Lifesaving Lines

Thank you to everyone who has commented to me either publicly or in private about my new series of blog … More

The black panes

We have a lot of windows. I sit next to them at this time of the year thinking, Just five … More

I have been thinking a lot this week about a line from Tomas Tranströmer’s masterpiece, ‘Alone’. (I have also blogged … More

The line that’s been buzzing round my head this week is the final phrase from Michael Laskey’s miracle poem of … More

Recently, my relationship with Wednesdays has changed. It’s quite a long story, and one I don’t want to trouble you … More

The line that’s been buzzing round my head the last couple of weeks is from Robert Lowell’s heartbreaking poem ‘For … More

I was very saddened to hear of the death of Brendan Kennelly this week. He had been a long-standing presence … More

‘Awful but cheerful’ is the final phrase and line of ‘The Bight‘, by Elizabeth Bishop. I’ve always felt that the … More

I was at a thing. Very rarely for me, it was my own thing, only my second in front of … More