William Hughes

2026-02-27
As for myself I think getting older makes me long to simplify my life. Too much clutter, to much ruminating on things that happened in the past that can't be undone, demanding more from life than I really need. When I was younger, ''kibbles'' weren't enough--I wanted the whole enchilada. Now fait, hope, gratitude--and Nature, of course, are enough. Lovely poem.

2026-02-26
Original and striking metaphors. ''...as river water and sea water
afloat together in the wet blue'' nice image.

2026-02-26
Another poet I'm not familiar with to expand my reading pleasure. I had to google Mertensia. It's a blue flower, related to borage. The personification of the birds and plants on the narrator's path works really well in describing the mood of the hiker. Loss and longing. This is a very traditionally styled and lovely poem.

2026-02-21
Masterful use of rhyme and form.

2026-02-21
I especially like the extra spaces you use between some of the phrases: after the coyote's tread, the extended space before purposeful is very effective. The chill of winter reflects the wintry emotion and thoughts. It's been my experience that these dark feelings come and go. Everything is waves.

2026-02-16
Your battle with multi-flora Rose makes me think of the highly invasive wisteria we battle in my neck of the woods. Majestic clusters of purple flowers with a mission to take over the world. A lot said with an economy of words. Cheers.

2026-02-15
A break-up lyric that Taylor Swift could never compete with. I guess that relationships always need to begin with honesty and end with commitment. Enjoyed.

2026-02-15
A impressive manifesto of life. ''...like a room that forgot where the door is'' is a very original simile that has a lot of connotations. Cheers.

2026-02-08
Beautiful and inspiring. Rhyming poems are much harder to write than most people think, especially a good rhyming poem.

2026-02-07
I used to make them out of old newspapers and flour paste. Do kids even play with kites now? Do they even know what they are. Maybe it should be mandatory for every dad to show his kids how to fly a kite, a much more enjoyable way to learn about aerodynamics. I love memory poems. Maybe I'll buy a kite for my neighbor kids.

2026-02-07
I think that sometimes when we begin to ask ourselves questions like this, it's possibly a sign of an awakening, a desire to get back what we've lost. Or, perhaps to find other ways to get back that feeling of riding a bike downhill or experiencing the heat of the sun and the exhilaration of a windy day. Maybe we all spend too much time in our warm little boxes. What helps me taste again that sensory feeling of youth is when the neighbor kids come over and everything is new for them. Catching a grasshopper is like walking on the moon. Or as Woodworth put it, the child is father to the man...

Your writing is always thought provoking.

2026-02-03
Dazzling and dramatic. Longish poems, I think, are the most difficult to write. I usually run out of muse-fuel by the 20th or so line. I think just about everybody has ADD these days, if there really is such a thing. Excellent composition.

2026-02-03
I often think that farmers sometimes don't get the respect they merit. It's a hard life, so when I eat I try to remember where my food came from. Nicely penned.

2026-02-03
Moving and wise. I was the youngest in my family, so I've lived to see my entire family pass. I think it was Longfellow who wrote a poem about ''the last leaf.''

2026-02-03
How I envy poets who can write a long poem and keep the images and contrasts, etc. up-to-par throughout the work. Reminds me a little of Robinson Jeffer's poems. Enjoyed.

2026-02-03
We had an uncommonly cold week here in the Deep South. You deal with the cold much more maturely than I do: I turn the thermostat up and pray that the electric bill won't send me to the poor-house. I wonder if poor-houses have sufficient heating.

2026-02-03
A character sketch that makes this individual come alive for the reader. Enjoyed it.

2026-02-03
Sounds like you had a lot of witty interchanges together. It's always nice to recall the fun things.

2026-02-02
Use of the classic metaphor of the River to suggest the passage of time and our place within that frame. I think there are wins there, but sometimes they're hard to detect. Nice work.

2026-01-23
That, I think, is one of the few (at least for me) endearing aspects of winter. The cold outside makes us seek warmth and comfort--a cup of cocoa, a warm blanket, a very hot bath, etc. Stormy weather does that too. Outside nature is having a conniption fit, but we're safe and sound inside. It makes us feel thankful.

2026-01-21
Four verses; four seasons.

I really like the ''art of yearning.'' Maybe all art is the result of some kind of yearning.

2026-01-21
Nice composition. I suppose Love, like everything else sometimes never ends, but just like everything else, it changes.

2026-01-21
I always enjoyed reading his poems. A great deal of passion there. I always thought he didn't care for my poems, but once upon looking at his page, I saw that he had saved several of them there. He'll be missed.

2026-01-03
A nice little one-act poem-play. Nicely done, with tension carried to the last lines.

2026-01-03
Frost often said that writing poetry without form is like playing tennis without a net. Actually, I'd probably like playing tennis without the net--I might win occasionally. I love all types of poetry. This one has form and order, but the style seems natural and readable. Nice work.

2026-01-03
Feel very personal and heart-felt. Seeing something beautiful is wonderful, but seeing it with someone else is divine.

2026-01-03
Even when we drift apart from old friends, the memories linger, I've reunited with friends only to find out that it would be pointless to try to bring back that bond; things have changed and we have changed. Thoroughly enjoyed your prose-poem.

2026-01-02
Each one capturing the essence of a character or an emotion or of nature and the poetry it inspires. Atmospheric and never repetitive. Looking forward to more of your work, old or new. Happy New Year.

2025-12-30
Thanks. I've always thought that a poem should never be unintelligible, but it can have various possible interpretations. The reader participates in the poem

2025-12-30
Nice rhyming and tempo. Sort of a riff on Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. Rhyming often gets a bad rap, though it does seem to be making a comeback in contemporary poetry Cheers.

2025-12-10
Intriguing images. Interesting vignette.

2025-12-02
I admire poets who can write longish poems, while keeping it fresh and original throughout the composition. Striking imagery, I can see the scene vividly through your words.

2025-11-29
Nicely put together. Moody and atmospheric, sorta like November is.

2025-11-29
I'd settle for November, though I suppose it just means something like Ninth Month, or even Ishmael. My name is just a name. Beautiful, thoughtful poem.

2025-11-27
I hope you feel better soon.

2025-11-27
Tell us about how you see a sunset or a horse. Only a poet can do it right.

2025-11-27
It's hard to get away from the cold in the U.S. I live on the Gulf Coast and still have to deal with the discomforts of winter. Only south Florida or southern California offer warm days all year, it seems.

This one of your best that I've read so far. Nicely done.

2025-11-26
Expertly composed expression of the trials of health problems. Written with a touch of humor and original imagery.

2025-11-17
A very moving and genuine assessment of a fully lived life.

2025-11-17
A very moving and genuine assessment of a fully lived life.

2025-11-17
Being alive is a gift, and so is the ability to write poetry. Nicely done.

2025-11-17
Being alive is a gift, and so is the ability to write poetry. Nicely done.

2025-11-17
Nice, compact verse. I'm not a fan of winter. I count the days 'til the trees turn green again.

2025-11-12
Good advice, poetically advised.

2025-11-11
You have mastered the art of long narrative poems. My efforts are usually only a verse or two. Vivid language and a flow that keeps the reader ready for the next line. Nice work.

2025-11-11
This is definitely relatable for me. In the past 4 years I have lost all of my siblings. 2 were in hospice--a very sobering and somber place.

2025-11-11
Lovely, reflective descriptive poem. Yes, change is often a pain in the behind. But remembrance of beautiful things keeps them alive and an eternal inspiration and source of joy. Wordsworth emphasized this in many of his poems:

Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendor in the grass, of glory in the flower;
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind;

2025-10-31
Lovely. Good friends are hard to find and hard to keep. Part of it is that people change over time. A good friend accepts those changes. False friends' allegiance runs shallow.

2025-10-31
Lovely. Good friends are hard to find and hard to keep. Part of it is that people change over time. A good friend accepts those changes. False friends' allegiance runs shallow.

2025-10-27
Beautifully structured. I know those are not easy to create.