We have a lot of windows. I sit next to them at this time of the year thinking, Just five…
Archive
Lifsaving Lines: Alone, by Tomas Tranströmer
I have been thinking a lot this week about a line from Tomas Tranströmer’s masterpiece, ‘Alone’. (I have also blogged…
Lifesaving Lines: The Day After, by Michael Laskey
The line that’s been buzzing round my head this week is the final phrase from Michael Laskey’s miracle poem of…
Lifesaving Lines: Poem for Wednesday, by Naomi Jaffa
Recently, my relationship with Wednesdays has changed. It’s quite a long story, and one I don’t want to trouble you…
Lifsaving Lines: For Sheridan, by Robert Lowell
The line that’s been buzzing round my head the last couple of weeks is from Robert Lowell’s heartbreaking poem ‘For…
Lifesaving Lines: Fosterage, by Seamus Heaney
I was very saddened to hear of the death of Brendan Kennelly this week. He had been a long-standing presence…
Lifesaving Lines: The Bight, by Elizabeth Bishop
‘Awful but cheerful’ is the final phrase and line of ‘The Bight‘, by Elizabeth Bishop. I’ve always felt that the…
Lifesaving Lines: The Gift, by Brendan Kennelly
I was at a thing. Very rarely for me, it was my own thing, only my second in front of…
Lifesaving Lines: Why We Must Write, by Mark Halliday
I thought of it before I knew I had remembered it. Just the word ‘then’. Rereading and searching at speed…
New crushes
As I try to hold on to beginner’s mind, I recall the practice of falling in love at a moment’s…
Who are we serving?
One of the great joys for me this summer was being able to get back to Greenbelt, a festival of…
In search of beginner’s mind
As I come back to this blog, I am looking to try and inhabit what Zen practitioners call beginner’s mind.…
Some new poems
I am delighted to announce the publication of some new poems, which you can find at the links below. Having…
RIP Jaan Kaplinski
I was very saddened to learn today that the leading Estonian poet Jaan Kaplinski has died, aged 80, of motor…
A list of found poems
Here is a list of various found poems that I have made over the years. Happy holiday reading and looking…
Lone wolf
I am deeply grateful to Hilary Menos and Andy Brodie at The Friday Poem for taking a new poem of…
Writing prompts (blog post ending with a line by Shawna Lemay)
after Shawna Lemay Write a poem about the rain. Or the wind.Write about what you learned at university.Or did not…
Summer reading
To continue this season of not, where I have been reposting old blog posts and links to some others, I…