Uniformed comedians

I’ve been saying Tom Paulin’s line about ‘uniformed comedians’ a lot this summer. I don’t really want to go into … More

UCU Strike: reflections and resources

Thank you to everyone who stopped by and liked or commented on yesterday’s blog post about the UCU strike action … More

UCU Strike: a list of poems about work

Today was not a normal day of work for me. Instead of teaching my amazing students, I chose to participate … More

A new review of Lifesaving Poems… from 2015

A huge shout out and massive thank you to Maria Taylor and her wonderful Commonplace blog, where yesterday I discovered … More

Lifesaving Poems: Richard Nicholson’s Intense

Intense Look out here comes that bloke with the worn out eyes. He’s always coming ’round here with his talk … More

Poem of the year?

Before I start, I want to say that this is not about stats. This is not about stats. What this … More

The Sky Over My Mother’s House

The Sky Over My Mother’s House It is a July night scented with gardenias. The moon and stars shine hiding … More

What you missed

What You Missed That Day You Were Absent from Fourth Grade Mrs. Nelson explained how to stand still and listento … More

Before

Before No shoes and a glossyred helmet, I rodeon the back of my dad’sHarley at seven years old.Before the divorce.Before … More

A holiness to exhaustion

First There is a holiness to exhaustion is what I keep telling myself, filling out the form so my TA … More

Ourselves again

Tollund That Sunday morning we had travelled far. We stood a long time out in Tollund Moss: The low ground, … More

Be kind

Be Kind Not merely because Henry James saidthere were but four rules of life—be kind be kind be kind be … More

You’ve got to write it all down

The unexamined life’s no different from                              … More

The Thing Is

The Thing Is to love life, to love it evenwhen you have no stomach for itand everything you’ve held dearcrumbles … More

When I am Asked

When I am Asked When I am asked    how I began writing poems,    I talk about the indifference of nature.    … More

Autumn

Autumn One night goes on longer than the rest, never so long, whiled away. Then dawn. Goodbye, insects. Hollow casings … More

God’s Grief

God’s Grief Great parentwho must have started outwith such high hopes.What magnitude of suffering,the immensity of guilt,the staggering despair.A mind … 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