and (Dear James)

and (Dear James) it occurs to me now, just thinking out loud, that in a way Kenneth and Frank actually were…

Open letter to James Schuyler

Dear James (may I call you James?) Though it’s been a while (at least ten years, maybe more) it feels as…

I have started the poem but the poem does not know it yet. I am more than flirting with it,…

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the ‘poets I go back to’ idea, that I first came across in…

‘What are you adding?’ ‘Me. I’m adding me. By being here. Even when I am saying nothing.’ ‘That’s your answer…

And though I only met you once, your influence on me is massive, or should that be was I don’t…

‘It’s gone.’ ‘What has?’ ‘It. This. Everything.’ ‘The chair is still here. I’m still here.’ ‘I don’t mean the chair.…

‘I heard the most amazing thing today. It was a bloke off the radio, don’t remember his name, does that…

‘It gets harder.’ ‘What does?’ ‘It. Everything. Teaching. Writing. Listening to you.’ ‘I didn’t see that coming.’ ‘You never do.’…

‘I’m tired.’ ‘You said,’ says the book. ‘No, I mean, I’m tired. Of my handwriting.’ ‘What’s wrong with it? It’s…

‘You look tired.’ ‘I am tired,’ I say. ‘But term hasn’t even started yet. You’re not match fit. Just you…

Alone I One evening in February I came near to dying here.The car skidded sideways on the ice, outon the…

‘I’m tired.’ ‘Go to sleep then,’ the book says. ‘There’s plenty for me to be getting on with while you’re…

‘You look upset.’ ‘I am upset,’ I say. ‘Well, not so much upset as disappointed.’ ‘Want to talk about it?’…

‘I’ve stopped listening to the radio!’ ‘What, completely?’ the book says. ‘Not completely, I’m not an idiot,’ I say.…

‘Where have you been?’ the book says. ‘Where have you been?’ ‘Here, waiting for you,’ the book says. ‘Working.’ ‘Same…

Breathing Space July The man who lies on his back under huge trees is also up in them. He…

‘How’s it going then?’ ‘What going?’ ‘Your ‘New Book’,’ says the book. ‘Fine, thanks,’ I say. ‘No early difficulties with…