Dear Cancer It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Fifteen years, to be precise. To the day. Amazing to realise it … More
Search Results for: What to say to someone with cancer
Cancer vs. chipper
The thing about having cancer was that it was pretty obvious what was going on. I had been feeling fairly … More
Cancer isn’t a battle, it’s cancer
A friend of mine drew my attention via Twitter this week to an article detailing Robert Peston’s thoughts on his … More
Lifesaving Lines
Thank you to everyone who has commented to me either publicly or in private about my new series of blog … More
On Being Chipper
There were just a few of us in the room, gathered round a table. I had been invited to speak. … More
The most popular lifesaving poems
Earlier this year my Lifesaving Poems blog enjoyed something of a milestone. Not as momentous as Jimmy Anderson taking his … More
Open letter to Arthur Frank (on reading At the Will of the Body)
Dear Arthur Frank I’m writing to say thank you for your extraordinary book At the Will of the Body. It is … More
Courage
Courage It is in the small things we see it. The child’s first step, as awesome as an earthquake. … More
On not tweeting: Open letter to Twitter
And what will I miss? Her cruelty, her unfaithfulness Her fun, her love, her kiss, part company The Go-Betweens, Part … More
Open letter in memory of John Smith (LentBlog39)
Dear John Smith I was deeply saddened to hear that you died earlier this year in March. I am told … More
Lifesaving Poems: Tom Andrews’s ‘Reading Frank O’Hara in the Hospital’
Reading Frank O’Hara in the Hospital 1 The IV drips its slow news. So long, lean and turbulent morning! … More
Brother, genius
One of the central influences on my life is not a poet in the usual sense of the word, … More
On Being Chipper
There were just a few of us in the room, gathered round a table. I had been invited to … More
Cured
A Tuesday, appropriately. (Tuesday being the day I was formally diagnosed.) Poetic, it strikes me now. But at the time, … More
#NaBloPoMo 15 – from the archives: On finding Adélia Prado
She started as a name. There I was, following my nose, minding my own business, trying to ignore all instincts … More
The Book
People often ask me who The Book is, or what it is, or which book or project of mine it … More
What a waste
‘I don’t know if I can do this any more.’ ‘Do what?’ the book says. ‘This.’ ‘Sit around waiting for … More
Dark horses: 21 Lifesaving Poems which should be better known
Readers of this blog will know that I make a list at the end of each year showing the most … More