Be Kind Not merely because Henry James saidthere were but four rules of life—be kind be kind be kind be … More
Tag: Lifesaving Poems
You’ve got to write it all down
The unexamined life’s no different from … More
The Thing Is
The Thing Is to love life, to love it evenwhen you have no stomach for itand everything you’ve held dearcrumbles … More
When I am Asked
When I am Asked When I am asked how I began writing poems, I talk about the indifference of nature. … More
Autumn
Autumn One night goes on longer than the rest, never so long, whiled away. Then dawn. Goodbye, insects. Hollow casings … More
God’s Grief
God’s Grief Great parentwho must have started outwith such high hopes.What magnitude of suffering,the immensity of guilt,the staggering despair.A mind … More
The most popular lifesaving poems
Earlier this year my Lifesaving Poems blog enjoyed something of a milestone. Not as momentous as Jimmy Anderson taking his … More
Lifesaving Poems: Margaret Avison’s ‘Twilight’
Twilight Three minutes ago it was almost dark.Now all the darkness is in theleaves (there are no morelow garage roofs, … More
Lifesaving Poems: Mandy Sutter’s ‘Caring for the Environment’
In 1991 I made the decision to spend more of my time concentrating on the thing that fulfilled me the … More
Lifesaving Poems: Sean O’Brien’s ‘Before’
To safe and almost universal silence I published How Far From Here is Home? (Stride) a few days before Christmas in … More
We never keep to the present
We never keep to the present. We recall the past; we anticipate the future as if we found … More
Living in the layers
The Layers I have walked through many lives, some of them my own, and I am not who I … More
On the Edge
On the Edge After your mother dies, you will learn to live on the edge of life, to brace … More
Struggling
Struggling I haven’t had time to stand and fart recently, and you’re wanting me to work on a relationship? That … More
Schoolchildren
The Schoolchildren Like leaves startled by a gust of wind they peel away from the tight-knit group, one child, two, … More
We have to have great meals
Simply Lit Often toward evening, after another day, after another year of days, in the half dark on the … More
Practice
Practice To weep unbidden, to wake at night in order to weep, to wait for the whisker on the face … More
Any Common Desolation
Any Common Desolation can be enough to make you look upat the yellowed leaves of the apple tree, the fewthat … More