William Hughes

2026-05-22
I suppose that the key lies in trying to create more moments like that and in recognizing them when they occur. But sometimes spontaneity doesn't allow for preplanning. :). I love a starlit night or an unexpected thunderstorm, but the joy is doubled when there's someone there to share it with.

2026-05-16
This describes quite a few of the young men who lost their way. Nicely penned.

2026-05-16
Delightful. Don't return the tulip, even if they double your refund.

2026-05-08
Very difficult to rhyme every line of a stanza without it feeling forced. You did it well. Sometimes when we observe something beautiful, no need to wax poetic or pen a sonata or paint a masterpiece. Just look and feel, and turn off the phone.

2026-05-07
Niice the way that you began with an ordinary day in an ordinary time and segued into your thoughts about other times and places and contrasting them with memories. I remember visiting a church in Guadalajara Mexico where the statues looked so real that I expected them to say hello.

2026-05-06
People who have passed away still haunt us in thought, ghosts, but friendly ones.

2026-05-06
Dignified and sincere. We all need someone to be there for us.

2026-05-06
Excellent cadence, and a sustained theme and analogy.

2026-05-01
When someone we care for wins something or other, it's a whole different ballgame. Lovely, positive poem.

2026-04-28
Delightful. Having children around is such a bountiful blessing. They force us to look at things from a different perspective. Every child needs that sense of being special.

2026-04-28
Everybody Talks About the Weather, But Nobody Does Anything About It--Mark Twain.

I think it (the weather) is a good ice-breaker (no pun intended). Or just about anything that people have in common. When I was a kid I wanted to be a meteorologist.

2026-04-20
Another great poem I'd never seen. I tell the kids to stop wishing they were grown and just enjoy being young.

2026-04-16
The road inside him. I suspect we all have one of those. Innovative language and a firm beginning and end.

2026-04-15
Stubbornness can be an asset as well as a liability.

2026-04-15
Lots of powerful language and narrative here. Sorry, system saved this twice.

2026-04-15
Lots of powerful language and narrative here.

2026-04-14
I miss the old Easter rituals also. Like Christmas it's become a commercial holiday (a word which originally meant ''holy day.)'' Happy belated Resurrection day to you also.

2026-04-14
I love the photo, and how your poem elaborates on the ritual of shaving. Now, since facial hair is back with a vengeance, I suppose the analogy of father-son could go back even to the 19th century, or further.

I agree with Jim that this particular poem is heavier than some others of yours I've read. A little like some of the ''Confessional'' poets' work. Enjoyed thoroughly.

2026-04-14
I love your perfectly formed shape poems. More, please,

2026-04-14
Most definitely. I'd say OVER-consuming media is the main culprit. All the media we really need is right there--open the back door and walk through to a plethora of sensation. There is more stimulation in nature than in YouTube videos and FB likes. We just have to retrain ourselves to listen and look once more. Children know this instinctively. The birds are singing, the flowers are flowering, the trees are swaying in the sun--what a panorama!

Your poem says a lot in a few words--as good poems often do.

2026-04-13
The older I get the more 'thens' accumulate like like water against a dam. But when the dam feels like it has a breach, I remind myself that it wasn't all peaches and cream back then. Though I miss people, places and times of back then, I look for new people places and times in the here and now. Lovely, reminiscent verses, and it's important to remember the good times.

2026-04-13
Gentle life-is-good verses. Very different from his famous Bateau Ivre (drunken boat).

2026-04-12
Exquisite. I'm pretty sure that your series of poems has little to do directly with John Milton's Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained, but I appreciate the reference to a poet who used to be considered right up there with Shakespeare but who is pretty much neglected today. Your poem flows gently but determinedly and ends with a summation of your thesis: There's beauty to be found in unexpected ways.

2026-04-11
A wealth of vocabulary is a poet's tool. Your ''flourishes'' are not superfluous or strained. Enjoyed.

2026-04-11
Ah, another master of longish poems. I usually run out of gas after 4 or 5 verses, but you keep our attention all the way to the last line. Large crowds of people have always been a ''battlefield'' for me, but I guess it depends upon who you came with. Enjoyed.

2026-04-09
My grandparents all died while I was still very young, but I'll bet they had a ton of tales and requiems for the dead. Lovely poem.

2026-04-09
Love is a many-splendered thing, as is your poem.

2026-04-09
Charming!

2026-04-07
Unique imagery. Very nicely composed.

2026-04-07
Everyone should fly a kite at least once. Lovely lines revealing a little slice of life --Yours and the kite's

2026-04-06
Tes poèmes écrits en français sont si différents de ceux en anglais — peut-être parce que tu es plus à l'aise avec le français. I enjoyed the poem.

2026-04-06
A beautiful day sometimes can be as satisfying as a juicy tangerine.

2026-04-06
Beautifully composed.

2026-04-06
A vibrant description of a vibrant plant.

2026-04-06
Sometimes writing, music, art, can heal wounds when other things don't work. Keep writing.

2026-03-21
Love the Brylcreem reference. So many vivid and original images. Reminds me a little of the Beat Poets.

2026-03-21
Expertly composed poetic narrative. Good work!

2026-03-16
Some unique and effective imagery in this poem, e.g., her smile a marshmallow of fun and play. Indeed unfiltered words can really hurt

2026-03-16
Layers of dreams. I don't remember ever speaking in the dreams that I can remember,, but they are so easily forgotten. A good example of saying a lot with a minimum of words.

2026-03-15
Nice internal rhyming. Spring is a season special to poets.

2026-03-13
I do know a few people who seem to have no sense of rhythm whatsoever. When they hear a catchy tune, everybody else is dancing or tapping their toes, but they sit dumbfounded. I think a poem does not necessarily have to have rhythm, but if it does it, like rhyming, should not appear forced. Innovative way of writing a sonnet.

2026-03-10
Some of my favorite poems are in traditional iambic pentameter. Rhyme and measure aren't necessarily intrusive, but give a poem order and form. The sentiment in this poem is not forced but sincere and describes the miracle of dawn with precision and beauty. Pity those late-risers who never experience the thrill of dawn.

2026-03-09
A skating party with the great 19th century American intellectuals. How I would have liked to have been there. But as a spectator, since I have never been much of a skater, roller or ice. Original and well composed poem.

2026-03-07
Once again it's proven that laughter is the best medicine. You're a real trooper.

2026-03-06
The image is powerful. Just watching the occasional hummingbird outside my kitchen window makes me feel exhausted. It seems impossible that something so small could make such a fuss. Take care of yourself and keep writing poems.

2026-03-06
The image is powerful. Just watching the occasional hummingbird outside my kitchen window makes me feel exhausted. It seems impossible that something so small could make such a fuss. Take care of yourself and keep writing poems.

2026-03-06
It's the hardest thing. I sometimes find an old pill bottle that was my sister's and it sparks a thousand memories. Well crafted and moving.

2026-03-06
Yep. The older one gets, the more we hear that qualifier " ...for your age." Nice poem

2026-03-06
Yes, aging is very hard. There was a time when the elderly were honored for their hard-earned wisdom and experience. Nice read.

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.