Please see recent uploads to my Youtube Channel!
Wind
Wind
Wind Blown Flowers
Wind Blown Flowers
Blackbird
Blackbird
In Her Hair
In Her Hair
Circular
Circular
Sweet Cut Grass
Sweet Cut Grass
Leaving
Leaving
Sweet cut grass
Gives me pleasure
In soft summer weather,
As I pass
Along the churchyard path.
For below
There is no
Sweet cut grass
To pass.
On my way home
I touched the stone
Of my local church.
And longed to stay
With the singing birds
On this summer evening.
I have oft heard
The birds singing
And regretted leaving.
I envy them
For, unlike men
They do not weep.
For they see not
The final sleep.
While I
Knowing that man must die
Have the beauty of birdsong,
Which does not last long
There have recently been a number of attempts to smear the reputation of Winston Churchill. These have ranged from daubing his statue with graffiti accusing Churchill of being a “racist”, to a recent conference at Churchill College. During the latter event Churchill was, again maligned and the British empire was said to have been worse than that of the Nazis.
For a more balanced perspective on Churchill I would recommend a publication by Policy Exchange which points out the many inaccuracies in the view of Churchill promulgated by the conference at the college which bares his name.
This link deals with the decision of Churchill College to end the one-sided discussions during which Churchill’s reputation was maligned, https://policyexchange.org.uk/churchill-college-has-made-a-wise-decision-in-closing-down-the-working-group-on-churchill-race-and-empire/, whilst the second contains a link to a more balanced assessment of his reputation https://policyexchange.org.uk/publication/the-racial-consequences-of-mr-churchill-a-review/.
A guy may buy
A young lady’s eye
And capture her heart
In his immortal art.
But those who buy
Know art may lie.
I know a young man named Green
Who is active on a certain scene.
I’ve heard that at night
Green turns into Miss White.
But that, I have not yet seen!
In a Youtube video, Zoe B discusses what makes a poem good. She argues that poetry does not need to be complex (indeed she states that it is being taught incorrectly in many schools). Somewhat controversially she labels Eliot as an “ass” for his poem “The Wasteland” which, she argues was deliberately made difficult in order that only academics could comprehend it’s meaning. Zoe does, however quote with approval the final stanza of Eliot’s “The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock” later on in her discussion of poetics.
This is an interesting and in places provocative view as to what constitutes poetry. Whilst I agree with some of Zoe’s points, I take issue with other aspects of her argument. For example she contends that comparing love to fire is old hat and that tired old comparisons of this nature should be avoided. In my opinion there is nothing new under the sun. It has, to some extent at least all been said before. That does not, however mean that writers of poetry should avoid comparing love to a fire or their lover to a flower. It is all about how language is used and the word fire or love are employed in the poem in question.
I must at this point declare an interest. One of my earlier poems is entitled “Fire” and runs as follows:
“I have felt the fire’s power;
It kindles brightly and sinks within the hour.
I have watched the embers dying fast;
Looked into the future and gazed into the past.
I have raked the ashes cold, felt the bleakness in my soul”.
Whether the above poem is any good is, of course a matter of opinion, which will depend on the views of those who read it. However if one deems it to be a mediocre or bad poem, this does not imply that any modern poems which draw a comparison between love, passion and fire are, automatically poor or mediocre compositions. It is, as I say above, all about how the use of the metaphor and/or simile is utilised in a given poem.
You can watch the video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arE2yyQe1PY
“Fire” first appeared in Dalliance; a Collection of Poetry and Prose. It can also be found in my Selected Poems, which is available here, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WW8WXPP/.
You can find a video of me reading my poem Fire here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtr7wJgnkqo
Hot nights
And wet wipes.
Wastepaper bins
And unmentionable sins.
Girls, down on their luck
Have no time to look
For any such thing
As a diamond ring.
When a young lady on a high bough
Said, “please, someone rescue me from that cow!”,
A rake called Paul
Said, “you will fall.
But not if you stay on that bough …!”.
The past 16 months have been quite something, as many of us have noted, and with everything going on in the world, as well as some personal struggles – including a situation where I ended up moving twice in six months, the second time pretty much from one side of the UK to the other, and the death of a family member I was close to – writing seriously took a backseat.
However, despite everything, and even though if you’d asked me I’d have sworn I was getting no writing done at all, I managed to write some poetry, which I was pleasantly surprised to learn when I added them to the handful of poems I’d written but not yet published pre-pandemic, and sat down to create a book out of what I’d written, actually ended up being enough poems to publish two books rather than just one. Well, I suppose I could have put them all in one, but I wanted to publish the specifically pet-themed poetry separately.
Anyway, it’s amazing how those few moments of scribbling down your thoughts all add up, isn’t it?
So, “Pawfect Pet Poems” and “Born From Stardust And Other Poems” have been made available as eBooks and paperbacks, with audio versions planned for the not-too-distant future.
Details for both titles are below, as well as links to some of the places you can find them. Enjoy!
A short collection of poems of various lengths and styles, all with one thing in common: they were written for – or about – some of the various pets my hubby and I have had.
The poems in this collection are mainly about chinchillas and dogs, though other types of animals – in particular degus – sometimes make an appearance too. All poems are captioned with details of the pets they were written for or about.
If you’d like to add “Pawfect Pet Poems” to your Goodreads to-read shelf, you can find the book’s Goodreads page at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58130121-pawfect-pet-poems
A selection of poems of various lengths and styles, exploring a variety of themes and subjects.
Topics explored in the poems that make up this collection include – but are not limited to – animals and nature, writing and creativity, death and grief, as well as the Covid-19 pandemic.
If you’d like to add “Born From Stardust And Other Poems” to your Goodreads to-read shelf, you can find the book’s Goodreads page at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58169072-born-from-stardust-and-other-poems
Victoria Zigler is a blind vegan poet and children’s author. Born and raised in the shadow of the Black Mountains of Wales, UK, she moved away from Wales three times: once to spend six months living in Alberta, Canada, the other times to spend a few years living near Hastings on the South-East coast of England, UK, each time returning to Wales. Now she lives in Wales again, along with a chinchilla named Mollie, a West Highland White Terrier named Lilie, a Cavapoo named Logan, a Hermann’s Tortoise named Artemis, and her Canadian husband, Kelly.
Despite spending far too much time in hospital, and eventually losing her sight to Congenital Glaucoma, Victoria – or Tori, if you prefer – has been writing since she knew how, with no plans to stop any time soon. So far she has published 11 poetry books and 46 children’s books. Tori is also a contributor of the sci-fi and fantasy anthology Wyrd Worlds II, as well as the Poetry Treasures anthology. Additionally, her Hermann’s Tortoise, Artemis, was featured in both the Magnificent Pets Coloring Book For Children and the Magnificent Pets Mandala Coloring Book For Adults.
Vegan due to both a love for animals and dairy allergy, as well as an Eclectic Pagan, Tori describes herself as a combination of Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood from the Harry Potter books: Hermione’s thirst for knowledge and love of books, combined with Luna’s wandering mind and alternative way of looking at the world. She has a wide variety of interests, designed to exercise both the creative and logical sides of her brain, and dabbles in them at random depending on what she feels like doing at any given time, but is most likely to be found playing with her petkids, curled up somewhere with a cup of tea and a book, or trying to keep one step ahead of those pesky typo fairies while writing her own books.
Links:
Website: http://www.zigler.co.uk
Blog: https://ziglernews.blogspot.co.uk
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/toriz
Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Victoria-Zigler/424999294215717
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/victoriazigler
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCakYxH7BNyc2Lxr1g1nbP9w
Find Tori’s books on…
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/toriz
Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Victoria-Zigler/e/B00BHS9DQ6/
…Along with a variety of other retailers, such as Audible, iTunes, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble.
K Morris - Poet 