Only the imperfections

‘What keeps you going?’ ‘You do,’ I say. ‘Not the others?’ ‘No, just you.’ ‘Do you ever think about the…

This divine breath, by Johann Herder

A breath of our mouth Becomes the portrait of the world, The type of our thoughts And our feelings…

Young poets Who don’t think of themselves As apprentices Are notorious For resisting influences. They’ve experienced The first stages Of…

Consider what value, What meaning Is enclosed even In the smallest Of our daily habits, In the hundred possessions Which…

‘I’m not talking to you,’ says the book. ‘Whyever not?’ I say. ‘You left,’ the book says. ‘I’m never going…

‘Where have you been?’ says the book. ‘And good morning to you, too!’ I say. ‘Where have you been?’ the…

An artist needs not so much an audience as to feel a need to answer, a promise to respond.…

Why did I write it down? In order to remember. Of course, but exactly what was it I wanted to…

Is it possible to practice noticing? I think so. But I also think it requires a suspension of yearning and…

‘I’ve lost my nerve,’ says the book. ‘It’s gone, can’t do it any more. I’m done.’ ‘You haven’t of course,…

‘Did you hear?’ says the book. ‘Ted Hughes’s brother has died.’ ‘I did see that, yes,’ I say. ’95, though.…

‘I’ve been out,’ says the book. ‘So I see,’ I say. The book is dressed in a pith helmet and…

‘What are you doing?’ ‘What’s it look like?’ I say. ‘Hanging out the washing,’ the book says. ‘That’s right. I’m…

How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour, and…

Every year, the bright Scandinavian summer nights fade away without anyone noticing. One evening in August you have an errand…

‘I need to get away.’ ‘But there’s work to be done,’ says the book. ‘A holiday. That’s what I need.’…

The only real difference between people is not health or illness but the way each holds onto a sense of…

‘Do you miss it?’ the book says. ‘Miss what?’ I say. ‘Having cancer,’ the book says. ‘Is this a joke?’…