The bombed cathedral

One of the touchstones that I would add to those I blogged about last week is a marvellous section from … More

Praise the Rain

Praise the Rain Praise the rain; the seagull diveThe curl of plant, the raven talk—Praise the hurt, the house slackThe … More

The book is in its gardening clothes. ‘I’m going out,’ it says. ‘You’ve let the lawn go again.’ ‘You can’t … More

Last week I gave up writing. For about a day. I had been given a book by one of my … More

I know I am hardly the first to draw parallels between running and writing. But, for what it is worth, … More

I am still not sure why, but in the middle of December I decided to take up running again. When … More

Poetry is knowledge, salvation, power abandonment. An operation capable … More

‘So is that your main idea?’ ‘That’s it, yes.’ ‘That people get stuff done out of a social need to … More

The value of poetry is that it should matter … first to the writer and then to the reader. Michael … More