The great Sampdoria, Juventus and Chelsea striker Gianluca Vialli has died, and I am sad. He was 58 and had … More
Category: Poets
What you read in 2022
Here are the blog posts from 2022 that you read most often Lifesaving Lines: The Death of Fred Clifton, by … More
Lifesaving Lines: History, by Tomaž Šalamun
The other day I bumped into Tomaž Šalamun. I was enjoying the last few hours of walking around Ljubljana, took … More
More places of hope
I said here a couple of years ago that Natalie Jabbar’s blog of curated poems each April is like a … More
Lifesaving Lines: Edge, by Sylvia Plath
But first came Plath. After Ursuala Le Guin, the only female author we studied (OK – Jane Austen). Her name … More
Advent poems
During December 2019 I blogged a series of poems to celebrate the season of Advent. Some of these were about … More
New crushes
As I try to hold on to beginner’s mind, I recall the practice of falling in love at a moment’s … More
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 … More
What you read in 2020
Here are the blog posts that you read most in 2020 As I click through the links I am surprised … More
Seeds of hope
Introducing Seeds of Hope, the second anthology of poems, prayers, reflections and provocations from the human rights organisation Amos Trust. … 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
The fear of poetry -by Muriel Rukeyser
The Fear of Poetry In this moment when we facehorizons and conflicts widerthan ever before, we want our resources,the ways … More
Lifesaving Poems: Margaret Avison’s ‘Twilight’
Twilight Three minutes ago it was almost dark.Now all the darkness is in theleaves (there are no morelow garage roofs, … More
Lifesaving Poems: Mandy Sutter’s ‘Caring for the Environment’
In 1991 I made the decision to spend more of my time concentrating on the thing that fulfilled me the … More
Lifesaving Poems: Sean O’Brien’s ‘Before’
To safe and almost universal silence I published How Far From Here is Home? (Stride) a few days before Christmas in … More
On the Edge
On the Edge After your mother dies, you will learn to live on the edge of life, to brace … More
Reading and writing resources for young poets
Young Poets’ Stories project update: Today we add a reading resources for young poets page to the Young Poets’ Stories website. … More
Lifesaving Poems 