hands
once again grow fragrant
―Yosa Buson, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Both victor and vanquished are dewdrops:
flashes of light
briefly illuminating the void.
—Ouchi Yoshitaka, loose translation/interpretation of his jisei (death poem) by Michael R. Burch
This world—to what may we compare it?
To autumn fields darkening at dusk,
dimly lit by lightning flashes.
—Minamoto no Shitago, loose translation/interpretation of his jisei (death poem) by Michael R.Burch
Like a lotus leaf’s evaporating dew,
I, too …
vanish.
—Senryu (-1827), loose translation/interpretation of his jisei (death poem) by Michael R. Burch
Oh, fallen camellias,
if I were you,
I’d leap into the torrent!
―Takaha Shugyo, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
3 Likes
Michael R. Burch
Feb 17
Replying to
martinmccarthy1956
I agree. Although I often prefer my internal readings to spoken word performances.
3 Likes
Michael R. Burch
Feb 17
Replying to
David Gosselin
David, I’m glad we agree. And thanks for a creating a platform that produced such an interesting discussion about poetry.
4 Likes
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 17
Replying to
Michael R. Burch
I like that second Basho hiaku very much. I wish I had written that. But perhaps I did in another life.
2 Likes
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 17
Replying to
Michael R. Burch
Yes, I agree. It has been a great and very stimulating discussion. Thanks, David, for the platform in which we could discuss matters of mutual interest and perhaps be more open to the Muses when they visit us in shapes that can take us a little by surprise sometimes, especially when it comes to matters of love and the timeless wisdom of the heart.
2 Likes
Michael R. Burch
Feb 20
Replying to
martinmccarthy1956
Then I am honored to be your translator! And we make a good team, as that has been one of my more popular haiku translations.
3 Likes
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 14
Oh, I must add how very glad I am that David and his team chose to publish this particular poem on Valentine’s Day because I consider it to be a candid, rhythmic, and realistic love poem that strives to echo the passionate heartbeats of the sea.
Today, I dedicate it to all the lovers out there. I say it’s never to late to love, or to keep on loving. For what would the world be without it?
4 Likes
Michael R. Burch
Feb 14
Replying to
martinmccarthy1956
I’m glad David and his team chose to publish such a fine poem on such an appropriate day.
4 Likes
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 14
Replying to
Michael R. Burch
Yes, so am I – especially now when so many poetry journals are wary of love poems, or anything that’s even remotely erotic.
2 Likes
Michael R. Burch
Feb 14
Replying to
martinmccarthy1956
I have addressed this in my comment in the main thread.
3 Likes
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 14
It’s a great honour and privilege to be published once again by The Chained Muse. If anybody has a comment, a question, or a suggestion, I would love to read it.
4 Likes
Michael R. Burch
Feb 14
Replying to
martinmccarthy1956
You can find my comments in my post in the main thread.
3 Likes
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 14
Replying to
Michael R. Burch
Thank you so much for commenting. It’s a special honour for me that you have done so, because I know you have a magnificent poem of your own titled ‘Ebb Tide’. In fact, I think it would be a fine idea if you were to include it in one of the comment boxes, because – how often does David, or any publisher, get the chance to publish two ‘Ebb Tides’ together on the same page?
2 Likes
Michael R. Burch
Feb 14
Replying to
martinmccarthy1956
It is an interesting synchronicity, especially because my “Ebb Tide” is one of my better poems, and yet it was rejected repeatedly by editors over the years. I will post my “Ebb Tide” under my longer comment on the subject.
3 Likes
martinmccarthy1956
Feb 14
Replying to
Michael R. Burch
That’s great. I look forward to reading it again.
2 Likes
MARTIN MC CARTHY POET 