All this sitting about in cafés

The Sofas, Fogs and Cinemas   I have lived it, and lived it, My nervous, luxury civilisation, My sugar-loving nerves … More

Lifesaving Poems: Esther Morgan’s ‘Avocados’

I heard Michael Symmons Roberts give a magisterial reading from his book Drysalter recently. It was exemplary on so many levels, not … More

Lifesaving Poems:Elizabeth Bishop’s ‘Poem’

  The funniest thing you will ever read about Elizabeth Bishop (or teaching, or anything else) is Mark Halliday‘s essay Moose … More

Lifesaving Poems

I was struck by a remark of Seamus Heaney in an interview he gave some years ago now. He was … More