A MorningI have carried it with me each day: that morning I tookmy uncle’s boat from the brown water coveand … More
Tag: Lifesaving Poems
Lifesaving Poems: CK Williams’s ‘Kin’
Kin“You make me sick!” this, with rancor, vehemence, disgust—again, “You hear me? Sick!”with rancor, vehemence, disgust again, with rage and … More
Lifesaving Poems: Don Coles’s ‘Photograph in a Stockholm Newspaper for March 13, 1910’
Photograph in a Stockholm Newspaper For March 13, 1910Here is a family so little famoustheir names were not recorded. They … More
Lifesaving Poems: Derek Mahon’s ‘Everything is Going to be All Right’
Everything is Going to be All Right How should I not be glad to contemplatethe clouds clearing beyond the dormer … More
Lifesaving Poems: Naomi Jaffa’s ‘Some of the Usual’
Some of the UsualStanding in the kitchen before breakfast, not including some of the usual —what to buy in Budgens … More
Lifesaving Poems: James Tate’s ‘I am a Finn’
I Am a Finn I am standing in the post office, about to mail a package back to Minnesota, to … More
Lifesaving Poems: Seamus Heaney’s ‘Night Drive’
Night Drive The smells of ordinarinessWere new on the night drive through France;Rain and hay and woods on the airMade … More
Lifesaving Poems: Mandy Sutter’s ‘Caring for the Environment’
Caring for the EnvironmentIn Wonderland, they say ‘Drink Me’but in Leeds they shoulder the bin asidesaying ‘Take me to the … More
Lifesaving Poems: Ian McMillan’s ‘On The Impossibility of Staying Alive’
On the Impossibility of Staying Alive They have found a new moon; it stands on my shoulder. They call it … More
Lifesaving Poems: Thom Gunn’s ‘Autobiography’
AutobiographyThe sniff of the real, that’swhat I’d want to get how it feltto sit on ParliamentHill on a May eveningstudying … More
Lifesaving Poems: Michael Laskey’s ‘Bike’
BikeYou, who have borne three sonsof mine, still bear my weightroutinely, transporting me.An odd pair: your classic sparelines – elbows, … More
Lifesaving Poems: Rutger Kopland’s ‘I Cavalli di Leonardo’
I Cavalli di LeonardoAll those sketches he left behind –endless series of repetitions: bunches of muscles, sinews,knuckles, joints, the entire … More
Lifesaving Poems: Robert Pinsky’s ‘Song of Reasons’
Song of ReasonsBecause of the change of key midway in “Come Back to Sorrento”The little tune comes back higher, and … More
Lifesaving Poems: Jean Sprackland’s ‘The Birkdale Nightingale’
The Birkdale Nightingale(Bufo calamito – the Natterjack toad)On Spring nights you can hear themtwo miles away, calling their matesto the … More
Lifesaving Poems: Stephen Berg’s ‘Eating Outside’
Eating OutsideFat pine boughsdroop over the vegetable garden’ssticks and leaves,the moon’s hazy face comes and goesin the heat.Beautiful women,your skin … More
Lifesaving Poems: Ian Duhig’s ‘From the Irish’ and Maura Dooley’s ‘Mansize’
Last night saw the launch of Magma 53 at the Troubadour Coffee House in London with guest readers and Lifesaving … More
Lifesaving Poems is one year old
A year ago I began the Lifesaving Poems series of blog posts. I got the idea for it after reading … More
Lifesaving Poems: George Messo’s ‘The Beautiful Apartments’
The Beautiful ApartmentsThe thought working its way towards the light.-Ludwig Wittgenstein, 1946In the empty blockacross the lake from hereyou notice … More
Lifesaving Poems 