How to attend a poetry reading

Sometime in the early Nineties I did a very brave thing. I took myself to a poetry reading. I went … More

The power of poetry (free download) #NATEconf

Here are the text and ppt presentations of my NATE Conference 2014 keynote speech on The Power of Poetry. PDF … More

Groundsmen The pile of cuttings puts on dreadful weight, swelters in the season, and leaks treacle. Beside it, the … More

Father’s Day 1970 This is the day my father lets us sleep, then brings us tea in bed. The sun … More

Sugar in Banana Sandwiches ‘Still something of the child in you’ she says. I find that hard to swallow … More

Middle Ages Folk from the past jostled for a place in the wallwith distant and here the same sizeIn the … More

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

I followed a lead, nudged by a hunch, and it brought me here. The book is In Their Own Words (edited by … More

I was at a thing recently. Not my thing, a good thing. Luminosity filled the evening. In the pouring of … More

Twilight Three minutes ago it was almost dark. Now all the darkness is in the leaves (there are no … More

Damp white imprints dog the feet; snowbound trolley, snowbound street. Her tip of glove to lip and cheek, “Goodbye.” Go. … More

My wife and I are at the airport of a European capital city. It’s late on a Friday evening, the … More

I have been thinking a lot recently about the gap between what is expected of us and what we think … More

I have been thinking a lot recently about Tomas Tranströmer’s poem ‘Alone’. When I first read it I was taken … More

Dear Anthony (I will never get used to calling you Tony) Here are some words of advice from your nearing-fifty-year-old … More

These are the most read Lifesaving Poems posts of 2013. Mary Oliver, ‘The Journey’ I first read this on … More

Morning on Earth Morning on earth, light snow, and just when it was so warm, practically spring. But the thermometer … More

Things I Learned at University How to bike on cobblestones and where to signal right.How to walk through doors held … More