NaPoReMo #23: The architecture of pleasure
Rhetorical Questions Hugo Williams How do you think I feel when you make me talk to you and won’t let me stop till the words turn into a moan? … Continue reading
NaPoReMo #20: Yes we can
Variation on a Theme by Rilke Denise Levertov A certain day became a presence to me; there it was, confronting me–a sky, air, light: a being. And before it … Continue reading
The currency of kindness: working for Nationwide
Sometimes when you’re commissioned to write a poem, it’s a mixed blessing. Poetry isn’t copywriting; if you can’t believe in the thing you’re writing about, it will sound fake. In poetry … Continue reading
The Slow Machine
‘Can you write a half-hour ‘docupoem’ about your life on the canals?’ said Mair Bosworth, the BBC producer. Yes, I thought. Of course I can. Piece of cake. Easy.
Reader, it wasn’t easy.
Valentine’s Day Poesie
Happy Valentine’s Day. Or as we know it in our family, Simon’s birthday. Or as you may call it, the Festival of Unusually Expensive Flowers.
Absent friends
Acknowledging the people who shaped us, can sometimes mean admitting to big cracks in the fabric they worked on.
Feeling bookish
A poet should be in the business of windows, not chandeliers. I want to look through a poem, not at it, to see the world more clearly.
A Chant Against Procrastination
This is for anyone who, like me, finds that they have inexplicably avoided every item on their To Do List at the end of the day.
Kith – reading dates
Dear, strangely attractive reader – I have a new book out.
A Valentine from the river
Consider love, dear reader: the biggest, baggiest and most baggage-laden word in our lovely language.
