Packing to leave

‘Passport?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Flight info?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Euros?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Underpants?’ The book glares at me. ‘What do you take me for?’ ‘It … More

Because failure is assured

Recently I have been reading the exquisite prose of Janna Malamud Smith, in her book-length meditation on creativity: An Absorbing Errand: … More

We have left the house. At first our walking is clumsy, comical, even. The book is three yards ahead of … More

I am at a thing. Canals are there. Sunlight on them, the last tourists, a shifting of the seasons. ‘Soon … More

Yesterday I listened to a dialogue between Debbie Millman and Seth Godin on art-making, resistance, anxiety, how the internet has changed … More

Heaven on Earth Now that it is night, you fetch the wash from outer space, from the frozen … More

because of the words and because of the books because of the woman in the anorak at the swimming baths … More

Though you may disappear, you’re not forgotten here And I will say to you, I will do what I can … More

The book and I are passing each other messages through a third party. Neither of us bothers with the niceties … More

Nine years ago today I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer of the white blood cells. Even though I have … More

Hamlet The buzz subsides. I have come on stage. Leaning in an open door I try to detect from … More

I am visiting the book. We have already been through a lot together, including the part where I killed it and … More

The Secret Two girls discover the secret of life in a sudden line of poetry. I who don’t know the … More

Reading Arthur W. Frank’s astonishing At the Will of the Body recently has given me pause to reflect on the relationship … More

Dear Arthur Frank I’m writing to say thank you for your extraordinary book At the Will of the Body. It is … More

I have murdered my darling. Like a bird of a certain blue vintage, it is ex, dead, kaput, finished. The … More

I found two blog posts especially moving in the aftermath of last week’s attacks in Paris, both by the same … More

The Collection The Matter of This World: New and Selected Poems (Slow Dancer, 1987) I found The Matter of … More