On the Edge

  On the Edge After your mother dies, you will learn to live on the edge of life, to brace … More

Practice

Practice To weep unbidden, to wake at night in order to weep, to wait for the whisker on the face … More

Grandmaman

A few words about the piece below. I wrote the first draft of it in 1989, a year after the … More

Dreaming about X

I dreamt about my friend X last night. I don’t think I normally dream about him, and don’t recall having … More

Lifesaving Poems: Ann Gray’s ‘mercifully ordain that we may become aged together’

It was such a privilege to read from the cornucopia of talent assembled in Lifesaving Poems at the Greenbelt Festival over … More

Bookmark

  Made of orange card, it’s an outline of my son’s hand. Comprising two sections, one his tiny, spread fingers, … More

Lifesaving Poems: Pablo Neruda’s ‘The Dead Woman’ (La Muerta)

The Dead Woman If suddenly you do not exist,if suddenly you no longer live,I shall live on. I do not … More

Guest blog post: David Ferry’s ‘Lake Water’, by Martyn Crucefix

This is the second in a series of guest blog posts about poets who have been overlooked and who should … More

Guest blog post: Writing my way through bereavement, by Sue Hepworth

Writing my way through bereavement   I don’t approve of death. I’m with Edna St Vincent Millay: I am not … More