On not relapsing

A year ago I had a relapse of my cancer. Except I didn’t. For a week or so I knew … More

Beverly Rycroft’s missing

The other day I was asked what I look for in poetry. Needing to give a quick answer I said: I … More

I am taking a break from writing brand new blog posts over the summer. Instead of posting new work I … More

I am taking a break from writing brand new blog posts over the summer. Instead of posting new work I … More

The ward is a void without him. Football blares in the corner, the monotonous roar of the crowd unleavened by … More

Don’t forget, this is inside us every day -Stephen Berg This is not happening. It happened. Past tense. One … More

This is the day we go the hospital as usual. We have banter with Jörn and Nadine while they inject … More

Love for Now did not begin with an idea but an illness. As I have written elsewhere, there wasn’t a plan. I … More

I want to live – Sharon Olds The most intense reading group I ever belonged to wasn’t really a reading … More

When I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma nearly seven years ago the aspect of telling people I dreaded most was … More

The chances are, more of us are mortal than have multiple orgasms -Violet Weingarten, Intimations of Mortality When I was diagnosed … More

On the Impossibility of Staying Alive They have found a new moon; it stands on my shoulder. They call it … More

May the Silence Break Because you do not speakI know the shockof water encountering a rock. Supremacy of silence is … More

There was no mention of more sex or bungee jumps. A palliative nurse who has counselled the dying in their … More

Alone I One evening in February I came near to dying here. The car skidded sideways on the ice, out … More

Photo: Andy Oliver In May 2005, the chairman and chief executive of the accountancy giantKPMG was told he had about 100 … More