Going for coffee

The book and I are passing each other messages through a third party. Neither of us bothers with the niceties … More

Visiting hours

I am visiting the book. We have already been through a lot together, including the part where I killed it and … More

In 1991 we moved to a house in Brixton, south London. Of all our welcomes, that of our neighbour, the … More

One of the biggest influences on my life, let alone my writing, is Martin Wilson. I should know; he’s my … More

I am not at a thing. The things have dried up (or I have stopped going). I am thingless. I … More

I met the furniture designer Duncan Kramer at summer camp. Not as kids but as what we laughingly called leaders. … More

My main memory of watching The West Wing is the way Martin Sheen would wrap up discussions with his staff by … More

I am at a thing. I have been asked to read a couple of poems. It is not my thing, … More

I have said goodbye to the poem. For a while, a long while, we were not even speaking. After the … More

I am being pursued by the poem. It has been there for several years now, asking to be written. I … More

Readers of this blog will know I have been thinking a lot about stationery recently. (Actually, that is something of … More

My blog post yesterday about the stationery thing provoked more responses than I ever imagined it would. Among the … More

8.06 p.m. June 10th 1970poemTom Raworth (from Jumpstart, ed. Cliff Yates, Poetry Society, 1999) As I say in my previous blog post, … More

Here is a revelation: I did not always adore the work of Frank O’Hara. I had pause to consider why … More

You make the thing because you love the thing and you love the thing because someone else loved it enough … More