# wordplay (blogs) — RSS Amplifier Recent posts from the 3 feeds in the RSS Amplifier directory that cover wordplay. Page: Feed: --- ## [30-odd metaphors from Ross Macdonald](https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2026/08/06/30-odd-metaphors-from-ross-macdonald/) _2026-08-06 · Stan Carey · Sentence first_ If you enjoyed sipping a word like brandy with Doris Lessing, then get comfortable for a bumper pack of similes and metaphors courtesy of Ross Macdonald and his story collection The Archer Files (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard, 2015), edited by Tom Nolan. The book title refers to Macdonald’s protagonist Lew Archer, a private detective in California. \[…\] ## [A Gathering of Winter Haiku -Alan j Wright](https://alanjwrightpoetrypizzazz.blogspot.com/2026/07/a-gathering-of-winter-haiku-alan-j.html) _2026-07-31 · Alan j Wright · Poetry Pizzazz with Alan J Wright_ I regularly launch my writing day with at least one haiku. I write them in a dedicated small notebook with a sturdy leather cover. This morning ritual grounds my thoughts and lubricates my writing mind. It has become part of my process. Because it is winter in the southern hemisphere, a gathering of wintery haiku is at the forefront of my thinking. I have taken the time to gather a few of them… ## [Fast Paced City -Prose Poem, Alan j Wright](https://alanjwrightpoetrypizzazz.blogspot.com/2026/07/fast-paced-city-prose-poem-alan-j-wright.html) _2026-07-03 · Alan j Wright · Poetry Pizzazz with Alan J Wright_ Returning to prose poetry this week and nostalgically returning to memories of my time in New York . I am recounting one of the many adjustments that were part of living in another country, another culture. Fast Paced City The first time I visited New York, I realised those stories I had heard about a fast-paced city were accurate. When I stepped out onto the streets it was like viewing a movie… ## [Umbrellas Are Pluviophiles Poem -Alan j Wright](https://alanjwrightpoetrypizzazz.blogspot.com/2026/06/umbrellas-are-pluviophiles-poem-alan-j.html) _2026-06-26 · Alan j Wright · Poetry Pizzazz with Alan J Wright_ Winter has settled in to place in the southern hemisphere. Damp and cold days predominate.Winter doesn;t have a large circle of friends, but it does draw lots of attention. If pluviophile is a new words to you, then I hope you are curious enough to check it out. It's a word just perfect for winter. As the rain fell down into the street, it baptised me in the process and a winter poem rose from the… ## [Book spine poem: The Birds’ Disaffection](https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2026/06/19/book-spine-poem-the-birds-disaffection/) _2026-06-19 · Stan Carey · Sentence first_ It’s a whole year since I made my last book spine poem (aka bookmash), about how swearing is good for you. Emotions run high in this new one too, but there’s no swearing, just birds. Disaffected birds. \* The Birds’ Disaffection All the birds, singing In the dream house Out of sheer rage, Birds of \[…\] ## [Summer Night Escape, Poem, Alan j Wright](https://alanjwrightpoetrypizzazz.blogspot.com/2026/06/summer-night-escape-poem-alan-j-wright.html) _2026-06-12 · Alan j Wright · Poetry Pizzazz with Alan J Wright_ Across the six years I was living and working in New York I was most fortunate to harvest a rich vein of stories. So many stories... My friend, Linda once shared a story about growing up in the city and enduring the somewhat oppressive summer nights. That story became the focus of a poem I included in the 2016 anthology, 'I Bet There's No Broccoli On The Moon.' Writers and poets are… ## [Stornello Poem -Alan j Wright](https://alanjwrightpoetrypizzazz.blogspot.com/2026/05/stornello-poem-alan-j-wright.html) _2026-05-29 · Alan j Wright · Poetry Pizzazz with Alan J Wright_ Stornello Poems A stornello is a traditional form of Italian folk poetry as well as improvisational song. The stornello originated in the rural regions of Tuscany before spreading across central and southern Italy to Lazio and beyond. In taverns and public squares, stornellanti (singers) would engage in long, improvised musical battles. One singer would throw out a verse, and the opponent had to… ## [The Crossworder Poem -Alan j Wright](https://alanjwrightpoetrypizzazz.blogspot.com/2026/05/the-crossworder-poem-alan-j-wright.html) _2026-05-22 · Alan j Wright · Poetry Pizzazz with Alan J Wright_ This poem emerged from a brief observation while on a supermarket raid last week. A notebook entry percolated into a poem and this is the result. Poets are observers. Much of our inspiration comes from the noting of brief encounters and magic moments. We see something and feel a compelling urge to react with words. So here is my poem about my special sighting of a cruciverbalist... Crossworder A… ## [The Custard Years Poem -Alan j Wright](https://alanjwrightpoetrypizzazz.blogspot.com/2026/05/the-custard-years-poem-alan-j-wright.html) _2026-05-15 · Alan j Wright · Poetry Pizzazz with Alan J Wright_ I frequently talk about the spark of an idea that can grow into a flame. -A flame that lights the way forward. I am buoyed by such moments... A brief conversation with a six year old regarding how much she likes blue jelly had me instantly reflecting upon my own childhood and suddenly my mind was filled with custard, not literally of course, but thoughts of how custard was a dominant dessert… ## [The Occasional Table Poem, Alan j Wright](https://alanjwrightpoetrypizzazz.blogspot.com/2026/05/the-occasional-table-poem-alan-j-wright.html) _2026-05-01 · Alan j Wright · Poetry Pizzazz with Alan J Wright_ Recently I was watching an episode of 'Antiques Roadshow' (the UK version) when the words 'occasional table' were mentioned. I immediately thought of tables small in size including coffee, side, and end tables, designed for social gatherings in the home, occasionally employed and variously used to present light refreshment, drinks, snacks, or possibly the playing card games and the like. Much to… ## [From any door to your door (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/adB7TMwazzeq) _2026-05-01 · **Sponsored**_ Book rides, errands, deliveries, groceries and home help in one app ## [Raymond Chandler’s cannibalized stories](https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2026/04/20/raymond-chandlers-cannibalized-stories/) _2026-04-20 · Stan Carey · Sentence first_ If I were asked to name my all-time favourite crime-fiction writer, I would struggle to place anyone above Raymond Chandler. In contemporary literature the one who comes closest is Peter Temple, who, like Chandler, took up the practice in middle age. There’s a lot to be said for it. A late entrant to the fiction-writing \[…\] ## [Observations Over Coffee -Alan j Wright](https://alanjwrightpoetrypizzazz.blogspot.com/2026/04/observations-over-coffee-alan-j-wright.html) _2026-04-17 · Alan j Wright · Poetry Pizzazz with Alan J Wright_ It is said to be out there as a poet, you need to be out there. So I took this literally and earlier in the week ventured out for a coffee. As I at my outdoor table attentively observing the passing parade, a poem gently formed around me. I made a few notes rehearsed some words and sipped my cappuccino. The poem landed as an everyday observational narrative, consciously devoid of any profound turn… ## [Scary Poems by Alan j Wright on the Scary-ness Poetry Express](https://alanjwrightpoetrypizzazz.blogspot.com/2026/04/scary-poems-by-alan-j-wright-on-scary.html) _2026-04-14 · Alan j Wright · Poetry Pizzazz with Alan J Wright_ Check out two of my scary poems that have just boarded the Scary-ness Poetry Express. It's an online resource for children's poetry. \*The Long Tongued Slurpenspray \*The Monsters Are A Mess Follow the link if you feel brave enough to go there... Scary-ness Poetry Express #poet #scary #poetryexpress ## [What kind of profanity is this?](https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2026/04/06/what-kind-of-profanity-is-this/) _2026-04-06 · Stan Carey · Sentence first_ Regular readers will be familiar with Strong Language, a group blog about swearing that I co-founded with James Harbeck in 2014. If you’re interested in swearing as a linguistic or cultural phenomenon, I recommend bookmarking or subscribing to it. New posts by our excellent contributors are less frequent now, but that makes it easier to \[…\] ## [Eavan Boland and the emergence of a poetic self](https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2026/03/29/eavan-boland-and-the-emergence-of-a-poetic-self/) _2026-03-29 · Stan Carey · Sentence first_ I picked up Object Lessons (1995) by Eavan Boland (1944–2020) thinking it was a memoir, but it’s more focused than that: a meditation on the emergence of her identity as a poet, specifically a woman poet and an Irish poet. This identity is further complicated by her emigration from Ireland as a five-year-old girl when \[…\] ## [Don’t have a menty b about this bloggy p](https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2026/02/10/dont-have-a-menty-b-about-this-bloggy-p/) _2026-02-10 · Stan Carey · Sentence first_ An open linguistic question was raised recently on Bluesky by Darach Ó Séaghdha: What do we call those cutesie slang phrases that have become productive in the UK lately, like genny lec for ‘general election’ and menty b for ‘mental breakdown’? In response I wrote a short thread, which I already disagree with. So I’ll \[…\] ## [Sipping a word like brandy](https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2026/02/02/sipping-a-word-like-brandy/) _2026-02-02 · Stan Carey · Sentence first_ In Doris Lessing’s story ‘A Road to the Big City’, published in her 1957 collection The Habit of Loving (my Penguin paperback edition, pictured, is from 1960), two young women, sisters, are travelling by train in Johannesburg. Marie, the younger, and Lilla sit at a table with a middle-aged man and allow him to buy \[…\]