Vis-a-Vis

[Scrow]

I enjoy how in Guildford the coffee makes a surprise appearance in the middle of the poem. I also think that the dialogue, the narrative works really well - also a great last line, full of ambiguity.


The Curious Goat is a great name, and this is my favourite so far - the images are densely packed and surreal, whilst being real enough to imagine - and funny, too - the ‘isobars/windows’ is great. Another very, very good ending.


Sarah

[larryrap]

Hi Neil,

These agitated, urban monologues are wonderful vehicles for the kind of distracted brilliance which you instill into them. To me it feels like an perfectly cracked reflection of the mood of our times.

Also: I feel so stunted next to people who know their coffee and wine. and the list goes on.

[Dunc]

Neil

Costa ─ Evening, pee-de-wino in the rain, coffee, proper nouns including Boomerang, doubtful surroundings, storm and lightning. A jagged night.

Koja ─ And coffee with You, about the Swedish play (either Bergman or I'm a bit unanchored here). The same nuance of connection but the foreground is detachment.

Goat ─ Confusion along with medication, Less distancing, a sense of basic contact.

And all with the delicious background odour of good coffee. Aaah!

Regards / Dunc!

[Tony Hoffman]

I love this, the different, er, coffee shops, the orders, and then the caffeinated free-form that weaves in and out of comprehension, a fascinating conversation we're not really privy to. Some lovely turns of phrase, "...I’m fixing isobars to / the windows...." my favorite. (I do that, metaphorically, every time a storm barrels up the coast.

[JFN]

Neil, I think I might have actually been to The Curious Goat. My brother lives over that way and I’m sure we stopped in there for a snack lunch once. Anyway, the double double espresso in the title made me smile. N clearly felt tired that day. The opening lines made me grin too. I’ve seen many a cold dunking in my time, and had my own in the sea off Tintagel, which was very cold indeed. Or I’m way off the mark and am putting my own experiences into the poem. The closing lines, particularly that very last statement, are funny. This is great.

John

[Bench]

Neil I am glugging these down like I haven't read the warning on the cup. I have a mental list of poems where the / works, and would work differently without, and I'm adding yours as an example of how it's done. And spaces... your spaces always feel deserved; I'm still working on line breaks. Definitely listening.

[5th column]

Thank you, thank you.


Bench: Very kind words. Many thanks
John: Everyone’s reading is valid. My intentions are kinda irrelevant.
Tony: It has to be caffeinated!
Dunc: Thanks, mate. Always appreciate you stopping by.
Larry: I only know what I like…
Sarah-Jane: Thank you. It’s my fave so far too.





Two Magpies Bakery. Aldeburgh. Double Espresso extra hot.



And speaking of judgement. Where are we / vis-à-vis doom-clocks?

Are we there yet? Or is it mid-might? Possibly / read that again.

And vis-à-vis-vis-à-vis, who will check out the cloaks? We may leave

with only what we brought. I feel like crying / must have come /

before song: first breath, then pain, then the crying. (That’s all you Bob).

At the centre of the galaxy’s a super-massive black hole / No light escapes

my father / Whaddya think? I want gut-punched then fish-hooked

from behind the curtain with a cosh in its hand / I want that line

dragged back / through the door, splinters / under its nails / singing.

[Janelo]

The thing is, every time I return to your thread I go back to 1, and 2, and now this time 1, 2 and 3... I'm getting a better feel for how they inform each other.

I'll be back again with some actual thoughts to share.

Until then...keep 'em comin.



Glad you're here Neill. Always provocative.

Jane

[Mittens]

Here's my problem with you, Neil... I don't know how to put into words what the poems are doing inside when I read them (haha, and I'm supposed to write poetry). But they're wrecking me... I just love the way you connect things together. Everything feels so perfectly intuitive. I try to find lines I especially love, but it's pretty much every line, and how they all fit together OK fine, I'll pick my top 3 favorites:

The whole first poem (sorry, couldn't help it)

"There isn’t, but I wish there was a bell on the door
a closed open sign, a doorstop"

"I want that line
dragged back / through the door, splinters / under its nails / singing"

Will be back, taking notes.

[Sorella]

Neil,
Koja Coffee-- like a conversation interceded with looks at the smartphone and comments on the coffee (used to buy Yirgacheffe beans and grind, aromatic and smooth. Now it's Swedish Zoëga Skånerost filter coffee.) Disjointed as we get these days, but the conversation is on cultural themes, a plus!

The curious ?scapegoat Christ in spam! Surreal and very interesting on 2x2 espressi!

Sorella

[5th column]

One and all, thank you so much for your repeated visits. NaPo: powered by inspiration. Fuelled by fluff.

Seems I’m writing the uncommentable

I don’t think today’s likely to help much (real emoji - y’know…crying with laughter)…


Music Link

Home.



Anytime now a Nespresso and Opal by Bicep. I listen intently, have to

keep going back just to find my way (here), to the point we first kissed.

At heart’s a desire to break down the number and address of all parties

all singing, all dancing, snuff out the old flames; a little abrasive seeking escape.

I’m ripping up the linear; Chinese lanterns file over the horizon. Mellow at

dusk. When it happens in a little Pension in a bed by the bay you pulled back

your tongue in the tangle of sheets and laugh at the gull who looked in

through the window. If not with a kaleidoscope how else do you smuggle a file

into prism? It’s Four Tet o’clock. We were always a pause waiting for the drop.

[BrianIsSmilingAtYou]

Two Magpies Bakery. Aldeburgh. Double Espresso extra hot. asks the tough questions. From the day of doom to the universe to the personal.

The latest seems loaded with reminiscence.

Keep writing.

BrianIs AtYou

[JFN]

Neil, for ‘Two Magpies…’ the splits at ‘I feel like crying / must have come / before song’ are effective in shifting the perspective. The break on ‘no light escapes’ is equally good. The ending is strong with a good dose of menace.

You are having fun aren’t you? The final sentence of ‘Home’ is strong, and gives a clear understanding of that relationship mentioned in L2. I’m also quite fond of ‘I’m ripping up the linear’.

John

[Donner]

Hi, Neil,

"Home" - I put the music link on in the background as I read the poem just like N. (I read intently, though.) The second and last lines are killer; who hasn't dragged oneself back to the beginning while waiting for the last shoe to drop in a relationship on the brink? Nice.

Donna

[5th column]

Many, many thanks to Donner, John and Brian for your visits.

John: I really am trying to rip up the linear - succesful or not.

Brian: Reminiscence - indeed.

Donner: I hope you enjoyed the track.


Department of Coffee & Social Affairs. Carnaby. “Showstopper” D.R.Congo


(For Mark, who could neither sink or swim)



Lifted, swimming without ululation in voice of The Lighthouse

Family. Wonder is as difference does. Today I can’t write outside

the confines of steam wand and grinder. Does that sound suggestive?

Sorry to be direct but there are ghosts in the harbour and I’ve no time

for a storm. You can assimilate any unfamiliar hurt if you listen without

indifference. I can’t breathe on this beach but you’d’ve loved the vibe.

Imagine a world where breath was medicine, where the kiss of life sashayed

by then turned without warning and came in sparkling. Say understanding.

Go on. I’m working against a desire to explain.